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Hustle dot com slash Join. Hello
everyone, and welcome to another episode of

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00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,599
Hardwood Knocks. This is Adam Prommel
here with my co host Dan Favallei,

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and we are turning to the mailbag
for today's episode. You all have been

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kind enough to throw some questions at
us on Twitter, at the NBA Math

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00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,719
account, the Hardwoodknox account on the
social media platforms, and we are going

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to be answering most of those questions. I believe the podcast, as always,

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is brought to you by bet online
dot ag and indeed they'll be hearing

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from them shortly. But most importantly, Dan, before we get into this,

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how's it going. I am doing
well. We were recording this after

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I spent a ton of time watching
the Knicks cav game. It was nice

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to see the Cavs really put up
a good fight against a true contender.

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Lost, but they still their defense
was good. I like the effort from

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the Calves there. Also, watch
a bunch of Warriors Pistons. I've seen

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a lot of pistons lately, and
I'm in love with Sadiq Bay so hopefully

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none of these takes are outdated as
of when this goes up on Wednesday morning,

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because we're recording this during the start
of the late games, of which

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there are only a few. How
are you doing, I'm good, I'm

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curious are you Are you coming around
on Julius Randall yet? Is he your

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favorite player? Now? No,
he's not my favorite player, and I

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think the Knick should probably trade him
while his value is this high. But

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I really do have to, I
really do have to commend like the job

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he's done is passing, and there
are still a few players that make me

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cringe every single game, and I
do think this isn't him specifically. But

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if you want your RJ. Barrett
third on the most Improved Player ballot picked

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the pen out, you just need
they need another shooter on the floor for

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him so that they can put the
ball in his hands more. My other

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quibbles that if you're gonna have Frank
Nilikina try and run point, which I'm

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okay with, set the guy at
damn screen like everyone. I don't know

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if it's because they don't think he
uses them properly, but they just run

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away when they're about to screen.
For him and then he'll just give up

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the ball. So those are my
takes. Frankie'keena is still shooting over forty

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percent from three since January twenty fifth
of last season, so I'm living the

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dream and I'm hoping once Emmanuel quickly
is healthy that frankie'keena's minutes did not fall

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by the wayside, even though I
think we can all agree his future does

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not lie in New York. He
fired Leon Rose is his agent after his

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rookie season. Leon Rose is nothing
president of the Knicks. I didn't think

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they were going to sign an extension
like agreed at once. That doesn't surprise

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me, but I think we can
all agree that he's probably living in free

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agency. You're getting traded this season
and that concludes are once per episode segment

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on Natilakina. We're only two minutes
deep, so I have a few minutes

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left if that's okay. Are you
ready to dive into this mailbag? Though?

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We got fantastic responses, and I
do want to say, like,

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please respond. The tweets look so
bad when they're coming from like I don't

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send them from my account because I
have nine plus k followers and I don't

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want the look of not having any
responses. Hardwood Knox has like four plus

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k followers. Don't let us send
a tweet out where there's no responses.

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It's happened to me on MBA math
too, and it's happened to you as

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well. And that's even worse because
we have seventy K followers. I'm just

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I am the unequivocal master of sending
out mailbag solicitations that get exactly zero responses.

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You don't know what it is like, I try to be creative,

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I try to include some sort of
media element and it's just it's amazing,

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like without fail you no one wants
to give me the questions you need less

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shame like I beg for them in
the tweets. Now, so you all

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came in resounding. First it was
just Friends of the Pods. We have

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like two from Friends of the Pods. But then they came rolling in.

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So we appreciate everyone who asked a
question. We'll try and get to all

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of them because we do have a
bunch, but please, we'll try and

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get the habit of throwing them from
the Hardwood Knox account since that's the actual

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podcast account. But please, just
respond to them. That's all we ask,

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pretty please and thank you. Are
you ready to get through this?

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No, let's do it. Let's
start with the first question that came in

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from Brian Toperek, host of the
NBA podcast which we just appeared on recently,

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The Two of Us. He has
two questions, how does the Spencer

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Dinwoody injury reshape the top of the
East? And which team will be undefeated

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the longest? And why is it
the Hawks, who, by the way,

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after the Cavs loss, are still
in contention for that title. But

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let's start with the Spencer Dinwoody injury
and the East. How do you see

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that? Do you see it reshaping
the picture at all? I don't.

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I don't think it will, just
because as good as Dinwoody is and as

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important as he is to the Nets, if Brooklyn is going to be a

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true contender this season, which it
very well could be, it comes down

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to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
They can overcome any loss that isn't one

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of those two players. Because even
with Dinwitdy gone, you still have Carris

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LeVert, you still have Landry Shamatt, you still have Tyler Johnson to pick

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up those minutes, you still have
TLC coming off the bench. So as

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long as those two center pieces are
healthy, I don't think that any other

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injury, even to DeAndre Jordan or
Jared Allen or Joe Harris, is going

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to derail them. It comes down
to those two players. Yeah, the

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thing that I could see at reshaping
and people of frame this in the James

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Harden trade possibility context, I actually
disagree there. I don't think Spencer Dinwoody

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with a player option for next season
that he was bound to decline if he

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was healthy. I don't think that
makes was ever going to make or break

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a Harden deal. It comes down
to the future first that they're going to

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include, how far out they're going, how many of them there are,

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Caros LeVert, so you definitely want
him to be healthy, and then what

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other teams are offering. So Spencer
Dinwoddy is probably even below Jared Allen on

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the list of assets that matter in
that trade. That's not an indictment on

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how good Spencer dinwo he is,
because I do think that there was probably

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a team that would have paid him, you know, between fifteen and twenty

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million dollars a year in free agency. This summer. I don't know if

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that will happen anymore, So you
do it to see that. What I

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think it actually changes is the net's
ability to make another move that matters,

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because now, like looking at his
salary and just his overall value, like

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that was the player you could move, knowing you'd still have a ton of

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ball handling because of Caros, Kevin
rant Kyrie Irving, and then you could

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try and prioritize like perimeter defense or
just defense in general at the worst spot.

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Aaron Gordon was a name that I
kept coming back to for them,

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and Orlando could certainly use someone like
Spencer Dinwiddie, So that type of framework,

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and now you're sort of left with
when you're looking at potential salary filler

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too, Torrian Prince and stuff,
and what is that stuff to make Torrian

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Prince's deal which is looking just worse
and worse by the day, Like what

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are you now able to do?
So can you make that medium size move

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now? Is what I would question. That's what that changes. The Nets

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maybe so good already that it doesn't
matter though. Now as for Brian's second

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question, we're down to two undefeated's
left, and somehow those are the Orlando

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Magic and the Atlanta Hawks, And
as much as it pains me to say

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this, it's probably going to be
the Magic that are the last undefeated team

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left standing, and that's only because
of how the game's line up. So

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the Hawks play next on Wednesday night
against the Brooklyn Nets. That might not

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go so well. After the hawks
first three wins came against non playoff teams

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from last year, and the Magic
have the luxury of waiting to play into

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Thursday, when they're probably going to
lose the Philadelphia seventy six ers. So

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my prediction is that by this weekend
we won't have any remaining undefeated teams,

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which is hilarious this early in a
season as topsy turvy as it's been.

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But the Magic are the beneficiaries of
having that extra day off. Yeah,

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so that definitely helps them. The
thing I've been impressed with with the Hawks,

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though, one they have the leagu's
best offense right now, and they've

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been about average defensively, which is
kind of above average defensively. Trey Young

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actually is like been a pesky defender
who has been in the right spots,

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has absorbed contact, has made the
right rotations. He might not finish dead

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last in every possible defensive metric this
year. Yeah, he and both he

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and Branding Room both just look like
they're playing more physical. And I'm just

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using them as comps because they're both
like so like skinny and smaller. Branding

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Room's actually fairly tall. They have
the league league's best offense been about average

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defensively, and that's like while not
getting a great start from John Collins and

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just being banged up beyond reason,
where Rondo only recently made a season.

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You Chris Dunn has a foot injury
right now. They haven't had a ku

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Yeah, so like they haven't had
like their full supply of players available,

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and like we're getting they had minutes
for good minutes being played by Nathan Knight

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and their win over the Grizzlies.
They have to be careful with him because

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he's a two way player at the
moment, so, but he was intriguing.

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But like you've I've seen a lot
of Solomon Hill in the Hawks games

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that I've watched thus far. It's
like I would say a Gallo ended up

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too. So they have not had
by anywhere near anywhere near their fullcast of

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supporters there, and so to still
be undefeated. Yeah, you can look

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at the teams that they've beaten and
John no, John Rand didn't go down

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in the loss of them. That
was a loss of the Nets. So

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like, yeah, they've they've beaten
some teams that like aren't very great,

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but like they've had some like the
Pistons game, Like the Pistons put up

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a fight in that one. So
I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Hawks

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less. Yeah, And so I
wouldn't be surprised if it's the Hawks.

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They definitely have the tougher road to
it. But I'm now more interested than

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ever to see what this team looks
like at full strength, in so far

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as it ever gets to it this
season. The reason I'm confident that we

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00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,960
won't make it to the weekend with
an unbeaten team, though, is because

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I don't think the Magic are going
to be going to beat the seventy six

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ers. If they do, all
be wrong. But the Hawks have to

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00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:13,799
play the Nets twice, and like
they probably aren't sweeping the Nets in Brooklyn,

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probably not. I feel like that's
a safe bet. Brooklyn didn't lose

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to the Hornets, but they didn't
lose to the Hornets twice at home.

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That's also fair fair as well.
So yeah, I mean, but it

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00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,919
look, I'm just saying the hawkstart
has been more encouraging than not. Under

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the circumstances. They feel like a
very legitimate good team. Yes, I

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think we can already. They're not
going to go and defeat it. Maybe,

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but we're not gonna say that.
Maybe they'll be like seventy and two.

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They'll lose those two games to the
nets, and then that'll be it.

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That's fair. They'll they'll just learn
from that. Then when everyone's healthy,

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just run rough shot over the league. I mean, it's just the

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00:10:50,919 --> 00:10:54,159
final note for me on them is
it makes a world of difference just having

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good shooters around Trey Young. They
were dead last and three point percentage last

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year. They're now second, and
they I feel like they haven't been using

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00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:05,039
him off the ball as much as
I would have liked, but they also

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haven't had their full supply ball handlers
available, so that doesn't surprise me.

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And then also he just hasn't had
to do as much and his even though

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his floaters aren't falling at the moment, like there's more room for him to

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operate, and it just shows me
the dude is averaging fifteen free throw times

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00:11:18,639 --> 00:11:20,159
per game, like he's doing a
lot. I think he's still doing.

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Your thing is that the shooters aren't
hitting their shots yet, Like we're seeing

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how beneficial the spacing is just through
their sheer presence, not through them actually

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connecting on those looks. Well there
and when they do start hitting, which

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they probably will, like Loogdonna has
already like kind of came out of good.

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Yeah, Bodonna's kind of got hot
in the game against the Pistons,

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so that'll help. But yeah,
there their team that I'm just even more

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interested in after seeing their first few
games. This next question, through through

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00:11:46,519 --> 00:11:50,600
some shade at me, probably deservedly
so, comes from Doctor Mantis to Boggan

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00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,080
core Boar. Is the handle?
Can you guys talk about the Pells?

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00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,600
How the talk about how good the
Pells look with Steven Adams and how wrong

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00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:03,759
damn Dan was about Adams's impact.
I followed up with this question because I

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00:12:03,799 --> 00:12:05,960
wanted to tell what I said that
was inflammatory and on our Pelicans preview with

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00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,679
Mason Ginsburg, I said, whereas
I think about the Tristan Thompson addition for

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00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,720
Boston and hate it. The more
I think about it, the more I

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00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,240
think about Adams for the Pels,
I like it. I just am not

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00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:22,279
crazy about the opportunity cost of it. That being said, I apparently was

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00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:26,039
among the national analysts whatever you want
to call me, bemoaning that they didn't

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put a floor spacing five next to
Zion. The Pelicans are shooting as of

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they're playing at the moment while we're
recording this, But entering Tuesday night's game

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against the I can't even remember who
they're playing right now. I'm blanking on

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it. But entering Tuesday night's game, they are shooting four against the Suns,

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They're shooting forty two point five percent
from three when Adams and Zion are

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on the floor. I don't know, and that I expect that to hold.

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And by that I mean I don't
expect that to hold. But Steven

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Adams has done a great job like
creating space with his screens. He's done

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wonders for them. You could just
see. I don't know if this is

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him, but like they're pretty good
defensively this year. Maybe that's part Adams,

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that's part stand and Gundy's magic touch. But like Brandon Ingram looks more

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engaged. There was a play the
other night where he like shoved Lonzo Ball

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back on to his assignment. So
those are all good harboring jers, and

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I think there's something to be said
about just having above a reliable, above

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average center play for x amount twenty
five to thirty plus minutes per game,

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where you didn't even have that in
Derek Favors. He was playing a smaller

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role and he just wasn't as available, So I would guess I'm impressed by

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what he's done for the Pells,
but like their offense is not good yet,

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Like brand Ingram looks great, his
playmaking has been fantastic. He's taking

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more off the dribble jumpers, and
like they look good, they're not necessarily

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falling at the highest clip Right now. They have the league's worst half court

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offense though as of this writing,
and there are still lineups where I would

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just question whether they're current shooting clip
is going to sustain It's there are moments

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or combinations where they can struggle to
have two good shooters on the court at

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the same time, or maybe more
than two, because I think brandon Ingram

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counts and then one of Josh,
both of Josh harton read account. But

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they're not playing together a ton that
I've seen just yet, and that it's

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like, do you consider Lonzo Ball
a good shooter? Like, I don't

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think you could go that far.
And overall, their fourteenth and three point

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efficiency for the season at thirty six
point five percent, which is fine,

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and you know you would like to
see them up like higher because top ten

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right now is well into the thirty
eight thirty nine percent range. So that's

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still something I'm going to be watching. I do not hate the Stephen Adams

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addition, and I'm sure that I
was wrong on some level. Maybe I

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thought it was gonna make them.
It could hamper them defensively because they wouldn't

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be as mobile, even though Adams's
teams have generally done a better job of

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limiting looks at the rim when he's
been on the court. So the Pells

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have been fine encouraging. I need
to see a lot more from their offense

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overall, and I think they're built
to struggle in the half court when you

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look at Letzo Lonzo Ball doesn't really
operate on ball in the half court as

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well. Ingram is good enough to
kind of get them out of it,

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but they might need to get quirkier
some of their lineup combinations, or maybe

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their roster construction comes back to bite
them. We're still so early, it

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remains a concern of mine. According
to NBA Maths adjusted team ratings, the

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three worst offenses in the league so
far, and with this stat, one

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hundred is league average, anything below
is worse the Golden State Warriors eighty nine

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00:15:18,679 --> 00:15:22,440
point seven, the Toronto Raptors ninety
two point six, and the New Orleans

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00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,799
Pelicans ninety three point one. That's
all entering Tuesday slate of games. I

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00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,960
don't expect any of those three to
hold, and the Pelicans in particular,

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it's not necessarily because Adams is a
great fit alongside Zion, Williamson and everyone

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else, but because they just do
have that requisite talent to figure things out

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and experiment with more lineups. As
you mentioned, I still have concerns over

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the lack of shooting, but the
big, the big qualm with the Adams

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00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:56,759
addition was the pairing with Zion,
And with respect to just that pairing,

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I've seen enough that I'm already not
concerned. And if the early results haven't

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been great, just because Zion has
such a preternatural understanding of spacing and body

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control that even if the paint is
a little bit more congested, it just

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doesn't seem to matter. He's a
freight train in the open court. He

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00:16:12,679 --> 00:16:18,200
has an uncanny ability to kind of
squeeze through those crevices and still find ways

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00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,200
to finish plays above or below the
rim. And I just think that because

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he has that ability from the four
spot, that you can get away with

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having that Adam's pairing because Steven Adams
does so many other things well. He's

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a fantastic screen setter, he's a
great team defender, he's a great individual

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defender. He's an underrated passer.
He has some ability to put the ball

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in the basket from around the hoop
even if he isn't stretching the floor.

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He does so much good and Zion
is uniquely capable of accounting for the weakness,

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the purported weakness that I just don't
think it's going to matter in the

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long run. Yeah, they just
I think what's And I would even say,

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you know, you said the returns
haven't been like great, I would

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say they've been really good with and
Steven Adams and the floor so far.

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I mean on defense, just not
on offense to be questionable on offense.

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They are so dependent on brandon Ingram
right now where they're not operating in transition.

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We're the need to figure out.
His half court offensive rating differential is

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in the seventy third percentile right now. Again that's still early, but that's

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that's just monstrous. And when you
look at like some of the other main

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ball handlers Bledsoe, Ball Reddick,
the offense is all worse when in the

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half court, when they're on the
on the floor right now. So just

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something modern and Coreboard did make.
I don't know your first name. I

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00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,960
apologize as a Corey at but we've
talked on Twitter a bunch and we appreciate

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00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,359
engagement. He didn't know who were
the Pells supposed to sign. When you're

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looking at the floor spacing five,
I think that's a very fair criticism.

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Like they could go out and pick
up the Dayne Deadman right now. He's

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00:17:44,799 --> 00:17:47,920
just flowing around out there, but
like that's not the optimal the idea of

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00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,880
Jayne Deadman. But he hasn't shot
threes well, and there's a two seasons

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00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,160
now ever since that year with Atlanta, or maybe it's just a full season,

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because it feels like that one season
last concept of time anymore, right,

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I think it was twenty eighteen,
twenty nineteen, so last season was

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00:18:00,319 --> 00:18:03,640
yeah, which was kind of a
dud for him there. But that's also

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00:18:03,839 --> 00:18:07,119
like, unless you were gonna get
in Aaron Baines, which I don't even

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like. He's not a bankable floor
spacer, So unless you're gonna get a

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00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,799
Marcasoul, unless we're gonna get a
Surgebaca, which you clearly weren't. And

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you could probably argue that just the
way that Steven Adams moves about on defense

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right now, he's gonna be better
freeze than a Baca. Anyway. I

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think that's a fair criticism if that's
probably something that we lacked on this podcast

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to name alternatives just because there weren't
many. I do think long term,

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if you're not playing Zion at the
five, that's what you want to do

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is find that floor spacer there?
Do you want to get to the one

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00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,759
that calls you out? Andre Bobrick, Sure, let's do it. How

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00:18:40,799 --> 00:18:45,839
wrong was Adam with his Blazers takes
and has he changed his mind yet?

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00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,680
Follow up question from Adam which takes
would those be Andre replied on the Blazers

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00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,799
wings not panning out or something.
I just remember you being very low on

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00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:56,319
them during one of the podcasts after
the Blazers beat a full Laker squad.

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I was just wondering if the defense
that Roco and JJ played change your mind.

305
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,960
Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm
encouraged by what I've seen so far.

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I don't know that my mind has
changed, And maybe that's just on

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me for not making my original points
clearer. But the lowness on the Blazers

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00:19:17,799 --> 00:19:22,519
is probably just relative to the sparkling
optimism that Dan had on the Blazers,

309
00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:26,400
Like I still had this team and
our over unders. Now they entered with

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00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:32,119
a forty point five win over under
from Vegas, I'm going forty and thirty

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00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,000
two, So I don't think that's
like particularly low. It's more just I

312
00:19:36,039 --> 00:19:41,440
had questions about that wing rotation,
not the full effectiveness of it, but

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just the individual pieces, like how
much you're going to be able to rely

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00:19:45,759 --> 00:19:48,440
on Carmelo Anthony, how much we
can believe in Robert Covington as a true

315
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,720
three and D guy because the three
ball hasn't been that consistent, Whether we

316
00:19:52,759 --> 00:19:56,039
can rely on Derrick Jones Junior and
Gary Trent junior from fairly small samples.

317
00:19:56,319 --> 00:20:00,519
So far, all those are being
answered positively. It's also only three games,

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00:20:00,559 --> 00:20:04,359
and in those three games, the
Blazers needed over time to beat a

319
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,680
shorthanded Rockets team. They beat a
full strength Lakers team, albeit on the

320
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,599
second game of a back to back, and they lost their openers. So

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00:20:11,759 --> 00:20:14,359
they still have a negative net rating
on the season. But we're only three

322
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,279
games in, so it's it's just
hard to draw too many conclusions. But

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00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:21,079
yeah, I'm I'm encouraged by what
I've seen so far. Maybe not enough

324
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:25,079
to bump them that far up in
my Western Conference pecking order, but so

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00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:27,599
far the answers to those questions,
which I do still think are valid ones,

326
00:20:27,799 --> 00:20:32,240
have been positive. It's just so
early in the season to walk back

327
00:20:32,279 --> 00:20:36,720
anything. I will say they just
seem built better built to navigate crunch time

328
00:20:36,799 --> 00:20:40,720
this season, because I mean,
I think both of us thought that they

329
00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:45,279
had a fantastic offseason, Like I
wish that I had made that more clear,

330
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,519
just because I did really like their
off season. I just I'm not

331
00:20:48,599 --> 00:20:52,599
ready to put them among the Western
Conference elites. I think that's fair.

332
00:20:52,200 --> 00:21:00,640
This question comes from Latchie Sohmerville or
Lashy Sommerville apologize for butchering the frontiation.

333
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,920
How will Triple J and Brandon Clark
co exist into the future. Example,

334
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,359
is Clark going to be a bench
guy forever or will they start together?

335
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,920
And how will that dynamic dynamic pan
out with Clark being short and Triple J

336
00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:15,640
not being the best rebounder. One
thing go on to touch on really quickly

337
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,119
with the Grizzlies. The Jahn Morant
injury is just absolutely brutal for them.

338
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,119
It's better that it's not anything like
super serious. It's a grade to sprain

339
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,880
of his left ankle. It'll keep
him out three to five weeks per team

340
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:32,200
announcement. I was lower on them
to start the season than you, and

341
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,279
we still have them figure out what
the bet would be. I think the

342
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,599
Jahn Morant injury might avoid any bet
that. Yeah, yeah, way to

343
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:44,359
walk it back now. But with
Justice Winslow still out, Jaren Jackson Junior

344
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,759
still out, this team is firmly
of the King Cunningham sweep stakes now,

345
00:21:47,839 --> 00:21:48,920
like the three to five weeks can
make that big of a difference in a

346
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,039
truncated season. I'm just happy it
wasn't more serious for Morant, and I

347
00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:59,279
hope that he comes back and jaws
fine. To the questions point, I

348
00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:03,319
personally, Jaren Jackson Jr. Is
going to have to get better not only

349
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,720
rebounding, but not fouling for that
pairing to work. They played twelve hundred

350
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:12,480
possessions together last year and they were
close to league average defensively, but that

351
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:17,880
the lineups they were playing in forced
turnovers a ton. They fouled even more.

352
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,200
They were pretty not great at rebounding, and so unless you're gonna have

353
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,480
strong rebounding guards and wings around them, that could get difficult, and you're

354
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:30,319
gonna give up kind of side like
size or strength at one of the two

355
00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:33,920
positions in the front court. I
don't know if it's tenable long term.

356
00:22:33,039 --> 00:22:37,839
Really get to answer the question.
I would be more so than the rebounding

357
00:22:37,079 --> 00:22:40,880
with Jaren Jackson Junior, which is
a real problem, but he's also played

358
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:42,039
beside, Like you know, Jan
his foun tunis for a bunch of his

359
00:22:42,079 --> 00:22:45,559
career is gonna gobble up a lot
of those. It's the fouling for me,

360
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,240
because both of those two and even
Clark maybe when he's trying to help

361
00:22:48,279 --> 00:22:52,160
like he's gonna end up just getting
a ton of fouls as well in that

362
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,160
pairing, and you don't want to
be sending offenses like throwing parades to the

363
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,039
free throw line, and that would
be the bigger concert. So until Jaren

364
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,319
Jackson, I don't want to say
proves he could improve his defense in general,

365
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,359
but he definitely has to prove that
he can defend fives consistently, which

366
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,279
he's not done yet at that spot. And I don't even know if the

367
00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:14,720
Grizzlies view him as someone they want
to put it center long term. That's

368
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,920
something that's yet to be determined.
And so my guests would be that we

369
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:22,519
never reach a point where both of
them are just regular starters. I don't

370
00:23:22,599 --> 00:23:26,799
see that being a tenable front court. Maybe it's one they come to a

371
00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:29,640
lie on a ton in the middle
of games, but I would be mildly

372
00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:33,440
surprised if they wind up starting together, you know, indefinitely, at any

373
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,400
point. Plus, Jannis Valentinus is
only twenty eight and can still feasibly be

374
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,839
a part of the long term core. But with respect the Clark Jackson pairing,

375
00:23:44,279 --> 00:23:45,680
I am concerned about it. And
I know we just said we're not

376
00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:51,279
overreacting to these small samples early in
the season, but I want to react

377
00:23:51,319 --> 00:23:56,240
a little to just how bad Brandon
Clark has looked in these first three games.

378
00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:00,880
Like, I am legitimately worried about
that, because as isn't a surprise

379
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,119
as he was last year. He
looks nothing like that player. He's forcing

380
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,480
shots with an altered jumper that is
incredibly ugly. He doesn't look like he

381
00:24:08,519 --> 00:24:12,440
knows exactly where to be on either
end of the court. His floater touch

382
00:24:12,519 --> 00:24:18,359
has all but disappeared. He isn't
getting as involved as a passer. It

383
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,279
just I don't think I'm seeing a
confident basketball player whatsoever at a time when

384
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,559
they really need him to be one. And you know, I mean,

385
00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:30,720
it's not like we're talking about a
guy with like extreme pedigree here. He

386
00:24:30,759 --> 00:24:33,279
was the twenty first pick in twenty
nineteen and was a pleasant surprise as a

387
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:37,440
rookie. So I hope I'm wrong. I hope that I don't have to

388
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,079
be concerned by the midway point of
this season, But at this stage,

389
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,240
I am worried about his ability to
be a big part of this corps.

390
00:24:45,839 --> 00:24:48,319
Yeah. Really, on even season
for him, it had like kind of

391
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,359
a good game against Brooklyn the other
night, but it was three of seven

392
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,640
at the foul line, six eleven
from the floor overall. He's actually had

393
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,279
two games five of nine in the
first game of the season in six eleven.

394
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,000
I'm from the floor in general in
the third game, but just between

395
00:25:02,039 --> 00:25:06,720
the foul shooting, the overall look
of the jump shot, the defensive weirdness,

396
00:25:06,759 --> 00:25:08,839
I guess that I would just call
it. And he's not someone who's

397
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:15,119
like really beasted on the boards for
them this year either. I think it's

398
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:17,319
definitely concerning. Look the jump shot
for him, and I didn't see the

399
00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:19,440
game against the Nets unless he reverted
back he hit his only three point attempt,

400
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,680
unless he reverted back to what it
looked like. I saw someone I

401
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,039
can't remember who it was on Twitter. I wish I could credit him saying

402
00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:30,559
it looks like he's holding the controller
button too long while he's going out for

403
00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:36,240
a shot. Two K and look
again. Just a massively tiny sample of

404
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,319
only seventy five minutes through three games, but the Grizzlies have been fifteen point

405
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,759
seven points for one hundred possessions worse
with him on the floor, and that

406
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,440
is not a great start. From
a guy you're hoping is going to be

407
00:25:48,519 --> 00:25:52,079
a breakout second year player with all
the injuries around him like that, that's

408
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,279
just not ideal. The NBA is
back in action and football is heading into

409
00:25:56,319 --> 00:26:00,400
the playoffs. You might not be
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410
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411
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418
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one word bet online. You're online
sportsbook experts. This next question comes from

419
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:42,400
Miroslav Shook. I want Dan and
Adams top five MVP favorites, actually Adams

420
00:26:42,599 --> 00:26:47,799
two to five favorites, since we
know Monte Morris is number one, So

421
00:26:47,839 --> 00:26:52,839
we did have the podcast where we
made our awards predictions. Has your impression

422
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,799
though, I can remind you of
if you don't remember who you picked as

423
00:26:56,839 --> 00:26:59,480
your five, of who you picked
to see if you think that that's changed

424
00:26:59,519 --> 00:27:02,319
at all, why don't you run
through both of ours just so people can

425
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:07,640
be reminded. Okay, So yours
was Luca at one, Yannis at two,

426
00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:11,920
Dame at three, Step at four, Tatum at five. I had

427
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,599
Tatum at one, Doni at two, Step at three, Yokich at four,

428
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,200
Yannis at five. If I had
depict changes from mine, I might

429
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,359
bump yannest way down. With his
start to the season has been a little

430
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:27,240
bit odd. I think it's more
it's better to frame this. And is

431
00:27:27,279 --> 00:27:32,359
there anyone who you think right now
that you didn't Not that you didn't consider

432
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:36,519
them, but that is like wedg's
their way into consideration to be in the

433
00:27:36,519 --> 00:27:40,440
top five that you didn't initially pick. Yes, absolutely, And why is

434
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:47,319
it Trey Young? It's Nicolai who
has just been absolutely unreal for the Denver

435
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:52,359
Nuggets and the game before we're recording
this podcast, he had eighteen assists and

436
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,920
they were just fantastic, just dropping
dimes all over the place to cutters to

437
00:27:56,839 --> 00:28:00,880
everywhere, everyone everywhere, because he
as eyes all over the place. Apparently

438
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,000
that was the first time a center
had had eighteen assistants Will Chamberlain. At

439
00:28:06,039 --> 00:28:10,400
the time that we're recording this,
and I'm talking right now, while there's

440
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,200
ten minutes and twenty one seconds left
in the Nuggets Kings game, Yokich has

441
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,279
eight points, four rebounds, six
assists, and two steals on four of

442
00:28:17,319 --> 00:28:19,839
four shooting. He's just on a
tear and we have not seen him come

443
00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:23,920
out of the gates quite like this. We know how immensely valuable he is

444
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,519
to the Nuggets, but he's typically
a player who works his way up to

445
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:32,519
that peak level, and if he's
going to start at this level, that's

446
00:28:32,519 --> 00:28:37,640
just terrifying. Now, with Trey
Young, I think to this point he

447
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,160
would be in the top five of
the MVP voting if the season were to

448
00:28:41,319 --> 00:28:45,000
end right now, But whether that's
sustainable is a different question. Just for

449
00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:51,319
fun basketball references, NBA NBA MVP
Award Tracker, which is based on historical

450
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:56,079
voting results and how they correlate with
different stats. The top five are fantastic

451
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:57,039
right now. I don't know if
you've looked at this at all, Dan,

452
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,880
Yeah, and it ruins one of
the both of the names I would

453
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,119
have inserted into the conversation at least
early. I'm definitely going to go through

454
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:10,160
it to the top five they have
right now are Yokis one percent, James

455
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,640
Harden one point one percent, Darius
Garland from the Cleveland Cavaliers one point nine

456
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,519
percent, Demontes Sibonis who has been
phenomenal at two percent, and Trey Young

457
00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:22,559
at ninety one point eight percent.
So he might as well just hand him

458
00:29:22,599 --> 00:29:26,640
the award now he's in there.
The one that's Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving

459
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,720
is eminently like in could get into
the conversation. Maybe they cannibalize votes from

460
00:29:32,079 --> 00:29:34,400
each other. As someone who had
Steff in their initial top five, i'd

461
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,960
probably put say that one of them
is more likely to finish in the top

462
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,240
five to Step at this point,
just based on how the Warrior season as

463
00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:44,559
gone. Although they did pick up
two straight wins, you know, two

464
00:29:44,599 --> 00:29:47,559
and two going home for a long
homestand it's not the worst case scenario for

465
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,480
for Golden State, and so yeah, that's where I think Tray needs.

466
00:29:51,559 --> 00:29:53,720
I think Trey is the most sustainable
one that I forgot yokis for you is

467
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,759
clear I already had it. You
think Trey is sustainable as a top five

468
00:29:56,839 --> 00:30:02,839
MVP threat, Yeah you don't.
I'm not sure, just because I again,

469
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,400
the Hawks have three wins, but
they're over three non playoff teams,

470
00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:11,079
and I don't know how sustainable this
workload is where he's not going to keep

471
00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:15,599
taking fifteen free throws per game for
the entire season. Coming into today,

472
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,759
he was averaging more free throws than
the Toronto Raptors as a team. So

473
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,680
as fantastic as he is and as
improved as he looks on defense, I'm

474
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,039
just I'm not quite sure that they're
going to need to be as reliant on

475
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,839
him now that Rondo's back and Brandon
Goodwin doesn't have to play any more minutes

476
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,720
at point guard mercifully, and just
as the other guys get healthier and are

477
00:30:33,759 --> 00:30:37,920
able to take more of an offensive
burden, I'm just not sure that he's

478
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,960
going to be there this season,
maybe next year, just since it typically

479
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,240
takes players, you know, they
gain the recognition and then they get the

480
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,799
award votes the next year a lot
of the times, so I'm just I'm

481
00:30:49,839 --> 00:30:53,599
not sure that I'm ready to put
him in that conversation. Yet I want

482
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,559
to. I want to, I'm
just not there. The narrative is billboard

483
00:30:56,559 --> 00:31:00,640
if they keep dealing with so many
injuries though, and to decide of the

484
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:07,039
good team. Next question comes from
Robert, Which starter or starters should the

485
00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:10,960
Bulls trade if when it's clear they
just don't fit together at all? Also,

486
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:14,599
does Larry Marketing look likely to perform
well enough d earn twenty million dollars

487
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,039
a year in his next contract?
Small sample size and dumb speculation, I

488
00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:23,480
know is what his parenthetical read.
I'll throwut to you first. I mean,

489
00:31:23,559 --> 00:31:27,000
if if Marketing is going to continue
to play like this, sure like

490
00:31:29,279 --> 00:31:33,759
Tuesday, what he's going to continue
to play like this? Entering Tuesday?

491
00:31:33,799 --> 00:31:37,599
He's averaging twenty point seven point seven
rebounds, He's shooting fifty two point eight

492
00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:41,279
percent from the field, forty seven
point six percent from three. That's just

493
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:45,480
not going to be sustainable though,
And that's the issue. There's no way

494
00:31:45,519 --> 00:31:48,640
he's getting twenty million dollars per year. Yeah, he would be the player

495
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,119
that I identify as a trade candidate
for them, just because he plays what's

496
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,519
going to be Patrick Williams's best position, and so unless you want to play

497
00:31:56,559 --> 00:31:57,920
both of them at the four and
five, and then you're looking at old

498
00:31:59,119 --> 00:32:01,240
and what's Wendell Carter Wendell Carter Junior's
chilling on the bench. I also think

499
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,720
it's dangerous to reinvest in anyone at
this point when you're still so early in

500
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:07,559
the there's no idea what the Bulls
are going to look like, right and

501
00:32:07,599 --> 00:32:10,599
I was so disgusted with their first
game of the season. They were they

502
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:15,680
were just wasn't as a Hawks,
and I'm sure you weren't. They were

503
00:32:15,759 --> 00:32:20,680
just so bad. And then there
are the obvious candidates, Thomas Aderanski looking

504
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,200
at him, daddy as young as
the veteran Otto porter, even if someone

505
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:27,000
wants need to wing and we'll take
on his expiring contract. The one that

506
00:32:27,039 --> 00:32:30,599
I think they should look at a
sort of a sell high situation would be

507
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,759
Zach Lavine. His contract is really
good now that that contracts aged super well,

508
00:32:35,279 --> 00:32:37,880
and yeah, he's young enough to
be a part of the next iteration,

509
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,240
but he's sort of overtaxed. I'm
just wondering what you could get from

510
00:32:40,279 --> 00:32:45,359
him this season, Like if you
can get two high end assets for him,

511
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,119
I would probably pull the trigger.
And that's not me trying to romanticize

512
00:32:49,119 --> 00:32:51,960
the idea of a rebuild. I
just think, uh, you know,

513
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,519
cardisivists like, go ahead and put
your stamp on this roster. Even more

514
00:32:55,559 --> 00:32:59,599
so, Larry Markting would be the
one that I identify though, because the

515
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:00,640
other ones, it's like, you
know, Thaddie as Young and Saderanski.

516
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:05,039
If partial guarantees next years, like
they could be viewed as they're not expiring

517
00:33:05,119 --> 00:33:07,720
is because they'll cost you money to
get rid of. But like whatever market

518
00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:09,720
is the one that you have to
look at, who you're going to pay

519
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,319
and even how a porter's expiring,
I don't know what his market's going to

520
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,720
look like. You do definitely need
wings. I just don't know that Patrick

521
00:33:15,759 --> 00:33:20,279
Williams should be playing so much three
And he hasn't been terrible there. He's

522
00:33:20,279 --> 00:33:23,359
been better defensively there than I would
have expected him to be from the Bulls

523
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:27,000
that I've watched. Again, they've
played four games, and I've seen like

524
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,480
less than half of those four games. So just to clarify that, still,

525
00:33:31,359 --> 00:33:34,680
it would be marketing for me.
I don't know if you would choose

526
00:33:35,079 --> 00:33:37,960
anybody else over him. No,
the only the only part of that I

527
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:42,559
disagree with is I wouldn't trade Levine. And maybe I'm just and forgive the

528
00:33:42,559 --> 00:33:45,680
pun here two bullish on him.
Still, I don't think he's an empty

529
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:50,880
stats guy. He might have been
early in his career, but he is

530
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,079
a legitimately good offensive basketball player,
and I think that when you're rebuilding,

531
00:33:54,079 --> 00:33:58,279
you need someone like that. Like
there's no doubt that the Bulls are still

532
00:33:58,359 --> 00:34:00,920
mired in their ongoing rebuild, and
I just I think if you trade Levine,

533
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,440
no matter what the return you're getting
might be, you're just starting over

534
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,119
from scratch again. And it makes
it harder to evaluate Patrick Williams, It

535
00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:13,039
makes it harder to evaluate Wendell Carter
Junior, makes it harder to evaluate Kobe

536
00:34:13,039 --> 00:34:16,039
White and whoever else you get.
So I think that given Levine's age and

537
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,320
the favorable nature of his contract,
that he's the kind of player who they

538
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:24,800
should keep. I think there's a
justification to be made to keep him.

539
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,559
But I also feel like, as
he's going to approach his next contract,

540
00:34:29,559 --> 00:34:31,719
I think he's a free agent in
twenty twenty two. If I'm not mistaken,

541
00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:36,920
you're you know, if you're not
ready to compete by then, Like,

542
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:38,119
now you're gonna get to what we
reply pay him a whole bunch of

543
00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:40,920
money to stick around. I don't
know if that's the smartest thing in it

544
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,519
you're dealing At the same time,
Wendell Carter junior shuture at that point.

545
00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:47,360
Kobe White is going to be extension
eligible by that point. So I totally

546
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,320
get what you're saying. And he
is a good offensive player, want to

547
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,360
make that clear, but it's also
there's there's no evidence to suggest that he

548
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,679
elevates the play of his teammates,
Like his numbers just go towards Yeah,

549
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,360
the Bulls are better on offense with
him on the court, but they're still

550
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:05,000
just terrible. I just wonder how
much of that is not being able to

551
00:35:05,079 --> 00:35:07,599
fill a favorable role, just because
when was the last time he played on

552
00:35:07,639 --> 00:35:12,880
a team with legitimate talent around him. I don't was it the Karl Anthony

553
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,280
Town's Timberwolves really early in his career, when he was still developing the point

554
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,599
guard skills and trying to figure out
what his best position was. I just

555
00:35:20,599 --> 00:35:25,400
I don't think he's been given a
chance to elevate his teammates because the teammates

556
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:31,360
around him aren't necessarily capable of being
elevated to this point. Yeah, my

557
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:36,840
whole thing with him is that he's
he's been miscast, But that is part

558
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:38,800
of the problem, is that he
can't be that he I don't think it

559
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,800
could be your primary guy on a
good team like you just can't saddle him

560
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,519
with that level of playmate responsibility.
And that's just where I'm at with him.

561
00:35:45,559 --> 00:35:50,159
And unless the Bulls think they have
that player in place soon, unless

562
00:35:50,159 --> 00:35:52,480
they think it's Kobe White, maybe
it is, It's not going to be

563
00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:55,679
Patrick Williams. This is not his
role on offense. That's why I look,

564
00:35:57,039 --> 00:35:59,400
I said sell high. I wouldn't
just move him for the sake of

565
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:02,719
moving him. This isn't a Kevin
Lover Blake Griffin situation by by any means.

566
00:36:04,119 --> 00:36:07,760
Next question, though, comes from
Paolito. Does Marc Gasol and Mantras

567
00:36:08,039 --> 00:36:13,480
Harold's offensive addition make up for the
defensive loss of Dwight and JaVale McGee,

568
00:36:13,519 --> 00:36:16,679
the latter of whom is playing very
well in Cleveland right now? Yeah,

569
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:21,519
I mean, I think it definitely
does. Not only are they fantastic on

570
00:36:21,559 --> 00:36:25,960
offense, but Marc Gasol is still
a phenomenal defender, and that alone helps.

571
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:31,519
But the thing the Lakers needed to
improve on. They had a great

572
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:36,960
defense throughout all of last season.
It was the half court offense that struggled.

573
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,559
And Montrese Harold is ultimately a half
court offensive player. Marcussol is a

574
00:36:40,559 --> 00:36:46,360
half court offensive magician. So you're
you're shoring up that weakness at the expense

575
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:51,280
of a slight decline on the defensive
end. This team is still at its

576
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,000
best when Anthony Davis is playing the
five, and he's not going to do

577
00:36:54,039 --> 00:36:58,559
that with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee
on the floor. He's definitely not going

578
00:36:58,639 --> 00:37:00,880
to do that with Marcusol on the
floor either. But you're still setting yourself

579
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:06,960
up to play your most effective style
of basketball with those changes. So I

580
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:14,119
mean, between the offensive growth,
the roster flexibility that you're given, and

581
00:37:14,679 --> 00:37:21,559
Marcasoul's defense, I think that it's
still a perfectly valid and probably an upgrade

582
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,440
move. The Lakers half court offense
ranks in the eighty nine percent TILE when

583
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:30,760
playing without Lebron James this season.
Again, such it's unfathomable, such a

584
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,800
tiny sample's eye. The most used
line up in that scenario has been Shrewder,

585
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,719
Wes Matthews, Kyle who's my auntie, Davis, and Montrez Harrold.

586
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:44,360
The one quibble I have is that
I probably wouldn't start both Gasol and Shrewder,

587
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,639
and I think it's easier to bring
Shrewder off the bench just looking at

588
00:37:46,639 --> 00:37:51,679
the way that the front court rotation
setup is, just because I think that

589
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,159
you should be staggering their minutes more
more rigidly. But look, the Lakers

590
00:37:55,199 --> 00:37:59,719
are. They're fine, and I
think that I agree with everything you you

591
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:04,559
said there. They've definitely safeguarded their
lebron list minutes as well as they've can.

592
00:38:04,639 --> 00:38:07,280
I just you don't ever want I
don't think there should ever be minutes

593
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,960
where I think every single lebron list
minute should basically be played without well with

594
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:16,880
both of Shrewd Ringasol on there.
And it's easier to do that when one

595
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:21,360
of them isn't starting, and so
that would be Shrewd. I think,

596
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:22,639
look, you could argue that shrewders
the one that needs to play every single

597
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,360
non lebron minute, and that's easier
to do if he's coming off the bench,

598
00:38:27,519 --> 00:38:30,480
even if you want to close games
with him still yeah. I mean,

599
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,760
at this point, I feel fairly
comfortable saying the only thing that is

600
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,480
going to prevent the Lakers from looking
like a bona fide super team is either

601
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:44,239
a significant injury to Lebron or Anthony
Davis, or a decline and play from

602
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,639
Lebron, which you know is eminently
possible. He's about to have his thirty

603
00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:52,280
sixth birthday, Like no one can
defy Father Time forever except for maybe Lebron.

604
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,760
So as as hard as it is
to believe that could happen, I

605
00:38:55,760 --> 00:39:00,880
think that's that's the only way that
we're not talking about this team as just

606
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:06,719
an absolute juggernaut. Next question comes
from Killian Eve. How are the Cavaliers

607
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:15,199
doing this? Collin Sexton, Darius
Garland the Sexland combo. I mean,

608
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:21,679
that backcourt has just been so offensively
potent, and it's amazing that they're doing

609
00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,800
this while still trying to figure out
Andre Drummond's ideal role, while Kevin Love

610
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:29,760
has a calf a calf injury,
while Kevin Porter Jr. Is still going

611
00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:34,039
through his legal and personal issues to
make his debut. Like this is this

612
00:39:34,119 --> 00:39:37,239
is a team that's defining the odds, and it's just because of those two

613
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:42,599
guys right now, Yeah, their
defense has been unreasonably good. They are

614
00:39:42,679 --> 00:39:45,039
second in points of loot per possession
right now. My guess would be that

615
00:39:45,039 --> 00:39:51,320
that does not hold. But they've
done and using their game. They blew

616
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,320
out the Sixers, who did not
have Joellanby for that game, but they

617
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,559
put up a fight against the next
even though they were down big. They

618
00:39:57,639 --> 00:40:00,519
just compete really hard. And I
think Sexton's gotten on that end. He's

619
00:40:00,519 --> 00:40:04,920
put he puts the full court pressure
on during the during the New York game,

620
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:12,199
they have the best defense in the
league. When they turn the ball

621
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:16,440
over like that's getting back after moments
like that is super important. They're forcing

622
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,760
turnovers right now more frequently than any
other team without failing a ton. Again,

623
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,679
I don't know how sustainable this all
is. Andre Drummond has been fantastic

624
00:40:23,679 --> 00:40:27,320
for them too. He had like
a crazy sequence in the Philly game where

625
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,280
he blocked. He had two blocks, one of which was on Ben Simmons.

626
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:31,400
He powered his way, put the
ball on the floor to the hoop,

627
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:36,800
kept dribble the ball off the floor
through a pass to Garland, then

628
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,519
threw a pass too. I think
it was nance or something to set up

629
00:40:38,519 --> 00:40:42,360
for the easy transition land. The
Calves are just they're fun, and they

630
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,079
have a lot of young talent,
and they're not even at full strength right

631
00:40:45,079 --> 00:40:46,400
now. And you could ask,
you know, does Kevin love like actually

632
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:50,159
make them better? He feels like
he's someone who could really plug and play.

633
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,440
Dylan Windler fracture his hand, Isaaca
Curl's not playing right now, and

634
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:58,719
he looked really good for a rookie, And so I don't I don't know

635
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:00,639
what I would call them. I
think the word that's floating around NBA Twitter

636
00:41:01,079 --> 00:41:05,559
it's probably cliche, but it's also
accurate. They're frisky. I wouldn't say

637
00:41:05,599 --> 00:41:07,239
that they're going to contend for a
playoff spot, but right now, if

638
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,599
they don't trade anybody, I would
have thought they tried to trade Drummond this

639
00:41:10,639 --> 00:41:15,440
season. I think they still should, Like, maybe they could get to

640
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,639
the play in like it's willing to
say they can compete for a playoff spot

641
00:41:17,639 --> 00:41:22,159
if they look like this and I
look like I still think everything boils down

642
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:28,480
to the sex lent backcourt because they've
been so potent offensively that it's allowed everyone

643
00:41:28,519 --> 00:41:31,039
else to be that frisky on defense. Like, yeah, they're winning games

644
00:41:31,039 --> 00:41:34,960
through Frisky, but I think it
just all stems from that young backcourt,

645
00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:37,400
and if it's that good, it
makes everything around them better on both ends,

646
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:43,280
just because you have so many guys
like Drumming like a Coro, like

647
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:49,199
Porter when he's healthy, who are
capable of flitting around in half court defense

648
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,719
and rereaking havoc, and they're more
empowered to do that and continuing to force

649
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:57,679
turnovers and continuing to get back in
transition when you have two guards who are

650
00:41:57,679 --> 00:42:00,440
dominating the ball. Yeah, I
mean the game clearly slowed down for Darius

651
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,280
Garland. He looks good this year. Had a rocky performance against against the

652
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,119
nixt but overall he's been really good. Like I said, Javal McGee before,

653
00:42:07,119 --> 00:42:10,000
and then Larry as junior is huge
to have like a legitimate body to

654
00:42:10,039 --> 00:42:15,440
throw Ben like a Ben Simmons player. But that's just absolutely monstrous. I'll

655
00:42:15,519 --> 00:42:19,559
be curious to see how much this
holds. I just don't know. I

656
00:42:19,559 --> 00:42:22,400
don't know whether I expect it to
hold. I am I'll say I am

657
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:27,880
skeptical as to whether the defensive performance
can hold. I don't I don't necessarily

658
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:32,400
think that what they've done offensively is
unreasonable at this point, and they are

659
00:42:32,639 --> 00:42:36,719
as I'm looking, They're only sixteenth
and offensive efficiency, So it's like it's

660
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:40,440
not like they're setting the world on
fire. They they've shot a ridiculous clip

661
00:42:40,559 --> 00:42:45,039
from three if I'm not mistaken,
and you have to wonder if that's going

662
00:42:45,079 --> 00:42:46,960
to hold. You look at Garland. We know Sexton can shoot, but

663
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,039
if Garland, you know, he
was billed as a shooter coming out of

664
00:42:50,039 --> 00:42:52,119
college, he didn't shoot too poorly
from three last year for shooting forty five

665
00:42:52,159 --> 00:42:55,320
point five percent from three right now, Sexton's at fifty four percent right now.

666
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:59,719
Jety Osman's at forty one percent.
Javal McGee three or five from Beyond

667
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:02,039
the Art this year sixty percent.
That a junior a thirty eight point five

668
00:43:02,079 --> 00:43:07,599
percent, So uh yeah, you
know. But again, I want to

669
00:43:07,599 --> 00:43:09,440
see this team at full strength.
I mostly want to see Isaaco Curl come

670
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:13,280
back, but he and Kevin Love
I think could end up helping them a

671
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:16,039
great deal. I would do.
I was gonna say, if I had

672
00:43:16,079 --> 00:43:19,840
to force you to choose playing or
not, what are you picking for them

673
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,519
right now? I think they'll be
in the plan. Who are the five

674
00:43:22,599 --> 00:43:29,079
teams? In the East that are
worse than them. Five teams in the

675
00:43:29,079 --> 00:43:30,760
East that are worse than them.
Let's let's go through it. I mean,

676
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:35,519
I'll give you the easy one.
Charlotte Chicago, right, the Knicks,

677
00:43:35,559 --> 00:43:37,960
I would still say overall, even
though the Knicks are they're on one.

678
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:44,320
The Pistons definitively okay. But beyond
that, that's where it gets a

679
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:45,880
little tricky. Wizards. You could
say, maybe, yeah, probably,

680
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:50,199
probably the Wizards would be the fifth
one book below them. Yeah, that's

681
00:43:50,199 --> 00:43:52,360
not I'm gonna say no because I
think that maybe not that they steer out

682
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,079
of it, but I think there's
like some regressions to the mean here.

683
00:43:55,079 --> 00:43:59,360
And then also I could see them
moving like you know not you know what,

684
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:00,599
Actually, they're not canna move any
of the most important players of this.

685
00:44:00,599 --> 00:44:02,480
I could see the moving Drummond,
but I don't know how much that

686
00:44:02,519 --> 00:44:06,559
really thinks them. I'm I'm still
gonna say no. I just have a

687
00:44:06,599 --> 00:44:09,760
suspicious feeling. But I welcome being
wrong on this front. So fun fact,

688
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:15,440
I'll go back to that basketball reference
NBA MVP Award tracker. The Calves

689
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,480
are the only team to this point
of the season with two players in the

690
00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:22,079
top ten. That's Colin Sexid at
number seven. Okay, Darius Garland at

691
00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:29,039
number three. Who would have thought
that the Cleveland Cavaliers have the NBA's best

692
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,320
duo? Who are thought? Not
me? Yeah, I mean neither,

693
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:37,639
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694
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valid through December thirty first terms and
conditions apply. Josh Sakau as if Harden

708
00:45:36,679 --> 00:45:40,480
is still around at the trade deadline
and the Warriors trade Wiggins, Oubrey Wiseman

709
00:45:40,679 --> 00:45:50,920
and the Timberwolves pick for Harden,
We've thought favorably of that possibility in the

710
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,079
past, but I'm kind of changing
my mind there because the Warriors are further

711
00:45:54,159 --> 00:46:00,079
away from contention than we thought.
This team has has not looked good to

712
00:46:00,159 --> 00:46:05,840
this early point in the season,
and I'm just I'm no longer sure that

713
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:12,079
you want to give up Weisman,
who looks extremely promising at this early stage,

714
00:46:12,119 --> 00:46:15,079
and all the other assets to make
that happen. Like I think it's

715
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:22,000
as simple as that is. That
that was we were at least tepidly in

716
00:46:22,079 --> 00:46:27,880
favor of that trade because it seemed
like it could generate immediate title contention,

717
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,119
and I'm no longer sure that there's
the requisite depth and upside for that to

718
00:46:31,159 --> 00:46:36,840
happen, even with a Curry Harden
backward, and what Wiseman's trade value is

719
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:42,440
improved in just a few games Wiggins
is has created his clutch performance against the

720
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:47,119
Pistons aside, and what is the
opportunity cost of actually getting James Harden Now,

721
00:46:47,199 --> 00:46:51,280
So the framework of the deal when
I had saman Ali on the pod

722
00:46:52,039 --> 00:46:57,360
was Wiggins, Wiseman, Looney Pascal, and then we had the Minnesota pick

723
00:46:57,679 --> 00:47:01,519
plus two additional first and two swaps. Maybe you need, let's say,

724
00:47:01,599 --> 00:47:06,239
including the Minnesota pick, a total
of two first and two swaps, But

725
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,280
like, that's are you willing to
give up a control of four first round

726
00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:10,639
picks, three of which would be
your own, one of which would be

727
00:47:10,639 --> 00:47:15,719
the Minnesota pick plus Wiseman because Wiggins's
deal is just such a net negative.

728
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:19,920
Like that's how you have to view
it. And so I would still do

729
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:23,239
it just because it's James Harden,
but I do I need to see Draymond

730
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:30,159
Green first to understand whether this team
is actually one top five offensive player away

731
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:32,920
from making the jump into authentic title
contention. And I think that's the biggest

732
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:36,679
question mark that we've seen. At
the end of the day, though it

733
00:47:36,719 --> 00:47:38,639
is James Harden. So if that
deals on the table. I don't know

734
00:47:38,679 --> 00:47:42,960
if you would work Ubrey into it. Maybe that makes it more palatable to

735
00:47:43,079 --> 00:47:46,039
Houston because of his expiring contract,
but you need the money to work,

736
00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:50,320
and maybe there's something you can work
out when you're getting Pga Tucker back as

737
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:52,280
well, because he would help a
ton for the Warriors who desperately need center

738
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:57,000
play. And that's also the problem
with trading Wiseman is after you lose Chris,

739
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,280
centers are like kind of replaceable.
But right now you're gonna already rely

740
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:02,840
on a bunch of Draymond Green is
probably gonna play a bunch of five.

741
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:07,000
We've already seen Pascal plays in five. Yeah, so that talker might have

742
00:48:07,039 --> 00:48:08,639
to be a part of that deal. I'd still do it, but I'm

743
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:12,920
less confident about it, and I
think what would be important is if that's

744
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:15,320
even a possibility, you need to
see what you look like with Draymond Green.

745
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:22,159
First, Chencho poku Ball asked what
is a good package for George Hill

746
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:25,920
and who needs him the most.
I guess those questions were kind of intertwined

747
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:30,639
because the package for George Hill depends
on who actually needs him most. I'll

748
00:48:30,639 --> 00:48:35,920
throw some teams at you. Some
people mentioned Brooklyn after the Dinwoody injury.

749
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:37,360
I get that, Like, I
don't know that they need him. They

750
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:43,360
have TLC. If Shamont starts shooting
better, Hill could probably handle the ball

751
00:48:43,519 --> 00:48:45,280
like more than both of them.
But I don't know that you need to

752
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:50,360
replace Dinwoody unless you don't consider Leavert
a good enough backup playmaker, and I

753
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:52,559
would argue that he is. Also
Bruce Brown's best position is point guard,

754
00:48:52,559 --> 00:48:54,920
and so if you can find more
minutes for him, I think that that

755
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:59,480
helps you. I thought Boston was
a good one. They do it.

756
00:49:00,039 --> 00:49:04,519
Mine went first, but Peyton Pritchard
has been phenomenal so far. I just

757
00:49:04,559 --> 00:49:07,679
still playoff time and they don't have
like a I mean, he might be

758
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:09,960
the knockdown shooter, but they could
use just another like guy who is molten

759
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,960
from beyond and not off the dribble
stuff, just like off the ball,

760
00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:16,119
absolute molten. And so they have
the trade exception. They have some of

761
00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:20,280
those young guys if they're just going
to do it with players, and you

762
00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:22,360
know, they have salaries that they
could pile on top of one another to

763
00:49:22,559 --> 00:49:25,559
get to George Hill, who I
believe is making what is he had eleven

764
00:49:25,599 --> 00:49:30,880
million this season. I forgot to
check that before we answered this, but

765
00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:34,000
they were a team that that sprung
to mind for me. There are other

766
00:49:34,039 --> 00:49:36,360
contenders that I know or he would
be a really good fit right now.

767
00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:39,119
Actually it would be New Orleans,
but they could have had him but did

768
00:49:39,119 --> 00:49:45,679
not. Uh maybe a Dallas might
be interesting for him, you know,

769
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:51,760
it was coming to mind for me
as Phoenix. That's interesting another Yeah,

770
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:53,360
but are you really that excited about
either of them at this point? Like

771
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:57,639
Javon Carter plays so hard, but
that's primarily on the defensive end. I

772
00:49:57,639 --> 00:50:01,559
don't have much confidence in pain,
so getting that third ball handler alongside and

773
00:50:01,639 --> 00:50:06,840
behind Chris Paul and Devin Booker could
go a long way. And they do

774
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:10,320
have some front court clutter to get
rid of too. Yeah, I could

775
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:14,480
see Jevon Carter's offense, especially his
start. I could see that making some

776
00:50:14,519 --> 00:50:17,960
people nervous. Cameron pretty actually hasn't
been too bad. Maybe the Clippers would

777
00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:21,679
be at they need, Like George
Hill's not what you would call point guard,

778
00:50:21,719 --> 00:50:23,239
but he would be. He would
be the best point guard on their

779
00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:28,239
roster. And the fewer Reggie Jackson
minutes the better. Yeah, those but

780
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:30,840
like, he's also something that you
would just trust more to run point than

781
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:34,400
Patrick Beverley in a playoff series,
I would think. I thought, maybe

782
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,679
even maybe Miami, they probably need
someone who's just a little bit better at

783
00:50:37,679 --> 00:50:42,039
shot creation. I was gonna troll
and say Milwaukee could really use him,

784
00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:45,079
but that's you know, we can
move on from there. Phoenix is interesting

785
00:50:45,079 --> 00:50:49,079
though. I think you could just
name really any confident bench player, and

786
00:50:49,159 --> 00:50:52,239
Philly would definitely have a need.
You don't believe in Shake Milton. I

787
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:57,440
believe in Shake Milton, but you
still need like I guess this Tyres Maxie

788
00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:00,000
your guy after that? Do you
think he's good enough to shoulder those minutes?

789
00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:05,159
Maybe I really liked him coming into
the draft fair enough. I mean,

790
00:51:05,159 --> 00:51:07,360
those are the teams that would spring
to mind for me. I think

791
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:10,000
Boston could be interesting too, just
because I'm not sure that they're ready to

792
00:51:10,039 --> 00:51:14,639
give big minutes to Malachi Flynn.
So if you, I mean, you

793
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:19,400
know what they would do too,
because Norman Powell is so frustrating. You

794
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:22,239
could probably see Lowry event Fleet and
George Hill play together just for the hell

795
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:24,159
of it. I'd be here for
it. At the four sakram At the

796
00:51:24,199 --> 00:51:28,280
five let's roll. Those are the
teams that springs to mind. Boston would

797
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:31,079
most intrigue me. Look, if
Orlando keeps this up, maybe them they're

798
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:35,400
there, they're four now, so
yeah, but I don't think you want

799
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:38,679
to take touches away from Cole Anthony
and Marquel Faults at this point if they're

800
00:51:38,719 --> 00:51:43,639
just decidedly intent on continuing their run
or first round exits. You go when

801
00:51:43,639 --> 00:51:46,320
you get George Hill and you think
about the rest the rest later is that

802
00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:50,000
that's the hill you want to die
on? Here? Wow, that was

803
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,119
bad. But Boston intrigues me most
just and they have not only the trade

804
00:51:52,119 --> 00:51:54,440
exception, but like just between their
other young players, I think it's clear

805
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:59,079
you wouldn't give up a Pritchard for
them, but like what is Carson Edwards

806
00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:01,239
to them at this point? Meal
Lankford's injured? How high are they on

807
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:04,920
him? I wouldn't give up Aaron
Nay Smith or Grant Williams. Like there's

808
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:07,400
stuff you could do to get to
the money to work, and so that

809
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:08,280
would be one that interests me.
Or could you just take them into your

810
00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:12,360
trade exception and send back a pick
or do a separate trade with an actual

811
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:15,000
player. You get the gist there. Next question as we roll through,

812
00:52:15,239 --> 00:52:19,880
try and get through as many of
these as possible, scrolling up because I

813
00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:23,840
scrolled pet past all of them.
But from Jacob Bourne, very good friend

814
00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:29,280
of the pod, what's something in
your life you've metaphorically or literally won by

815
00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:34,760
fifty one points? Please either answer
for yourselves or each other. Wow,

816
00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:40,360
that's tough. I don't know that
I've ever won anything by fifty one points.

817
00:52:40,559 --> 00:52:45,000
I'm trying to think of, like
I've definitely won video games by like

818
00:52:45,239 --> 00:52:50,800
a bunch of points against the computer. I'm just trying to think of,

819
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:53,639
like what I never in real life
though, Like I would be on the

820
00:52:53,639 --> 00:52:58,559
team that would be losing by fifty
one points. Yeah, that was a

821
00:52:58,559 --> 00:53:04,840
pretty frequent occurrence for me as well. Anyway. He also, I want

822
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:07,639
Jacob to tell us what our answers
should be, right. That's my answer

823
00:53:07,679 --> 00:53:12,800
to this question, is that I
need to hear from Jacob what he thinks

824
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:15,679
our fifty one point wins have been
in life. He did. Also,

825
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:19,960
Jacob also sent this fun NBA facts
about number fifty one top fifty first draft

826
00:53:19,960 --> 00:53:23,760
picks Monte Morris, Kyle Korver,
and Lawrence Funderburke, who also war number

827
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:29,000
fifty one. And did you know
Anton Jamison one scored fifty one points in

828
00:53:29,079 --> 00:53:31,360
back to back games and that the
night of the second game, Kobe also

829
00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:35,639
scored fifty one? My question,
what do you think of all that?

830
00:53:36,159 --> 00:53:38,960
I'm just impressed he took the time
to look it all up. I'm I'm

831
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:45,079
both impressed and like a little worried
for him. Right, this will be

832
00:53:45,119 --> 00:53:49,639
the unless you have other ones,
This will be the last one comes from

833
00:53:49,800 --> 00:53:54,519
Rod. I do have one,
Okay, Pedrid Pedrigo Roderen Cob Sorry if

834
00:53:54,519 --> 00:53:59,079
I've missed your name here. Aside
from the group, I've already established young

835
00:53:59,119 --> 00:54:02,760
guards, don't Simmons? Young Mitchell? Who was more likely to have the

836
00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:08,679
best career? And what about the
highest peaks? Tears Russell D'Angelo. I'm

837
00:54:08,679 --> 00:54:15,079
assuming DeAngelo, Russell Anthy, Edwards, Jah Morant, Daron Fox, Shae

838
00:54:15,159 --> 00:54:19,519
gil Just, Alexander, Jamal Murray, both Ball brothers LaMelo and Lonzo,

839
00:54:19,599 --> 00:54:25,320
Darius Garland, Colin Sexton, Mark
l Folks, Derek White and Hayes.

840
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:30,440
Who my who's Hayes? Jillian?
Oh my god? I apologize Pistons fan

841
00:54:30,559 --> 00:54:35,760
Killian Hayes or Jackson Hayes. It
could be Jackson Hayes's guard hybrid point center.

842
00:54:35,840 --> 00:54:38,639
Right, So, so what do
you think has Well, here's how

843
00:54:38,639 --> 00:54:42,119
I want to handle this, because
this was the one I was I was

844
00:54:42,159 --> 00:54:44,360
going to bring up because I didn't
think that you had seen this one.

845
00:54:45,239 --> 00:54:47,719
I want to draft these guys just
in a vacuum. I want to.

846
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:51,400
I want to go through and draft
them with you. The answer is no,

847
00:54:51,639 --> 00:54:57,719
but thank you for asking. The
answer to my request, yeah,

848
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:00,480
is no. You don't have that
kind of authority here. That's also fair.

849
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:01,840
Let's do this. Who gets the
first pick? I guess you should

850
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:05,519
because it was making you do it, so you can have the first pick.

851
00:55:06,079 --> 00:55:12,559
Okay, I'm going to take Jamra. Yeah, I figured you would.

852
00:55:12,599 --> 00:55:15,000
That's the right decision. I mean, he's he's the favorite to have

853
00:55:15,039 --> 00:55:17,880
the best career and the highest peak, right Yeah. I mean, look,

854
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:21,159
this is even just seeing it this
season, and he still has to

855
00:55:21,159 --> 00:55:22,719
get a little bit more comfortable with
three point shot, even though it seems

856
00:55:22,719 --> 00:55:25,639
like he is more comfortable there.
We're not talking about just an All star

857
00:55:25,679 --> 00:55:30,079
like this. He's an All NBA
like MVP candidate type. I'm totally with

858
00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:32,000
you. I'm totally with you.
He was my easy number one choice.

859
00:55:32,199 --> 00:55:37,920
I'll go with j Aaron Fox second. I feel like the game fully slowed

860
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:42,199
down for him last year towards the
end of the season, and I'm just

861
00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:45,920
excited to see the level that he
can reach this year. His speed is

862
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:51,960
unreal, he has such good command
of the ball. I think this is

863
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,559
the season we see it so often, where these these young guards who are

864
00:55:54,639 --> 00:55:59,599
tasked with so much offensive responsibility,
they struggle on the defensive end until the

865
00:55:59,639 --> 00:56:01,320
offense of ND becomes a little easier. I think he's going to become a

866
00:56:01,320 --> 00:56:06,880
complete star this year. I think
that's probably the right pick. The only

867
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:08,079
other pick for me, Well,
I guess there's two possible ones. But

868
00:56:08,079 --> 00:56:10,960
I'm gonna take one of those two
possible shake Hill just Alexander for me.

869
00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:15,519
Just he's already shown just the from
scratch offense. Would you like him to

870
00:56:15,559 --> 00:56:19,320
hit some more off the dribble threes, Yes, but he can at least

871
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,000
work off the catch there. He's
just change of pace inside the arc is

872
00:56:22,039 --> 00:56:23,599
Breed needs to be a better playmaker. I think he makes up for that.

873
00:56:24,079 --> 00:56:27,079
Where I do think he will get
to a point where you can elevate

874
00:56:27,199 --> 00:56:30,400
entire offense on his own, but
immediately he makes up for what he can

875
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,559
do on defense. We saw some
lapses in the playoffs last year also on

876
00:56:32,599 --> 00:56:37,519
offense as well from him, but
he like has wing range there and so

877
00:56:37,599 --> 00:56:40,400
this is that's the easier That's an
easy two pick for me. I don't

878
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:44,719
think that was the right pick,
but I don't think it was like very

879
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:49,280
wrong either. I would have gone
with Jamal Murray just because we've seen him

880
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:53,360
do it on the big stage,
like he absolutely detonated in last season's playoffs,

881
00:56:53,360 --> 00:56:59,079
and just the offensive flammability as he's
becoming more comfortable as as a lead

882
00:56:59,119 --> 00:57:02,920
ball handler and as a go to
score. He does not have the defensive

883
00:57:04,079 --> 00:57:07,639
upside or all around upside of Gilja
at Alexander, but just the ability to

884
00:57:07,719 --> 00:57:13,400
absolutely carry an offense in games that
matter, especially in a playoff series where

885
00:57:13,480 --> 00:57:16,039
opposing coaches are making adjustments designed to
slow him down and it's not working.

886
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:21,079
Just the fact that we've already seen
that from him makes me put him a

887
00:57:21,119 --> 00:57:23,199
little bit ahead. We're not building
an actual team here, right, We're

888
00:57:23,199 --> 00:57:28,280
just drafting these in a vacuum.
Correct correct LaMelo ball would be my pick.

889
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:30,960
The scoring needs to come along,
but his jumper doesn't bother me.

890
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:35,119
I've seen him take someone off a
catch in Charlotte and his passing is just

891
00:57:35,199 --> 00:57:38,679
otherworldly here, and I think he
has a better chance of piloting and initiating

892
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:43,639
offenses in the half court and Lonzo
does right now, a much better chance,

893
00:57:43,679 --> 00:57:45,440
I should say, by the way, that's fair. I think it's

894
00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:49,440
a risky pick, but it's hard
to say that it's like a wrong one.

895
00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:52,480
I'm gonna go with Colin Sexton.
I'm buying what we're seeing, what

896
00:57:52,519 --> 00:57:58,119
we've seen at this early stage of
the season for the Calfs, just the

897
00:57:58,159 --> 00:58:00,840
shot is clicking, the command of
the offense is clicking. It's sparking things

898
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:05,119
on the other end. He I
think Seth part Now from the Athletic made

899
00:58:05,119 --> 00:58:09,800
this comparison, but he looks like
pre scooter accident Monte Ellis and it's accurate.

900
00:58:09,880 --> 00:58:13,480
Like, I totally see that comparison. I actually had a friend organically

901
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:16,880
make the same comparison earlier today,
and yeah, I'm totally buying that.

902
00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:22,199
It's just like this absolute offensive force
as both a passer and a scorer.

903
00:58:22,119 --> 00:58:29,079
This is where it gets really tough. I'm going to take Derek White.

904
00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:32,360
I think he showed some stuff in
the bubble last year. People were kind

905
00:58:32,360 --> 00:58:36,960
of up in arms about the extension
that he got. He gives you just

906
00:58:37,039 --> 00:58:40,079
good positional defense at the one and
the two can work off other players if

907
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:44,960
he just makes more of a concerted
effort to use the pull up jumper when

908
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:49,239
defenses are going under him, and
to like maintain the same level of aggression,

909
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:51,639
because when he can attack the rim, he could be pretty dangerous at

910
00:58:51,679 --> 00:58:53,079
points. I think it's a risky
play, but I think he has a

911
00:58:53,159 --> 00:58:57,360
much higher ceiling still than he's shown, even though he's on the older side

912
00:58:57,440 --> 00:59:01,199
for these cards. Yeah fair,
I'm gonna go out on a limb here

913
00:59:01,199 --> 00:59:06,000
and go with Martel Fult next.
Oh do not like this at all.

914
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:09,519
It's as I said, it's a
risk, but he's still only twenty two

915
00:59:09,559 --> 00:59:15,000
years old. And what we've seen
so far this season for the Magic has

916
00:59:15,159 --> 00:59:19,880
been tremendous growth. Like even though
the three point jumper is not falling yet,

917
00:59:19,920 --> 00:59:22,840
he's taking them. He's taking them
confidently. We've seen the free throw

918
00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:28,199
stroke improved dramatically. He's shooting ninety
two point three percent from the line.

919
00:59:28,199 --> 00:59:32,000
Through his first three games, and
there's still so much room to improve here,

920
00:59:32,239 --> 00:59:37,719
and he still has so many of
the explosive attributes that made him the

921
00:59:37,800 --> 00:59:42,480
number one pick before you know all
the drama that followed subsequently. So I

922
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:46,559
don't think he's the best player of
the remaining options right now, but that

923
00:59:46,679 --> 00:59:51,760
upside. Like the original question asked, who's going to have the best career

924
00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:54,440
and who could have the highest peak, And I'm focusing largely on the peak

925
00:59:54,559 --> 00:59:59,599
question here because if that jumper ever
clicks, and even if it doesn't,

926
01:00:00,079 --> 01:00:05,000
folks could be a very valuable starting
point guard for a long time. I

927
01:00:05,079 --> 01:00:07,679
just don't He just creates so much
problems for you on offense if that jumper

928
01:00:07,719 --> 01:00:09,840
doesn't come along, and I don't
really think there's any reason to believe it

929
01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:14,199
will. Although his free throw percentage
to skyrocket last year. I'm going to

930
01:00:14,239 --> 01:00:16,400
take another high ceiling play here,
Anthony Edwards. I've been impressed with what

931
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:20,159
little I've seen from him. It
seems like he has better feel than you

932
01:00:20,199 --> 01:00:22,960
were championing. He's going to be
a good score, He's going to be

933
01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:25,800
an elite finisher. Bull the jumper
come along. I think that's really fair

934
01:00:27,119 --> 01:00:30,280
the question. I'm gonna bet just
on him having such a super high peak

935
01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:32,920
on offense. Then also, he's
just strong enough to where I think not

936
01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:36,559
only's that gonna help with his finishing, but I think he eventually turns into

937
01:00:36,599 --> 01:00:39,639
a pretty good defender. So I'm
going to make that dice role. I

938
01:00:39,679 --> 01:00:45,039
will say that as much as I
harped on Anthony Edwards not being my favorite

939
01:00:45,039 --> 01:00:47,199
pick near the top of this draft, he's pleasantly surprised me, and I

940
01:00:47,199 --> 01:00:52,760
wanted him to pleasantly surprise me as
a fellow Georgia Bulldog, I still rooting

941
01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:53,960
for him even if I thought that
he would be a bust, and I

942
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:58,119
do like a lot of what I'm
seeing so far, even if that jumper

943
01:00:58,159 --> 01:01:00,719
still looks pretty darn shaky. But
I'm gonna go with D'Angelo Russell here.

944
01:01:00,760 --> 01:01:04,960
You know, he's the only guy
left who has been an All Star.

945
01:01:05,079 --> 01:01:08,760
Granted it was now three seasons ago, but he is still a potent offensive

946
01:01:08,760 --> 01:01:13,920
weapon who can function as a lead
score, can function as a lead playmaker.

947
01:01:14,199 --> 01:01:17,199
And that's just that pick and roll
ability, that self creation ability.

948
01:01:17,280 --> 01:01:22,519
Even if he does rely on shoddy
shot selection at times and doesn't get to

949
01:01:22,519 --> 01:01:27,079
the free throw line nearly as often
as we'd like from these lead guards.

950
01:01:27,239 --> 01:01:31,639
He's still a fantastic offensive weapon.
I'm gonna thank Lonzo Ball here. There's

951
01:01:31,679 --> 01:01:35,039
just I thought about taking him a
little bit earlier too. There's just too

952
01:01:35,079 --> 01:01:37,599
many questions, as I mentioned earlier
in the pod, about whether he can

953
01:01:37,679 --> 01:01:43,159
run an offense from stationary positions.
He's absolutely lethal and transition. I think

954
01:01:43,159 --> 01:01:45,519
he's only shooting. He's shooting sub
thirty five percent from three to start of

955
01:01:45,559 --> 01:01:47,719
the season, but I think we've
only shown the jumper is more of a

956
01:01:47,719 --> 01:01:53,719
threat now. He's actually shooting an
absurd percentage on pull up jumpers this season,

957
01:01:53,840 --> 01:01:57,159
and so if that really comes into
play, where he can dribble inside

958
01:01:57,199 --> 01:02:00,960
the arc and hit jumpers, that'll
be a big deal for him on whether

959
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:05,079
he can orchestrate from the half court. But it's also a matter of finishing,

960
01:02:05,119 --> 01:02:07,880
which I don't know that'll ever have. Still someone you can count on

961
01:02:07,960 --> 01:02:10,039
to eight catch and shoot threes,
maybe a couple off the drible jumpers gonna

962
01:02:10,039 --> 01:02:15,440
get you going in transition. Good
rebounder, good positional defense can be disruptive

963
01:02:15,519 --> 01:02:19,440
off off the ball. I feel
pretty good about picking him here and there's

964
01:02:19,519 --> 01:02:22,639
there's a chance that like he ends
up having the peak of someone who should

965
01:02:22,639 --> 01:02:27,360
have gone much earlier in this fake
draft. Yeah, very much so.

966
01:02:28,119 --> 01:02:31,280
With two options left, I'm gonna
go with Darius Garland. The upside is

967
01:02:31,320 --> 01:02:37,920
just it's two tantalizing here because he
won't turn twenty one until January twenty sixth.

968
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:42,679
This is a guy who was viewed
as a lottery lock and a potential

969
01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:47,119
top two or three pick before injuries
cut his Vanderbilt career short as a freshman

970
01:02:47,159 --> 01:02:51,880
to only five games. He still
went fifth overall. Had an up and

971
01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:54,320
down rookie season, which was to
be expected as a guy who was still

972
01:02:54,320 --> 01:02:58,199
figuring so many things out, and
it looks like he has figured them out

973
01:02:58,519 --> 01:03:00,679
this early in the season. For
the cat if that shot is legit,

974
01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:04,679
if the playmaking is legit, then
we're going to regret leaving him on the

975
01:03:04,679 --> 01:03:08,400
board. This long Killian Hayes is
all that's left. I actually think he's

976
01:03:08,440 --> 01:03:10,559
going to be good, and I
tweeted this the other night. He's not

977
01:03:10,639 --> 01:03:15,079
had the most efficient start to the
season, but in their game against the

978
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:19,760
Hawks, he just had some really
good flashes. For me, I think

979
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:21,960
his jumber will end up being fine, and it looks like he's gonna end

980
01:03:22,039 --> 01:03:23,599
up just having really good feel for
the game on the ball, and like,

981
01:03:23,639 --> 01:03:27,360
yeah, the turnovers you're gonna see
are like that's just the cost of

982
01:03:27,360 --> 01:03:29,679
doing business with the rookie. Some
of the fouls that he's gonna give you

983
01:03:30,119 --> 01:03:31,559
on defense, I don't know that
he's ever going to be anyone that gets

984
01:03:31,599 --> 01:03:35,519
the foul line a ton or is
or is this expert finisher, But I

985
01:03:35,519 --> 01:03:37,760
think he eventually gives you spacing and
just really solid playmaking. And so him

986
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:42,920
being left on the board here is
more about his relative unknownness than I think

987
01:03:43,159 --> 01:03:46,119
about his potential, because you could
talk me into him over Garland, over

988
01:03:46,239 --> 01:03:50,079
Lonzo, I don't know, over
anybody else. Yeah, yeah, you

989
01:03:50,119 --> 01:03:53,719
can definitely tell me to him over
faults. We actually do have one more

990
01:03:53,800 --> 01:04:00,480
question. This one comes from Noah
Noah odit or Odige. I'm sorry I

991
01:04:00,519 --> 01:04:03,000
never got the pronunce eation over your
last name, but he is the co

992
01:04:03,159 --> 01:04:08,440
host of the Stick to Sports podcast
asked what is what's the nixt ceiling slash

993
01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:12,679
potential with the core they have,
Well, they have Frank Natilakina, so

994
01:04:12,679 --> 01:04:15,519
they should be a title contender.
I still I don't know why you're pronouncing

995
01:04:15,559 --> 01:04:17,559
the tea in Natilaki and now you're
gonna have me to it in Nilaquina,

996
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:24,039
just to mess with you. If
they don't make any changes this season,

997
01:04:24,280 --> 01:04:27,760
I would still say they're ceiling tops
out as like the eleventh best team in

998
01:04:27,800 --> 01:04:30,360
the East, where I wouldn't expect
them to make the play in And I

999
01:04:30,400 --> 01:04:31,960
already kind of mentioned this at the
top of the podact. They need eventually

1000
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:35,239
more shooters on this team to help
out RJ. Barrett, if he's the

1001
01:04:35,239 --> 01:04:39,639
guy they're rolling with. What they
still lack is just the one person you

1002
01:04:39,679 --> 01:04:43,039
could point to though and say,
hey, that's our north Star, our

1003
01:04:43,119 --> 01:04:47,400
guiding light. They've been They've been
very just. They've been a nuisance so

1004
01:04:47,440 --> 01:04:49,920
far this season. I think they
deserve all the credit for that. But

1005
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:55,920
I don't with this exact roster,
I don't know where I would put them

1006
01:04:55,960 --> 01:04:58,199
in the East above eleven. I
don't know what it would take, Like

1007
01:04:58,280 --> 01:05:01,280
Julius Randall would have to keep playing
like this, as my voice cracked a

1008
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:05,239
little bit there. You would need
Frankie Lakeen to continue shooting the hell out

1009
01:05:05,280 --> 01:05:09,559
of three pointers. You need Kevin
Knox has had some pretty good shooting games,

1010
01:05:09,599 --> 01:05:12,239
even though he's not shooting. The
best clip from beyond the arc this

1011
01:05:12,320 --> 01:05:15,639
season. Alec Burks, if he's
healthy, he was sort of lighting it

1012
01:05:15,679 --> 01:05:16,920
up. So if you're able to
give minutes to him, and Austin Rivers

1013
01:05:16,960 --> 01:05:20,280
gets healthy, and we see Mitchell
Robinson get his fouls under control, which

1014
01:05:20,280 --> 01:05:24,719
he's kind of done the best couple
of games, and Obie Toppin pans out,

1015
01:05:25,440 --> 01:05:28,079
could they work their way into the
play in I would say the keys

1016
01:05:28,079 --> 01:05:30,800
to doing that are RJ. Barrett
has to be more game one, first

1017
01:05:30,800 --> 01:05:34,039
half of game one for most much
of the season. Julius Randall has to

1018
01:05:34,039 --> 01:05:38,320
play like he's playing now Burks.
You need Burks to be what he was

1019
01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:41,920
before, and then you need someone
to burst. And I wouldn't say that

1020
01:05:41,920 --> 01:05:44,239
that's Mitchell Robinson, He's not going
to give it to you. On offense,

1021
01:05:44,639 --> 01:05:47,519
maybe it's Neila Keen is showing that
he can run the offense in absence

1022
01:05:47,519 --> 01:05:53,320
of Alfred Peyton, so that would
be it. I'll say tenth to be

1023
01:05:53,360 --> 01:05:56,320
somewhat optimistic, but I don't know
that I could talk myself into the to

1024
01:05:56,440 --> 01:06:00,920
the best version of these Knicks being
higher than that. I don't have much

1025
01:06:00,960 --> 01:06:02,800
to add to that. I'll just
say that it would be a very very

1026
01:06:02,920 --> 01:06:08,880
Knicks move to be just good enough
to contend for a meaningless play in game

1027
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:13,280
in the East and miss out on
Kaid Cunningham and Jalen Suggs and Evan Mobley

1028
01:06:13,400 --> 01:06:16,599
at the top of the twenty twenty
one draft like that would be just vintage

1029
01:06:16,760 --> 01:06:20,920
New York Knicks. Yeah, I
don't know if they get to that point

1030
01:06:20,960 --> 01:06:26,280
where like Julius Randall has them,
like in the play in like contention,

1031
01:06:26,480 --> 01:06:30,280
I'm trading Julius Randall and I'm trading
Alec Burks. And if Austin Rivers helping,

1032
01:06:30,280 --> 01:06:32,159
you're gone. Norland's now well gone. This is not the season to

1033
01:06:32,199 --> 01:06:35,679
do that, like you need him. So sold on both Cunningham and Suggs.

1034
01:06:35,840 --> 01:06:40,199
And it's almost like the Knicks have
needed a point guard for roughly forever.

1035
01:06:43,400 --> 01:06:46,159
But anyway, I don't I don't
think that's the danger they do have.

1036
01:06:46,280 --> 01:06:48,639
And look, in the regular season, a good defense wins you games.

1037
01:06:48,639 --> 01:06:54,079
There's seventh defensive efficiency right now.
Some of that's lock opponents are.

1038
01:06:54,119 --> 01:06:57,480
They have the third best opponent affect
the field goal percentage in the league.

1039
01:06:57,760 --> 01:07:00,480
And we saw the Cavaliers miss a
ton of wide open looks against them.

1040
01:07:00,519 --> 01:07:02,559
We shall have a Bucks missed a
crap ton of wide open looks against them.

1041
01:07:02,599 --> 01:07:06,480
So I don't know that that holds
either. But I think they're gonna

1042
01:07:06,559 --> 01:07:10,840
end up being fun bad. That's
my prediction for them. That's their seeing.

1043
01:07:10,880 --> 01:07:14,679
I agree with that fun bad is
a good ceiling. That doesn't for

1044
01:07:14,760 --> 01:07:17,800
us. Thought this was a good
mailback we got to I think pretty much

1045
01:07:17,800 --> 01:07:20,840
every question that came in. So
thank you guys for your questions. Please

1046
01:07:20,840 --> 01:07:25,000
again continue to send them in.
If you have not done so, please

1047
01:07:25,079 --> 01:07:29,599
please pretty please with sugar on top. Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get

1048
01:07:29,679 --> 01:07:32,960
your podcasts. Download every episode,
juice the numbers, subscribe and unsubscribe.

1049
01:07:32,960 --> 01:07:35,760
Help us there, rate and un
rate, and definitely rate end review.

1050
01:07:35,840 --> 01:07:40,159
Go over to iTunes search Hardward Knox. I don't care whether you use iTunes

1051
01:07:40,239 --> 01:07:43,760
or not. Search Hardwarknox on iTunes
anyway, drow us that fire star rating

1052
01:07:43,800 --> 01:07:45,719
right and review those help us out
a bunch. Until next time. I

1053
01:07:45,840 --> 01:07:49,960
leave you with a shout out to
the one the all shooting above forty percent

1054
01:07:50,079 --> 01:07:56,000
from Beyond the Arc since January twenty
fifth of last season. Nick's cornerstone Frank

1055
01:07:56,480 --> 01:08:00,079
Ntila Tina. But that that