Hello, everyone, Welcome to the latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is
out. I'm from with here with my fantastic and perpetually sleep deprived co host
Dan the Valley. Dan, We're gonna hop into a mailbag today. I
know we have a bunch of exciting questions. You've You've even been DMed a
few questions, which is always a gratifying feeling that people care enough to ask
in that method, even when we haven't sent out those shameless solicitations. So
how's your ego doing today? Oh? My ego is enlarged and gorged,
absolutely enormous. As always, I am, as you mentioned, sleep deprived.
I still. I mean, you were just sick for a long time.
But I'll say I feel fantastic post COVID, except you know how much.
This is not a humble brag. I need my workouts like I need
them. They are my therapy. I feel like I've never worked out a
day in my life now since I've started doing it again. It's I think
my first I think I texted you the first time I worked out after COVID
because I was so excited. I'm pretty sure I was operating on full excitement
and adrenaline at that point because I felt fine, and I've wanted to die
like five minutes in every time since, so that has me sad. But
I love getting DM to mail bad questions. We actually have so many bank
that one of them is now outdated, but we're going to give him a
shout out and reraise the question because it had to do with the cam Reddish
trade, y'allpaaring, I feel like we should also say that one of the
questions that was DM to you is so good that we are not going to
answer it because we're going to turn it into an entire episode, right.
We're not even going to tease the question because we don't want to spoil the
episode. I'll let the person know why we didn't answer it. But as
I always, we appreciate if we're getting DM questions. It's been great,
Howard, I love that's what I said. I think I said this or
even tweeted it. There's like those are the things that warm my heart.
We're unsolicited and unprompted people with DM me with questions or just with something to
say about the podcast. So you should probably rate, review and subscribe to
this podcast. We're getting podcasts strongly support that. How do you feel,
how are you doing? I'm good. I was telling you before we started
recording that my wife and I have some stee Lift tickets over the weekend.
You know, obviously going to be massed up even on the slopes and trying
to take every precaution, but it's exciting to get out of a house with
a toddler running rampant through it in a Colorado winter when you don't really go
outside much. So I have something on the calendar to look forward to,
which is great, and you need it because you were not happy about the
Camragish trade. Should I have been? Well, all right, let's do
it this way. We have a couple of questions on it, so I
want to give the people their due who ask it. I'll run through those
questions. We should first just go through the details of the trade. The
Knick sent Kevin Knox and a Charlotte Hornet's first round pick, which is basically
it's never going to convey. With the protection protections, it will never be
higher than number fifteen if it conveys at all. I expect that Charlotte will
be good enough for it to convey, not this year, but in the
next one or two years. I think it's protected through twenty twenty four.
I'm not mistaken. I looked it up really quick, so the Knick sent
those two for Cam Reddish, Solomon Hill and Brooklyn's twenty twenty five second round
pick. The questions we have on it, I want your general thoughts,
but I think these Michael asked. Michael Jay asked will cam Reddish flourished with
the Knicks? Another Michael asked, will cam Reddish make the Knicks a better
team? Analytically speaking? I am excited as a fan. So those were
Those were the two questions I highlighted out of it, and before we really
get into them a little bit, I do want your general thoughts on that
trade because they were Yeah, so far as your takes get spicy, they
felt fairly spicy. The general take is like, what is Atlanta doing here?
I think that if you evaluate this purely in terms of production, then
they might have recoud somewhat reasonable value for Cam Reddish, But that's not really
the lens through which we want to evaluate this. Because Reddish isn't going to
turn twenty three until September first, and if you watch him for any amount
of time, you can see the potential just oozing forth. Is it consistent?
No? Is it pretty No? But it's there, and you know,
we have players coming into the league at this age. So he's been
held back by injuries. He's been held back by the depth of the Atlanta
rotation, which has prevented him from carving out a more significant role in learning
through some of these mistakes. I mean, to this point in his career,
he has yet to top twenty eight point eight minutes per game, which
came last season. In his thirty four games for Atlanta this season, twenty
three point four minutes per game. So it's been difficult for him to fully
realize that tantalizing potential because of circumstances beyond his control. But for this player
who was drafted number ten overall in twenty nineteen to get traded for what essentially
amounts to nothing, you know, we're talking about what is eventually going to
convey as a couple of second round picks, and you're sent picks back in
the other direction to New York as well. And Kevin Knox, who is
not nearly as intriguing and most likely will not crack the Hawks's rotation It's just
baffling that they're willing to sell this low unless it's done in conjunction with subsequent
moves, which we can't rule out to this point, because Atlanta remains a
organization set up well to make some sort of consolidation trade. It has a
number of pieces. We've heard the rumors about Ben Simmons interest, and you
can throw out any number of other players who could make sense here. But
it mostly to me, just continues a trend of Atlanta treating its young players
kind of weirdly. Now, we also heard this report come out today and
I can't, for life of me remember who it came from. Was it
Jake Fisher? I think from Bleacher Report who said that Clint Capella and Trey
Young were the only players that the Hawks are not shopping. So is Anyuka
Kongwu included in that? And if he is, why hasn't he even been
playing when Clint Capella hasn't been available. If you're not going to play him
and you're going to trade him, then why didn't you go a different direction?
Cough Tyrese Haliburton cough back when he was selected. Like it just to
me, it continues just a strange trend of internal evaluation of Atlanta's own players.
I do agree with you. I think what's interesting here when looking at
it from the Hawks perspective, it doesn't seem like his value is all that
high around the league because there were the reports that the Lakers offered two seconds
for him, which that's not even something you would offer as a joke unless
you thought that his thought you could fall that low. And you're looking at
this pick from Charlotte, which is top eighteen protected this year, top sixteen
protected next year, and then lottery protected for two seasons, taking us through
twenty twenty five, and then it turns into two seconds. So it's I've
thought about this now, I don't understand this is not I think people talked
about they're a little bit afraid of what it's going to cost to retain this
roster. I'm sure they are. The free agency piece is big here,
and I did not mention that in my rank, but that does have to
inform the decision a little bit. It's also a little bit, but it
also not a ton because he has another year left on his rookie scales,
like they have a season to figure this out, and what was he going
to command that you were so fearful you'd make this move. In my opinion
is, see if you think that a distant let's just estimate this. Let's
say Charlotte's pick conveys in twenty twenty four. What you're now saying is because
that's not a pick you intend on keeping and using it. If it is,
we need to talk about the Hawks franchise. You're saying that asset will
be more valuable in a trade than Cam Reddish, which I actually don't,
which is why I've tried to. I still can't even put together coherent thoughts
on this trade anymore from New Yorkhi perspective, because I actually see the line
of thinking where this pick might be more valuable than Cam Reddish, just because
you're looking at he was unhappy in his role, wanted to do more with
the ball in his hands. I yes, we know about the game against
Milwaukee in the playoffs last year, we know about the Flashes, but like
this is someone who has one hundred and seventy four turnovers for his career against
one hundred and sixty assists. It's not like he's shown a ton of offball
creation. His mid range shot selection is bad, and the percentages on his
mid range shooting are not pretty. He is the offense in general for the
most part. I mean, he's shooting thirty seven plus percent from three this
year, which is a big deal, But twenty seven percent for mid range
this year, and his you know, thirty percent of his shots are coming
from there, that's not an insignificant amount. So if you're the Knicks,
I don't even want to get into the Nicks. I'm doing this from the
Hawks perspective. First, I think you could talk to yourself into being next
year or even this summer, if that's when you were going to move Cam
Reddish. What is has more value that Let's just say twenty twenty four first,
that will convey let's even call it, let's say conveys in the bottom
ten. Does that have more value than Cam Reddish, who's about to make
maybe between twelve and eighteen million dollars a year. I think that might appeal
in trade packages to more teams. I get the youth aspect, I get
what he can do defensively, but I haven't seen that from him this year,
at least he hasn't. I wouldn't disagree with that. I think that
the defense has still been there, but it's been tougher for him to look
like he's excelling on the defensive end because the rest of the defense is such
garbage around him. But just the difficulty of the matchups he's asked to go
up against, the roles that he's asked to face off against, those to
me are telling that he's the one entrusted with those responsibilities. The numbers don't
necessarily bear it out, where he's graating worst defensively in terms of virtually every
defensive metric than he has in either of his first two seasons with the Hawks.
But I think that's in large part because the personality, inconsistency of availability
this season, the lack of cohesion with the lineup that should have featured so
much continuity because so many pieces were brought back. All of those factors are
working against him. But I think you can still see the pieces, the
skill set is there. I suppose that you've probably watched him more than I
half this season. I just haven't really seen it to your point about the
difficulty, though DeAndre Hunter is the only rotation player on the Hawks that has
spent more a larger share of his possessions guarding the number one option, and
he has not been available for most of this season. That being said,
you mentioned how the Hawks are treating their young guys in like this weird fashion.
I think it's very clearly they decided. Maybe they were completely out on
Reddish, but they definitely decided that Hurder and Hunter supersed Reddish long term.
They made that. I think they made that decision because it was it's obvious
that Hunter, if he stays healthy, he's better for you than Reddish.
I think they made that decision when they extended Kevin Hurder, and I think
it's the right decision, but it was made prematurely. It didn't have to
be made at this stage. I think I might be more TBD, like
wait and see past a trade deadline before really slamming them for this, because
my assumption is you mentioned all this stuff about on Kungu and then even the
Hunter Herder things. They need a consolidation trade at this point, Like you
have guys John Collins Cam Reddish who are unhappy with their roles. You have
something like on Yeko Kungu, but there's Clint Capella in front of him,
and you do need to play John Collins at the five, there's Jalen Johnson
is going to there's a case for him to being groomed in the front court
moving forward. I this leads me to believe no insight here whatsoever, because
this is a team that has to go for it this season. I know
Travis Slank kind of shop all over them on the radio a few week a
week or whatever. It was a goo like you are still try trying to
compete this year. You have to do something at the trade deadline. My
assumption here is now that in talking with teams in going after what I assume
is like a three four combo guy, they were higher on this first round
pick or a first round pick over Reddish in a trade going back for that
player, I'm sure they probably would have prefer DeAndre Hunter. You can't really
get Kevin Hurder because the poison pill. It just becomes too difficult to maneuver
the outgoing inbound salary values. And that is my guest. My guess is
we see this pick rerouted in a trade, whether it's for Harrison Barnes,
whether it's for Jeremy Grant or The issue I have with that though, is
that if you're going to go that route, make it a three team deal
instead of doing this as a separate piece without a guarantee of anything else happening,
because ultimately, if everything else falls through the cracks, if they're pursuing
Ben Simmons, we have no idea what the fuck is going to happen there.
If they're pursuing Harrison Barnes, guess what, so are a bunch of
other teams, And if you can't make any of that happen, then all
of a sudden, you've turned a promising young player into a draft pick down
the line that may or may not have more value to other teams. But
you do know with one percent certainty that you are a struggling defensive team that
desperately needs to improve on that side of the ball, and you've downgraded on
defense somehow. My issue, my question or then would be they if something
gets made, if if some other move gets made, then yes, I
think the evaluation of this trade changes dramatically assuming that pick that was just acquired
is used in that subsequent move. But until that happens, it's tough for
me to accept this timeline. So my devil's advocate play here would be there's
no guarantee that the Knicks would still have this pick had you waited, because
they need If they wanted this to me, and we'll get into them in
a second, felt more like win now than a flyer. Once we get
into it. Maybe they were going to turn around, and you know,
they could have traded for Robert Covington and helped get the Blazers under the tax
or something, and I don't know that would have cost them a first round
pick, but they might not have wanted Cam Reddish. They probably also wanted
to maximize the time he was with them because he is extension eligible this summer,
and I think every game at this stage would count for them. There
what other team then was giving you a first round pick for Cam Reddish?
And it's not I'm not asking you to tell me that team, but like
can't even thinking about him off the top of your head. That should have
given a first round pick for Cam Reddish, not necessarily, But I think
that the timing still matters here because this trade happened on January thirteenth, the
trade deadline is still about a month away, and players values ramp up when
we're in closer proximity to the trade deadline because there's a greater sense of desperation.
So if the Nicks are treating Reddish as a win now move, which
it certainly seems like they are, it feels like a reasonably confident assumption that
there's going to be another team out there that would be willing to play the
facilitation role by including again not just a first round pick, but a heavily
protected first round pick that might turn into two seconds down the line to get
Reddish while facilitating a bigger move for Atlanta at the time, the timing just
feels so off to me. I think he got to a point where they
were just concerned that he wasn't that he might have not tanked his value if
he was going to tank his value by being a malcontent, by seeing the
performance drop even more than there's your reasoning in and of itself why I think
the other thing here is that basically since Thanksgiving he's been at sub forty percent
from two and if they can, I would say that's been the case since
like twenty sixteen. But and you look at there, so you look at
his on off splits for his career, he's not he's shooting over forty percent
from two for his career. Just FYI, but I think when you look
at his on off splits as well, I'm not sure teams are even putting
stock in this. The Hawks have essentially just never been better when he's on
the floor for the most part, and I do think a lot of that
has to do in lineup context. And again, you go throughout his career,
look at the defensive matchup data, Look at the time he spent guarding
the number one spots that he'll be classified as going against wings. But we
also know he's defending a lot from the point of attack. That is still
concerning that the past two years the Hawks have been demonstratively worse with him on
the court, and his net rating swing this year or their net rating swing.
Sorry, I hate doing attaching it to one player. There's seventeen point
four points better pro one hundred possessions when he's off the court, and they're
twelve point nine points for not possessions worse. The only issue I have there
is the confounding variable of Trey Young, because Reddish hasn't played as much with
Young, and we know that he causes a gigantic swing for offense the defense.
The fact that you're worse defensively when your minutes are untethered from Young.
I agree with you offensively. I was actually gonna make that point before you
were just so rude, but actually astute about it. It was the fact
that you've been worse defensively the past two seasons. And I didn't look at
how much he was untethered from Young last year, but this season there has
been minutes where he's been just not playing alongside Young like a line share of
the time, and your defense is worse, Like there's everyone is calledable,
it's not just him. I just think they were at the point where his
value wasn't going to get any higher. And this just does lead me to
believe that you were never getting a first round pick, or you couldn't guarantee
you were going to get a first round pick from a team at the deadline
for him, and then you're in this situation where you either have to move
him as part of a deal where he doesn't have as much value to other
teams as this pick, or you go into the summer with you don't have
to extend like you can use restricted to free agency your advantage. Fine,
but that's also sort of just a knock against his value. Is any team
that acquires him now has to immediately turn around and pay him. So I
don't know that this was the right move. I do think it was far
more justifiable relative to the trade market than people are giving them credit for right
now. I do stand to change that stance if they do nothing at the
trade deadline, and at that changes the complexion of everything for what it's worth.
I've shifted from like a straight big red F to like a C minus
or something. I still don't think it's a good move, but it isn't
this like glaring awful mistake that it initially seemed to be. Yeah, I
would still like you, I said, my greatest TVD, I might go
C even as high as a sea here, which is fair value to me.
You could point out why wouldn't you have moved him over the summer,
because you've got more than he was widely available across the league over the off
season, and so this is not a lack of due diligence on Atlanta's part.
I don't think this is just they didn't search enough. They either held
on to him too long, or the market was really just not as frothy
as people expected, and the Hawks season has gone nothing like it was expected
to. They are the most disappointed team in the league because you could see
the Lakers issues coming for the most part. Even Boston has big like Sad
Sack. But you also you know there were clear I know people touted their
depth kind of, but like there were clear issues with their offensive structure even
before coming into the year. So I think the Hawks, by thought the
most disappointed team from the Knicks perspective though, And that's where we get into
these questions from the dual Michaels. I'm going to answer them first. I
do not think it's guaranteed that Cam Reddish flourishes in New York. And to
me, I've viewed this as more of a window. It's a I think
it's a decent flyer to make. But again, the fact that the Hawks
made it leave me leads me to be that the Hornets pick had more value
around the league, not to the Knicks, but around the league than Camp
Reddish. And so you are resting a little bit of his value on rebooting
it if you want to reroute him later or if you want to keep him.
And the and this issue of his role where he wanted to be on
the ball more. The Knicks are not built for that to happen to him
right now. They have RJ Barrett who's cooking at the moment, and I
was a big fan of speaking of untethering minutes from your star. We need
to see more of RJ without Julius Randall at point, as though he's playing
fantastic now, to see what he looks like on the ball. But you
look, there an implication with that statement that Julius Randall is a star.
Yeah, I didn't mean to call him and Julie Randel's not a star.
I apologize for that. That was just I've seen enough angry texts from you
over the last month or so, but I feel like I had to call
that one out. There's my attraction, JULIEH. Randel's not a star.
But between Randall, when Rose is healthy, when Kenba is healthy, which
I recognize neither of them are right now, you have how burks like you're
not built to just give more on ball touches away if anything, you've only
just started using. I don't want to say RJ Barrett properly, but giving
him a real crack at working on the ball more, and that's because you
don't have Derek Rose or kemra Walker and Can Reddish has not. Let's be
clear, Ken Reddish has not done enough to just warrant more on ball volume.
That's just that's without question. And even his off ball shooting has been
good. He's shooting forty one point nine percent on ketchup threes, ketchup catch
and shoot threes this year. Would you care to guess what he's shooting on
off the dribble threes like thirty two twenty eight point three percent? That was
pretty close. This is just not someone who has shown enough playmaking, chops
enough off the dribble shooting. They certainly need to cut out the mid range
stuff. I do think you can have faith in him being better defensively with
the Knicks, given how much RJ. Barrett has grown on that end.
And I think that's the key here, is that his presence also alleviates a
little bit of that wing responsibility from Barrett, which allows him to plumb even
more of his offensive game. And that's why I've viewed his win now by
the way, what he does for you defensively, it allows you to just
shape shift a lot more on that end of the floor than you could before,
because it's just like a there's weird data with who's defending the number one
option just by nature of playing point guard in New York. But like you
have without Reggie Bullock, there was RJ. Barrett and then Quentin Grimes has
become part of the rotation in recent weeks. And by the way, the
Knicks wouldn't give up Quentin Grins, who was a number twenty five pick this
past year for Cam Reddish. I do think that's something to consider as well
amid all this, because it's not like Quentin Grimes has been fun and the
shot of a journal and defensively when he's played, But the fact that they
were saying that he's not worth the Reddish upside, I do think that could
be a red flag there for Reddish. But I do believe in him defensively
on the Knicks. I get why it's not working in Atlanta, even though
was an effort based, personnel based lineup base. Is there just something there
that I'm missing? He really should help their defense, which has been pretty
poor this season. I just wonder if he's going to hurt you offensively in
similar ways that he did for the Hawks, or are you already so blah
offensively that it doesn't matter. But if you were going to get someone,
if you were looking at him as an offensive asset like to you either need
someone who's gonna pre pressure on the rim as the primary ball handler, which
cam Reddish does not do, or just someone who is so clearly plug in
play, which cam Reddish does not want to be. And that's why I'm
just wondering in future trade negotiations, which is why I thought this was more
about Now. I do think to the rest of the league, I'm not
talking about the Knicks, if they wanted to make a trade, that Hornet's
pick is going to be more valuable for them than cam Reddish at this moment.
And the only way that changes is if you fully believe that he's going
to reboot his stock at both ends of the floor. I want to be
clear, even if he's great defensively, if he's still rough on the offensive
end. Now you're in this situation where he becomes an oddball fit offensively and
you have to RJ Barrett's extension knowledgeable this summer Mitchell Robinson is a free agent.
You're getting to the point where you need to invest in this younger Ish
core, and Cam Reddish is all of a sudden among it. I'm very
curious to see how they incorporate him offensively, how happy he is. And
look, if there's more on ball volume or skill there to plumb with Cam
Reddish and they bring it out of him, power to them, I don't.
I'm not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt in doing that.
Though I fully agree with basically everything you just said, I think the
only thing I would add is what happens when Julius Randall teases even more mid
range out of his game, teases more mid range out of Cam Reddish's game,
like more efficiency or just volume, just more volume, I will cry,
and look, it's not even gonna be mid range. It's just gonna
be like long mid range. At least now with Reddish, he is probably
taking like a few more from the short I should really look that up before
I say anything, but probably taking more like of the I'll call them true
mid range attempts or short mid range attempts. Yeah, most of his mid
rangers come from between four and fourteen feet, Like Randall's gonna have him shooting
like between fourteen feet and the three points. So it's a step closer to
taking threes. That's obviously a good thing. So there you go. That's
how the improvement comes. But I'm I'm fascinated to see I really am fascinated
to see his offensive it. I just don't think this was a no brainer
good move. I don't even know do you think it from their perspective?
Like, how would you grade it if you're if you're the Knicks, what
are you giving them? Probably like a see Also just because I agree with
you about the value of that that Charlotte Pick, I think the one variable
that it's been tossed around facetiously to some extent I think on Twitter, but
also seems to have like some validity, is what if this does enable the
Knicks to make more of a Zion Williamson play, because RJ. Barrett and
Camradish did both play with him at Duke, if there is any appeal whatsoever,
because we already know that Zion seems to be a flight risk from New
Orleans, might have his eyes on New York because he said positive things about
the organization and Madison's called in the past. He also said that it was
going to be r J Seam and lo and behold it became arts team.
Yeah. So, like, I know that it is mostly a joke,
I think, but there might be like a kernel of truth there where this
could be, at least in small part, a recruiting pitch. I will
say the Knicks historically are not above thinking that way, and that includes this
front office. They were the front office that was in charge when the Kevin
Duran Kyrie of stuff happened. They're not above thinking that way. It would
be the most fucking name thing if that's how they were viewing this. Because
at the most, let's assume becomes available, I'm what is the pathway to
getting York without giving up one of I can't right right now. No,
I mean, obviously I don't really think that there's too much validity to it,
but I do think that there is enough of that kernel of truth that
it's worth at least mentioning. And again I do think he helps defensively.
Oh, Mark Bremer the New York Post, by the way, I reported
this, I don't know if you saw that, but his sources told them
that RJ and Cam didn't get along at Duke and I don't know how much
stock to place in that. I'm not gonna place a ton of it,
but food for thought. If we're gonna if we're gonna say, oh,
is this a recruiting pitch for Zion, then we have to at least place
some value in that report too. And the final thing I'll say on this,
which is what really concerns me about this move, is ken Rettis wasn't
great offensively at Duke because he had to be shoehorned into the type of role
the Hawks were asking to play him now, and the Knicks probably need him
to play now. So I just I what is good about this is it's
not a huge swing, and there is a chance. I don't think it's
likely, but there is a chance that Hornet's pick turns into two seconds by
twenty twenty five. Let's just like this. I think there's a serious chance.
With that, you're effectively saying that they'll be a lottery team by them,
which feels absurd because of Lamello. But like Gordon, heywe's gonna get
older. He's been good. I was wrong about the contract. I always
thought the fit was good, but I thought the contract would look heinous after
year two we're in year two, it does not, so I was wrong
about that, but it's to me it's less about the personnel and more about
the temporal distance, where like a lot can change really quickly in the NBA,
and that would be another protecting To pick that far out as always a
dangerous proposition, and that would be another reason to make that move. Is
if you don't let's say you don't think it's going to convey by twenty twenty
four, you've just internally decided as an organization, so you don't know what's
going to happen in twenty twenty five. Would you rather have this year and
a half of cam Reddish getting a flyer on someone who was shown in the
past that he could be good defensively in his head? Do we call them
like offensive, like fleeting examp like instances of just flashes in the pan would
be the best way to call it? Or would you rather have two seconds?
And so if they've made that evaluation, maybe I don't agree, but
that's a fair way to look at it. So I don't think this is
a bad trade by the Knicks. I was surprised at how many people just
thought it was a flat out home run. Maybe there really high on that
Brooklyn twenty fifteen second round pick, so but I think it was I think
it was justifiable, bordering on good, but I don't think it was absent
like complexity or potential pitfalls is just what I'm getting at. I think I'm
at like a C minus for Atlanta and a C plus for New York.
I don't think it's a great trade for either team, but I do think
that that C plus for New York carries significant more upside where Atlanta's hinges on
a subsequent trade that we don't know will happen, and we don't know if
it will be a good move if it does. Whereas for New York to
hit on this trade, it just needs a top ten pick who is still
twenty two years old to show more of the potential that we've already seen in
fleeting bursts. If when we do trade deadline grades, or at least when
I do it, whether it's you or a guest, it'll be I'm anxious
to revisit this from Atlanta as perspective, then the Knicks. The Knicks is
just don't you didn't acquire him with the intention of rerouting him because of he
can really only be traded singularly at this point, not as part of this
other package. So but I'm I tried to lay out Atlanta's thinking. We'll
have to see, we'll know by three pm February tenth whether that's where they
were headed. And look, if they don't do anything after this, I
will absolutely brutalize they're thinking here. I guess you could still view that pick
as valuable in the offseason, but like that pick cannot be in Atlanta or
used in a trade that's just as seemingly marginal as this one. It needs
to be as part of like a bigger consolidations. Way, totally agree.
Let's move on to some other questions. See how many we can blow through
here in the next twenty or so minutes. Michael J also asked can the
Grizzlies get the number one seed in the entire MBA now, I want to
I want to let you know how how many games they are away from that
number one seed. They're only they're five losses back of the best record Phoenix
Suns. At this moment, they're only three games back overall of the best
record in the NBA. They have. By the way, this means that
they have moved ahead of the Jazz in the standings at this moment, just
in case anyone was like a Rudy Gobert absence might have had something to do
with that. I mean, my answer is no, Like about COVID brain
me listing Donovan Mitchell ahead of Rudy Gobert on my MVP ballot. I'm just
I don't even know what I was thinking there. It was immaterial because it
was so low. But I'd just like to clarify Rudy Gobert as the MVP
of the Jazz. Please go ahead, though, I feel like we're getting
a little ahead of ourselves with the Grizzlies, if we're thinking that they're going
to be the number one overall seed. This is clearly a very good team.
It has a lot of chemistry, it has a lot of good pieces.
You know, we've said before that if you're interested in the most improved
player rate race, you can basically or like a breakout player, you can
basically throw a dart at the Memphis roster and you're going to hit one.
John Morant is amazing deservedly working his way onto the periphery of the MVP conversation.
But that is not an absurd thing to say. It is not an
ab certain thing to say, and it is reductively well imply otherwise. I
agree. It's still it feels a little bit early. You know, we
don't really see teams take that big a year over year leap, like you
do have to go through the steps to work your way up to being a
true contender. And if you just look at the teams surrounding them, we
have the Warriors who still have a two and a half game advantage over Memphis
and are reintegrating Klay Thompson. You know, that was always going to come
with a little bit of a struggle in the immediate return, because you have
to re establish the chemistry, you have to re establish the offensive hierarchy.
It was going to take time. And they have that cushion and so much
talent the Phoenix Suns, Like, what reason do we have to believe that
they're going to you know, fall three and a half games back when they're
flat out rolling the Jazz, only a half game back of Memphis right now
again, after that gobet absence, I just I don't really see. I
don't really see enough to believe that this ascension is going to continue in it's
in the rapid state that we've seen to this point. This is clearly a
team that is going to be able to beat any given organization on any given
night. Stringing those together for the entirety of the second half of the season
is another thing in and of itself. I don't think the metrics back this
up either. If you look at net rating, if you look at simple
rating system, which incorporates strength of schedule, if you look at the four
factors, there are indicators that Memphis is playing a little bit above its head
and still not quite reaching the level of these other Western Conference druggernauts. So
in the mix for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs,
apps the fucking Lutley, in the mix for the number one seed, I
think that we're getting ahead of ourselves. Yeah, and I do think that
they're a team that should look at buying at the deadline is the only thing
I'll add Memphis. Twitter has become kind of funny where it's like, we're
not giving up Zeyer Williams and a first round pick for Miles Turner or somebody
else, like we gotta I understand why Esmond Baine would be untouchable. I
understand you want to move to General Jackson Jr. John Rant, but if
you want to get better, you need to give up stuff. And I
think they are good enough, especially over their past twenty plus games, to
be like, hey, look where we are, let's try and make it.
Doesn't have to be Whilesterner. I actually like his fit in Memphis.
Other people do not. I understand they should be buyers. And I don't
mean just can we get Cam Reddish for a fake first round pick buyers.
I mean real, let's cannonball into this buyers if the opportunity presents itself so,
And I don't think that would make them the number one seed. I'm
still going to pick the Warriors and the Suns to both finish in front of
them. I'm even gonna pick the Jazz to finish in front of them.
I think there's just something about Memphis's offense. They live in transition. John
Moran is great, they need more every level threats is the best way for
me to put it. And I don't outside of John Morant like and I
would say John Morant and Desmond Bayne are their two best multi level scoring threats
and just there aren't good I was speaking of Morant like. That's the other
reason here is if they do end up as the number one seed, that
is terrible news for the postseason because the amount of energy that John Moran would
have to expend to get this team into that position, that is not the
proper use of that exertion. Counterpoint, and I know that they are over
They're twenty and four of their last twenty four games as we record this,
they are eleven and two during that time without John Moran. If they've finished
with the number one seed in the Western Conference and John Moran is playing in
basically every game from now until then, my counterpoint would be John Moran might
win MVP. So maybe it's good for John Moran, because I wouldn't pick
them to win the title. There's not a move. I just I don't
think it would be good for John morand it wouldn't necessarily be good for the
subsequent playoff race. That's my only point. Who knows what the league looks
like at that point. Now, like Warriors, they're injured and can't score
at the moment, So maybe it's a good thing. And I can't emphasize
enough that these answers are not knocks against Memphis, which is very clearly a
high level of basketball club. I'm sorry this is if anything, it's a
huge fucking compliment, and I've been wrong. This is a third year running
where I picked them not make the playoffs, and I'm just gonna completely be
wrong about Memphis all the time. The fact that they were in the discussion,
and I do think it was warranted because they did do the Steven Adams
has worked out well for them. He's been a much better fit than I
thought. Tipping savant with them, by the way, but the thought process
behind the valent Trunis adamstrate made me think like they're kind of rebuilding. They
have obliterated expectations. We're asking if they could finish number one in the league,
not can they make the playoffs. It's not a bad question. It's
a legitimate question right now, given the momentum they have. I just I
don't think that I think it's a clear answer. I don't think it's a
bad question. I don't think it's a bad question. But I'm saying the
clear answer is not an insult because the fact that we're even asking the question
says a ton we have. Another Knicks question comes from Wayne Lefski asked,
I feel like analytic wise, RJ. Barrett has always been fs he is
correct by the way these passing reats. He's been playing his best basketball,
and I was wondering if the analytics reflect that as well. I think what
a lot of people look at is when they're talking about analytics, are more
of the team stats, like if it's the net rating swing whatever. RJ.
Barrett over's last eight games is averaging twenty three point four points, three
assists, five point six rebounds if you care about that, shooting forty one
point three percent from three, under seventy percent at the foulon he's getting there.
But this dude's foul shooting is not great, and he's better than fifty
percent of his twos. The Knicks have still been outscored by an average of
four points per game with him on the court. A lot of that has
to do with the one Boston game. The Boston game, but he was
also consecutive minus fifteens in the loss to Oklahoma City and Detroit. Now they
didn't have Julius Rando for Oklahoma City, and then previously. Overall in the
season, the Knicks are getting outscored by an average of two point four points
per game with him on the court. These are not like brain bending numbers.
I just the Knicks are so confusing, and I think they're starters.
Even with RJ. Barrett plant like this, they are to nightly disadvantage almost
every game, and so that's going to skew a lot of the kitchen sink
metrics. I will say this has proven to me I'm probably somewhere in the
middle on RJ. Barrett. When you look at Knicks fans and then people
that aren't Knicks fans, there's more to dig into with him on the board,
and I think that that's become absolutely clear. And I do think that's
along if they ever get the full strength or even a facsimile of it,
and primarily with Julius Randall, I just I think that his growth is going
to be capped, if not just outright stunted, and that is that's where
I'm Barrett to me feels like one of those classic players where he is always
going to be a little bit short changed because of the difficulty of the role
he's asked to fill on both ends of the floor really where he is tasked
with guarding number one options with a wide variety of defensive assignments, and then
he does have a difficult shot selection basically out of necessity because teams need players
like that, and I think it's why we see so many veterans and so
many retired players caping for these guys like Jamal Crawford, like Kyrie Irving who
they're so ridiculously talented hitting those difficult shots that not many players can actually reasonably
attempt to much less make that the difficulty drags down the analytics, but also
increases their perception among their peers. And I think Barrett to me kind of
falls into that same category. I'm not comparing him to Kyrie irvinger Jamal Crawford
so much as saying that, like what he is asked to do, he's
asked to do it because of his skill set that not a lot of players
are able to muster up. So yeah, like, he's going to have
some struggles, some negative plays within that role, but the fact that he's
filling that role in and of it self is a big deal, and we're
seeing that more and more. So I don't know that it's necessarily reflected in
the analytics. We're seeing the basic counting stats improve, we're seeing some of
the percentages improve, We're seeing some of the advanced metrics improved. But to
me, the difficulty of that role and the importance that he has to the
Knicks supersedes all of that growth. Yeah. Look, I would argue his
problem at least on offense role obscurity actually for most of the year, but
he it's also had fault to him because he was so not these past eight
games. But he's generally just been so inconsistent when it comes to attacking the
basket, not letting his games stall out before the rim. Could still stand
to improve as a finisher overall, getting to the foul line a lot more
often of the past eight game. So those are all good signs. I
think what I think some consistency in the role archetype that he's assuming would go
a long way. And even then I don't know how it pans out,
but I think he's now showing enough to be like, hey, we actually
need to he's extension OL's role this summer. It's time to really get into
the depths of his offensive skill set. Next question comes from this is the
outdated ones, so I wanted to shout it out from Thible's wingspan. Thank
you for d mming it to me. I meant to answer it on the
last solo mail bag, but I skipped all the DM questions I had Covid
feel bad for me. That's my excuse for everything. Now he has who's
a better duo long term as second and third options when looking at Collins and
Collins and Reddish or Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Junior. We can change this
and he even mentioned it too, Who's better John Collins and DeAndre Hunter or
Jaren Jackson Junior and Desmond Baine long term? We have to change it out
in necessity now. But I thought it was a fascinating question. It's a
really good one. I'm gonna go with the Memphis duo just because of the
growth that we've seen from Desmond Baine, where it feels like we can be
more and more confident that pigeonholing him as a three and D prospect was short
changing him. He is so much more than that. There is a malleability
to his game on both ends of the floor that enables him to fill a
lot of different roles, and we're also at the same time seeing what a
healthy Charon Jackson Junior can do. You know that it's always been a tantalizing
package as that true floor spacing big man, the shot blocking big man who
can just do everything. Now that he's healthy, now that Memphis is thriving,
we're seeing that package, you know. The day we're recording this,
the Grizzlies twitter account tweeted out some of his stats over the last four games
and how they were unmatched and how he deserves some All Star recognition, which
I think is overselling him a little bit because it's not just a recognition of
four games, but it still speaks to the level at which he's playing right
now. So John Collins is so exciting. Also a huge beneficiary of playing
with Trey Young, who really makes his game go because of the pickle that
Trey Young always puts a posting defenders in covering the pick and roll. With
him and Collins, I don't know that Desmond Bane and Jared Jackson Junior are
as dependent on key teammates to elevate their level of performance. I'd argue just
Jaren Jackson Junior's fours basing he is so important opening the floor for everyone else
on the Grizzlies, and I would agree with everything you said there, and
really the tipping point you could look at DeAndre Honor's health, but then there's
Jaren Jackson Junior missed a ton of time the previous two seasons. The tipping
point for me clearly whether you looked at it as reddish or hunter. And
I think people would probably prefer a hunter and a vacum the reddish anyway,
So this might this might be the right question to begin with Desmond Baane's on
ball development that they really it's tough to glean real insight from Summer League,
but they started this in Vegas with him, and a lot of it is
translated to this season. His growth offensively there, I think, really just
makes this. I don't know if it's a no brainer, because I do
appreciate John Collins' scalability across basically both ends of the floor. At this point,
he can't anchor your defense, but he's also not going to be the
one that torpedoes it. And then I like all the holes he can fill
on offense, even though he seems to not maybe appreciate that he wants to
have a larger responsibility there. I don't know how. I don't know that
there's a clear case for Atlanta's duo compared to Memphis is due after the season
we've seen and Jared Jackson juniors. There's still stuff I want to see from
him on both sides of the floor, including on offense. But he's improved.
He's under more control of defensively this year, and I think you can
trust him to play the five. Additionally, he works as the four and
seems just more comfortable and higher IQ on that end. In general, I
follow up questions of those four players, who's your number one? In a
vacuum? Who seem weird that John Collins might be the best player of that
bunch? For me? No, I don't think so. Is it weird
that I might take Desmond Dan long term over all of them long term?
Okay, it's fair to right now though it's probably between Collins. I think
it's Collins right now. Long term. I see the case for Maading.
I need to see this happen again next season, the same type of on
ball stop and even the little defensive improvements. Looking at his like positional spectrum
that he's able to go up against. But yeah, it's who are you
lowest on of this group long term? Probably Hunter? Yeah, I'm with
you there, And a lot of it's the health. I think it's it's
partially the health and partially just the inconsistency. Even when he is healthy,
Like we've seen that he can be this defensive stalwart. We've seen that he
can put the ball on his floor and put the ball on the floor and
create his own shots, but then the next day he looks awful doing either
of those things. And I just I don't know that I trust the across
the board to development enough to be confident that he's going to be more than
a specialist down the road. Let's get to this question from Milky Ernie,
ask what's potential trade charge gives Phoenix the best shot at making a return finals
appearance? Eric Gordon, Fad Young, Jeremy Grant or Ben Simmons. It's
a wide variety of players. I think, Look, I don't I don't
love to Ben Simmons fit. I'm going to rule that out right that because
I just I don't want to see him with Chris Paul and Devin Booker,
Like I just I don't think that makes sense, and pushed back there because
the role that Devin Booker has played and thrived in this season. But I
do see your point. Also the equity. This is not a team that
you've been giving up the equity in a three or fourteen deal to get Ben
Simmons. You're you're talking Cam Johnson gone, every future pick you have gone,
DeAndre at and probably gone because you're not going to give up Michael Bridges
is so tough to trade after his extension, So it would be between Eric
Gordon, fadd Young and Jeremy Grant. I like the Eric Gordon shit a
lot here, just the that he brings the ability to put some pressure on
the rim. You know, we talked about it on a previous episode,
that he could set up well beyond the arc, can add even more spacing,
which I think is important for this team, and it probably I think
Jeremy Grant is my number two here, but I feel like it's going to
take more to get Grant than it does to get Gordon, which I think
has to factor into the answer here. The other thing is it's Gordon for
me and it's not even close. I think Jeremy Grant is officially a terrible
fit for this team, just because they need their primary move, which would
cost whatever assets needs to bring back someone with more ball skills. And I
know he's shown it in Detroit at points, I don't know that we could
trust it enough to say this is someone you bestow ball handling responsibility to in
the playoffs. And its three point shot is still just like choppy enough looking
at the efficiency where it's not knocked down, and with Eric Gordon specifically,
I don't think this is a deal. Brit Look the Suns from my title
pick. So if any Suns vangel listening to this, I'm not dumping all
over them. They're now dead last in the frequency with which they get to
the rim on offense, the smallst share of their shots fewer than twenty five
percent, and everyone else in the league, by the way, is getting
at least twenty six point six percent of their attempt at the rim this year.
Phoenix is at twenty four point nine. That is, you're built around
Devin Booker and Chris Paul. It's fine, I get it. It really
kind of hurt you once you got to the finals against Milwaukee and Eric Gordon's
rim pressure that with the spacing that Phoenix can provide him with. Looking at
their personnel in certain lineups, I understand the need. Maybe you'd want to
go more small ball five just for certain I mean, but even DeAndre ayton
Is, I don't know if he's match up proof, but like, are
you scared of playing DeAndre proof? At this point, I was gonna say,
you're not worried about playing DeAndre and at the five? If the Bucks
are using Janis at the five, that's just not something that's good on.
So I think it's Eric Gordon, and I don't know if they have the
juice to get him, because if he commands a first round pick, it's
just tough. They can't trade one until twenty four. I did come up
with a fake trade, I'll throw it out really quick where they ended up
giving up Jalen Smith, Dario starch Ab, Dolnator, Alfred Peyton. They're
twenty twenty four first and two seconds. It got them back ken Rick Williams
and Eric Gordon. I would do that deal on a heartbeat, even though
people are obviouslyting just higher on Jalen Smith. Let's move on to the final
couple questions. I want to focus on the d M ones that we got
since again I skipped over them last time. Chris asked at the current moment,
which players are making the best case to become an All Star for the
first time in their career. I'm gonna rattle them off, and I want
you to pick one. And if I forget anybody, but I know you're
doing this off the cuff. You have Fred van Fleet, you have Jared
right there. He would be my pick. That's the obvious answer, right,
It's not because John Moran exists. John Morant plays in the Western Conference,
which has such a ridiculous backcourt selection. Well, who does it this
year? It's between him and Donovan Mitchell. I don't know if he'll get
it for starters. I mean, John Moran is going to make the All
Star team, certain, but Fred Van Fleet is even more than one hundred
percent certain. Okay, so relative to his conference, for sure. But
would you say John Morand's Van Fleets defense is just so damn good? But
would you say that John Rand van Fleets everything is so damn good. Yes,
John Moran has been better. Fred van Fleet John Morant would be the
names that's bring them mind. There's also Jared Allen Darius Garland to consider.
I think both of them should make the team, but they are less likely
to because name recognition factors into this, and coaches are more likely to give
the nods to the players who aren't just breaking out for the first time this
season. They Van Fleet is a fairly established product. We knew that he
was really good last year. He wasn't at this level, but Jared Allen
was a question mark. Darius Garland was a question mark. Do they deserve
inclusion, Absolutely, but they're not going to be vote it into starters,
which means it hinges on the coach's selections, and we know how that goes
historically. And also they're not no aside from John Moran, like these other
players are no brainers. So let's do this. We'll say I actually think
Jared Allen is a no brainer inclusion just from an analytics and value standpoint,
but when we actually factor in what goes into the formation of the teams,
he's no longer a no brainer. So let's do this. We'll go through
the first All Star candidates. Are they going to be a first All Star
or not? I'm going to run through them with you. Friend. Vanfleet
absolutely I'm with you on yes. John Moran, absolutely, Jared Allen,
you have to miss it. Yes, I think I think yes, I
think he will get in. I'm gonna say yes with him too. Garius
Garland, I'm gonna say no, unfortunately, unless unless he's an injury replacement.
You know, I think we have to say expand the rosters. Speaking
of Dejanta Murray, no too much depth in the Western Conference. He deserves,
he deserves mentioned one hundred percent, deserves to be in this conversation.
But because we're still stupidly not expanding the All Star rosters, he will not
get in. You want to pick the should we do the injury replacement team?
John Collins, No, not a chance. Yeah. I do think
even better than people give him credit for. So not a chance is rude,
but it's not. There's betray Young is a lock in there and Atlanta
is not going to get a second All Star wallblow. I don't. I
hate that logic. By the way, I do too. I don't think
he's a no brain. I'm not. I'm not saying who should be?
You asked me who is going to This is my final Yes, this is
the final one that I have and maybe you have more, but LaMelo Ball
would be the other one. I've said, Jean Day Murray, right,
he's a male for me? He did, Yeah, I mean I think
LaMelo Ball fits into the same category as de Jeante Murray where he deserves to
be in the conversation. I don't know that he's going to make it in.
I'm sure people are gonna be mad that we didn't mention Michael Bridges.
But he's a no insofar as you think that he even like deserves the brain.
I'm trying to I'm trying to look through here, and DeAndre Ayton would
be a no for me to. Jalen Bronson is a no, though he's
made a very compelling case over the past like month or so. I think
I think Aiden has a chance. Phoenix is good enough that it could very
much justify getting three in anyone else who stands out Terris Haliburton, it's not
avident. Not happening deserves deserves mentioned. Not happening deserves mention when you start
talking about the if they here's one more. Andrew Wiggins, No, oh
my god, why because it keeps getting floated as a possibility and he might
get he might get in on the back of the fan book. I do.
Look, I've been very impressed with his defense overall, and just I
don't think I don't think he belongs in that conversation, but I think that
it would be incomplete to not mention him. There is I just he's been
good, but like we need to. I think we might even be guilty
of it at this point where we're naming Tyrese Haliburton. We got to stop
doing this thing where it's like this player is good, so does he deserve
to be like one of them, one of the top twelve players in the
West, even though positions matter a little bit. Yes, Kennon should get
in and will get in. Robert Williams, hoop informatist, asked, I've
reached the point of set. This is a big question. I thought it
was fascinating. I've reached the point of set Partner's book where he talked about
what's next to analytics, and he discusses audio analytics as being the future data
on who is talking more and how clearly. Mike Dyala Rosa also recently released
a video on Thinking Basketball's YouTube page illustrating Minnesota's defense and the impact the Angel
Russell's having on team defense by being a rover and communicator, which all leads
me to the actual question at hand. Who do you believe are the best
defensive communicators in the NBA? And how much value should communication be given on
this impact of team defense? Now this was a thinker, so I went
out a great question. I have an immediate answer. Oh, I was
I was gonna. I actually asked the coach about this, not an NBA
coach, but I asked, Yes Spinella, his friend of the pod coach
Spins, who coaches? Could you let Spins have his moment at fourteen?
Here's what he said, though I felt what I thought was the interesting answer
about how important is defense communication in general? Spins said, vital to everything
that happens in the final two minutes of a close game. People forget that
communication also equals listeners, guys who can be told to do something and react
adapt to what their teammates need or their in game changes. Are you named
Draymond Green, which was the first name he listed, I want to see
if you can name He named four other people. I want to He named
five other people. I want to see how many of them you can get.
I definitely can't. Okay, there's four and he can't. One of
them is going to put Kyle Lowry. Okay, one, So you're two
for two on what spins listed Draymond and Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Fleet No,
m wow. So Beat is embat up there? No it. Beat
is trash talking the entire time. He's trash talking, but he's also very
demonstrative. Like it might not be as much verbal communication, but I feel
like he's still gesticulating and gesturing and all sorts of things to get people in
the right spots. I think I feel like there's one semi obvious one you're
still missing because the first two names that came to mind, the first three
are on this list, and you name two of them. All right.
I know Janis has been a big communicator lately. SI him. I'm just
thinking out. I'm not saying he's bad. These are just the names that
spins. Jimmy Butler comes to mind looking at a list now, all right,
Anzo Ball is really communicative, but probably less impactful from the point guard
position. So I do think you're missing one. Obviously. I blame COVID
for that. Cough. Chris Paul was the other one he was that's fair
what I found interesting. I didn't show him ull question. Spins came up
with de Angelo Russell. So hoop informatics Wow was talking about D'Angelo Russell and
then spinned de Angelo Russell. He also the two other names he had.
One of them is no longer in the NBA, Marc Gasol, so he
I think you would have gotten him and he yes, absolutely one I agree
with after thinking about it, like realizing what we've watched the past, let's
just say the past, like two seasons whatever. DeAndre Ayton I don't see
it as much because I think it's harder to fill that role when you're on
the same team as Chris Paul. He I think if you watch him though,
and his hands, just watch his hands and much his schmans, watch
his hands in a half court for possessions when Chris Paul is on or off
the court, just watch them. It's a really cool question. That was
a great questions. Look, we're probably not even qualified to answer it,
so thank you to Adam Spinello for pitching in there. Last very couple ones
here. I think that did us. I think we're good on the d
M one or no oh no, yeah, I asked that one. Da
da okay, so man, this is oh let me do this one very
quickly because I looked it up. Chris asked, what does Tyrese Haliburton's affect
the field goal percentage in the last three minutes of the third and fourth quarters.
I could not narrow it down to the I don't know that off the
top of my head. I don't know what I thought my head either.
He is shooting. His affective field goal percentage is fifty six point two in
the entirety of third quarters, fifty three in the entirety of the fourth quarter.
It is fifty two point eight in the final three minutes of clutch time.
It is fifty five point six in one possession crunch time during the final
three minutes, so still pretty efficient. That was a very one of the
more specific these questions that we have gotten. I will say, I'm all
for anything that props up Tyrese Haliburton, who should be in the All Star
conversation in the West, because the rosters should expand to at least fifteen players
per conference. Sorry, I couldn't help myself there. And these will be
our final two bookmark. The other ones for next time. This one is
actually fairly topical. I think zach As should the Wizard's Trader build around bradleyview
if you think that we have you would think that we have a firm answer
at this point because he's been floated in these conversations for so much time.
But I still just I'm on the fence because I feel like there's there is
more potential in Washington right now than it feels like there has been in a
while, just with this current core. But I still don't think that if
the end goal is competing for a title, that you're not going to get
there with this core, which means to me in a championship or bust evaluation,
which I think is a little bit of a corrosive mentality. But that's
a topic for another time. But if we do operate with that mentality,
then yeah, you should probably still move him. What's interesting, I don't
think I don't think they should build around him. I also don't think they
should trade him anymore. And my logic here would be would be this,
what is his value heading into free agency this summer? Now, if you
were going to move him, it should happened over the off season. Or
better yet, before last year's trade online, when it became clear that your
team was in like this weird direction even you know, if you could could
have forecasted like their their mid year uptick. At this point, I think
just because he's still on the right side of thirty, signing that extension probably
gives him more value once once he's allowed to be moved again. And so
that's where I'm at with them, is you almost have to resign him now
and then go into next season or whatever. Maybe you don't even go in
and go into next season, see how you're faring, and then make the
call. Then I think you ultimately, if it's champ if it's a championship
thing, I don't think giving Bradley Beal a max deal as your top guy
is going to win you a championship or give you a clear path to one,
unless did Denny Afia and ruyhatch Moore both just explode because and look the
way it could be a solid team with bradleybal better than this. They started
off hotter this season, maybe they can make moves on the margins. I
don't think the answer is to rebuild, and if you're gonna if you're gonna
rebuild around Bradley Beal. It to rebuild around Bradley Beal, tear it down
to the studs of him and Denny Abba, basically, and if Daniel Gafford
find whatever, Adam, I see you looking at me weird. I'd like
to change my answer to all of what you've said. Fair enough, but
I think you get more value by resigning him and looking to move him later.
I also think with him, maybe he wanted to stay in Washington.
I think we're at the point where players have decided I want to get these
extensions and then I'll figure out a way to leave later if need be.
I couldn't agree more. The final question from Kade, are the Raptors a
threat? What are the chances they win their division the Eastern Conference? And
also they're not going to win their division because the Nets exist, is the
only thing I'll say. Yeah, I mean, I think that Toronto is
a reasonable threat to make the playoffs and potentially pull off a first round upset.
I don't know how much further I would go than that, but with
the infrastructure in Toronto is so strong, you can count on Messia Jury making
a smart deadline move that is going to improve his team's chances both in the
short and long term. Fred Van Fleet offers them an all star who can
carry the team on a semi nightly basis. Scottie Barnes is only going to
continue improving. There are pieces in place for this team to be really dangerous.
I don't know that there is the reliable night in, night out carry
an organization talent necessary to make it through the Eastern Conference playoffs. That includes
a resurgent Chicago Bulls franchise, that includes a Big three that's going to be
available for half of the playoff games, that includes a motivated Miami Heat team
that includes Jannisanta Dakumbo. I just I don't see them getting through that gauntlet.
But I could very much see the Raptors putting a scare into some team
in the playoffs. I'd be with everything you said there. I think they're
one point of attack weapon short of being a real problem. And if you
look at their record or how they performed at the beginning of the season,
there's just so much of a difference to the way they've been playing lately.
I know they've beat up on some teams that didn't have guys that's the story
of this entire fucking shit show of a season. With having at og Ana,
Nobi, Fred Van Fleet and Pascal Siakam all available, it changes the
way your offense allowed to operate where you don't need Og to do as much
on the ball, and that's just better suited for him, and Og has
been shooting so well from three. It's another outlet in terms of spacing for
Siakam and Fred Van Fleet. I think Gary Trent Junior is a more dynamic
offensive player than people give them credit for. There is the Scotty Barnes has
shined for not just moments, but like long stretches on that end. But
they do need just like an additional ball handling attacker. But the fact that
they're short of already got close given where they were, not where they were
because they had the talent and just weren't healthy or able to play at home
last year, which is given what happened last season and a lot of a
lot of people thought they were candidates to blow it up. Now I would
actually say I wouldn't trust their offense, but like they aren't defensively, like
they could really give a Brooklyn or a Milwaukee and definitely a Chicago or Miami
problems in a first round series. If if the playoff bracket was set right
now, it'd be Bulls and Raptors in the first round. I'm sure you
would pick Chicago, as would I. I'm okay, good. I'm not
sure that I would pick Chicago in that and if I did, it would
probably be like a Bulls in the seven situation. Maybe I'm underestimating how much
the offensive hierarchy in Toronto would be impacted in a postseason setting, because they
will ugly up half court sets like they need second chance points, they need
to catch airballs or whatever. But like their offense is not as bad as
people expect, in part because they make a lot of those second chance opportunities
and they do have real talent. But to say that they're that type of
you know, point of attack weapons show, and I don't even think it
needs to be like a co star. It'd be nice it was, but
someone to come off like if a Caras Lavert was coming off their bench.
I might think that this team is just ready not to make it out of
the East, but be super real problems. And I will finish with this.
I think they probably need to be buyers at the trade deadline. Now
you're your whole day or you're buying. I'm not Toronto is not a seller's
candidate. I know. I don't know who you would sell well because people
look at it and say, oh, you want to rebuild around Adenobe and
Barnes. They're the future. Trent still young, Siakam van Fleet I think
are twenty eight, and they're at there the peaks that they're going to operate
at right now, or they're in the firm part of their prime and you
know their best days are gonna behind them. When Barnes has his best days
and O. G. Eight maybe has his best days. That's the motive
thinking for a team that isn't good and can't do anything now, the Raptors
just don't fit that criteria there. I think they're ready to make I think
they will be a top six team in the East. I predicted at the
beginning of the year in the preseason they would be better than the Knicks,
which tells you how uneasy I was about the Knicks leading into the season.
I think they will be a top six team in the East, though I
have them. I have them in at that conversation and Beyond that, I
think that you know, every year there's that one team that no one really
wants to play in the playoffs. This is that team in the East.
Atlanta could have that potential, like you don't want to have to face them,
for sure. I think the Raptors have shown more this season than Atlanta,
for sure. I also think that typically the team that qualifies most for
that is a defensive juggernaut rather than an offensive juggernaut. That's a that's a
good point. That's a great point. Actually, that will do it for
us. We have other questions. I'll save them for the next mail bag
whenever. That is. Thank you for everyone who made it this far.
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shout out to the one, the only, the legend, the myth, Frankielkina