What is kracklack in Hardwoo knocks listeners, I am Damp Valley something any without my opintabulous co host Adam Promo or a guest for that matter. I promise these solo pods will not be a regular thing. It is only for this week as my travel schedule is absurd and Adam and I also recorded a joint mailbag earlier this week, only for the audio to be lost to the ether. I did not want you to go without a mailbag this week, and I also didn't want to spurn listeners who actually ask those questions and did not get to hear the answers. So this is gonna be a dual mailbag week for us before we get into some bigger pictures stuff over unders report cards are coming up for the offseason, trying to let things develop a little bit more before we go there. And we will of course preview all the teams where as many teams individually with guests singular podcast as we can before the start of the season. But I'm gonna do a two part mail bag, first parts dropping at some point on Wednesday, August twenty fifth, and the other part will come on August twenty seven had a bunch of questions to get to, so I'm excited to answer them first and foremost. Now, please please, pretty please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you are getting said podcasts. Download all our episodes. That helps a ton. Whether you use iTunes or another platform, please still head over to iTunes search Hardwood Knox. Throw us to five star rating right a review. Those help us out a ton. The numbers have been stagnant there, even though our episode downloads are are going up, so help us out there. Can also help us out by following and subscribing to us on YouTube search YouTube dot com. Hardwoo Knox is popping up. We've only been doing that for about two months. We're almost up to five hundred subscribers there, so help us get to that threshold and then help us get to one thousand as well. Follow us on Twitter as always at Hardwood Knox. We're on Instagram at Hardwood Underscore Knox, and we're also on TikTok straight at Hardwood. That is all the housekeeping notes I have for you. So let's get to the first part of this mailbag. And these are questions that I've already answered with Adam, I'm doing them again. I want we did this mailbag live on locker Room. Unless you were one of the dozen or so listeners that were with us during that impromptu locker room session late on Monday night, you didn't hear the answers. So there's really there's really no ill. There's really no downside to me going through these right now as I sort of stutter. So let's get to the first question. Aaron Washington asked how far can the Timberwolves go fully healthy? Adam and I were in lockstep with this. We see them as maybe a fringe playing team at best. They are incredibly interesting when you just sort of look at their asset base, having Karl Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Anthony Edwards. I'm a huge Jaden McDaniels fan. You now have Patrick Beverley at least for the time being, and it does seem like they're they're going to keep them keep him. Excuse me, I still deeply, deeply worry about Minnesota's defense. They should be Look, if they're healthy, they should light the world on fire offensively. Although I think you can be a little bit concerned with the way that their backup point guard rotation is set up right now, it's essentially Patrick Beverley unless they bring back Jordan McLaughlin who showed flashes last year. You can also run stuff through Anthony Edwards. Of course, they ran a bunch of stuff in summerly through Jane McDaniels and he did really well. So maybe there are different elements there. But this team is still it has holes. And I think that while they can light the world on fire offensively, there might be some death questions beyond their first five, six, seven guys maybe. And when you look at the defenders on this team, how many plus defenders are you guaranteed to have Josha Cogi, assuming his role isn't downsized even more, maybe nas Reid when you're looking at backup centers, definitely, Jaden McDaniels, Patrick Beverley, that's you know, my name, four guys there, But that's not exactly great. I think you can bank on. You know, maybe Malik Beasley is like close to average defensively. I think he's always been a little bit overrated there. It's just the physical tools he has on offense. He did you'd be a little bit bouncy or on defense, and the Edwards showed I would say glimpses into a player who's not gonna suffer through as many off ball appses, but he's still too nonchalant getting back in transition. He's gonna take gambles when he's on the strong side. I leave his teammates outs are dry, and you don't have anyone in the front court. They's necessarily going to cover up for Karl Anthony Towns right now. Who. I still don't think it's a terrible defender, but you need someone who could kind of acillate between guarding the perimeter and protecting the rim. I think Jade McDaniels comes fairly close there, but it does seem that based on Minnesota's acquisition of Torian Prince, who's another player that seems like he's probably overrated on defense and underrated on offense. I'm not sure how sold Minnesota is on Jade McDaniels as this like permanent four body feels like they want to maybe groom him as more of a wing. Again, this team is interesting. If you told me they finished in the top six of the Western Conference, I would be honest to God flabbergasted, even when baking in for the variants that can be accounted for with the Clippers when they're playing without Kawhi Leonard probably and then even the Nuggets for a however long they're without Jamal Murray. Speaking of the Nuggets, long time listener mirslav shook ass Nicole Yokas is what does Nikola Yokas just stat line to look like for him to repeat as an MVP Now in theory, I don't think it should have to change. He just averaged twenty six point four points, ten point eight rebounds, eight point three assists, one point three steals, shot sixty point six percent on twos. That is ridiculous when you consider some of the two pointers he took, including those Somber Shuffle looks. Thirty eight point eight percent on threes, eighty six point eight percent at the foul line. Still put up a fairly good clip on those grenades late in the Shakak last year. If you put up those numbers, you should be in the MVP discussion, assuming your team is good. I think what's going to happen is there might be a level of voter fatigue with Yokich, even though he's only one. Once there was that. I don't want to say it was a sweeping agenda, but there were just people that thought he was this blip of an MVP. I don't think that's the case at all. The real questions I would have first would be are the Nuggets going to be good enough? Because where are they going to be without Jamal Murray for X amount of games? It's like he misses half or two thirds of the season, or does he look like upon coming back If they're not in the top three of the West, his case probably gets a little bit harder to justify when you're going up against Lebron in La who seems like he might have gotten the Career Achievement treatment had he stay healthy all of last year. I mean, there will just be other candidates that crop up. It could be a Chris Paul or Devin Booker in Phoenix. Maybe Paul George enters the fold because the Clippers overachieved without Kawhi Leonard. Someone in Utah, whether it's Donna Mitchell or Rudy Gobert. If Damian Lillard helps the Portland Troublazers improve without actually improving their aster, Luka Dontrich of course, and Dallas. They're a bunch of different ways you go. And that's in the West, by the way, we're not even getting into the East, where you have Jannis, you have Joel Embiid, is Tatum do for that type of year in Boston, James Harden or Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. I'd be a little bit surprised if it was Kyrie, but two of those three stars for sure, so they're going to be options. Maybe Jimmy Butler in Miami. So that's the competition is going to be fierce. Will the Nuggets be good enough? I will say that if the Nuggets are good enough, Nicole Yoka does have the benefit of that narrative bump again where it seems like he got it towards the end of last year without Jamal Murray, and now if you go through most of this season without Jamal Murray and the Nuggets they're still really good, still in the top three, even if he comes back for the stretch run. That's going to help Yokich. I would counter that with how healthy will Yokich be? Like this is someone who has never missed more than nine games in the single season and he played in all seventy two games last year when coming off the shortest office he's in professional sports history. The Nuggets, having made it all the way to the conference finals that year, were one of the final four teams remaining. So you're talking about an uber short offseason. It's not like Nicole Yokis necessarily plays this super physically demanding style. At the same time, he's a center. He bruises when he's in the post, when he's going up for rebounds. You have a guy who's dribbling the ball up the court at points. And just his usage when you look at you know, his total true usage, just the amount of offense he's responsible for generating as a passer and a score. It's through the roof, and so could there be somewhere and tear there. I don't know. You know, he's entering his age twenty sixth season. That shouldn't necessarily be the concern, but it's definitely a part of the equation alongside the extra competition. Now, if he wants to overcome what I think would be an unfair slight against him, or if people really think that he was sort of this MVP blip, if he ever just double digits an assist that might just be the benchmark as a center that will really take people by surprise. It's not outside the realm of possibility that would they bring him to a triple double average looking at looking at what he does as a rebounder. But you're not gonna have Jamal Murray. You're not necessarily just outfitted with all these different kinds of creators. Yeah, you have Monte Morris, the compozzo, awesome rivers, Walbart and YadA, YadA YadA. Those aren't guys that are necessarily going to be tasked with initiating a ton of the offense. Those are your secondary, tertiary creators. So maybe that's the recipe, go to Russell Westbrook route an average a triple double, But it has to be smack you in the face similar to what it was last season, because I think he's working against an unfair advantage where I don't know that people realize how good he is in large part because of the team that he plays for. Another Nuggets question comes from doctor Ramblings. With a healthy Jamal Murray, what is the Nuggets ceiling? They seem to be constantly disrespected, but I think they are one of the three to four teams in the West on the shortlist. Now, I disagreed with Adam on this one where he agrees that the Nuggets get disrespected. I don't necessarily see it, which is counterintuitive to me saying that Yokich needs to sort of overcome these obstacle conceptually to win MVP. Again, that's more about him repeating I think people recognize that if Jamal Murray was healthy, the Nuggets are one of the three or four best title contenders. I'll just in the West, but in the entire league. I mean there's the Nets, there's the Bucks, the Lakers, the Suns, the Jazz, and then the Nuggets. Like you're in that conversation among those six teams to jockey for a position of Yeah, we know the Nets are number one, but then you could unfold any of those other five spots as you see fit. Yeah, you can make cases for other teams, like a let's say of Philadelphia, but there's so much uncertainty there with the Ben Simmons situation. So we're the healthy Jamal Murray, the Nuggets are title contenders. And I'm not trying to step on the toes of what Zach Low had said previously at the ESPN, but I had bandied about the idea of picking them as to win the title last year after they made the Aaron Gordon trade, and I after the Murray injury, I ended up going with the Suns. That didn't work out either, but they become a super well balanced team that if you have j Amory shot Creation passing next to Yokich, they just have a different type of synergy more so than they one two punch in the NBA. And not saying they're the best one two punch in the NBA by virtue of top end talent, I think you have to go with James Harden and Kevin Durant, Anthony Davison Lebron are being there, but just the chemistry between Yokich and Murray is off the charts, and then you just sort of look at having Michael Porter Junior all of a sudden, is this over qualified third option on your team. Aaron Gordon, his role on offense gets even easier because we saw him sort of fall off a cliff in the postseason. What he did defensively for you though, where he was guarding a lot of point guards. You've become a lot more balanced there, So they're definitely in that discussion. The question could be, are they still in that discussion Let's say top three or four teams in the West, specifically if Jamal Murray isn't healthy this season, Like, let's say, you know how many games would Jamal Murray have to miss for you to say that the Nuggets won't have a chance at a top four seeds in the West. I don't think there is a number could miss all eighty two, and I still think that Denver could realistically be in the mix. Like, let's look at a Nuggets team without Jamal Murray and count the squads that are definitively better than them this season. I would say the Jazz, the Lakers, and the Suns, and it probably ends there. I know they're ugly people that want to put the Warriors of the Mavericks, maybe even the Blazers, and it's possible, but the Nuggets would still be to me fending for that position. And if you get any sort of regression from for whatever reason, from Utah or Phoenix, maybe things in LA just don't go according to plan during the regular season, at least while they're trying to fit in Russell Westbrook. Maybe his arrival just portends more off nights for Lebron James. So any one of those teams could sort of fall out of the my top three mentioned. So I think the Nuggets are one of the three to four best teams in the West. I'll say three to five best teams in the West without Jamal Murray. You throw him into that equation and there's just a bona fide contenders. There's really no other way around it. This question was super interesting. Adam and I had a very lively debate about it previously, So I don't mean to just tease something that you're never going here unless you were in that locker Spotify green room. Excuse me, but James Shiapuzzo asked how well would a team led by Klay Thompson or someone of his archetype do? This is something I thought about a lot. Adam doesn't think they would even be close to a playoff team. We both agree that they wouldn't be a title contender. There does need to be some context. Are you talking about Klay Thompson has strictly the number one option? Prime Klay Thompson as your best player? Because it is different if prime Klay Thompson as your best player is the criteria here, because then you factor in his defense and you can envision him maybe not being the number one option on offense. We viewed it as if he was the number one option on offense. There's definitely a cap. I don't know if he has any of those table setting abilities that he really just hasn't flashed. Adam says that we just haven't seen enough self creation from him to bank on his being able to play that type of role. I've countered with the fact that even in the Kevin Durant years, like his role has been pretty steady. It's eighty percent of his looks between eighty and eighty five percent or coming off assist. And he's gonna get you as a cutter, as a spot up shooters, a guy coming around, you know and shooting in motion. But we've seen him be able to operate in the post. He shot fairly well on pull up threes for his career, and you know, when they won their first title in twenty fourteen, two and fifteen, fewer than seventy percent of his looks came off assists. Now that's still not that's still pretty large number to have of buckets to come off assists, but it's like not astronomical, And so I would argue that Klay Thompson probably has more self creation capacity than we've seen in his career because the Warriors have never needed that for needed for him to tap into that. It was all of a sudden they got really good with Andre Goadala coming. Then they put the ball even more in Draymond Green's hand, and that's twenty in Draymond Green's hand during the twenty fifteen twenty sixteen season. Then you have Kevin Durant coming right in, and now you have Clay Thompson missing the past two years. I think it's a super interesting question. Someone mentioned in the chat, and this is from Shawnee Jay, that maybe would be the Reggie Miller Pacers. As Adam pointed out, Reggie Miller was responsible for more off the double work than Clay Thompson. But we just haven't seen Clay have to be in that situation yet. So there is has to be that layer of imagination here where you're trying to apply his skill what you've seen into a different type of role and maybe plum something that he hasn't had the opportunity to explore just yet. Again, I don't think you're a title contender with Clay Thompson as your number one option, But I think he's more than capable of being the number one option for a team that's like, you know, let's say Minnesota Timberwolves level fringe playing team. So I don't think you're looking at the worst team in the NBA. You're probably looking at a lower tier, peak playoff team, and that's you know, you don't want to rebuild around that player, and that look that player just might not exist anymore. We have to see what Clay looks like whenever he comes back this upcoming season. But the questions like those are really fascinating to me to think about. Let's get to we have two Grizzlies questions here. We all know that you love the Grizzlies questions Dogras twenty one to ask, is Brendan Clark a future NBA starting center? I would have to say no at this point. I don't want to discount what he did as a rookie when you're looking at his floater really flashed and range, has some defensive mobility. His sophomore season was a mega disappointment. Memphis basically had him out of the rotation at points by the end of the season. For them, his jumper looked like buffering internet, is how I've described it. If anyone was around for dial up and can remember those like like static noises, that's just felt like it was the motion took forever and there was just like this gigantic pause at different points of it. I don't know what happened there, and I also just don't know what type of role he set up for next season. When you look at the roster, I guess you could argue that there'll be a more prominent one for him because Jonas Valcuna is gone. You probably don't have as much equity invested in Steven Adams, even though he's under contract for the next two years. But you do have Jaren Jackson Junior if you want to explore him at the five. You have Xavier Tillman as well. There should still be minutes for Brandon Clark to play. But if you want to give Anderson Kyle Anderson looks at the four, Jared Culver looks at the four, that's going to squeeze some of his minutes too, because Brandon Clark has played some four in the past, but I was just wildly discouraged by his sophomore season. Hopefully he'll be able to bounce back. But if you had to ask me too fast forward three years from now, see where Brandon Clark is He's do I think it'll still be in the NBA? My guess would be yes. Is he starting for a team not a good one? I would think that he would be coming off the bench in that situation. We had another Grizzlies related question from Kim, basically saying, let's talk about the Grizzlies guys and this look. The trigger point here is chrispin or Human dot Com reported that Kyle Anderson and Dylan Rooks are available for the right price. I buy that that might seem a little bit weird given how much Dylan Brooks did for you on defense last year, especially sort of his coming out party in the postseason for people that hadn't watched a ton of the Grizzlies. You're also looking at him entering the first year of a three year, thirty five million dollars extension, So why I give up on him now? Kyle Anderson, similarly, this is just someone who showed that he could hit threes at a thirty six percent clip for the entire year. It does a lot for you on defense. Isn't super quick, knows how to use space to his advantage. A quirky, herky jerky game on offense, but he's a mid range savant shot over fifty percent from mid rains this past year. If you're the Grizzlies and you're trying to compete, now, why would you get rid of either of them? Arley Grizzlies trying to compete now, I'm not saying that they're tanking, but everything they've done over the offseason, from taking on Steven Adams's money to the trade with the Clippers to cut that Eric Blitzoe partial guarantee from next year while just taking on immediate money from draftings. I hear Williams at number ten, who was built as a project, then watching him in Summer League, I'm just wondering if he is as much as a project. He looked He looked good in Summer League. Needs to probably put on more weight. We could say that about a ton of the rookies right now. Everything they've done, though, points to a team that is just prioritizing the longer haul. And so let's look at Kyle Anderson entering free agency next summer. Are you going to pay to keep him around? You're not a glamor market, so you're cap space that you do seem to be conserving. Even though you took on Steve Adams money, you got rid of Joannah town Junis, who would have commanded a new contract after the season, potentially worth more than the seventy point nine million dollars that Steven Adams is going to make in twenty two twenty twenty three. I don't want to spend that as Oh, but Grizzlies were like subtly cutting money there by doing that, because you could have just let you own a sound shutters walk for nothing. But yeah, so that but still based on the picks that they've taken on or just a mask over the past two off seasons, having Utahs and twenty twenty what is they have Utah's in twenty twenty two it's protected loosely protecting Golden State pick and twenty twenty four they have that La Lakers pick. Now in twenty twenty two, I believe after the deal with the Pelicans moving up in the draft for Zaiyah Williams. So they just seem so concerned about the longer term and end by extension, trying to get as many bites at the co Star Apple for John Morant as possible, probably because I don't know that they could be sure that Jaron Jackson Jr. Is that guy I'm not reading too much in the last season when he missed a ton of time, came back and he just felt like he never got his bearings about him. But I don't think you can look at him and say that's definitely the number two guy on a really ridiculously good team. You know, you have the number one guy that type of building block, and John Morant is Jaron Jackson that second guy. I don't know. So now they've they've maybe expanded Desmond Bain's role, They're gonna give Zaiyer Williams a chance. They've accumulated these other picks to either use in a draft or maybe go out and strike a trade if the right player becomes available for them. Why pay Kyle Anderson, especially when he's gonna be in demand around the league. Maybe they could. I'm not saying they shouldn't. Kyle Anderson's a really good player, but he's entering an expiring deal. You could even make the same case with the Anthony Melton, even though his name hasn't propped up, like maybe you should shop these guys around just to sort of see what they're going to get. In dyld Brooks's case, I just think the lying on him is an increasingly fragile existence. You can bank on him just being a really physical defender, but offensively there's going to be high variants in his performances from night tonight. He can be gritty. Excuse me, as I said, there is now forty eight in the morning on the East Coast while recording this, But Dylan Brooks going to give you some physical presence on offense who can really bully his way to baskets. But he's also going to have like that prime Michael Jordan's shot selection without the results on certain nights. And so if you can sell high on him now leading into the season, when the last impression of him is someone who was playing at an all defense level for much of last year, why not at least look at it. Can you get another top pick or you maybe going to clear some money off your books for next summer get a player who maybe feels more of a need. And the other element here for these two guys would be if you are more invested in the longer term, moving either one of them is just going to open up more minutes for Desmond Baine and Zyer Williams on the wings. Dylan moving Dylan Brooks probably more so than Kyle Anderson because he can play two, three, four, and Brooks I don't really think you want to play him up that high, and so you're looking at more of two or three, which is where you're gonna put Zeyr Williams and Desmond Baine. I would think so. Unless you really think that Dylan Brooks is the secondary ball handler for this team long term, which I would argue he is not, why not look at at what you could get for him, be a trade. I'd be curiously what the market is for these guys. Brooks specifically, you can envision him fitting on a lot of teams, but it needs to be somewhere where I don't I think ideally you're not relying on him to be even more than your third or fourth offensive gone, I'd probably just creep it down more so to fourth there in Atlanta next to Trey Young, where they have John Collins and just some of these other wings would be super interesting. They do with Cam Reddish flowing around up there and their team that's interested in winning now, just imagining his defense next to to Trey Young, that would that would certainly be a fit Boston at just going through all the teams here, brook is not gonna have the assets Charlotte for a Kyle Anderson or Dylan Brooks. I probably might like Anderson. They're a little bit better, but it doesn't really matter. They don't have a ton that they can trade at the moment. After extending Try Rosier. They have like these bigger salaries, and Tory Rosie was a bigger salary to begin with. Chicago has already done all they can do. I Cleveland's been floated around For Dylan Brooks, I wouldn't hate it. Just another defensive presence on the wings for them. They have Isaac Okoro and then their second best perimeter defender is probably Larry Nis Jr. Which is a which is a problem. Dallas could probably use either one of these guys. They do need more defense on this team. A Kyle Anderson shot creation would be interesting, even though he doesn't space the foreign a traditional traditional sense, more intrigued by Dylan Brooks their defense he would bring there. Dylan Brooks's defense in Denver would be really interesting. I just don't know what deal you're building around there, even if we're getting into the December Aughts like his Memphis at all interested in Bull Bowl and then a distant first round pick. Would you move Monte Morris and that deal? How much does it actually interest Memphis? He could be a solid backup point guard and he's entering the first of a three year, twenty seven million dollar extension. So something like PJ. Dozer and Monte Morris for and a second for Dylan Brooks, Like, does that get the needle moving there? I honestly don't know. Dylan Brooks in Detroit maybe that could be something interesting. I just don't know who they're gonna want to give up in that scenario. Golden State, they're more built for a blockbuster trade Houston. I don't really think either one of these players makes a ton of sense. They have enough sort of fly or defensive guys, and Dylan Brooks isn't super young to begin with. Don't like either of these players in Indiana. I don't think this is the season for Los Angeles to go after either one of these guys, and I questioned whether they actually have the assets to get either of them, though Anderson would be in the absence of Kawhi Leonard. Very different players, but would be super interesting there the Lakers. Look, the Lakers can't make a real trade right now. They're not gonna trade Russell Westbrook and Anthy Davis, Lebron James. Their fourth highest paid player at the moment is Kendrick Nunn, who they signed and can't not trade until mid December. And then after that the fifth highest paid player and then most likely player removed Pawisol Marc Gasol who's making under three million dollars. So yeah, Miami, Dylan Brooks would be right up their alleys, sort of some defensive grit without any guaranteed shooting. Maybe even Kyle Anderson fits that mold. I just don't like neither of those two are going to fit that bill. There a lot of people. Someone mentioned that they want to see Dylan Brooks in Milwaukee. Interesting fit. Milwaukee just doesn't have the assets to get it done. Minnesota could be fun. Could you argue that with Anthony Edwards there there is it worth going with Malik Beasley for Dylan Rooks straight up swap. I would think that Memphis probably needs to include someone or something else there, but Dylan Brooks could just help them out a ton. Or if they want to acquire Kyle Anderson to play the four. I don't think that's necessarily the type of guy they're looking for, but they're one of the rare teams to can talk themselves into both players. New Orleans could really use Dylan Brooks. How much younger does Memphis want to get, you know? Or how much let's say, if you're does Memphis want to get? Like, can there be something built around McKiel Alexander Walker. You're not gonna get Trey Murphy from New Orleans A you're gonna get one of the other first round picks that they can move out of this. I don't know that you're gonna have any interest in the Jackson Hayes. That could be interesting. They also New Orleans might not want to touch Dylan Brooks now they have Josh hark Back under contract. Don't see the Knicks as a viable deshon for either. They can't They're one of the teams that just can't make a real trade for quite some time. Right now, Dylan Brooks might fit the gritty defensive mold, but they probably need more of a true wing and floor space or neither Anderson or Brooks fits that mold. Brooks would come closest, but again just too much variance on the offensive, and Oklahoma City for neither. Just to the point the stage of the rebuild, though I would be intrigued by Dylan Brooks there, ditto for Orlando. I wouldn't be intrigued by either of these guys there. That team still needs a ton of shooting Philly, Kyle Anderson just because of a shot creation, or even Dylan Brooks at this point, like guys who maybe you are going to give you more looks and crunch time in the plaoffs, but you're not going to put together like some of your best assets to go after these guys. Phoenix. I would kill. Kyle Anderson to Phoenix is one of my favorite scenarios. They do have Jalen Smith to start building out something, and then there's some of their salary filler wouldn't be eligible to later in the season, but they can do some immediate things. If Memphis is willing to take on Dario Starts, is that too much? Though, if you're Phoenix for Kyle Anderson, I think you could certainly argue even though Dario Startch's injury is injured. Yes, if you're giving up Jilen Smith in that deal, Dylan Brooks could really work for them too, because it feels like they need that other sort of bigger wing ball handler. I don't know if Dylan Brooks is as a bigger wing, but he certainly is physical as one that would be a team though. To watch for either one of these guys to me like one to really keep your eyes on. Perhaps as we get more so into the season. Dyland Brooks in Portland would be huge, but I just don't even know if he's big enough. And then who are you moving for that? Like, Okay, you have Derrik Jones Junior's expiring contract, like you were attaching first round picks here and then you've now lost, Like Derrek Jores Junior can at least go up against some fours. I don't know that Brooks is going to give you that. And you already have so much money invested in the sixth you know, the under six four club with Lillard, McCollum and Powell. And are you even going to trade a first round pick? Not when you're not sure what's gonna happen With Dame Dylan Brooks and Sacramento, man, imagine having him, Halbert and Damian Mitchell on the same team. I don't know if it would cost you Davion Mitchell to get Brooks. I wouldn't do it if it did, if you could build something around Buddy Healed and other stuff. Whereas Memphis intrigued by Marvin Bagley, I would love to see Dylan Brooks in Sacramento, though still a team after finishing dead last in points allow per one hundred possessions last year, that could really stand a beef up its defense. San Antonio, I have no idea where they're going, so I'm not going to advocate for a Kyle Anderson reunion or going after Dylan Brooks. And they seem to have enough guys just along those sides. Ditto for Toronto. I think they're more concerned with like existing in the middle now unless they're gonna actually move Pascal Siakam. But they don't have a need for any of these guys really when you look at their defense already. Although like if you want to feel the five man lineup of Fred Van Fleet, Dylan Rooks, Scottie Barnes, O g Nobi and Pascal Siakam, I think you'd probably let up like zero points per game. That's something to consider. Dylan Brooks or even Kyle Anderson in Utah would probably go a long way. Just guys, sturdier defenders, maybe more physical defenders than a Joe Ingles right now or blowing Macdonovitch obviously that help you in the playoffs. Just don't know what you're giving up. You've already leveraged so much of your first round pick future, part of which is going to Memphis already, and they're not gonna have a ton of interest in a Jordan Clarkson or Ingles given where they're at in their development. And you just shouldn't be moving Roy's O'Neill. If you're Utah Washington, you know, I wouldn't hate to see any of these those guys there, really, Dylan Brooks or Kyle Anderson and Washington is sort of like Winnish now. It's funny on keeping Bradleybill, even though it moved Russell Westbrook. I just don't know who you're giving up for one of those guys. Do you consider him moving a future pick? Probably more so for Dylan Brooks, just because he's under contract, but then you still really need to trust him. This team does feel like it needs maybe a little bit more defense. And if Dylan Rooks is there to go along with Spencer did Wuddie and Containious call O Pope and even Kyle Kuzma, who's improved positionally on defense, there's a lot of different wing stuff you could do there. So I just went through the entire league on the Dylan Brooks, Kyle Anderson fits. You're welcome for that. I would predict that by the trade deadline, at least one of these two players has gone. Just based off Memphis's direction, Adam Poe is that it will be an all or nothing proposition because Memphis look to sell them both if they're not good at all, but if they again look like they're going to obliterate expectations and make the playoffs, they will be much less likely to do so it might just want to keep them, But that's interesting food for thought. My official prediction would be, though I think at least one of them is going to be gone by the trade deadline from Jake g does Miles Bridges, PJ or Kelly Oubrey at the four slash PJA or Plumbly at the five make more sense than the starting lineup for the Hornets. I'm assuming Miles and Plumbly are getting the starting nods, but more curious what would be the most effective starting five. I would go, I might be more interested in knowing the closing lineup for this team, in which case I think you go with LaMelo ball, Terry Rosier, Gordon Hayward, and then Miles and still PJ. Washington. I think you could mix and match and throw Kelly Oubrey Junior in. There. My only three guarantees for the closing lineup, I think or Hayward, the Melo ball in, Terry Rosier, and Look, you can say what you want about Rosier's four year, ninety six point two million dollar extension we talked about on a previous podcast. He was sensational for them in crunch time without having to be the primary ball handler. So you need that forced basing ability on the court in those moments. If I'm going to guess for the starting lineup. They did start a traditional center for most of last year, and I would think that then means that Mason Plumley is there. You know you're gonna have a mellow Terry Rozier, and then Gordon Hayward if he's healthy, where's that fourth spot go? They had Myles Bridges coming off the bench a ton. Do they maybe trust him now more so than PJ. Washington? I think it makes more sense to me to have PGO Washington that lineup, just because I think Myles Bridges is going to give you a little bit more shot creation coming off the bench, and I think that's something that you might actually need now that Devonte Graham is gone. I'm not saying that Miles Bridges is going to replace the facilitation that Devonte Graham brought you, even in a down year. If he wants to run lineup by himself and look like, you know, Malik Monk isn't there eye if you're not running all these dual guard lineups, but you your backup point guard at this point is Ish Smith? Ish Smith? And do you trust or maybe James book Knight if you think that he's gonna facilitate So just having someone else who you know Miles Bridges last year. I think a lot of people, including myself probably even more, the straight away score just show that there was more directionality to his game and can do more stuff with the ball in his hands. So I think it'll end up being PJ. Washington, Mason Plumley, Gordon Hayward, Terry Rosy on LaMelo ball. But we're still going to see a ton of small ball. And I think that Kelly Bridge Junior sign and kind of hinted at that it was definitely a matter of opportunity, but he's someone else who could play the four, and I would look, I can, even if you're willing to bench turbos Yere for moments, you can kind of play small while also being big with just run the mellow at point and you have Gordon Hayward, Kelly brid Junior, PDO Washington, and Miles Bridges. I wouldn't think that becomes like one of your crutches or even your starting lineup, but it is an option that that you could that you could certainly roll with in that scenario. Let's let's end that here. That's gonna we'll call that part one of the male back I got through the first batch of questions from people, and have a bunch more that I will get to in the next segment. Until next time, though, thank you all for listening. I'll leave you with the shout out to the one, the only, the still criminally unsigned Frank Neil A KNA