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out our description box for this episode to find out more. But that's BW
Hustle dot com slash Join. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
Hardwood Knocks. This is Adam Prommel here with my co host Dan Favallei,
and we are turning to the mailbag for today's episode. You all have been
kind enough to throw some questions at us on Twitter, at the NBA Math
account, the Hardwoodknox account on the social media platforms, and we are going
to be answering most of those questions. I believe the podcast, as always,
is brought to you by bet online dot ag and indeed they'll be hearing
from them shortly. But most importantly, Dan, before we get into this,
how's it going. I am doing well. We were recording this after
I spent a ton of time watching the Knicks cav game. It was nice
to see the Cavs really put up a good fight against a true contender.
Lost, but they still their defense was good. I like the effort from
the Calves there. Also, watch a bunch of Warriors Pistons. I've seen
a lot of pistons lately, and I'm in love with Sadiq Bay so hopefully
none of these takes are outdated as of when this goes up on Wednesday morning,
because we're recording this during the start of the late games, of which
there are only a few. How are you doing, I'm good, I'm
curious are you Are you coming around on Julius Randall yet? Is he your
favorite player? Now? No, he's not my favorite player, and I
think the Knick should probably trade him while his value is this high. But
I really do have to, I really do have to commend like the job
he's done is passing, and there are still a few players that make me
cringe every single game, and I do think this isn't him specifically. But
if you want your RJ. Barrett third on the most Improved Player ballot picked
the pen out, you just need they need another shooter on the floor for
him so that they can put the ball in his hands more. My other
quibbles that if you're gonna have Frank Nilikina try and run point, which I'm
okay with, set the guy at damn screen like everyone. I don't know
if it's because they don't think he uses them properly, but they just run
away when they're about to screen. For him and then he'll just give up
the ball. So those are my takes. Frankie'keena is still shooting over forty
percent from three since January twenty fifth of last season, so I'm living the
dream and I'm hoping once Emmanuel quickly is healthy that frankie'keena's minutes did not fall
by the wayside, even though I think we can all agree his future does
not lie in New York. He fired Leon Rose is his agent after his
rookie season. Leon Rose is nothing president of the Knicks. I didn't think
they were going to sign an extension like agreed at once. That doesn't surprise
me, but I think we can all agree that he's probably living in free
agency. You're getting traded this season and that concludes are once per episode segment
on Natilakina. We're only two minutes deep, so I have a few minutes
left if that's okay. Are you ready to dive into this mailbag? Though?
We got fantastic responses, and I do want to say, like,
please respond. The tweets look so bad when they're coming from like I don't
send them from my account because I have nine plus k followers and I don't
want the look of not having any responses. Hardwood Knox has like four plus
k followers. Don't let us send a tweet out where there's no responses.
It's happened to me on MBA math too, and it's happened to you as
well. And that's even worse because we have seventy K followers. I'm just
I am the unequivocal master of sending out mailbag solicitations that get exactly zero responses.
You don't know what it is like, I try to be creative,
I try to include some sort of media element and it's just it's amazing,
like without fail you no one wants to give me the questions you need less
shame like I beg for them in the tweets. Now, so you all
came in resounding. First it was just Friends of the Pods. We have
like two from Friends of the Pods. But then they came rolling in.
So we appreciate everyone who asked a question. We'll try and get to all
of them because we do have a bunch, but please, we'll try and
get the habit of throwing them from the Hardwood Knox account since that's the actual
podcast account. But please, just respond to them. That's all we ask,
pretty please and thank you. Are you ready to get through this?
No, let's do it. Let's start with the first question that came in
from Brian Toperek, host of the NBA podcast which we just appeared on recently,
The Two of Us. He has two questions, how does the Spencer
Dinwoody injury reshape the top of the East? And which team will be undefeated
the longest? And why is it the Hawks, who, by the way,
after the Cavs loss, are still in contention for that title. But
let's start with the Spencer Dinwoody injury and the East. How do you see
that? Do you see it reshaping the picture at all? I don't.
I don't think it will, just because as good as Dinwoody is and as
important as he is to the Nets, if Brooklyn is going to be a
true contender this season, which it very well could be, it comes down
to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. They can overcome any loss that isn't one
of those two players. Because even with Dinwitdy gone, you still have Carris
LeVert, you still have Landry Shamatt, you still have Tyler Johnson to pick
up those minutes, you still have TLC coming off the bench. So as
long as those two center pieces are healthy, I don't think that any other
injury, even to DeAndre Jordan or Jared Allen or Joe Harris, is going
to derail them. It comes down to those two players. Yeah, the
thing that I could see at reshaping and people of frame this in the James
Harden trade possibility context, I actually disagree there. I don't think Spencer Dinwoody
with a player option for next season that he was bound to decline if he
was healthy. I don't think that makes was ever going to make or break
a Harden deal. It comes down to the future first that they're going to
include, how far out they're going, how many of them there are,
Caros LeVert, so you definitely want him to be healthy, and then what
other teams are offering. So Spencer Dinwoddy is probably even below Jared Allen on
the list of assets that matter in that trade. That's not an indictment on
how good Spencer dinwo he is, because I do think that there was probably
a team that would have paid him, you know, between fifteen and twenty
million dollars a year in free agency. This summer. I don't know if
that will happen anymore, So you do it to see that. What I
think it actually changes is the net's ability to make another move that matters,
because now, like looking at his salary and just his overall value, like
that was the player you could move, knowing you'd still have a ton of
ball handling because of Caros, Kevin rant Kyrie Irving, and then you could
try and prioritize like perimeter defense or just defense in general at the worst spot.
Aaron Gordon was a name that I kept coming back to for them,
and Orlando could certainly use someone like Spencer Dinwiddie, So that type of framework,
and now you're sort of left with when you're looking at potential salary filler
too, Torrian Prince and stuff, and what is that stuff to make Torrian
Prince's deal which is looking just worse and worse by the day, Like what
are you now able to do? So can you make that medium size move
now? Is what I would question. That's what that changes. The Nets
maybe so good already that it doesn't matter though. Now as for Brian's second
question, we're down to two undefeated's left, and somehow those are the Orlando
Magic and the Atlanta Hawks, And as much as it pains me to say
this, it's probably going to be the Magic that are the last undefeated team
left standing, and that's only because of how the game's line up. So
the Hawks play next on Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets. That might not
go so well. After the hawks first three wins came against non playoff teams
from last year, and the Magic have the luxury of waiting to play into
Thursday, when they're probably going to lose the Philadelphia seventy six ers. So
my prediction is that by this weekend we won't have any remaining undefeated teams,
which is hilarious this early in a season as topsy turvy as it's been.
But the Magic are the beneficiaries of having that extra day off. Yeah,
so that definitely helps them. The thing I've been impressed with with the Hawks,
though, one they have the leagu's best offense right now, and they've
been about average defensively, which is kind of above average defensively. Trey Young
actually is like been a pesky defender who has been in the right spots,
has absorbed contact, has made the right rotations. He might not finish dead
last in every possible defensive metric this year. Yeah, he and both he
and Branding Room both just look like they're playing more physical. And I'm just
using them as comps because they're both like so like skinny and smaller. Branding
Room's actually fairly tall. They have the league league's best offense been about average
defensively, and that's like while not getting a great start from John Collins and
just being banged up beyond reason, where Rondo only recently made a season.
You Chris Dunn has a foot injury right now. They haven't had a ku
Yeah, so like they haven't had like their full supply of players available,
and like we're getting they had minutes for good minutes being played by Nathan Knight
and their win over the Grizzlies. They have to be careful with him because
he's a two way player at the moment, so, but he was intriguing.
But like you've I've seen a lot of Solomon Hill in the Hawks games
that I've watched thus far. It's like I would say a Gallo ended up
too. So they have not had by anywhere near anywhere near their fullcast of
supporters there, and so to still be undefeated. Yeah, you can look
at the teams that they've beaten and John no, John Rand didn't go down
in the loss of them. That was a loss of the Nets. So
like, yeah, they've they've beaten some teams that like aren't very great,
but like they've had some like the Pistons game, Like the Pistons put up
a fight in that one. So I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Hawks
less. Yeah, And so I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Hawks.
They definitely have the tougher road to it. But I'm now more interested than
ever to see what this team looks like at full strength, in so far
as it ever gets to it this season. The reason I'm confident that we
won't make it to the weekend with an unbeaten team, though, is because
I don't think the Magic are going to be going to beat the seventy six
ers. If they do, all be wrong. But the Hawks have to
play the Nets twice, and like they probably aren't sweeping the Nets in Brooklyn,
probably not. I feel like that's a safe bet. Brooklyn didn't lose
to the Hornets, but they didn't lose to the Hornets twice at home.
That's also fair fair as well. So yeah, I mean, but it
look, I'm just saying the hawkstart has been more encouraging than not. Under
the circumstances. They feel like a very legitimate good team. Yes, I
think we can already. They're not going to go and defeat it. Maybe,
but we're not gonna say that. Maybe they'll be like seventy and two.
They'll lose those two games to the nets, and then that'll be it.
That's fair. They'll they'll just learn from that. Then when everyone's healthy,
just run rough shot over the league. I mean, it's just the
final note for me on them is it makes a world of difference just having
good shooters around Trey Young. They were dead last and three point percentage last
year. They're now second, and they I feel like they haven't been using
him off the ball as much as I would have liked, but they also
haven't had their full supply ball handlers available, so that doesn't surprise me.
And then also he just hasn't had to do as much and his even though
his floaters aren't falling at the moment, like there's more room for him to
operate, and it just shows me the dude is averaging fifteen free throw times
per game, like he's doing a lot. I think he's still doing.
Your thing is that the shooters aren't hitting their shots yet, Like we're seeing
how beneficial the spacing is just through their sheer presence, not through them actually
connecting on those looks. Well there and when they do start hitting, which
they probably will, like Loogdonna has already like kind of came out of good.
Yeah, Bodonna's kind of got hot in the game against the Pistons,
so that'll help. But yeah, there their team that I'm just even more
interested in after seeing their first few games. This next question, through through
some shade at me, probably deservedly so, comes from Doctor Mantis to Boggan
core Boar. Is the handle? Can you guys talk about the Pells?
How the talk about how good the Pells look with Steven Adams and how wrong
damn Dan was about Adams's impact. I followed up with this question because I
wanted to tell what I said that was inflammatory and on our Pelicans preview with
Mason Ginsburg, I said, whereas I think about the Tristan Thompson addition for
Boston and hate it. The more I think about it, the more I
think about Adams for the Pels, I like it. I just am not
crazy about the opportunity cost of it. That being said, I apparently was
among the national analysts whatever you want to call me, bemoaning that they didn't
put a floor spacing five next to Zion. The Pelicans are shooting as of
they're playing at the moment while we're recording this, But entering Tuesday night's game
against the I can't even remember who they're playing right now. I'm blanking on
it. But entering Tuesday night's game, they are shooting four against the Suns,
They're shooting forty two point five percent from three when Adams and Zion are
on the floor. I don't know, and that I expect that to hold.
And by that I mean I don't expect that to hold. But Steven
Adams has done a great job like creating space with his screens. He's done
wonders for them. You could just see. I don't know if this is
him, but like they're pretty good defensively this year. Maybe that's part Adams,
that's part stand and Gundy's magic touch. But like Brandon Ingram looks more
engaged. There was a play the other night where he like shoved Lonzo Ball
back on to his assignment. So those are all good harboring jers, and
I think there's something to be said about just having above a reliable, above
average center play for x amount twenty five to thirty plus minutes per game,
where you didn't even have that in Derek Favors. He was playing a smaller
role and he just wasn't as available, So I would guess I'm impressed by
what he's done for the Pells, but like their offense is not good yet,
Like brand Ingram looks great, his playmaking has been fantastic. He's taking
more off the dribble jumpers, and like they look good, they're not necessarily
falling at the highest clip Right now. They have the league's worst half court
offense though as of this writing, and there are still lineups where I would
just question whether they're current shooting clip is going to sustain It's there are moments
or combinations where they can struggle to have two good shooters on the court at
the same time, or maybe more than two, because I think brandon Ingram
counts and then one of Josh, both of Josh harton read account. But
they're not playing together a ton that I've seen just yet, and that it's
like, do you consider Lonzo Ball a good shooter? Like, I don't
think you could go that far. And overall, their fourteenth and three point
efficiency for the season at thirty six point five percent, which is fine,
and you know you would like to see them up like higher because top ten
right now is well into the thirty eight thirty nine percent range. So that's
still something I'm going to be watching. I do not hate the Stephen Adams
addition, and I'm sure that I was wrong on some level. Maybe I
thought it was gonna make them. It could hamper them defensively because they wouldn't
be as mobile, even though Adams's teams have generally done a better job of
limiting looks at the rim when he's been on the court. So the Pells
have been fine encouraging. I need to see a lot more from their offense
overall, and I think they're built to struggle in the half court when you
look at Letzo Lonzo Ball doesn't really operate on ball in the half court as
well. Ingram is good enough to kind of get them out of it,
but they might need to get quirkier some of their lineup combinations, or maybe
their roster construction comes back to bite them. We're still so early, it
remains a concern of mine. According to NBA Maths adjusted team ratings, the
three worst offenses in the league so far, and with this stat, one
hundred is league average, anything below is worse the Golden State Warriors eighty nine
point seven, the Toronto Raptors ninety two point six, and the New Orleans
Pelicans ninety three point one. That's all entering Tuesday slate of games. I
don't expect any of those three to hold, and the Pelicans in particular,
it's not necessarily because Adams is a great fit alongside Zion, Williamson and everyone
else, but because they just do have that requisite talent to figure things out
and experiment with more lineups. As you mentioned, I still have concerns over
the lack of shooting, but the big, the big qualm with the Adams
addition was the pairing with Zion, And with respect to just that pairing,
I've seen enough that I'm already not concerned. And if the early results haven't
been great, just because Zion has such a preternatural understanding of spacing and body
control that even if the paint is a little bit more congested, it just
doesn't seem to matter. He's a freight train in the open court. He
has an uncanny ability to kind of squeeze through those crevices and still find ways
to finish plays above or below the rim. And I just think that because
he has that ability from the four spot, that you can get away with
having that Adam's pairing because Steven Adams does so many other things well. He's
a fantastic screen setter, he's a great team defender, he's a great individual
defender. He's an underrated passer. He has some ability to put the ball
in the basket from around the hoop even if he isn't stretching the floor.
He does so much good and Zion is uniquely capable of accounting for the weakness,
the purported weakness that I just don't think it's going to matter in the
long run. Yeah, they just I think what's And I would even say,
you know, you said the returns haven't been like great, I would
say they've been really good with and Steven Adams and the floor so far.
I mean on defense, just not on offense to be questionable on offense.
They are so dependent on brandon Ingram right now where they're not operating in transition.
We're the need to figure out. His half court offensive rating differential is
in the seventy third percentile right now. Again that's still early, but that's
that's just monstrous. And when you look at like some of the other main
ball handlers Bledsoe, Ball Reddick, the offense is all worse when in the
half court, when they're on the on the floor right now. So just
something modern and Coreboard did make. I don't know your first name. I
apologize as a Corey at but we've talked on Twitter a bunch and we appreciate
engagement. He didn't know who were the Pells supposed to sign. When you're
looking at the floor spacing five, I think that's a very fair criticism.
Like they could go out and pick up the Dayne Deadman right now. He's
just flowing around out there, but like that's not the optimal the idea of
Jayne Deadman. But he hasn't shot threes well, and there's a two seasons
now ever since that year with Atlanta, or maybe it's just a full season,
because it feels like that one season last concept of time anymore, right,
I think it was twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, so last season was
yeah, which was kind of a dud for him there. But that's also
like, unless you were gonna get in Aaron Baines, which I don't even
like. He's not a bankable floor spacer, So unless you're gonna get a
Marcasoul, unless we're gonna get a Surgebaca, which you clearly weren't. And
you could probably argue that just the way that Steven Adams moves about on defense
right now, he's gonna be better freeze than a Baca. Anyway. I
think that's a fair criticism if that's probably something that we lacked on this podcast
to name alternatives just because there weren't many. I do think long term,
if you're not playing Zion at the five, that's what you want to do
is find that floor spacer there? Do you want to get to the one
that calls you out? Andre Bobrick, Sure, let's do it. How
wrong was Adam with his Blazers takes and has he changed his mind yet?
Follow up question from Adam which takes would those be Andre replied on the Blazers
wings not panning out or something. I just remember you being very low on
them during one of the podcasts after the Blazers beat a full Laker squad.
I was just wondering if the defense that Roco and JJ played change your mind.
Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far.
I don't know that my mind has changed, And maybe that's just on
me for not making my original points clearer. But the lowness on the Blazers
is probably just relative to the sparkling optimism that Dan had on the Blazers,
Like I still had this team and our over unders. Now they entered with
a forty point five win over under from Vegas, I'm going forty and thirty
two, So I don't think that's like particularly low. It's more just I
had questions about that wing rotation, not the full effectiveness of it, but
just the individual pieces, like how much you're going to be able to rely
on Carmelo Anthony, how much we can believe in Robert Covington as a true
three and D guy because the three ball hasn't been that consistent, Whether we
can rely on Derrick Jones Junior and Gary Trent junior from fairly small samples.
So far, all those are being answered positively. It's also only three games,
and in those three games, the Blazers needed over time to beat a
shorthanded Rockets team. They beat a full strength Lakers team, albeit on the
second game of a back to back, and they lost their openers. So
they still have a negative net rating on the season. But we're only three
games in, so it's it's just hard to draw too many conclusions. But
yeah, I'm I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far. Maybe not enough
to bump them that far up in my Western Conference pecking order, but so
far the answers to those questions, which I do still think are valid ones,
have been positive. It's just so early in the season to walk back
anything. I will say they just seem built better built to navigate crunch time
this season, because I mean, I think both of us thought that they
had a fantastic offseason, Like I wish that I had made that more clear,
just because I did really like their off season. I just I'm not
ready to put them among the Western Conference elites. I think that's fair.
This question comes from Latchie Sohmerville or Lashy Sommerville apologize for butchering the frontiation.
How will Triple J and Brandon Clark co exist into the future. Example,
is Clark going to be a bench guy forever or will they start together?
And how will that dynamic dynamic pan out with Clark being short and Triple J
not being the best rebounder. One thing go on to touch on really quickly
with the Grizzlies. The Jahn Morant injury is just absolutely brutal for them.
It's better that it's not anything like super serious. It's a grade to sprain
of his left ankle. It'll keep him out three to five weeks per team
announcement. I was lower on them to start the season than you, and
we still have them figure out what the bet would be. I think the
Jahn Morant injury might avoid any bet that. Yeah, yeah, way to
walk it back now. But with Justice Winslow still out, Jaren Jackson Junior
still out, this team is firmly of the King Cunningham sweep stakes now,
like the three to five weeks can make that big of a difference in a
truncated season. I'm just happy it wasn't more serious for Morant, and I
hope that he comes back and jaws fine. To the questions point, I
personally, Jaren Jackson Jr. Is going to have to get better not only
rebounding, but not fouling for that pairing to work. They played twelve hundred
possessions together last year and they were close to league average defensively, but that
the lineups they were playing in forced turnovers a ton. They fouled even more.
They were pretty not great at rebounding, and so unless you're gonna have
strong rebounding guards and wings around them, that could get difficult, and you're
gonna give up kind of side like size or strength at one of the two
positions in the front court. I don't know if it's tenable long term.
Really get to answer the question. I would be more so than the rebounding
with Jaren Jackson Junior, which is a real problem, but he's also played
beside, Like you know, Jan his foun tunis for a bunch of his
career is gonna gobble up a lot of those. It's the fouling for me,
because both of those two and even Clark maybe when he's trying to help
like he's gonna end up just getting a ton of fouls as well in that
pairing, and you don't want to be sending offenses like throwing parades to the
free throw line, and that would be the bigger concert. So until Jaren
Jackson, I don't want to say proves he could improve his defense in general,
but he definitely has to prove that he can defend fives consistently, which
he's not done yet at that spot. And I don't even know if the
Grizzlies view him as someone they want to put it center long term. That's
something that's yet to be determined. And so my guests would be that we
never reach a point where both of them are just regular starters. I don't
see that being a tenable front court. Maybe it's one they come to a
lie on a ton in the middle of games, but I would be mildly
surprised if they wind up starting together, you know, indefinitely, at any
point. Plus, Jannis Valentinus is only twenty eight and can still feasibly be
a part of the long term core. But with respect the Clark Jackson pairing,
I am concerned about it. And I know we just said we're not
overreacting to these small samples early in the season, but I want to react
a little to just how bad Brandon Clark has looked in these first three games.
Like, I am legitimately worried about that, because as isn't a surprise
as he was last year. He looks nothing like that player. He's forcing
shots with an altered jumper that is incredibly ugly. He doesn't look like he
knows exactly where to be on either end of the court. His floater touch
has all but disappeared. He isn't getting as involved as a passer. It
just I don't think I'm seeing a confident basketball player whatsoever at a time when
they really need him to be one. And you know, I mean,
it's not like we're talking about a guy with like extreme pedigree here. He
was the twenty first pick in twenty nineteen and was a pleasant surprise as a
rookie. So I hope I'm wrong. I hope that I don't have to
be concerned by the midway point of this season, But at this stage,
I am worried about his ability to be a big part of this corps.
Yeah. Really, on even season for him, it had like kind of
a good game against Brooklyn the other night, but it was three of seven
at the foul line, six eleven from the floor overall. He's actually had
two games five of nine in the first game of the season in six eleven.
I'm from the floor in general in the third game, but just between
the foul shooting, the overall look of the jump shot, the defensive weirdness,
I guess that I would just call it. And he's not someone who's
like really beasted on the boards for them this year either. I think it's
definitely concerning. Look the jump shot for him, and I didn't see the
game against the Nets unless he reverted back he hit his only three point attempt,
unless he reverted back to what it looked like. I saw someone I
can't remember who it was on Twitter. I wish I could credit him saying
it looks like he's holding the controller button too long while he's going out for
a shot. Two K and look again. Just a massively tiny sample of
only seventy five minutes through three games, but the Grizzlies have been fifteen point
seven points for one hundred possessions worse with him on the floor, and that
is not a great start. From a guy you're hoping is going to be
a breakout second year player with all the injuries around him like that, that's
just not ideal. The NBA is back in action and football is heading into
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one word bet online. You're online sportsbook experts. This next question comes from
Miroslav Shook. I want Dan and Adams top five MVP favorites, actually Adams
two to five favorites, since we know Monte Morris is number one, So
we did have the podcast where we made our awards predictions. Has your impression
though, I can remind you of if you don't remember who you picked as
your five, of who you picked to see if you think that that's changed
at all, why don't you run through both of ours just so people can
be reminded. Okay, So yours was Luca at one, Yannis at two,
Dame at three, Step at four, Tatum at five. I had
Tatum at one, Doni at two, Step at three, Yokich at four,
Yannis at five. If I had depict changes from mine, I might
bump yannest way down. With his start to the season has been a little
bit odd. I think it's more it's better to frame this. And is
there anyone who you think right now that you didn't Not that you didn't consider
them, but that is like wedg's their way into consideration to be in the
top five that you didn't initially pick. Yes, absolutely, And why is
it Trey Young? It's Nicolai who has just been absolutely unreal for the Denver
Nuggets and the game before we're recording this podcast, he had eighteen assists and
they were just fantastic, just dropping dimes all over the place to cutters to
everywhere, everyone everywhere, because he as eyes all over the place. Apparently
that was the first time a center had had eighteen assistants Will Chamberlain. At
the time that we're recording this, and I'm talking right now, while there's
ten minutes and twenty one seconds left in the Nuggets Kings game, Yokich has
eight points, four rebounds, six assists, and two steals on four of
four shooting. He's just on a tear and we have not seen him come
out of the gates quite like this. We know how immensely valuable he is
to the Nuggets, but he's typically a player who works his way up to
that peak level, and if he's going to start at this level, that's
just terrifying. Now, with Trey Young, I think to this point he
would be in the top five of the MVP voting if the season were to
end right now, But whether that's sustainable is a different question. Just for
fun basketball references, NBA NBA MVP Award Tracker, which is based on historical
voting results and how they correlate with different stats. The top five are fantastic
right now. I don't know if you've looked at this at all, Dan,
Yeah, and it ruins one of the both of the names I would
have inserted into the conversation at least early. I'm definitely going to go through
it to the top five they have right now are Yokis one percent, James
Harden one point one percent, Darius Garland from the Cleveland Cavaliers one point nine
percent, Demontes Sibonis who has been phenomenal at two percent, and Trey Young
at ninety one point eight percent. So he might as well just hand him
the award now he's in there. The one that's Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving
is eminently like in could get into the conversation. Maybe they cannibalize votes from
each other. As someone who had Steff in their initial top five, i'd
probably put say that one of them is more likely to finish in the top
five to Step at this point, just based on how the Warrior season as
gone. Although they did pick up two straight wins, you know, two
and two going home for a long homestand it's not the worst case scenario for
for Golden State, and so yeah, that's where I think Tray needs.
I think Trey is the most sustainable one that I forgot yokis for you is
clear I already had it. You think Trey is sustainable as a top five
MVP threat, Yeah you don't. I'm not sure, just because I again,
the Hawks have three wins, but they're over three non playoff teams,
and I don't know how sustainable this workload is where he's not going to keep
taking fifteen free throws per game for the entire season. Coming into today,
he was averaging more free throws than the Toronto Raptors as a team. So
as fantastic as he is and as improved as he looks on defense, I'm
just I'm not quite sure that they're going to need to be as reliant on
him now that Rondo's back and Brandon Goodwin doesn't have to play any more minutes
at point guard mercifully, and just as the other guys get healthier and are
able to take more of an offensive burden, I'm just not sure that he's
going to be there this season, maybe next year, just since it typically
takes players, you know, they gain the recognition and then they get the
award votes the next year a lot of the times, so I'm just I'm
not sure that I'm ready to put him in that conversation. Yet I want
to. I want to, I'm just not there. The narrative is billboard
if they keep dealing with so many injuries though, and to decide of the
good team. Next question comes from Robert, Which starter or starters should the
Bulls trade if when it's clear they just don't fit together at all? Also,
does Larry Marketing look likely to perform well enough d earn twenty million dollars
a year in his next contract? Small sample size and dumb speculation, I
know is what his parenthetical read. I'll throwut to you first. I mean,
if if Marketing is going to continue to play like this, sure like
Tuesday, what he's going to continue to play like this? Entering Tuesday?
He's averaging twenty point seven point seven rebounds, He's shooting fifty two point eight
percent from the field, forty seven point six percent from three. That's just
not going to be sustainable though, And that's the issue. There's no way
he's getting twenty million dollars per year. Yeah, he would be the player
that I identify as a trade candidate for them, just because he plays what's
going to be Patrick Williams's best position, and so unless you want to play
both of them at the four and five, and then you're looking at old
and what's Wendell Carter Wendell Carter Junior's chilling on the bench. I also think
it's dangerous to reinvest in anyone at this point when you're still so early in
the there's no idea what the Bulls are going to look like, right and
I was so disgusted with their first game of the season. They were they
were just wasn't as a Hawks, and I'm sure you weren't. They were
just so bad. And then there are the obvious candidates, Thomas Aderanski looking
at him, daddy as young as the veteran Otto porter, even if someone
wants need to wing and we'll take on his expiring contract. The one that
I think they should look at a sort of a sell high situation would be
Zach Lavine. His contract is really good now that that contracts aged super well,
and yeah, he's young enough to be a part of the next iteration,
but he's sort of overtaxed. I'm just wondering what you could get from
him this season, Like if you can get two high end assets for him,
I would probably pull the trigger. And that's not me trying to romanticize
the idea of a rebuild. I just think, uh, you know,
cardisivists like, go ahead and put your stamp on this roster. Even more
so, Larry Markting would be the one that I identify though, because the
other ones, it's like, you know, Thaddie as Young and Saderanski.
If partial guarantees next years, like they could be viewed as they're not expiring
is because they'll cost you money to get rid of. But like whatever market
is the one that you have to look at, who you're going to pay
and even how a porter's expiring, I don't know what his market's going to
look like. You do definitely need wings. I just don't know that Patrick
Williams should be playing so much three And he hasn't been terrible there. He's
been better defensively there than I would have expected him to be from the Bulls
that I've watched. Again, they've played four games, and I've seen like
less than half of those four games. So just to clarify that, still,
it would be marketing for me. I don't know if you would choose
anybody else over him. No, the only the only part of that I
disagree with is I wouldn't trade Levine. And maybe I'm just and forgive the
pun here two bullish on him. Still, I don't think he's an empty
stats guy. He might have been early in his career, but he is
a legitimately good offensive basketball player, and I think that when you're rebuilding,
you need someone like that. Like there's no doubt that the Bulls are still
mired in their ongoing rebuild, and I just I think if you trade Levine,
no matter what the return you're getting might be, you're just starting over
from scratch again. And it makes it harder to evaluate Patrick Williams, It
makes it harder to evaluate Wendell Carter Junior, makes it harder to evaluate Kobe
White and whoever else you get. So I think that given Levine's age and
the favorable nature of his contract, that he's the kind of player who they
should keep. I think there's a justification to be made to keep him.
But I also feel like, as he's going to approach his next contract,
I think he's a free agent in twenty twenty two. If I'm not mistaken,
you're you know, if you're not ready to compete by then, Like,
now you're gonna get to what we reply pay him a whole bunch of
money to stick around. I don't know if that's the smartest thing in it
you're dealing At the same time, Wendell Carter junior shuture at that point.
Kobe White is going to be extension eligible by that point. So I totally
get what you're saying. And he is a good offensive player, want to
make that clear, but it's also there's there's no evidence to suggest that he
elevates the play of his teammates, Like his numbers just go towards Yeah,
the Bulls are better on offense with him on the court, but they're still
just terrible. I just wonder how much of that is not being able to
fill a favorable role, just because when was the last time he played on
a team with legitimate talent around him. I don't was it the Karl Anthony
Town's Timberwolves really early in his career, when he was still developing the point
guard skills and trying to figure out what his best position was. I just
I don't think he's been given a chance to elevate his teammates because the teammates
around him aren't necessarily capable of being elevated to this point. Yeah, my
whole thing with him is that he's he's been miscast, But that is part
of the problem, is that he can't be that he I don't think it
could be your primary guy on a good team like you just can't saddle him
with that level of playmate responsibility. And that's just where I'm at with him.
And unless the Bulls think they have that player in place soon, unless
they think it's Kobe White, maybe it is, It's not going to be
Patrick Williams. This is not his role on offense. That's why I look,
I said sell high. I wouldn't just move him for the sake of
moving him. This isn't a Kevin Lover Blake Griffin situation by by any means.
Next question, though, comes from Paolito. Does Marc Gasol and Mantras
Harold's offensive addition make up for the defensive loss of Dwight and JaVale McGee,
the latter of whom is playing very well in Cleveland right now? Yeah,
I mean, I think it definitely does. Not only are they fantastic on
offense, but Marc Gasol is still a phenomenal defender, and that alone helps.
But the thing the Lakers needed to improve on. They had a great
defense throughout all of last season. It was the half court offense that struggled.
And Montrese Harold is ultimately a half court offensive player. Marcussol is a
half court offensive magician. So you're you're shoring up that weakness at the expense
of a slight decline on the defensive end. This team is still at its
best when Anthony Davis is playing the five, and he's not going to do
that with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee on the floor. He's definitely not going
to do that with Marcusol on the floor either. But you're still setting yourself
up to play your most effective style of basketball with those changes. So I
mean, between the offensive growth, the roster flexibility that you're given, and
Marcasoul's defense, I think that it's still a perfectly valid and probably an upgrade
move. The Lakers half court offense ranks in the eighty nine percent TILE when
playing without Lebron James this season. Again, such it's unfathomable, such a
tiny sample's eye. The most used line up in that scenario has been Shrewder,
Wes Matthews, Kyle who's my auntie, Davis, and Montrez Harrold.
The one quibble I have is that I probably wouldn't start both Gasol and Shrewder,
and I think it's easier to bring Shrewder off the bench just looking at
the way that the front court rotation setup is, just because I think that
you should be staggering their minutes more more rigidly. But look, the Lakers
are. They're fine, and I think that I agree with everything you you
said there. They've definitely safeguarded their lebron list minutes as well as they've can.
I just you don't ever want I don't think there should ever be minutes
where I think every single lebron list minute should basically be played without well with
both of Shrewd Ringasol on there. And it's easier to do that when one
of them isn't starting, and so that would be Shrewd. I think,
look, you could argue that shrewders the one that needs to play every single
non lebron minute, and that's easier to do if he's coming off the bench,
even if you want to close games with him still yeah. I mean,
at this point, I feel fairly comfortable saying the only thing that is
going to prevent the Lakers from looking like a bona fide super team is either
a significant injury to Lebron or Anthony Davis, or a decline and play from
Lebron, which you know is eminently possible. He's about to have his thirty
sixth birthday, Like no one can defy Father Time forever except for maybe Lebron.
So as as hard as it is to believe that could happen, I
think that's that's the only way that we're not talking about this team as just
an absolute juggernaut. Next question comes from Killian Eve. How are the Cavaliers
doing this? Collin Sexton, Darius Garland the Sexland combo. I mean,
that backcourt has just been so offensively potent, and it's amazing that they're doing
this while still trying to figure out Andre Drummond's ideal role, while Kevin Love
has a calf a calf injury, while Kevin Porter Jr. Is still going
through his legal and personal issues to make his debut. Like this is this
is a team that's defining the odds, and it's just because of those two
guys right now, Yeah, their defense has been unreasonably good. They are
second in points of loot per possession right now. My guess would be that
that does not hold. But they've done and using their game. They blew
out the Sixers, who did not have Joellanby for that game, but they
put up a fight against the next even though they were down big. They
just compete really hard. And I think Sexton's gotten on that end. He's
put he puts the full court pressure on during the during the New York game,
they have the best defense in the league. When they turn the ball
over like that's getting back after moments like that is super important. They're forcing
turnovers right now more frequently than any other team without failing a ton. Again,
I don't know how sustainable this all is. Andre Drummond has been fantastic
for them too. He had like a crazy sequence in the Philly game where
he blocked. He had two blocks, one of which was on Ben Simmons.
He powered his way, put the ball on the floor to the hoop,
kept dribble the ball off the floor through a pass to Garland, then
threw a pass too. I think it was nance or something to set up
for the easy transition land. The Calves are just they're fun, and they
have a lot of young talent, and they're not even at full strength right
now. And you could ask, you know, does Kevin love like actually
make them better? He feels like he's someone who could really plug and play.
Dylan Windler fracture his hand, Isaaca Curl's not playing right now, and
he looked really good for a rookie, And so I don't I don't know
what I would call them. I think the word that's floating around NBA Twitter
it's probably cliche, but it's also accurate. They're frisky. I wouldn't say
that they're going to contend for a playoff spot, but right now, if
they don't trade anybody, I would have thought they tried to trade Drummond this
season. I think they still should, Like, maybe they could get to
the play in like it's willing to say they can compete for a playoff spot
if they look like this and I look like I still think everything boils down
to the sex lent backcourt because they've been so potent offensively that it's allowed everyone
else to be that frisky on defense. Like, yeah, they're winning games
through Frisky, but I think it just all stems from that young backcourt,
and if it's that good, it makes everything around them better on both ends,
just because you have so many guys like Drumming like a Coro, like
Porter when he's healthy, who are capable of flitting around in half court defense
and rereaking havoc, and they're more empowered to do that and continuing to force
turnovers and continuing to get back in transition when you have two guards who are
dominating the ball. Yeah, I mean the game clearly slowed down for Darius
Garland. He looks good this year. Had a rocky performance against against the
nixt but overall he's been really good. Like I said, Javal McGee before,
and then Larry as junior is huge to have like a legitimate body to
throw Ben like a Ben Simmons player. But that's just absolutely monstrous. I'll
be curious to see how much this holds. I just don't know. I
don't know whether I expect it to hold. I am I'll say I am
skeptical as to whether the defensive performance can hold. I don't I don't necessarily
think that what they've done offensively is unreasonable at this point, and they are
as I'm looking, They're only sixteenth and offensive efficiency, So it's like it's
not like they're setting the world on fire. They they've shot a ridiculous clip
from three if I'm not mistaken, and you have to wonder if that's going
to hold. You look at Garland. We know Sexton can shoot, but
if Garland, you know, he was billed as a shooter coming out of
college, he didn't shoot too poorly from three last year for shooting forty five
point five percent from three right now, Sexton's at fifty four percent right now.
Jety Osman's at forty one percent. Javal McGee three or five from Beyond
the Art this year sixty percent. That a junior a thirty eight point five
percent, So uh yeah, you know. But again, I want to
see this team at full strength. I mostly want to see Isaaco Curl come
back, but he and Kevin Love I think could end up helping them a
great deal. I would do. I was gonna say, if I had
to force you to choose playing or not, what are you picking for them
right now? I think they'll be in the plan. Who are the five
teams? In the East that are worse than them. Five teams in the
East that are worse than them. Let's let's go through it. I mean,
I'll give you the easy one. Charlotte Chicago, right, the Knicks,
I would still say overall, even though the Knicks are they're on one.
The Pistons definitively okay. But beyond that, that's where it gets a
little tricky. Wizards. You could say, maybe, yeah, probably,
probably the Wizards would be the fifth one book below them. Yeah, that's
not I'm gonna say no because I think that maybe not that they steer out
of it, but I think there's like some regressions to the mean here.
And then also I could see them moving like you know not you know what,
Actually, they're not canna move any of the most important players of this.
I could see the moving Drummond, but I don't know how much that
really thinks them. I'm I'm still gonna say no. I just have a
suspicious feeling. But I welcome being wrong on this front. So fun fact,
I'll go back to that basketball reference NBA MVP Award tracker. The Calves
are the only team to this point of the season with two players in the
top ten. That's Colin Sexid at number seven. Okay, Darius Garland at
number three. Who would have thought that the Cleveland Cavaliers have the NBA's best
duo? Who are thought? Not me? Yeah, I mean neither,
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valid through December thirty first terms and conditions apply. Josh Sakau as if Harden
is still around at the trade deadline and the Warriors trade Wiggins, Oubrey Wiseman
and the Timberwolves pick for Harden, We've thought favorably of that possibility in the
past, but I'm kind of changing my mind there because the Warriors are further
away from contention than we thought. This team has has not looked good to
this early point in the season, and I'm just I'm no longer sure that
you want to give up Weisman, who looks extremely promising at this early stage,
and all the other assets to make that happen. Like I think it's
as simple as that is. That that was we were at least tepidly in
favor of that trade because it seemed like it could generate immediate title contention,
and I'm no longer sure that there's the requisite depth and upside for that to
happen, even with a Curry Harden backward, and what Wiseman's trade value is
improved in just a few games Wiggins is has created his clutch performance against the
Pistons aside, and what is the opportunity cost of actually getting James Harden Now,
So the framework of the deal when I had saman Ali on the pod
was Wiggins, Wiseman, Looney Pascal, and then we had the Minnesota pick
plus two additional first and two swaps. Maybe you need, let's say,
including the Minnesota pick, a total of two first and two swaps, But
like, that's are you willing to give up a control of four first round
picks, three of which would be your own, one of which would be
the Minnesota pick plus Wiseman because Wiggins's deal is just such a net negative.
Like that's how you have to view it. And so I would still do
it just because it's James Harden, but I do I need to see Draymond
Green first to understand whether this team is actually one top five offensive player away
from making the jump into authentic title contention. And I think that's the biggest
question mark that we've seen. At the end of the day, though it
is James Harden. So if that deals on the table. I don't know
if you would work Ubrey into it. Maybe that makes it more palatable to
Houston because of his expiring contract, but you need the money to work,
and maybe there's something you can work out when you're getting Pga Tucker back as
well, because he would help a ton for the Warriors who desperately need center
play. And that's also the problem with trading Wiseman is after you lose Chris,
centers are like kind of replaceable. But right now you're gonna already rely
on a bunch of Draymond Green is probably gonna play a bunch of five.
We've already seen Pascal plays in five. Yeah, so that talker might have
to be a part of that deal. I'd still do it, but I'm
less confident about it, and I think what would be important is if that's
even a possibility, you need to see what you look like with Draymond Green.
First, Chencho poku Ball asked what is a good package for George Hill
and who needs him the most. I guess those questions were kind of intertwined
because the package for George Hill depends on who actually needs him most. I'll
throw some teams at you. Some people mentioned Brooklyn after the Dinwoody injury.
I get that, Like, I don't know that they need him. They
have TLC. If Shamont starts shooting better, Hill could probably handle the ball
like more than both of them. But I don't know that you need to
replace Dinwoody unless you don't consider Leavert a good enough backup playmaker, and I
would argue that he is. Also Bruce Brown's best position is point guard,
and so if you can find more minutes for him, I think that that
helps you. I thought Boston was a good one. They do it.
Mine went first, but Peyton Pritchard has been phenomenal so far. I just
still playoff time and they don't have like a I mean, he might be
the knockdown shooter, but they could use just another like guy who is molten
from beyond and not off the dribble stuff, just like off the ball,
absolute molten. And so they have the trade exception. They have some of
those young guys if they're just going to do it with players, and you
know, they have salaries that they could pile on top of one another to
get to George Hill, who I believe is making what is he had eleven
million this season. I forgot to check that before we answered this, but
they were a team that that sprung to mind for me. There are other
contenders that I know or he would be a really good fit right now.
Actually it would be New Orleans, but they could have had him but did
not. Uh maybe a Dallas might be interesting for him, you know,
it was coming to mind for me as Phoenix. That's interesting another Yeah,
but are you really that excited about either of them at this point? Like
Javon Carter plays so hard, but that's primarily on the defensive end. I
don't have much confidence in pain, so getting that third ball handler alongside and
behind Chris Paul and Devin Booker could go a long way. And they do
have some front court clutter to get rid of too. Yeah, I could
see Jevon Carter's offense, especially his start. I could see that making some
people nervous. Cameron pretty actually hasn't been too bad. Maybe the Clippers would
be at they need, Like George Hill's not what you would call point guard,
but he would be. He would be the best point guard on their
roster. And the fewer Reggie Jackson minutes the better. Yeah, those but
like, he's also something that you would just trust more to run point than
Patrick Beverley in a playoff series, I would think. I thought, maybe
even maybe Miami, they probably need someone who's just a little bit better at
shot creation. I was gonna troll and say Milwaukee could really use him,
but that's you know, we can move on from there. Phoenix is interesting
though. I think you could just name really any confident bench player, and
Philly would definitely have a need. You don't believe in Shake Milton. I
believe in Shake Milton, but you still need like I guess this Tyres Maxie
your guy after that? Do you think he's good enough to shoulder those minutes?
Maybe I really liked him coming into the draft fair enough. I mean,
those are the teams that would spring to mind for me. I think
Boston could be interesting too, just because I'm not sure that they're ready to
give big minutes to Malachi Flynn. So if you, I mean, you
know what they would do too, because Norman Powell is so frustrating. You
could probably see Lowry event Fleet and George Hill play together just for the hell
of it. I'd be here for it. At the four sakram At the
five let's roll. Those are the teams that springs to mind. Boston would
most intrigue me. Look, if Orlando keeps this up, maybe them they're
there, they're four now, so yeah, but I don't think you want
to take touches away from Cole Anthony and Marquel Faults at this point if they're
just decidedly intent on continuing their run or first round exits. You go when
you get George Hill and you think about the rest the rest later is that
that's the hill you want to die on? Here? Wow, that was
bad. But Boston intrigues me most just and they have not only the trade
exception, but like just between their other young players, I think it's clear
you wouldn't give up a Pritchard for them, but like what is Carson Edwards
to them at this point? Meal Lankford's injured? How high are they on
him? I wouldn't give up Aaron Nay Smith or Grant Williams. Like there's
stuff you could do to get to the money to work, and so that
would be one that interests me. Or could you just take them into your
trade exception and send back a pick or do a separate trade with an actual
player. You get the gist there. Next question as we roll through,
try and get through as many of these as possible, scrolling up because I
scrolled pet past all of them. But from Jacob Bourne, very good friend
of the pod, what's something in your life you've metaphorically or literally won by
fifty one points? Please either answer for yourselves or each other. Wow,
that's tough. I don't know that I've ever won anything by fifty one points.
I'm trying to think of, like I've definitely won video games by like
a bunch of points against the computer. I'm just trying to think of,
like what I never in real life though, Like I would be on the
team that would be losing by fifty one points. Yeah, that was a
pretty frequent occurrence for me as well. Anyway. He also, I want
Jacob to tell us what our answers should be, right. That's my answer
to this question, is that I need to hear from Jacob what he thinks
our fifty one point wins have been in life. He did. Also,
Jacob also sent this fun NBA facts about number fifty one top fifty first draft
picks Monte Morris, Kyle Korver, and Lawrence Funderburke, who also war number
fifty one. And did you know Anton Jamison one scored fifty one points in
back to back games and that the night of the second game, Kobe also
scored fifty one? My question, what do you think of all that?
I'm just impressed he took the time to look it all up. I'm I'm
both impressed and like a little worried for him. Right, this will be
the unless you have other ones, This will be the last one comes from
Rod. I do have one, Okay, Pedrid Pedrigo Roderen Cob Sorry if
I've missed your name here. Aside from the group, I've already established young
guards, don't Simmons? Young Mitchell? Who was more likely to have the
best career? And what about the highest peaks? Tears Russell D'Angelo. I'm
assuming DeAngelo, Russell Anthy, Edwards, Jah Morant, Daron Fox, Shae
gil Just, Alexander, Jamal Murray, both Ball brothers LaMelo and Lonzo,
Darius Garland, Colin Sexton, Mark l Folks, Derek White and Hayes.
Who my who's Hayes? Jillian? Oh my god? I apologize Pistons fan
Killian Hayes or Jackson Hayes. It could be Jackson Hayes's guard hybrid point center.
Right, So, so what do you think has Well, here's how
I want to handle this, because this was the one I was I was
going to bring up because I didn't think that you had seen this one.
I want to draft these guys just in a vacuum. I want to.
I want to go through and draft them with you. The answer is no,
but thank you for asking. The answer to my request, yeah,
is no. You don't have that kind of authority here. That's also fair.
Let's do this. Who gets the first pick? I guess you should
because it was making you do it, so you can have the first pick.
Okay, I'm going to take Jamra. Yeah, I figured you would.
That's the right decision. I mean, he's he's the favorite to have
the best career and the highest peak, right Yeah. I mean, look,
this is even just seeing it this season, and he still has to
get a little bit more comfortable with three point shot, even though it seems
like he is more comfortable there. We're not talking about just an All star
like this. He's an All NBA like MVP candidate type. I'm totally with
you. I'm totally with you. He was my easy number one choice.
I'll go with j Aaron Fox second. I feel like the game fully slowed
down for him last year towards the end of the season, and I'm just
excited to see the level that he can reach this year. His speed is
unreal, he has such good command of the ball. I think this is
the season we see it so often, where these these young guards who are
tasked with so much offensive responsibility, they struggle on the defensive end until the
offense of ND becomes a little easier. I think he's going to become a
complete star this year. I think that's probably the right pick. The only
other pick for me, Well, I guess there's two possible ones. But
I'm gonna take one of those two possible shake Hill just Alexander for me.
Just he's already shown just the from scratch offense. Would you like him to
hit some more off the dribble threes, Yes, but he can at least
work off the catch there. He's just change of pace inside the arc is
Breed needs to be a better playmaker. I think he makes up for that.
Where I do think he will get to a point where you can elevate
entire offense on his own, but immediately he makes up for what he can
do on defense. We saw some lapses in the playoffs last year also on
offense as well from him, but he like has wing range there and so
this is that's the easier That's an easy two pick for me. I don't
think that was the right pick, but I don't think it was like very
wrong either. I would have gone with Jamal Murray just because we've seen him
do it on the big stage, like he absolutely detonated in last season's playoffs,
and just the offensive flammability as he's becoming more comfortable as as a lead
ball handler and as a go to score. He does not have the defensive
upside or all around upside of Gilja at Alexander, but just the ability to
absolutely carry an offense in games that matter, especially in a playoff series where
opposing coaches are making adjustments designed to slow him down and it's not working.
Just the fact that we've already seen that from him makes me put him a
little bit ahead. We're not building an actual team here, right, We're
just drafting these in a vacuum. Correct correct LaMelo ball would be my pick.
The scoring needs to come along, but his jumper doesn't bother me.
I've seen him take someone off a catch in Charlotte and his passing is just
otherworldly here, and I think he has a better chance of piloting and initiating
offenses in the half court and Lonzo does right now, a much better chance,
I should say, by the way, that's fair. I think it's
a risky pick, but it's hard to say that it's like a wrong one.
I'm gonna go with Colin Sexton. I'm buying what we're seeing, what
we've seen at this early stage of the season for the Calfs, just the
shot is clicking, the command of the offense is clicking. It's sparking things
on the other end. He I think Seth part Now from the Athletic made
this comparison, but he looks like pre scooter accident Monte Ellis and it's accurate.
Like, I totally see that comparison. I actually had a friend organically
make the same comparison earlier today, and yeah, I'm totally buying that.
It's just like this absolute offensive force as both a passer and a scorer.
This is where it gets really tough. I'm going to take Derek White.
I think he showed some stuff in the bubble last year. People were kind
of up in arms about the extension that he got. He gives you just
good positional defense at the one and the two can work off other players if
he just makes more of a concerted effort to use the pull up jumper when
defenses are going under him, and to like maintain the same level of aggression,
because when he can attack the rim, he could be pretty dangerous at
points. I think it's a risky play, but I think he has a
much higher ceiling still than he's shown, even though he's on the older side
for these cards. Yeah fair, I'm gonna go out on a limb here
and go with Martel Fult next. Oh do not like this at all.
It's as I said, it's a risk, but he's still only twenty two
years old. And what we've seen so far this season for the Magic has
been tremendous growth. Like even though the three point jumper is not falling yet,
he's taking them. He's taking them confidently. We've seen the free throw
stroke improved dramatically. He's shooting ninety two point three percent from the line.
Through his first three games, and there's still so much room to improve here,
and he still has so many of the explosive attributes that made him the
number one pick before you know all the drama that followed subsequently. So I
don't think he's the best player of the remaining options right now, but that
upside. Like the original question asked, who's going to have the best career
and who could have the highest peak, And I'm focusing largely on the peak
question here because if that jumper ever clicks, and even if it doesn't,
folks could be a very valuable starting point guard for a long time. I
just don't He just creates so much problems for you on offense if that jumper
doesn't come along, and I don't really think there's any reason to believe it
will. Although his free throw percentage to skyrocket last year. I'm going to
take another high ceiling play here, Anthony Edwards. I've been impressed with what
little I've seen from him. It seems like he has better feel than you
were championing. He's going to be a good score, He's going to be
an elite finisher. Bull the jumper come along. I think that's really fair
the question. I'm gonna bet just on him having such a super high peak
on offense. Then also, he's just strong enough to where I think not
only's that gonna help with his finishing, but I think he eventually turns into
a pretty good defender. So I'm going to make that dice role. I
will say that as much as I harped on Anthony Edwards not being my favorite
pick near the top of this draft, he's pleasantly surprised me, and I
wanted him to pleasantly surprise me as a fellow Georgia Bulldog, I still rooting
for him even if I thought that he would be a bust, and I
do like a lot of what I'm seeing so far, even if that jumper
still looks pretty darn shaky. But I'm gonna go with D'Angelo Russell here.
You know, he's the only guy left who has been an All Star.
Granted it was now three seasons ago, but he is still a potent offensive
weapon who can function as a lead score, can function as a lead playmaker.
And that's just that pick and roll ability, that self creation ability.
Even if he does rely on shoddy shot selection at times and doesn't get to
the free throw line nearly as often as we'd like from these lead guards.
He's still a fantastic offensive weapon. I'm gonna thank Lonzo Ball here. There's
just I thought about taking him a little bit earlier too. There's just too
many questions, as I mentioned earlier in the pod, about whether he can
run an offense from stationary positions. He's absolutely lethal and transition. I think
he's only shooting. He's shooting sub thirty five percent from three to start of
the season, but I think we've only shown the jumper is more of a
threat now. He's actually shooting an absurd percentage on pull up jumpers this season,
and so if that really comes into play, where he can dribble inside
the arc and hit jumpers, that'll be a big deal for him on whether
he can orchestrate from the half court. But it's also a matter of finishing,
which I don't know that'll ever have. Still someone you can count on
to eight catch and shoot threes, maybe a couple off the drible jumpers gonna
get you going in transition. Good rebounder, good positional defense can be disruptive
off off the ball. I feel pretty good about picking him here and there's
there's a chance that like he ends up having the peak of someone who should
have gone much earlier in this fake draft. Yeah, very much so.
With two options left, I'm gonna go with Darius Garland. The upside is
just it's two tantalizing here because he won't turn twenty one until January twenty sixth.
This is a guy who was viewed as a lottery lock and a potential
top two or three pick before injuries cut his Vanderbilt career short as a freshman
to only five games. He still went fifth overall. Had an up and
down rookie season, which was to be expected as a guy who was still
figuring so many things out, and it looks like he has figured them out
this early in the season. For the cat if that shot is legit,
if the playmaking is legit, then we're going to regret leaving him on the
board. This long Killian Hayes is all that's left. I actually think he's
going to be good, and I tweeted this the other night. He's not
had the most efficient start to the season, but in their game against the
Hawks, he just had some really good flashes. For me, I think
his jumber will end up being fine, and it looks like he's gonna end
up just having really good feel for the game on the ball, and like,
yeah, the turnovers you're gonna see are like that's just the cost of
doing business with the rookie. Some of the fouls that he's gonna give you
on defense, I don't know that he's ever going to be anyone that gets
the foul line a ton or is or is this expert finisher, But I
think he eventually gives you spacing and just really solid playmaking. And so him
being left on the board here is more about his relative unknownness than I think
about his potential, because you could talk me into him over Garland, over
Lonzo, I don't know, over anybody else. Yeah, yeah, you
can definitely tell me to him over faults. We actually do have one more
question. This one comes from Noah Noah odit or Odige. I'm sorry I
never got the pronunce eation over your last name, but he is the co
host of the Stick to Sports podcast asked what is what's the nixt ceiling slash
potential with the core they have, Well, they have Frank Natilakina, so
they should be a title contender. I still I don't know why you're pronouncing
the tea in Natilaki and now you're gonna have me to it in Nilaquina,
just to mess with you. If they don't make any changes this season,
I would still say they're ceiling tops out as like the eleventh best team in
the East, where I wouldn't expect them to make the play in And I
already kind of mentioned this at the top of the podact. They need eventually
more shooters on this team to help out RJ. Barrett, if he's the
guy they're rolling with. What they still lack is just the one person you
could point to though and say, hey, that's our north Star, our
guiding light. They've been They've been very just. They've been a nuisance so
far this season. I think they deserve all the credit for that. But
I don't with this exact roster, I don't know where I would put them
in the East above eleven. I don't know what it would take, Like
Julius Randall would have to keep playing like this, as my voice cracked a
little bit there. You would need Frankie Lakeen to continue shooting the hell out
of three pointers. You need Kevin Knox has had some pretty good shooting games,
even though he's not shooting. The best clip from beyond the arc this
season. Alec Burks, if he's healthy, he was sort of lighting it
up. So if you're able to give minutes to him, and Austin Rivers
gets healthy, and we see Mitchell Robinson get his fouls under control, which
he's kind of done the best couple of games, and Obie Toppin pans out,
could they work their way into the play in I would say the keys
to doing that are RJ. Barrett has to be more game one, first
half of game one for most much of the season. Julius Randall has to
play like he's playing now Burks. You need Burks to be what he was
before, and then you need someone to burst. And I wouldn't say that
that's Mitchell Robinson, He's not going to give it to you. On offense,
maybe it's Neila Keen is showing that he can run the offense in absence
of Alfred Peyton, so that would be it. I'll say tenth to be
somewhat optimistic, but I don't know that I could talk myself into the to
the best version of these Knicks being higher than that. I don't have much
to add to that. I'll just say that it would be a very very
Knicks move to be just good enough to contend for a meaningless play in game
in the East and miss out on Kaid Cunningham and Jalen Suggs and Evan Mobley
at the top of the twenty twenty one draft like that would be just vintage
New York Knicks. Yeah, I don't know if they get to that point
where like Julius Randall has them, like in the play in like contention,
I'm trading Julius Randall and I'm trading Alec Burks. And if Austin Rivers helping,
you're gone. Norland's now well gone. This is not the season to
do that, like you need him. So sold on both Cunningham and Suggs.
And it's almost like the Knicks have needed a point guard for roughly forever.
But anyway, I don't I don't think that's the danger they do have.
And look, in the regular season, a good defense wins you games.
There's seventh defensive efficiency right now. Some of that's lock opponents are.
They have the third best opponent affect the field goal percentage in the league.
And we saw the Cavaliers miss a ton of wide open looks against them.
We shall have a Bucks missed a crap ton of wide open looks against them.
So I don't know that that holds either. But I think they're gonna
end up being fun bad. That's my prediction for them. That's their seeing.
I agree with that fun bad is a good ceiling. That doesn't for
us. Thought this was a good mailback we got to I think pretty much
every question that came in. So thank you guys for your questions. Please
again continue to send them in. If you have not done so, please
please pretty please with sugar on top. Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get
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Help us there, rate and un rate, and definitely rate end review.
Go over to iTunes search Hardward Knox. I don't care whether you use iTunes
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leave you with a shout out to the one the all shooting above forty percent
from Beyond the Arc since January twenty fifth of last season. Nick's cornerstone Frank
Ntila Tina. But that that