1
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,120
Hello, everyone, Welcome to the
latest edition of Hardwood Knocks. This is

2
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,160
out of from Well Here with my
fantastic co host, Dan Favalley. I'm

3
00:00:21,199 --> 00:00:26,239
gonna try to put aside my sadness
over my Atlanta Hawks losing to the Detroit

4
00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:31,399
Pistons and overtime in a game that
featured like the ugliest final two seconds of

5
00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,479
basketball this season, and bring to
you one of our mail bag episodes.

6
00:00:35,679 --> 00:00:39,759
We have a bunch of out of
the box questions, some really fun ones

7
00:00:39,799 --> 00:00:43,039
to dive into. But before we
can get to any of that, I

8
00:00:43,039 --> 00:00:46,920
have to ask Dan, how's it
going. I am frazzled as ever,

9
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,119
but in good spirits, especially after
getting to catch up with you face to

10
00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,320
face for the first time in a
couple of weeks. How are you doing.

11
00:00:53,759 --> 00:00:58,799
I'm good. I was on vacation
over a long weekend and it was

12
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,439
great to get away from every thing. And it's great to be back too.

13
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,239
We're glad to have you back.
I did a solo mail bag last

14
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,560
week. We had two guests fall
through. That doesn't hit well one I

15
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,040
asked last minute, so I can't
be mad in the health through. I

16
00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:17,719
had two guests fall through and that
never happens. But so we're happy to

17
00:01:17,799 --> 00:01:19,319
have me back because I when I
do a solo mail bag, I get

18
00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:23,280
winded. Mystain is not what I
used to do, understandably, So that's

19
00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,480
a tough that's a tough ask,
especially with like no one to bounce ideas

20
00:01:27,519 --> 00:01:32,359
off or to have them go first
on one of the answers. It's it's

21
00:01:32,359 --> 00:01:34,000
a tough one. I respect you
for doing it, and I respect you

22
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,359
for not calling out those those people
who bounced my name. I can't anyone

23
00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,040
who agrees with him on the podcast
can catch Obviously you would never do that,

24
00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,319
and nor should you. I am
ready though for this mail bag,

25
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,879
we had a lot of great questions
ad per usual, we'll start with our

26
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,159
discord questions, which nice little plug. Hey join our discord, don't forget

27
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,159
to rate, review, and subscribe
to us on Twitter. All sports sites

28
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,719
are getting hitting hitting getting hit hard
by traffic decline, So help us out.

29
00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:07,120
Download very episode, Recommend us to
people either by retweeting our promos or

30
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,560
just telling people about this podcast.
Should you listen to it? We're actually

31
00:02:09,599 --> 00:02:13,400
not hurting that badly. We've got
a couple down episodes though, I'm just

32
00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,719
gonna attribute to the fact that you
weren't here and that was it. I

33
00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:19,240
didn't even check the numbers in the
last episode though, because I wanted to

34
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,479
be in good spirits and Amon killed
it. So I'm sure that did like

35
00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:24,080
at least two trillion episodes, if
not a little bit more, if not

36
00:02:24,199 --> 00:02:28,000
more. And I think like another
thing to put you in good spirits is

37
00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:31,759
you know you We saw in the
discord channel that one of the mail back

38
00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,400
questions and I don't know if you've
you've picked this one to cover or not

39
00:02:35,719 --> 00:02:42,719
actually used the thermonuclear af phrase that
you've been pushing out on each episode made

40
00:02:42,759 --> 00:02:45,680
me. That made me smile.
That makes me smile too, and I

41
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:46,439
love when people mentioned it. So
we will get to that, but we're

42
00:02:46,439 --> 00:02:51,719
gonna start at the top from t
Bloom one seven. What team do you

43
00:02:51,759 --> 00:02:57,360
expect to make make the most slash
biggest roster changes this offseason. I am

44
00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,360
going to be surprised if we don't
have the same answer here. But you're

45
00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:01,759
so low on the Halks right now, I'm wondering if you think they should

46
00:03:02,039 --> 00:03:06,919
strip it down, trade, trade
young, and rebuild. I'm curious where

47
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:08,800
you're going with this because I don't
know that there's a super obvious answer,

48
00:03:08,879 --> 00:03:13,960
just because player movement has been so
wildly unpredictable over the last few offseasons.

49
00:03:14,199 --> 00:03:17,599
But like the Lakers feel like the
obvious candidate just because of all the tumult

50
00:03:17,719 --> 00:03:23,560
that has been affecting that organization,
and it might have reached a point at

51
00:03:23,599 --> 00:03:28,520
which they're going to attach assets just
to move Russell Westbrook. We've heard Lebron

52
00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,800
James trade rumors suddenly start to surface, trade speculation, I should say,

53
00:03:31,879 --> 00:03:37,560
rather than rumors the rest of the
supporting cast is just going to be ripped

54
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,599
to shreds because it should be.
It feels like anything is on the table

55
00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:45,639
for the Purple and Gold this offseason, So to me, they stand out

56
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,680
as the number one choice. But
I've given up on trying to make these

57
00:03:50,719 --> 00:03:57,000
predictions so early because with players requesting
trades, demanding trades, saying they're going

58
00:03:57,039 --> 00:04:00,479
to sit out, with so many
blockbuster moves happening all the time, it

59
00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:06,080
feels like any organization could go in
wildly different directions at any point in time.

60
00:04:08,319 --> 00:04:11,039
That's a good point. Also,
free agency has changed to where it's

61
00:04:11,039 --> 00:04:15,800
happening not in free agency really for
the most part, now I will say

62
00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:17,879
though it is the Lakers for me
as well, and it's not just the

63
00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:23,879
Russell Westbrook element, but the roster
is built like a placeholders they have.

64
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,879
Let's just go and assume Westbrook picks
up his forty seven point one million dollar

65
00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,040
player option, and controversial, I
know, maybe he declines it. Let's

66
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,639
also assume that Kendrick Nunn picks up
his player option. If you're not signing

67
00:04:33,759 --> 00:04:39,480
or if they're not playing yet this
season, they have five players under guarantee

68
00:04:39,519 --> 00:04:43,040
contract for next year. I'm assuming
they'll bring back Austin Reeves. Okay,

69
00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,639
there's six. That's six players under
guaranteed contract next year. I don't think

70
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,759
all their one year guys are going
to be back. That includes Malik Monk,

71
00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,759
who if they don't have access to
the non taxpayers mid level, I

72
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,240
don't know how they keep him unless
he just really wants to be there.

73
00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,480
And then you also have to kick
in the Westbrook trade that they're going to

74
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,079
make. The coaching staff want to
get rid of him. They're going to

75
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,639
have first round picks to trade.
And we'll actually pivot since we're on the

76
00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,639
Lakers now to a Twitter question a
second, but I think they're kind of

77
00:05:10,639 --> 00:05:15,199
the clear answer. And I look
at sort of the rest of the league,

78
00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:17,319
and I know there are always teams
that you can spot sort of,

79
00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:23,519
Oh, there's definitely gonna be some
real blow up happening here. I kind

80
00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,480
of feel like we're light on those
candidates leading into this. The Knicks are

81
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,560
certainly one. I could see them
if you told me they looked drastically different

82
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,839
and didn't made more move than the
Lakers, I wouldn't be that surprised.

83
00:05:35,519 --> 00:05:41,759
That's kind of like it. My
sleeper answer here is the Detroit Pistons.

84
00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,120
I think that given how good kid
Cunningham has looked now that he's healthy,

85
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,959
and we've also seen strides from Marvin
Bagley from Killy and Hayes from Sadique Bay,

86
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:58,560
they could make a move to accelerate
the timeline in a way that drastically

87
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,040
shifts the makeup of this roster.
I don't think that they're going to come

88
00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:05,279
close to totally blowing it up,
but we could feasibly see like three different

89
00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:10,639
starters and a host of new backups
for a team that's trying to immediately push

90
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,040
up the Eastern Conference standings. I
was also going to say the Magic have

91
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,800
that vibe a little bit, just
because there's so many different they still have

92
00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,199
like Terrence Ross, maybe you look
at moving him. You also have Mobamba

93
00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:25,279
and Dreamer, Shard Trezi, but
they have so many just like guys who

94
00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,560
are worth looking at that I could
see some upheaval there. I was gonna

95
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,399
reframe this though, and say,
who is the team the candidate to make

96
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:41,000
the most impactful move in the opposite
direction where I guess it's like the biggest

97
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,399
perspective, who's going to sell the
best perspective player the summer? Who's most

98
00:06:45,399 --> 00:06:53,199
likely to do that? I feel
like it's still Washington either with Chris Stops

99
00:06:53,319 --> 00:06:59,920
or Bradley Beal because to me,
that organization it continues to be a mass

100
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,480
without any cohesive sense of direction.
And I could see this being the off

101
00:07:05,519 --> 00:07:10,839
season that you know, it's been
talked about for years, But would any

102
00:07:10,839 --> 00:07:15,120
wouldn't be surprised if after making these
moves of the deadline to try to continue

103
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,319
competing in the season to try to
acquire more talent, the opposite ends up

104
00:07:19,319 --> 00:07:25,720
happening during the off season and Bill
finally just has had enough. They are

105
00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,040
probably the correct answer. I think
you can make a case they're late.

106
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,199
I don't want to call them lazy
cases. But until I hear something different

107
00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,319
from the players that they're going to
be talking about, I wouldn't select these

108
00:07:35,319 --> 00:07:40,360
teams. It could be Portland or
New Orleans technically go the dark course answer

109
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,920
is Utah. They lose in round
one, maybe an unconvincing round two.

110
00:07:46,639 --> 00:07:49,519
I just feel like there's Donovan Mitchell, the New York rumor all over again.

111
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,439
No, no, if you first
of all, if you're training Donovan

112
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:57,680
Mitchell, now that if Danny Age
even broaches the subject, he needs to

113
00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:03,079
be fired. So I'm talking,
do they decide to retool or rebuild around

114
00:08:03,079 --> 00:08:05,720
Otovan? Do they look at just
moving Rudy? Could this be a situation

115
00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:11,199
where they moved Mike Conley and Rug
Gobert. Their playoffs to me are going

116
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:16,000
to be defining because either they've made
it so far and I would argue it's

117
00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,839
probably the finals is the only thing
that really inoculates them against any sort of

118
00:08:18,879 --> 00:08:24,360
major change, or they've lost in
round one or two, and I just

119
00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,600
feel like there's gonna be noise there. And I don't think that's actually a

120
00:08:26,639 --> 00:08:31,759
spicy take. No, it's not
the question we have on the Lakers,

121
00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:37,679
though, comes from Michael Opinionated MJ
on Twitter. We always appreciate his questions

122
00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:41,919
and one of our most loyal retweeters, so thank you Michael as well.

123
00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,639
What will the Lakers get back in
a Russ deal? Since they've driven down

124
00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,000
his value down has driven down his
value to most teams. I also really

125
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,200
wanted to ask this crazy left field
question, considering what's come to light with

126
00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:58,519
the threats to Russ's family, would
it be far FETs to rust for Russ

127
00:08:58,519 --> 00:09:01,960
to ask for a buyout. I'd
just like to get out in front of

128
00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:05,120
this and say, anyone who's threatening
I didn't even know there. I could

129
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,919
probably not heard that either. I
had not heard her seen this. If

130
00:09:07,919 --> 00:09:13,000
you're threatening Russell Westbrook's family over how
he's playing on a basketball court, you're

131
00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:18,120
a fucking loser. Just it's worse
than that. Yeah, it's I mean,

132
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,320
that was the kind of way I'm
saying. It's a there's a g

133
00:09:20,519 --> 00:09:24,120
rated podcast, so I didn't want
to use I only wanted to use the

134
00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,720
word loser. But yeah, so
I want to know if there's anything of

135
00:09:26,759 --> 00:09:31,200
the that second part obviously, So, by the way, thought Russ's fault

136
00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,799
that the Lakers traded for him.
It's the front offices, it's Lebron's,

137
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,759
it's AD's fault, more than it's
Russell Westbrook's fault. Just to I want

138
00:09:39,759 --> 00:09:45,120
to get that way. I can't
see any situation which they agree to a

139
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:50,000
buyout at this point. Are we
talking about like this this season or this

140
00:09:50,039 --> 00:09:54,159
offseason? Because this season he wouldn't
even be playoff eligible if he's bought out

141
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,759
at this stage. And I can't
see that happening during the off season because

142
00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,919
he's going to pick up his twenty
twenty to twenty three player option, which

143
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:07,240
is for forty seven point one million
dollars, and they're not going to bridge

144
00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:11,240
that gap in a buyout. But
because it is an expiring deal, I

145
00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,639
think there is at least some chance
of him being moved. But if you're

146
00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:20,000
the Lakers, you are not moving
him to get anything back in all likelihood,

147
00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,879
you're attaching something to move him and
to free up enough space on the

148
00:10:24,879 --> 00:10:30,240
books that you might be able to
sign someone else or make a trade for

149
00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:35,440
a player who fits better with the
incumbent pieces. So if you're the Lakers

150
00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,639
and a Russell Westbrook trade if you're
a fan of the Lakers and a Russell

151
00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,960
Westbrook trade is being seriously discussed,
you're not hoping for a top prospect back

152
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,120
in return. You're not hoping for
an unprotected first round pick. You're hoping

153
00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:54,279
that you can give up a first
round pick with enough protections that it might

154
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,799
not convey. And I don't think
there's any way around that. You think

155
00:10:58,799 --> 00:11:01,559
you probably have to hope for a
little bit more than that, in the

156
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:07,000
sense you can't just move You're even
if you traded Russell Westbrook into space,

157
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,600
you're not going to have the cat
flexibility to go out and add major significant

158
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,080
pieces. You have to hope that
you can attach enough draft equity to acquire

159
00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,159
someone and so they can move the
twenty twenty seven and twenty twenty nine first

160
00:11:18,159 --> 00:11:22,080
they have, and also include swaps
in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty eight.

161
00:11:22,159 --> 00:11:26,200
This offseason, we've gone back and
forth a lot about how much value

162
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:31,159
distant first round picks have. Twenty
twenty six isn't that far away if we're

163
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,879
talking after the draft, so if
you can get too I oppose this question

164
00:11:35,879 --> 00:11:39,080
in our discord, who's the best
player they could get for Russ's expiring deal,

165
00:11:39,159 --> 00:11:43,679
and that's that's what you hit perfectly. You're trading Russell Westbrook the expiring

166
00:11:43,759 --> 00:11:48,279
contract, not Russell Westbrook as an
asset. But who is the best player

167
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:54,000
you could imagine getting for Russ's expiring
money and then two first plus two swaps?

168
00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,480
I can't. So the overwhelming answer
in the discord was something with the

169
00:12:01,519 --> 00:12:07,240
Pacers built around Buddy Healed and Malcolm
Brockden, which feels like the right at

170
00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,080
least level of return, maybe you
could. I just can't imagine them getting

171
00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:16,480
back a player of Brockden's coup for
you. You're giving up two first oh

172
00:12:16,519 --> 00:12:20,120
if you're if you're including the first
as well, But I think I don't

173
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,120
think you want to do that,
though you absolutely need to do that.

174
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:30,080
Lebron is thirty seven years old.
If you're intent on building a title contender

175
00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:35,200
around Lebron still, but at some
point, I don't know, I don't

176
00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,759
know. I mean, given how
poorly this season has gone, is there

177
00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:45,080
any concern if you're a member of
the Lakers front office that like, maybe

178
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,399
we need to stop mortgaging every single
piece of the future we have for something

179
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,360
that's just not going to work.
It would be different. It would be

180
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:58,320
different if they had a reliable second
piece, if Anthony Davis's injury history history

181
00:12:58,519 --> 00:13:01,519
just washed away and he was on
the court every night. I think you

182
00:13:01,519 --> 00:13:05,919
can talk yourself into doing that more
freely. But when all you have is

183
00:13:07,039 --> 00:13:11,159
question marks, like at what point
do you have to just decide like enough

184
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,840
is enough? Like we can't set
ourselves back to that we cannot possibly compete

185
00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,600
for another decade just to have a
chance of being the sixth seed. If

186
00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,960
you think that way, though,
my guests would be that you then are

187
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,559
talking about a Russell westbrook By out. I don't know that you could just

188
00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,799
move, but I think this is
any organization has the financial ability to do

189
00:13:31,879 --> 00:13:35,039
so, it would be the Layers. Well, they couldn't afford Alex Caruso

190
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,799
and they were approved for a triple
P load, so they are they are

191
00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:45,240
hard up for money. They don't
have the funds fair enough. But I

192
00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:48,120
will say I think the best case
scenario you could hope for without I don't

193
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,080
even know if it's the best case
scenario what you're describing. I feel like

194
00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:56,200
demands there to be The market that
we just saw for the Christaps porzingis trade

195
00:13:56,399 --> 00:14:03,919
where it's you divested a larger salad
on a distressed asset into two cheaper distressed

196
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,480
assets. And I don't know if
that out there because Russell Westbrook makes so

197
00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,799
much money, so inspiring contract will
help. Though, if you're not gonna

198
00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,960
go the picks and prospects are out
next to him, I don't know where

199
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,799
you're doing then, because you have
Rona even if you even if you only

200
00:14:20,799 --> 00:14:24,720
have him for two more years,
you maybe maybe the Lakers are just trying

201
00:14:24,759 --> 00:14:28,799
to be so bad that they can
be the ones that draft Brownie James at

202
00:14:28,879 --> 00:14:33,080
number one. The problem is is
he ranked number thirty four in his class

203
00:14:33,159 --> 00:14:35,159
right now, right right, I
don't know that you need to be number

204
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,799
one unless you're planning on having the
number one pick and then getting him in

205
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,919
the second. Before we move on, though, I just I want to

206
00:14:41,919 --> 00:14:45,759
read one text that we just got
from a friend of the podcast, Jacob

207
00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:48,960
Warren, who is at the game
tonight at ball Arena between and the Denver

208
00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,759
Nuggets and the zombie Golden State Warriors. He said, twack scores are unimpressive

209
00:14:52,799 --> 00:14:56,399
tonight. Best I've seen as the
Warriors. Darrell, right, if you

210
00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:00,840
don't know what twack is. I
still encourage you go to sport smathnetwork dot

211
00:15:00,879 --> 00:15:03,799
com. Check it out. It's
super fun. We haven't gotten any submissions

212
00:15:03,879 --> 00:15:09,399
yet. Be the person who changes
that. Yeah, I'm I'm with Adam

213
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,519
on that one. Let's move this
next discord question tack twack it up,

214
00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:16,559
but we'll go to discord now.
From Luke J thirty seven. Are there

215
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,799
any short term buyout centers the Calves
should pick up after the jolt out Alan

216
00:15:20,919 --> 00:15:24,600
injury or should they just roll with
Ed Davis and playing more Evan Mobley at

217
00:15:24,639 --> 00:15:31,519
the five. I would probably be
more inclined to just stick it out right

218
00:15:31,559 --> 00:15:37,720
now. The Calves have been hit
so ridiculously hard by injuries throughout the second

219
00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,799
half of this season. It feels
like everyone who wears that uniform is susceptible

220
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:46,720
to some sort of injury. But
because you're essentially playing with house money this

221
00:15:46,759 --> 00:15:50,120
season, you have the ability to
tease out what Mobley can do and an

222
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,120
expanded role at the five, and
you're ultimately still five and a half games

223
00:15:54,159 --> 00:16:00,200
clear of the eight seeded Charlotte Hornets
heading into games on Monday night. You

224
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,519
do have the buffer to see what
happens, So I don't. I don't

225
00:16:03,519 --> 00:16:07,840
think a move is really necessary here
because he's not out for the season.

226
00:16:07,519 --> 00:16:10,960
If he I mean, if he's
not gonna play again, that changes.

227
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,279
But he's going to The thing I'll
also say is you have Ed Davis,

228
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,360
Evan Mobley, Kevin Love, Dean
Wade, his six nine, Larry marking

229
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,759
in. I just I'm not signing
another big, Yeah, and especially when

230
00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:26,759
that big is gonna be Greg Monroe. Who is you know who's going to

231
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:32,399
be out there? The marketing is
fine, I guess in twenty sixteen.

232
00:16:32,879 --> 00:16:37,440
Yeah, he couldn't hang with the
Bucks who were desperate for center play.

233
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,480
So but no, I wouldn't sign
anyone. It does. The Caps are

234
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,080
just I mean they still beat Toronto. That I watched that game. That

235
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:47,720
game was that that was hashtag ugly
at points in Toronto is officially confusing the

236
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,000
shit out of me. They were
banged up, but still good question.

237
00:16:51,039 --> 00:16:53,799
The Cobs are still They've had one
of the most surprising seasons, and it

238
00:16:53,799 --> 00:16:59,559
gets more shocking when you sort of
view it against the backdrop of just all

239
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,080
the injury they've had, where it's
not just Colin Sexton. They lost Rubio

240
00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,720
before they traded him Karas LeVert is
banged up, Darius Garland was dealing with

241
00:17:06,759 --> 00:17:10,119
some stuff, Evan Mobley missed some
time earlier on and now Jared Allen,

242
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,559
it's like, when does it end
for them? If you if you had

243
00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:17,759
told me that, if I had
told you that Colin Sexton and Ricky Rubio

244
00:17:17,799 --> 00:17:22,039
we're going to play forty five combined
games for the Calvs this season heading into

245
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:26,599
the year, you probably think they're
what like a twelve thirteen seed. I

246
00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,440
honestly am shocked that the number is
that high because I know Colin Sexton really

247
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,599
played, so yes, I would
say that I might have had him as

248
00:17:33,599 --> 00:17:37,119
the twelve or thirteen see coming into
the season when they were on the roster.

249
00:17:37,279 --> 00:17:40,599
So yeah, they've had a great
year. I wouldn't want to play

250
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,039
them in the playoffs either, when
you're just looking at how they still defend.

251
00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:47,319
Jared Allen, if the defense is
just a nightmare. Speaking of defense,

252
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,599
and I caught shit for something I
said about the Celtics in the last

253
00:17:49,599 --> 00:17:52,839
podcast, but not from JT Alexander
that I know of if he asked,

254
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,759
the Celtics' defense has been the defensive
version of thermonuclears. Fuck Thermo. Nuclear

255
00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:03,599
af shout out jt using it the
last couple of months. Doesn't improving offense

256
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,880
mean this team is ready to come
out of the East or this question completely

257
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:14,519
reactionary. I don't think it's reactionary
to me. It still doesn't feel like

258
00:18:14,559 --> 00:18:18,599
there's a clear cut, overwhelming favorite
to come out of the East. And

259
00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:25,640
I would include Boston in maybe not
that the one A tier of contenders,

260
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:30,400
but in the one B tier because
that defense has been super legit all year

261
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:36,519
and we are now seeing what a
detonation from Jason Tatum can do to the

262
00:18:36,559 --> 00:18:40,839
offense. Things are clicking there.
It's it's starting to make more sense.

263
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,599
The sets are smoother, the shots
are falling, which was one of the

264
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,680
issues early in the season is that
the open jumpers were not finding the bottom

265
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,559
of the net. Now that they
are, even if it's just a progression

266
00:18:51,559 --> 00:18:55,319
to the mean, this is a
really dangerous team. So I think if

267
00:18:55,400 --> 00:19:00,480
you're if you're ranking the pecking order
within the East, you're still looking at

268
00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:06,920
Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Miami as
those one A teams, But Chicago,

269
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,799
Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Brooklyn, like those are the teams where I

270
00:19:11,799 --> 00:19:15,680
don't know that it would be super
shocking if they made it out, and

271
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:22,440
I'd probably have Boston at the top
of that pack because I don't trust Brooklyn's

272
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,680
health and availability. To me,
Boston is closer to moving up into that

273
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:32,039
one A tier than falling out of
one B. I think you could make

274
00:19:32,079 --> 00:19:34,400
a case for probably like four teams
to come out of the East, and

275
00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:37,480
the Celtics are one of them.
The Brooklyn Nets are not I'm out on

276
00:19:37,519 --> 00:19:41,559
the nets. It's just there's too
many onets described to them. I do.

277
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,799
I am concerned. I know the
offense has been better. I would

278
00:19:44,839 --> 00:19:48,440
be curious to see whether they do
have just enough off ball shooting, functional

279
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,240
shooting aside from Jason Tatum, aside
from Jalalen Brown to get by in certain

280
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,440
postseason mats up matchups. But there, Wow, from where they were just

281
00:19:57,559 --> 00:20:02,640
a month or two ago. Their
their defense has been in the Derek White

282
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:07,799
pickup just now in retrospect, makes
so much sense. They can defend and

283
00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:10,480
they have. I don't know that
you look at them. I know some

284
00:20:10,519 --> 00:20:14,240
people tried to make like the Robert
Williams Defensive Player of the Year case.

285
00:20:14,599 --> 00:20:17,480
I don't know that I'm there yet. I feel like his role on defense.

286
00:20:17,759 --> 00:20:22,160
They are reliant on him, but
it does feel more streamlined. They

287
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,599
have like the deepest My point is, I don't know that they have someone

288
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,799
that you would consider one of the
five best defenders in the league. But

289
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,359
they have so many not even just
above average, but very impactful defenders who

290
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,960
work well within like these different team
schemes that we saw where there was a

291
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,160
lot of switching earlier on in the
year. I know they didn't work out

292
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,000
great, but it was still they
were they were doing okay, and now

293
00:20:45,039 --> 00:20:49,319
we've seen you know, Zack lo
and Bryan Scalabrini talked about how they've had

294
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,759
like Robert Williams helping away from these
corners where we've also seen I mean when

295
00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:56,240
you were looking at the way they
were playing against the nets like they have.

296
00:20:56,319 --> 00:21:00,000
Robert Williams is like coming out super
far and calling off guys who want

297
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,240
to get back because he wants to
defend Seth Curry at points. They are

298
00:21:03,279 --> 00:21:07,799
so versatile on defense, and they
can they can win ugly, but they

299
00:21:07,839 --> 00:21:11,880
can also win with haymakers. I
wouldn't trust the ladder as much as their

300
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,559
defense. Like their offense, I
said again, is probably just the shooting,

301
00:21:15,559 --> 00:21:18,839
specifically just in the half court.
Do they have enough lights out shooting?

302
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:23,160
That's my biggest concern with them.
But Miami, Milwaukee, Boston,

303
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,240
and Philly, those are my four
teams that I think are most likely to

304
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,240
come out of the East right now. Not necessarily, I think. My

305
00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:36,279
biggest concern about Boston, not necessarily
in one specific playoff series, but over

306
00:21:36,319 --> 00:21:40,279
the course of the run that it
takes the sixteen wins that are necessary to

307
00:21:40,279 --> 00:21:44,039
win a title, is what happens
if Tatum does go cold, because I

308
00:21:44,039 --> 00:21:48,359
don't know that they have the secondary
creation, the secondary playmaking to buffer against

309
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:53,200
that. And he's been pretty impervious
to increase defensive attention, Like the amount

310
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,799
of tough buckets that he's generating against
you know, double teams coming from the

311
00:21:56,799 --> 00:22:00,640
weak side is just out of this
world in recent weeks. But that could

312
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,400
wear you down. And if if
it does, if they're in the Eastern

313
00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:10,200
Conference finals and he goes cold,
where are the points coming from. I

314
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,720
think that's my biggest concern about this
team still, which I think it's fair,

315
00:22:14,759 --> 00:22:15,759
but yeah, I don't think that's
reactionary at all. I think actually

316
00:22:15,759 --> 00:22:21,119
this sample has sustained long enough to
wear Boston. That might be the best

317
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:22,000
way to frame it. Right now, who's more likely to come out that

318
00:22:22,039 --> 00:22:29,519
he's Boston or Brooklyn? I would
absolutely Boston. I think if we're actually

319
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,799
ranking, I would say Philly is
number one, Milwaukee's number two, Miami's

320
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,400
number three, Boston's number four.
You have who I'm sorry, can you

321
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,319
run that through again? Boston's for
miam Philly, Milwaukee, Miami than Boston.

322
00:22:41,519 --> 00:22:45,839
Do you get Philly above Milwaukee?
Yes, I think I'm Milwaukee above

323
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,839
Philly, otherwise I might have the
same order. I'm a little worried about

324
00:22:49,839 --> 00:22:53,960
the Milwaukee death. I'm very worried
about the Milwaukee death. But I think

325
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,720
I'm just like defaulting to the to
the source that I trust at this point,

326
00:22:57,799 --> 00:23:04,000
which is all on us everything.
I totally get that. Strops As.

327
00:23:04,039 --> 00:23:07,759
Now that we have a decent sample
size of this year's rookies, what

328
00:23:07,799 --> 00:23:10,960
are some all time comparisons or career
paths that you can see for the top

329
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:15,880
five picks of the twenty twenty one
NBA draft. I don't know that I

330
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:21,920
love the idea of jumping into comparisons
here, because each player is ultimately a

331
00:23:22,039 --> 00:23:26,160
unique player, and we see so
much growth between year one and year two

332
00:23:26,599 --> 00:23:32,200
that putting them into those archetypal buckets
to me, makes more sense after a

333
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,720
sophomore season. But I do think
it's not I don't think it's too early

334
00:23:34,759 --> 00:23:40,319
to start talking about like trajectories and
what kind of accolades they're going to be

335
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,319
competing for. I firmly think that
Evan Mobley could factor into the best player

336
00:23:45,319 --> 00:23:52,640
in the league conversation for four years, five years down the road, Scottie

337
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,279
Barnes, I think we're looking at
all NBA accolades on a consistent basis if

338
00:23:57,519 --> 00:24:02,559
everything goes according to planet continues to
develop on both ends of the court.

339
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,240
Kid Cunningham has such a ridiculous feel
for the game. I think he's a

340
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,839
guy who's going to get MVP votes
down the road. And then the rest

341
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,480
of this the top of this class, guys like Franz Wagner and Herb Jones

342
00:24:15,559 --> 00:24:19,799
and Iodasumu. We're looking at a
lot of guys who have the juice to

343
00:24:19,839 --> 00:24:26,839
squeeze to be able to factor in
to All Star conversations during their best seasons.

344
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,160
I don't know if they're going to
be consistent All Stars, but there's

345
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,839
so much to like about their feel
for the game at such a such an

346
00:24:33,839 --> 00:24:37,960
early stage, in Jones's case,
in Dasumu's case. There on ball defense,

347
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,440
just how how much of a pest
they can already be. And Jones

348
00:24:42,519 --> 00:24:48,359
already playing passing lanes and just being
able to switch onto all sorts of matchups

349
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,599
like he is legitimately in the all
defensive conversation as a rookie, which doesn't

350
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,319
happen. This draft class should generate
a lot of excitement. I do still

351
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:02,119
think it's too early for the historical
comps. I don't think it's anywhere near

352
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:07,920
too soon to be throwing out the
All Star, All NBA MVP caliber things.

353
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,640
Yeah, I look, and even
there's I still have very high hopes

354
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,960
for Jail and Subs who's had and
even Jail and Green he's played better.

355
00:25:15,279 --> 00:25:18,559
Yeah, I'm not trying to just
just include anyone there. There are just

356
00:25:18,599 --> 00:25:19,920
too many names in this class to
go through all. I mean, Jonathan

357
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:25,480
Kamiga has looked like a stud lately. I will say this is not a

358
00:25:25,519 --> 00:25:29,920
perfect way to do it, But
you have Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobili specifically,

359
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,000
are each averaging above point one win
shares for forty eight minutes the last

360
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,720
the most recent rookies, I should
say, to do that while playing as

361
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,880
many minutes as those two have thus
far, which is nineteen hundred plus.

362
00:25:42,799 --> 00:25:47,400
Before these two this season, there
was eight in two eighteen twenty nineteen,

363
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,119
and Luca in twenty eighteen nineteen.
Then Ben Simmons and Jason Tatum in twenty

364
00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:56,240
seventeen twenty and eighteen, and then
Chris Stops and Carl Anthony Towns in twenty

365
00:25:56,279 --> 00:26:00,519
fifteen twenty sixteen. So that's was
recently some pretty good company. And then

366
00:26:00,519 --> 00:26:06,119
before that it didn't happen more recently
than twenty two eleven, when we saw

367
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,680
it from both Blake Griffin and Greg
Monroe. Not perfect Harving Jersey, but

368
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,000
those two you have to watch and
look. Kate Cunningham might be there if

369
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,440
he had a better supporting cast in
general or played more of this season.

370
00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:19,519
I do think when you look at
just the five picks specifically to try and

371
00:26:19,559 --> 00:26:26,359
at least bring this back to Strops's
range, how many of those guys,

372
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,759
is there a chance like three of
those guys a best player in the NBA

373
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:37,559
ceilings When you're looking at Evan Mobley, Kay Cunningham and is that too much

374
00:26:37,559 --> 00:26:41,720
of a stretch for you to say
Scotti too much of a stretch. I

375
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,759
think it's too much of a stretch
for anyone, but Cunningham and Mowbley,

376
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,759
Like this is lofty territory that we're
talking about. I would not be surprised

377
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,279
if Barnes is, you know,
on the on the periphery of a top

378
00:26:52,319 --> 00:26:56,279
ten player in the league conversation,
which you know, go look at the

379
00:26:56,319 --> 00:26:59,599
names who are in that right now. That's a huge compliment. Please don't

380
00:26:59,599 --> 00:27:03,920
take it as anything but like a
sending to that you know could be the

381
00:27:03,039 --> 00:27:07,240
unquestioned best player in the league.
Is another level beyond that, And I

382
00:27:07,279 --> 00:27:14,799
just I don't know that I see
enough there that's fair. I would say,

383
00:27:14,839 --> 00:27:18,519
if you were looking for specific player
comps, I do see. I

384
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:22,559
do get the Kevin Garnett comparisons with
Evan Mobley, even though their games still

385
00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:26,880
feel a lot different. But I
think that Mobley is probably more polished defensively

386
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,559
than KG was coming in than KG
was way more polished offensively. And I

387
00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:33,519
don't know if Mobile ever has that
sort of jumper, but I totally get

388
00:27:33,559 --> 00:27:38,480
those Barns it's been tougher for me
to think of just someone who springs to

389
00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:44,000
mind when when really looking at him. And it's also, I think,

390
00:27:44,039 --> 00:27:45,640
because I'm so taken aback by some
of the stuff he does on offense right

391
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,359
now, where he's like taking I
don't want to call them catch and shoot

392
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,400
twos, but they're like these quick
catches, them turns around there. They're

393
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,319
basically like catch and shoot twos.
But he's been he's been fantastic. And

394
00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:03,319
with Kay Cunningham, he's comp because
he doesn't have like that explosive athleticism you

395
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,599
typically see from guys putting up these
kinds of numbers and filling these roles.

396
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:11,599
You're talking about Kay cunning him.
Yeah, yeah, he I think one

397
00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:15,799
of the things I wrote about him, he's going to dominate through comprehension and

398
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:22,640
well roundedness, maybe more so than
actually dominate in any one area. Is

399
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:29,119
Luca a bad comp I don't know
if it's a bad comp, but like,

400
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,880
obviously they're different body sizes, and
you know, we don't see the

401
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,960
same like long range step back threes
with nearly as much frequency, but just

402
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,279
in terms of how they control the
game with changes of pace and with that

403
00:28:40,359 --> 00:28:47,200
cerebral ability. Could it be like
a cross between Can he be the Luca

404
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:52,480
Dontrige version of Mike Conley? I'm
good with that? Is that just is

405
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:53,799
that terrible? Is that like the
worst thing you've ever shuld we move on

406
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,799
to next question? I've heard way
worse. Okay, that's that at least

407
00:28:56,839 --> 00:29:00,480
makes me feel better. Jay Dobbs
ninety were asked who were some of your

408
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,160
favorite tertiary creators on offense? Guys
who don't run the show, but maybe

409
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:08,240
he can create a decent late shot
clock opportunity with a second pick and roller.

410
00:29:08,279 --> 00:29:17,319
I senh, it's a great question. Do you have any that immediately

411
00:29:17,359 --> 00:29:21,000
came to mind? It's the first
time hearing the question, so yeah,

412
00:29:21,039 --> 00:29:23,480
So I think when I looked into
this, I was trying to see,

413
00:29:23,519 --> 00:29:26,359
like if anything matched up with like
my guesses, And it's funny to see

414
00:29:26,599 --> 00:29:30,599
when you look at like people who
made a bunch of late shot clock opportunities,

415
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,000
they don't align with really anything.
I would be thinking here, Jellen

416
00:29:33,039 --> 00:29:37,640
Brunson feels like someone who fits this
bill. I don't know if someone would

417
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,880
like some would tilt him more towards
number one status on this I thought Monte

418
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,319
Morris was a good example. Gary
Trent Junior here, even someone who might

419
00:29:47,359 --> 00:29:49,160
be able to give you just some
even if it's not necessarily a ton of

420
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,920
pick and roll juice, although maybe
he does that, but can give you

421
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,960
some rim pressure from scratch. Those
are the guys that I think spray sprang

422
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,519
to mind. Excuse me the moment, if you're looking for like maybe an

423
00:30:00,519 --> 00:30:06,559
ISO or something. I don't want
to say that's that's way too high of

424
00:30:06,559 --> 00:30:08,240
a compliment for Jordan Clarks. I'm
gonna take that back a little bit.

425
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,200
But Dylan Brooks is the first name
that came to mind for me. I

426
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,799
don't know if he's secondary or primary
sometimes, but just as a guy who,

427
00:30:15,839 --> 00:30:18,240
like in those late shot clock situations, has the aggression, has the

428
00:30:18,279 --> 00:30:23,839
fearlessness to put the ball on the
floor and just attack. Yeah, I

429
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,680
actually would probably strongly disagree with that
one. I know you don't like Dylan

430
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,720
Brooks. That's not okay this way. I don't like him. But sorry,

431
00:30:30,759 --> 00:30:34,279
I should have said I know you
hate Dylan Brooks. Some of the

432
00:30:34,279 --> 00:30:37,680
other names that I have listed,
I don't know that they would be necessarily

433
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,640
my primary ones. I have Eric
Gordon Franz Wagner is another one that I

434
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,920
think that you consider, and then
this I think it rings hollow now because

435
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:49,359
of how bad he's been lately,
But alc Works might phone into that category.

436
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,960
Burks also might lead the NBA and
like side leaning jumpers to the right.

437
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:56,119
Just if anyone cares about that,
I don't know if I can look

438
00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,279
up that stat but if anyone cares
to another another fun deeper cut one,

439
00:31:00,359 --> 00:31:04,279
Doug McDermott, Like, he's typically
more of an off ball threat, but

440
00:31:04,319 --> 00:31:10,119
every once in a while there's a
bailout possession where he can put the ball

441
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,559
on the floor and you remember just
how good a score he was in every

442
00:31:12,599 --> 00:31:17,359
situation at Crayton. It's not a
feature of the Spurs offense so much as

443
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,160
something that like sometimes happens. So
to me, when I hear tertiary creator,

444
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:25,480
that's the more where I'm going.
That feels like a I don't know,

445
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:29,400
like an anomaly of a creator that's
tertiary. Feels wouldn't be secondary to

446
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,720
where it's semi consistent. I don't
know, because like how many offenses have

447
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:38,599
true tertiary creators? Do? Because
the offenses in the NBA now are so

448
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,319
centric around one specific player that even
some teams struggle to have a secondary creator.

449
00:31:45,559 --> 00:31:51,400
So the idea of having a consistent
third option, to me, because

450
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:56,799
so much is based on drive and
kick and pick and pop action, it's

451
00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,160
really tough to have a guy who
is consisting instantly the third ball handling option.

452
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,839
That's kind of how I looked at
it, was like nonsense, like

453
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:13,119
Jalen Brunson to me is secondary creator. I'm with you. I also think

454
00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:16,839
and I think this is a compliment
to die hard NBA fans and bloggers,

455
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:22,759
podcasts, whatever. It feels like
we cover so much of the league or

456
00:32:22,799 --> 00:32:25,880
consume so much of the league that
there's a tendency to scale players abubble level

457
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:30,559
where they are where you've watched so
much of you know, Alec Burke's or

458
00:32:30,599 --> 00:32:37,400
even Cam Thomas or you know,
like fun answer he cat cam Thomas could

459
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:42,599
be an actual answer here to where
you you almost do their role as like

460
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,680
outside to this quat Jail Brunts,
it might actually be the perfect example there.

461
00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:49,440
Jail Brunts is absolutely a secondary creator, but he's been so prominently featured

462
00:32:49,559 --> 00:32:52,559
in the Mavericks or there's been this
desperate search to find Dallas a second best

463
00:32:52,599 --> 00:32:57,880
player that he's been scaled up there, So there are there are probably a

464
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,079
lot of different options. I'd be
curious if the names that we churned out

465
00:33:00,119 --> 00:33:04,200
are on the lower end or the
higher end of what most other people would

466
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,680
say, though I think the highest
end name that we spit out was it

467
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:12,759
Brunson. It's definitely Brunson. It's
just interesting because when I heard that question,

468
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:17,119
my first reaction was to think of
guys like McDermott who just aren't ball

469
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:22,759
handlers, but every once in a
while they're that bailout option. I guess

470
00:33:22,759 --> 00:33:27,440
that would be interesting. And you
can also late shot clock and have a

471
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,440
different meaning late shock clock. You
know, missiles off the catcher are valuable

472
00:33:31,599 --> 00:33:37,880
as well. Absolutely, let's move
on to some Twitter questions. This one

473
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,640
is one that I've overlooked for the
past two mail bags. It was in

474
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,759
my DMS from Walls of Oz.
I apologize it took so long. Do

475
00:33:43,839 --> 00:33:47,079
you think the defense and Dunk's guard
style Gary Payton the second Bruce Brown for

476
00:33:47,119 --> 00:33:51,519
example. We'll catch on and we'll
see more players like this. Integrator will

477
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,039
remain a few anomalous players. Is
there any other secret Sauce and Gary Payton

478
00:33:55,079 --> 00:33:59,880
a second or Bruce Brown's game besides
athleticism, the ball IQ and the right

479
00:34:00,039 --> 00:34:02,359
coach least team to utilize them,
and some guys who the league may have

480
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:07,279
passed by, like Chris Downer Shaq
Harrison, find a fit somewhere by assuming

481
00:34:07,319 --> 00:34:13,280
a dunker spot offensive rule. I
do think I can see that as the

482
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,960
natural evolution of where the league starts
to go next, because at some point

483
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:24,519
we hit this tipping point where everything
is so in favor of offensive players just

484
00:34:24,599 --> 00:34:30,239
by design. You know, even
with the NBA changing the rules emphasis and

485
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:32,920
the foul calling at the beginning of
this season, whether it's been followed through

486
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:38,320
on as a topic for another time, there's still so much of a leading

487
00:34:38,599 --> 00:34:45,199
to the offensive side of the ball. So when every player almost has to

488
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:49,840
be able to shoot threes, then
all of a sudden, you're buying yourself

489
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,880
more leeway to have guys like Gary
Payton who might not be the best shooters

490
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:58,679
and might need to be put in
the dunker spot on offense, but can

491
00:34:59,079 --> 00:35:04,000
reek so much havoc defensively that it
still makes sense to play them because ultimately

492
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:10,360
you're getting the spacing from those non
traditional spots within a rotation. So matisset

493
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,440
Table, I think, is another
great example of a guy who just isn't

494
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,920
going to add much on offense,
but you can play him situationally. You

495
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:22,920
can play him at a more scaled
up role because you know that he's going

496
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:28,119
to be an asset defensively in on
and off ball situations more frequently than he

497
00:35:28,199 --> 00:35:30,679
might have been even a few years
ago. Because with so many players shooting

498
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:35,519
threes, taking one of those out
of their rhythm matters a lot more.

499
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:39,119
So I can totally see more and
more of those players emerging down the road,

500
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:45,400
not necessarily as stars, but definitely
not as anomalies because it's a specific

501
00:35:45,519 --> 00:35:49,239
role on a team that has demonstrated
value. And I don't even know that

502
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,039
it's going to require the right coach
so much as the right player, who,

503
00:35:52,079 --> 00:35:57,760
as the question put it, has
that combination of athleticism, basketball IQ

504
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,400
and defensive intensity. Also, think, what matters and would affect the frequency

505
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:06,960
with which these players emerge is the
team makeup to where do you either are

506
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:12,880
you not playing Biggs true biggs,
or are your your front court players predominantly

507
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:17,159
able to space the floor in most
of your lineups because having for the traditionally

508
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,800
or conventionally, you want your guards
to be some of the ones who are

509
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,760
spacing the floor or who are on
the ball, both whatever. If you

510
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:28,840
don't need that from your your centers
or your let's say, your fours or

511
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:30,840
whatever, and you can play these
guys like Biggs on offense because you have

512
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:35,960
the flexibility elsewhere positionally, that would, for sure, I think, enable

513
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,079
you to even test this out.
As far as guys that spring to mind

514
00:36:39,559 --> 00:36:44,039
who might be able to work in
this role, I didn't have anyone.

515
00:36:44,159 --> 00:36:47,039
I thought he doesn't fit the athleticism
role. But like some smart team will

516
00:36:47,039 --> 00:36:50,960
get Frankie Lahina a chance in this
role. It just needs to happen.

517
00:36:51,199 --> 00:36:55,280
I actually went historical with examples because
I think that there there are some players

518
00:36:55,320 --> 00:37:00,920
who missed this opportunity by a decade
or so. The first one that came

519
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:02,280
to mind, and this is kind
of a deep cut. Do you remember

520
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:08,800
watching Chris Kramer at Perduell No.
Three time All Defensive in the Big Ten,

521
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:13,519
two time Defensive Player of the Year
in the Big Ten when undrafted in

522
00:37:13,599 --> 00:37:15,840
twenty ten, played for the Fort
Wayne and mad Ants and the then D

523
00:37:16,039 --> 00:37:20,039
League and has played for a bunch
of different teams in Europe, never actually

524
00:37:20,079 --> 00:37:24,360
made it in the NBA, but
just an absolutely hounding on ball defender who

525
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:29,960
could stay in front of any guard. He's developed an offensive game overseas,

526
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,159
but he didn't really have much of
one with the Boilermakers. But he was

527
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:39,880
so ridiculously suffocating that he created so
many loose ball opportunities. He threw so

528
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,480
many high level future NBA players off
their game. I think there's more of

529
00:37:45,519 --> 00:37:49,519
a role for a guy like that
in the league now, where you can

530
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:55,079
buy yourself more specialty bandwidth because you
have shooting from every other spot in the

531
00:37:55,119 --> 00:38:00,360
lineup that you know Steph's torturing,
torturing you and torturing you. Either one

532
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,440
works, Let's put in that guy
and throw him off his rhythm as best

533
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,000
we can. It's like a souped
up version of Patrick Beverley. You know,

534
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:12,119
a guy who's just going to go
in there and not necessarily be an

535
00:38:12,159 --> 00:38:16,880
instigator, but throw a guy off
his game so much with the constant pressure

536
00:38:17,199 --> 00:38:22,519
that he can have that singular focus
and not even need to contribute elsewhere except

537
00:38:22,559 --> 00:38:24,119
for being thrown in the dunker's spot. And if they forget about him.

538
00:38:24,119 --> 00:38:29,840
He can finish a player on the
basket. That's fair. I don't know

539
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:32,920
how much that helps teams in the
now though, being able to reflect upon

540
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,639
guys from the past that could have
worked. What about I'm just I'm going

541
00:38:37,679 --> 00:38:42,000
with thinking big picture. What about
like an Esac Bonga? Would that be

542
00:38:42,079 --> 00:38:45,519
someone who could work there? Or
sure? Maybe he shot the three ball

543
00:38:45,519 --> 00:38:46,840
away to all at East for stretches
in his career, and I guess he's

544
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:51,000
played this role sometimes, but give
it off about sneaking of an offensive reboundaries

545
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,639
a Tory Craig. Is he someone
who has more valuable, more value if

546
00:38:53,639 --> 00:38:58,119
you use him that way? A
ton I think he's good enough on the

547
00:38:58,159 --> 00:39:01,079
offensive ends as a floor space or
that you don't need to but he could

548
00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:07,559
work there. That's interesting oral I
wonder i've and i've if they've used him

549
00:39:07,599 --> 00:39:09,800
like this at all? I apologize
everyone was like, does that change like

550
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,719
josh a Kogie at all? A
value like his where someone we just know

551
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,400
can't shoot it? Should I don't
know if he could fit in that role.

552
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,400
Maybe they've used him in that.
If tim Rules fans are listening,

553
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,119
feel free to scold me. I
mean lou Dort. You know, he's

554
00:39:22,159 --> 00:39:27,719
shown some shooting growth, but how
much more valuable is he if you pigeonhole

555
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,519
him into a smaller offensive role where
he can use his athleticism even more.

556
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:37,880
Russell Westbrook, what about the what
about the defense part? Oh yeah,

557
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,800
that was a good point. But
put Russell Westbrook in the Gary pay in

558
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:44,800
the second role on offense where he's
just screening and cutting and doing some stuff

559
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:46,599
in the dunker spot, and that
might be the most optimized version of Russell

560
00:39:46,599 --> 00:39:50,599
Westbrook on offense this show. I'm
not even trying to be an asshole with

561
00:39:50,679 --> 00:39:53,960
that. I swear that was actually
think the most optimized version of Russell Westbrook

562
00:39:54,039 --> 00:40:00,840
might just be like on the bench, moving on Mark who his Twitter handle

563
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:06,039
was Yokich for show kitch, I
appreciate that which MVP candidate has the best

564
00:40:06,119 --> 00:40:14,239
marquee performance of the year so far? I think it's Yokich. The specific

565
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,159
game is the one against the Clippers
that went to overtime where he and Zubots

566
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:22,239
were just trading buckets at the end. Just the clinic that he put on

567
00:40:22,199 --> 00:40:27,840
not just as a scorer, but
the past that he made out of a

568
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:32,000
double team across the court to Aaron
Gordon just to force overtime. It was.

569
00:40:32,159 --> 00:40:37,960
It was a masterpiece that showed every
element of his game. He made

570
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,880
big defensive plays on the interior,
even while operating with foul trouble. He

571
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:45,800
was unstoppable on the interior. He
made some big threes down the stretch.

572
00:40:46,039 --> 00:40:52,199
He kept the Nuggets alive with this
passing. So as much as every other

573
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:58,440
candidate has had signature performances that really
stand out, that to me was the

574
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,239
game of the year in the NBA, as well as the performance of the

575
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:06,639
year that might have been like the
play of the year too that past specifically

576
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,599
Aaron Gordon. And there's I think
it's that one because that was the Aaron

577
00:41:10,639 --> 00:41:15,440
Gordon pass game that's he has.
That's one of his game saving blocks this

578
00:41:15,519 --> 00:41:20,039
year too, right because Raptors and
Warriors. I think the other two game

579
00:41:20,079 --> 00:41:22,039
against if you went by that would
be my pick. By the way,

580
00:41:22,199 --> 00:41:28,079
is that Clippers game regardless if you
went just by game score on stathead,

581
00:41:28,079 --> 00:41:30,079
I was curious to see what came
up the ends to really isn't that bad.

582
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:37,679
It's his most recent explosion against the
Pelicans is the highest game score among

583
00:41:37,679 --> 00:41:40,199
all his perform and he had thirty
points in the fourth quarter in overtime there

584
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:45,719
with three steals four blocks as well. It's just he finished with forty six

585
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:50,400
points, twelve rebounds, eleven assists, three steals, four blocks, shot

586
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,639
over shot thirteen of seventeen on I
think it was it was a sixty five

587
00:41:53,679 --> 00:42:00,360
point five tree shooting percentage if I
remember correctly. Uh, it was No,

588
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:01,599
it had to be what did you
say, sixty five point sixty five

589
00:42:01,639 --> 00:42:04,960
point five. I think it had
to be way higher than that. He

590
00:42:05,039 --> 00:42:07,199
shot ninety one point seven percent at
the foul line, sixty percent from three,

591
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:12,039
and seventy six point five percent.
It was not a sixty five point

592
00:42:12,079 --> 00:42:14,800
five. I don't know where I'm
getting that number from anyway. My whole

593
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:17,639
point is so they win that game, and like, it just feels very

594
00:42:17,679 --> 00:42:20,880
I saw it, we talked,
there were people that we are, people

595
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,400
that talked about it on Twitter.
I didn't see the game personally, but

596
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:27,199
it just feels like, oh,
okay, Yokis did this. That's just

597
00:42:27,199 --> 00:42:31,280
how it feels that this has just
become the norm for him. So I

598
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,960
don't know, can you think of
a second player, because I feel like

599
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,199
all the answers kind of belong to
Yoki is there. I feel the same

600
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:45,199
way. I think Imbid's tough because
he has some massive scoring performances, but

601
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:51,800
I think the constant parade to the
free throw line lessons the memorability of them.

602
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,800
And I'm not even criticizing that,
because, if anything, I actually

603
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:59,320
think him Bid doesn't shoot enough free
throws given how he plays. It's a

604
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:04,159
little bit of that shock effect where
officials just can't call every foul against him.

605
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,800
So I'm in no way trying to
downplay his skill in getting the free

606
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:12,000
throw line, but just because so
many of his points are coming at stoppages

607
00:43:12,079 --> 00:43:15,519
in the live action, it's hard
for those to stand out quite as much.

608
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,559
I think. I don't know if
people still consider Steph one of the

609
00:43:19,599 --> 00:43:22,360
top five MVP candidates. I think
there's still a case for him. He

610
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:23,880
had that game. I think it
was like within the first two or three

611
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:28,639
weeks of the season against the Hawks, where he just went absolutely nuclear.

612
00:43:29,079 --> 00:43:34,800
That could be a candidate. Jannie
Janis has like most point game. He

613
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,039
has the fifty point game. He
has like more the fifty point game by

614
00:43:37,039 --> 00:43:43,360
the way, he came against the
Pacers, which is like how like,

615
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:45,559
how do we describe Also the fact
that you couldn't remember who it was against

616
00:43:45,639 --> 00:43:50,440
I think speaks to I think being
a reasonable answer. He's beat up on

617
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:52,280
the Lakers a couple of times this
season, so there's that. But I

618
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,760
think the answer for me would definitely
be Yokich, who's just had in part

619
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:59,760
because they've needed him to have these
moments, Otherwise they would have lost these

620
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:05,400
games where some of these other players
are coming from better situations to where maybe

621
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,400
they're not in those even moments or
just positions as often. I actual think

622
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:14,159
there's a great segue to a question
we had from random bystander how much should

623
00:44:14,199 --> 00:44:20,519
team record impact the MVP race?
That could also be sort of extrapolated to

624
00:44:20,679 --> 00:44:23,920
how much should supporting cast impact the
MVP race? Is it here? My

625
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:29,000
argument here be is it like who
would be a good example? Like?

626
00:44:29,639 --> 00:44:31,480
Is it they honest's fault that,
even as shallow as the Bucks are,

627
00:44:31,519 --> 00:44:37,679
he's had a better supporting cast than
Yokich in Denver, just as I think

628
00:44:37,679 --> 00:44:39,360
you could argue at this point Denver
is deeper, especially given the player of

629
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:44,239
their bench of late, then Milwaukee. It's just that Milwaukee has two All

630
00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:47,480
Star caliber talents that are healthy on
the roster in Denver does not. Historically,

631
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:51,679
it matters a lot. You don't
tend to see m vps outside of

632
00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:53,800
the top three of their conference,
with a few notable exceptions, all of

633
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:59,360
which have come in recent years.
Personally, I don't think it should matter

634
00:44:59,639 --> 00:45:04,760
what's soever, because to me,
you're judging who the most valuable player is

635
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,920
to their team, and maybe that's
a player who pushes their team from good

636
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,639
to great, from great to best
in the league, but it could also

637
00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:15,159
be someone who pushes their team from
terrible to factoring into the play and race

638
00:45:15,159 --> 00:45:17,960
in one of the two conferences.
I just I don't think it should matter

639
00:45:19,079 --> 00:45:25,039
because if it does, even at
the smallest level, fundamentally, you're arguing

640
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:30,280
that a player is more valuable because
his teammates are better. There's no way

641
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:35,119
around that. You know, if
you if you had Yokich put together the

642
00:45:35,199 --> 00:45:40,280
exact same season while playing with utter
garbage around him. I'm not talking about

643
00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:45,440
like this diminished supporting cast that still
has a number of high quality players,

644
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:51,480
but like if you put him on
you know, the kid cunninghamless Detroit Pistons,

645
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:57,400
They're not going to be winning that
many games. That doesn't change how

646
00:45:57,559 --> 00:46:00,880
valuable he is. It changes the
perception of how valuable he is because he

647
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:07,679
has worst teammates. So I don't
like the idea of saying that somebody has

648
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:12,840
a better MVP case most valuable player, And I just don't think that V

649
00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:19,360
is interpreted correctly on ninety percent of
ballots. If teammates are better, how

650
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,800
does that make them more valuable?
Like you could you the only the only

651
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:30,480
reasonable argument there is there's there's higher
leverage opportunities that ultimately a game played by

652
00:46:30,519 --> 00:46:36,719
a bottom feeder is inherently less important
than a game by a team fighting for

653
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,119
positioning near the top of the conference. So there's something to that, like

654
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:45,079
performing when stakes are higher. That
argument isn't made though. It's just like

655
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:46,239
here, look at the record.
Here, look at where they are in

656
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:50,639
the conference, and that to me
just means like, hey, let's reward

657
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,239
this player for having, you know, lucked into being in a good situation.

658
00:46:54,559 --> 00:46:58,800
And also when you use the conference
specifically, this is where it gets

659
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:00,599
flawed. With the record of the
conference. Oh, the Nuggets are only

660
00:47:00,639 --> 00:47:06,559
six in the West. They are
one loss behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the

661
00:47:06,599 --> 00:47:09,840
records calm for the league and two
losses behind the Sixers, and those two

662
00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:15,480
are the two of the top three
teams in the East. That's that's splitting

663
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:21,000
already thrice split hairs there. If
you're ascribing that ascribing so much value to

664
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,199
the team record, which is also
eyes flo I think I don't. I

665
00:47:23,199 --> 00:47:28,159
don't think you could set ever baseline
criteria for the MVP award. If you

666
00:47:28,199 --> 00:47:31,199
want to create a minute threshold or
something, fine, because it is inherently

667
00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:35,039
subjective. But we need to do
a better job of and I think we

668
00:47:35,199 --> 00:47:37,719
probably have, like you alluded moving
towards years, Yeah, just to do

669
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:42,239
a better job of because if we're
gonna just best player from the best team,

670
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,119
then like, yeah, let's okay, who from the Suns do you

671
00:47:44,159 --> 00:47:45,840
want to pick? Devin Book or
Chris Paul That would be with this award

672
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:52,559
would become Yeah. I think that
there there are some outlier seasons, like

673
00:47:52,639 --> 00:47:59,480
I'm thinking like twenty eleven Kevin Love, where a guy is so obviously one

674
00:47:59,519 --> 00:48:02,480
of the best players in the league
and shouldn't just be disqualified from the conversation

675
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:07,320
because he has dog shit around him
like that. That's one of those seasons

676
00:48:07,599 --> 00:48:13,000
and wind shares are an inherently flawed
metric, But I really like looking at

677
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:19,559
wind shares relative to team wins because
there are some seasons I don't remember exactly

678
00:48:19,639 --> 00:48:22,760
where Loves twenty eleven season where the
Timberwolves fell, like, there are some

679
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:29,000
like Neil Johnston's seasons back in the
nineteen forties and fifties where he had more

680
00:48:29,119 --> 00:48:35,159
wind shares than his team had wins. That's value just because he didn't win

681
00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:40,079
games. That's value. That would
be like a Trey Young this season,

682
00:48:40,519 --> 00:48:46,679
not like I'm equating it to let's
say, too fourteen Kevin Love was my

683
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,920
years were off? No, my
years off? Then, I'm just saying

684
00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:52,760
that Love season in Minnesota where he
like broke every single I think it was

685
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:57,199
twenty eleven twelve, But okay,
that's fine. Might not remember exactly he

686
00:48:57,320 --> 00:49:00,000
was he in Cleveland by twenty thirteen
twenty four No, he wasn't in Cleveland

687
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:00,960
by them, was he? All
right, I'm looking it up. I'm

688
00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:10,239
getting old. Twenty twelve was his
ridunculous season. Actually twenty thirteen twenty fourteen

689
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:13,239
two? Oh good, so at
least that was right on one of the

690
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:17,000
years. We're getting old. The
next question comes from Jackalmore. This one

691
00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:21,840
was an interesting question. If you
could only shoot three pointers for an entire

692
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:25,719
game, one, who would be
your current starting five current NBA players only

693
00:49:27,159 --> 00:49:32,119
two? Who would be the opposing
team starting five all NBA players available?

694
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:37,079
Oh? I guess he meant all
time there, I did. I built

695
00:49:37,079 --> 00:49:38,719
this as which Oh we did current? Yeah, we did current, and

696
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:44,920
I built it. We built it
as they have to defend this other team.

697
00:49:45,559 --> 00:49:47,960
Yes, So the way I interpreted
this is when I'm building my offensive

698
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:52,920
lineup, I still have to consider
what they're doing on the defensive end,

699
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:57,599
But then my defensive roster the sole
purpose is to defend the offensive roster.

700
00:49:58,199 --> 00:50:04,800
Correct. So my my offensive lineup
is Steph Curry, Fred VanVleet, Desmond

701
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:08,760
Bane, Cam Johnson and Joel Embiid. And Bead's not the most accurate three

702
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:13,639
point shooter, but just the fact
that he can reasonably shoot those from the

703
00:50:13,679 --> 00:50:15,639
five, and then I get his
defense on the other ends, which is

704
00:50:15,679 --> 00:50:20,760
also the case for Van Fleet and
Baine. You know that that gives me

705
00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,719
a lot of defensive juice to work
with. Cam Johnson fills in a lot

706
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:28,840
of gaps on both ends. But
all five of those guys can rein it

707
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:32,360
in from the outside. We had
two overlaps. I had Steph Tyrese Haliburton,

708
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:36,719
Harrison Barnes, Cam Johnson, and
PJ Tucker. And that was sort

709
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:38,119
of the way you were thinking with
Embiad. I was thinking with Tucker.

710
00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:42,719
He actually is second in the NBA
in three point percentage this year too.

711
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:45,840
I was hitting forty eight percent a
few weeks ago. Right, He's not

712
00:50:45,039 --> 00:50:47,840
hitting them off the dribble, obviously, but he can hit. He could

713
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:52,239
just sprinkle those in from the corner
and it allows you know where Harrison Barnes

714
00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:54,199
or Kim Johnson is technically year three, but they're not because PJ. Tucker

715
00:50:54,239 --> 00:50:58,440
exists. So that was my thought. The defensive one was more challenging.

716
00:50:58,559 --> 00:51:01,559
Ours ended up being similar. When
we built the lineups, you did not

717
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:07,760
you did not build a lineup at
first, or you misinterpreted it correct But

718
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:12,760
I have one now and a huge
caveat here that I'm assuming health and you'll

719
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:15,719
know you'll know why that exists in
a minute, because I have Matisse Tybel

720
00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:21,280
who's like the most obvious inclusion imaginable
on this team. I owed a sum

721
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:25,639
Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and
a healthy version of Anthony Davis. Just

722
00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:29,119
for the record, I did build
my lineup first, and you just stole

723
00:51:29,239 --> 00:51:30,920
to soume move from me because he
was on Oh he would have been on

724
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:36,239
there anyway. Matisse Tibo was also
online. I had Draymond Green as well.

725
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:39,199
Where the Tury differentiated, I had
Evan Mowgwi and Dylan Brooks. You

726
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:43,320
claim I hate Dylan Brooks, but
I need someone who's getting to you don't

727
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,280
have If him on your offensive roster, you're limiting him to one end of

728
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,760
the court when he can do so
much more. Why do you hate Dylan

729
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:52,920
Brooks so much? I love his
defense. I feel like there's a he's

730
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:58,480
like he defends with the subtle fuck
you is how I would sort of describe

731
00:51:58,519 --> 00:52:00,719
his I don't think it's that subtle. To me. It's well, it's

732
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:05,920
not like a violent fuck you,
is my point. So we're like we're

733
00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:07,920
ferocious. I don't want to use
the word violent there, but like a

734
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:12,880
Patrick Beverley, who's clearly not as
good, there's like a ferocious f you.

735
00:52:13,039 --> 00:52:17,039
Dylan Brooks is more like an even
keeled fuck you behind that uses equilibrium

736
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:21,880
I can get behind that. As
a point of clarification from the previous question.

737
00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:24,159
By the way, Kevin Love sixth
in the MVP voting in twenty eleven,

738
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:29,880
twelve eleventh, and twenty thirteen fourteen, that should have been a lot

739
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:34,079
higher. Yeah. The final part
of this past question from Jackelmore, though,

740
00:52:34,119 --> 00:52:36,039
was what would the final score be? I don't even know how to,

741
00:52:36,119 --> 00:52:39,320
Like, I have no idea.
Would they if we set the over

742
00:52:39,519 --> 00:52:47,199
under at one ninety so each team
scoring eighty points? Or wow, we

743
00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:51,679
set the over under at one ninety
each team scoring ninety five points? Would

744
00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:54,840
that be too high? Too low
because they only have one shot they can

745
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:59,920
take? But it's just worth inherently
more, I don't think the defensive team

746
00:53:00,039 --> 00:53:04,880
would score at all? Is the
issue? Like if if we're putting the

747
00:53:05,039 --> 00:53:07,679
I mean, like my team,
Matisse Table, Dessum, Jimmy Butler,

748
00:53:08,119 --> 00:53:12,320
Draymond Green, and Anthony Davis.
Some of those guys can shoot threes,

749
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:17,000
most of them shouldn't, and we
still have a good defenders from the first

750
00:53:17,079 --> 00:53:21,639
team, So like, what do
you can literally just leave matiss Table alone

751
00:53:21,679 --> 00:53:24,000
because he's not allowed to shoot except
for three. So I don't think that

752
00:53:24,079 --> 00:53:30,639
team's scoring. But I do think
the good offense just inherently beats bad defense,

753
00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:36,760
beats good defense. So I think
it's like one twenty to like forty,

754
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:39,360
So you're taking under one ninety.
Yeah, I think so I'll take

755
00:53:39,400 --> 00:53:44,679
the over because I think offense beats
good defense. But I have no idea

756
00:53:44,679 --> 00:53:46,639
how we're going to test this.
None of the lineups we beat. If

757
00:53:46,639 --> 00:53:51,280
anyone has two K and wants to
run this go ahead, but they can

758
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:53,679
only shoot threes? How do you
How do you do that? If anyone

759
00:53:53,760 --> 00:54:00,280
has two K and is also a
wizard like programmer or something, but also

760
00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:04,239
the other the defensive team doesn't only
have to shoot threes, right, So

761
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,920
I think it does. Even then
I'm gonna take over. You don't have

762
00:54:08,039 --> 00:54:10,360
enough trust in Io, and look, you want me to trust Ilan Brooks's

763
00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:16,639
offensive game? Here it is baby. Taking that question was interesting though.

764
00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:22,559
Last couple here Chris asked, I'm
not sure how to categorize it, but

765
00:54:22,599 --> 00:54:24,559
the Pacers have to be having one
of the worst records in close games by

766
00:54:24,599 --> 00:54:29,639
any NBA team in history. Would
would you do a data dig on any

767
00:54:29,679 --> 00:54:31,840
of this? This took way too
long, but I did it anyway.

768
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:36,679
And I just looked at clutch performances. The Pacers have been involved in more

769
00:54:36,719 --> 00:54:38,960
close games, but I wanted to
just make sure that there were plenty of

770
00:54:39,039 --> 00:54:44,599
meaningful minutes played. So in clutch
games this season and I just used traditional

771
00:54:44,719 --> 00:54:50,239
crunch time where you're within five points
in the final five minutes or the differential

772
00:54:50,280 --> 00:54:52,559
there's no more than five points on
either side in the final five minutes.

773
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:57,360
The Pacers are ten and twenty eight
this season. That's a twenty six point

774
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:00,400
three winning percentage. The fact that
eight of their games have gone to crunch

775
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:05,960
time is probably encouraging, but if
you go back ten years, there are

776
00:55:06,079 --> 00:55:09,199
these are the only teams that have
had a lower winning percentage in crunch time

777
00:55:09,239 --> 00:55:14,920
than the Pacers this season. The
twenty seventeen twenty eighteen MAVs were twelve and

778
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:17,679
thirty eight, so they won twenty
four percent. Of the Carlisle team.

779
00:55:20,599 --> 00:55:23,440
What are you trying to insinuate there
that my perception of him is apparently flawed.

780
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:29,199
The twenty twenty two twenty one Pistons, they were seven and twenty five

781
00:55:30,159 --> 00:55:35,960
twenty one point nine because they were
better in the clutch than this Pacers team.

782
00:55:36,039 --> 00:55:37,320
Though, oh they were better overall
in the clutch Yes, it's correct.

783
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:42,039
And also they played fewer games than
the Pacers in the crunch times,

784
00:55:42,239 --> 00:55:45,679
I mean relative to their their typical
standard of performance. That's what That's what

785
00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:47,039
I caught on to you. If
you said that, you could argue that

786
00:55:47,079 --> 00:55:51,719
the Pacers are having a more unlucky
or worst season because they've played in so

787
00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:54,840
many more games. There was also
the twenty fifteen twenty sixteen six Ers were

788
00:55:54,960 --> 00:56:00,559
five and thirty, so they won
fourteen point three percent of their crunch time

789
00:56:00,599 --> 00:56:05,039
games. Again, I'm sorry,
five and thirty year was that though,

790
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:08,480
twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, So
that's process era. Yeah, I mean

791
00:56:08,760 --> 00:56:12,079
you had to know one of those
teams was showing up in here. And

792
00:56:12,119 --> 00:56:15,320
then the final team in the last
decade to have the lower winning percentage than

793
00:56:15,360 --> 00:56:20,400
the Pacers this season was the twenty
thirteen twenty fourteen Bucks ten and thirty.

794
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:22,800
They won twenty five percent. So
when you're looking at the number of games

795
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:27,480
played that went into crunch time,
the Pacers are having whether you want to

796
00:56:27,519 --> 00:56:31,440
call it the worst unluckiest one of
the two or three worst slashed unluckiest crunch

797
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:35,280
time seasons over the past decade,
when again, when you're looking at total

798
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:40,039
minutes played slash games entering crunch time, not great, not great at all.

799
00:56:42,679 --> 00:56:45,000
To be fair, they might get
a top tip pick and have Tyr's

800
00:56:45,039 --> 00:56:47,199
Haliburton and they're still Miles Turner,
Malcolm Brows and Chris war Day there and

801
00:56:47,519 --> 00:56:52,559
O shaper Sette one of my favorites
to watch. Cooper asked, how does

802
00:56:52,639 --> 00:56:58,760
herb Jones' defense stack up with the
rest of the league. I do appreciate

803
00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:00,719
these questions that want to try and
five where people stand on defense. I

804
00:57:00,760 --> 00:57:05,039
just think it's inherently difficult. There
are a bunch of different stats you could

805
00:57:05,079 --> 00:57:07,440
look at. My favorite one,
though, is when you look at how

806
00:57:07,519 --> 00:57:10,559
often he is defended. And I'm
just taking this answer because I assume you

807
00:57:10,559 --> 00:57:15,079
didn't You obviously didn't have time to
like an answer. Oh what's your answer?

808
00:57:15,079 --> 00:57:16,639
Go ahead. My answer is that
if he is not part of the

809
00:57:16,719 --> 00:57:20,400
conversation for one of your all defensive
slots, that you're doing it wrong.

810
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:24,000
It's fair enough to frame it that
way as well. He has spent over

811
00:57:24,119 --> 00:57:28,039
thirty three percent of his time guarding
the number one option on the other team.

812
00:57:28,280 --> 00:57:31,039
There are only two players in the
league who have played at least a

813
00:57:31,079 --> 00:57:36,880
thousand minutes and spent more time guarding
number one options than Herb Jones. Would

814
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:38,920
you care to even venture guesses as
to who they are? Not at all.

815
00:57:39,559 --> 00:57:45,360
I think you'd probably get at least
one, but it's Matisse Tyble and

816
00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:49,880
DeAndre Hunter who just barely cracks the
minutes. I was going to guess Matisse

817
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:53,679
Tyble and DeAndre Hunter, so I
would have guessed Dorian Phinney Smith. I

818
00:57:53,679 --> 00:57:58,039
would have been wrong, but he
is number four. If that's any consolation,

819
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:02,199
it's not because I wouldn't have been
close. My favorite stat for Herb

820
00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:07,199
Jones' defense is the suffocation rate,
which is just infinity, So that's that's

821
00:58:07,239 --> 00:58:15,880
pretty impressive. These will be the
my My follow up question is which sounds

822
00:58:15,920 --> 00:58:17,920
like a better defender, Herb Jones
or Herbert Jones, because I kind of

823
00:58:17,960 --> 00:58:24,679
waffle her Herb Jones sounds more like
intimidating to me. Herbert Jones sounds more

824
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:30,760
like he's gonna try and sell you
something while he's defending you. Herb Jones

825
00:58:30,840 --> 00:58:34,960
feels like he's really gonna like screw
like screw you over. I like Herb

826
00:58:35,079 --> 00:58:40,960
Jones. I feel like Herb Jones
sounds more like a shooter. Shooters can

827
00:58:42,039 --> 00:58:47,920
defend like Dylan Brooks. Actually I'm
a shooter maybe between the ears, but

828
00:58:49,840 --> 00:58:53,320
uh ribo flavan ass. What is
the difference between a slam and a dunk?

829
00:58:55,679 --> 00:59:01,639
Our A dunk is like contact with
with fingers at rim, but a

830
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:09,559
slam is like there's a defender involved, there's ferocity in the play there,

831
00:59:09,679 --> 00:59:16,400
and a dunk can so all all
is it all slams or dunks? But

832
00:59:16,519 --> 00:59:22,639
not all dunks are slams. That's
absolutely So you're saying that you're you need

833
00:59:22,719 --> 00:59:25,320
to touch the rim for both of
these. A slam what DeAndre like,

834
00:59:25,480 --> 00:59:30,440
you know, like the classic Like
my dad claims that he's dunked once in

835
00:59:30,519 --> 00:59:34,159
his life and you know it was
one of those like putbacks where you like

836
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:37,599
happened to graze the rim as you're
putting the ball back through the hoop.

837
00:59:37,639 --> 00:59:42,159
That's a dunk. That's not a
slam. But I'm saying so a slam

838
00:59:42,239 --> 00:59:45,199
couldn't be. It feels like there's
more room for interpretation with a slam where

839
00:59:45,199 --> 00:59:50,719
it's like who what's the most famous? Like non dunk dunk where it's like

840
00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:53,679
they just ruined like the Blake Griffin
one, right, Griffin over Hendrick Perkins?

841
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:57,960
Right? Right? Was there a
DeAndre Jordan over Brandon Knight. But

842
00:59:58,039 --> 01:00:00,679
that's that's a slam. That's a
sl i am even if you don't touch

843
01:00:00,719 --> 01:00:05,679
the rim, that's a slam layup. So not all, not all,

844
01:00:06,079 --> 01:00:07,840
not all slams or dunks then,
because I guess you just just proved that.

845
01:00:08,079 --> 01:00:13,719
Yeah, that's why. To me, let's if we need an official

846
01:00:13,800 --> 01:00:17,119
definition, a slam is when the
ball travels through the hoop in a downward

847
01:00:17,199 --> 01:00:22,880
trajectory with ferocity and likely a defender
involved. That's why we're under the NBA

848
01:00:22,920 --> 01:00:28,320
math umbrella, folks, because we
use the super technical, scientific logic to

849
01:00:28,719 --> 01:00:31,920
get things done. Here. These
are these are the last two. These

850
01:00:31,960 --> 01:00:35,840
are going to be our last two
questions. Apologize for the people we didn't

851
01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:38,599
get to. Adam has the answer
to this one. Who was the most

852
01:00:38,679 --> 01:00:43,239
average player in the league, either
overall or relative to their position? That

853
01:00:43,280 --> 01:00:47,320
one comes from Day. Yeah,
I wanted to take a purely numbers based

854
01:00:47,360 --> 01:00:52,280
look at this, so I'm going
to use NBA maths TPA metric because by

855
01:00:52,400 --> 01:00:58,199
definition, zero is perfectly average.
Because unlike vorp Unlike a lot of other

856
01:00:58,280 --> 01:01:01,840
metrics, we are having the baseline
set not at a replacement level player,

857
01:01:01,920 --> 01:01:07,239
but at the league average. And
there's obviously room for flaws in this because

858
01:01:07,559 --> 01:01:13,119
BPM and then therefore TPA are by
no means perfect stats. But there are

859
01:01:13,320 --> 01:01:20,400
seven players this season who have exactly
zero TPA on the year, so I'll

860
01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:25,159
go through those in ascending minutes.
Isaiah Jackson is number seven with two hundred

861
01:01:25,159 --> 01:01:29,599
and seventy seven minutes. And actually
these are since I'm just getting back from

862
01:01:29,639 --> 01:01:31,880
vacation, I'm realizing that these are
a little bit outdated because I have not

863
01:01:31,960 --> 01:01:37,440
done an update since Friday afternoon,
so apologies if this has changed significantly.

864
01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:43,039
Nerland's Noel number six, Dwight Howard
number five, Javonte Green number four,

865
01:01:43,519 --> 01:01:47,480
Joe Ingles number three, PJ.
Washington number two, and Mo Bamba number

866
01:01:47,559 --> 01:01:54,119
one. I would also say that
if you include the offense defense breakdown,

867
01:01:55,599 --> 01:02:00,679
just not looking at guys who are
really good on offense and really bad on

868
01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:05,079
defense or vice versa, but the
guys who are at zero and are also

869
01:02:05,239 --> 01:02:08,079
just really close to the origin because
they don't differentiate themselves on either ends.

870
01:02:08,519 --> 01:02:13,280
On either end of the floor.
The objective answer here is PJ. Washington,

871
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:20,239
which I feel like that could also
anecdotally be the answer. It definitely

872
01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:23,880
could. And if you remove,
if you remove like it having to be

873
01:02:24,199 --> 01:02:30,039
exactly at zero from the equation,
then I think you allow for you know,

874
01:02:30,159 --> 01:02:37,679
some other interesting answers. You know
I'm looking at like Quentin Grimes has

875
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:43,280
been almost perfectly average according to our
statu. PJ. Washington's shown up again

876
01:02:43,400 --> 01:02:46,719
here. So can I tell you
the name that's spreading to my mind?

877
01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:51,199
First, I was trying to figure
out if who would be the closest average

878
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:58,960
on both sides of the floor.
Sure, Marcus Morris, that's a valid

879
01:02:59,039 --> 01:03:01,519
one. I thought you were going
to check it against t PA. I

880
01:03:01,559 --> 01:03:06,679
guess that's yeah. No, I
absolutely can that. I would that would

881
01:03:06,679 --> 01:03:09,159
have been my anecdotal answer when I
saw PJ. Washington, because I ran

882
01:03:09,239 --> 01:03:14,719
the numbers like you did that very
close to very close to the origin on

883
01:03:14,760 --> 01:03:16,840
both ends. So yeah, that
But when I saw PJ. Washington,

884
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:22,039
I was like that that sounds thinking
about poo watching him, that sounds most

885
01:03:22,119 --> 01:03:28,320
correct. I think like Jenny Osmond's
another fun answer here, did you have

886
01:03:28,360 --> 01:03:30,039
an anecdotal name that's bringing to mind. When you first saw the question,

887
01:03:31,679 --> 01:03:36,760
the first one that came to mind
was Dwight Howard. That is interesting where

888
01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:42,519
I think that like he's he's so
obviously regressed from his superstardom in Orlando,

889
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:47,559
where he's like a perfectly functional role
player who isn't a defensive stopper, isn't

890
01:03:47,599 --> 01:03:52,039
really much of an offensive threat.
But because his role is limited in both

891
01:03:52,079 --> 01:03:59,280
of those areas, he doesn't really
stand out negatively or positively. I almost

892
01:03:59,320 --> 01:04:01,559
feel like that's giving him too much
credit on offense. But I totally get

893
01:04:01,599 --> 01:04:05,239
what you're saying there, and the
numbers back it up. So if he's

894
01:04:05,239 --> 01:04:13,119
spreading to mind, yeah, I
don't know that he's like a super It's

895
01:04:13,159 --> 01:04:17,360
tough because the numbers aren't aren't really
accounting for his lack of ability to do

896
01:04:17,519 --> 01:04:20,639
things. It's more when he does
get touches, he's been pretty average.

897
01:04:21,519 --> 01:04:28,920
Final question comes from hash what's the
chance of Lebron getting the scoring title?

898
01:04:29,039 --> 01:04:31,719
For context as we record this,
Kevin Durant, who I still think we'll

899
01:04:31,800 --> 01:04:35,920
qualify for it, and Joel Embiid
are tied at twenty nine point five points

900
01:04:35,960 --> 01:04:41,679
per game. Lebron is just behind
them at twenty nine point four points per

901
01:04:41,840 --> 01:04:45,159
game. Yeah, it's all about
opportunity, right, So I think you

902
01:04:45,239 --> 01:04:51,079
can pretty reasonably take a stab at
embe it eventually we haven't seen it yet,

903
01:04:51,480 --> 01:04:57,159
eventually being able to see a little
bit more offensive responsibility to James Harden

904
01:04:57,199 --> 01:05:00,039
and in turn give Tobias Harris more
touches to at him find a rhythm,

905
01:05:00,239 --> 01:05:03,039
which means that his scoring numbers might
not be there. I think he's also

906
01:05:03,119 --> 01:05:05,760
motivated to win the scoring title,
so I don't know how much of that

907
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:10,679
we're going to see. Lebron feels
like he could swing either way. Because

908
01:05:10,760 --> 01:05:14,679
the Lakers could just accept that they're
going to be a play in team and

909
01:05:14,800 --> 01:05:17,719
rest him a lot and not let
him put up these fifty six point performances

910
01:05:17,840 --> 01:05:21,760
on the flip side because no one
else could do anything, he might have

911
01:05:21,880 --> 01:05:29,239
more of them, so I would. I would say that there are three

912
01:05:29,360 --> 01:05:32,840
or four people who have a legitimate
shot. Lebron is in it, and

913
01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:40,280
it feels fair to put it around
like twenty five. He has won one

914
01:05:40,360 --> 01:05:42,840
scoring title, right, it was
earlier on in his career, so he

915
01:05:42,880 --> 01:05:45,280
doesn't have the whole I guess he
wants to be a multi time scoring title

916
01:05:45,320 --> 01:05:48,079
winner. But I also do think
he cares about just getting the regular season

917
01:05:48,119 --> 01:05:53,320
scoring record as quickly as possible.
I would probably put it at like a

918
01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:56,480
I just feel like it'll be I'm
with you on it, Bead. Just

919
01:05:56,599 --> 01:06:00,400
having Harden could drop him from the
leader spot. The Nets kind to need

920
01:06:00,519 --> 01:06:03,199
Kevin Duranto lead the league in scoring, which is a little terrifying because they

921
01:06:03,320 --> 01:06:06,679
have Kyrie Irving, or they're supposed
to have him on a regular basis.

922
01:06:06,920 --> 01:06:11,360
Who knows how that looks when Ben
Simmons comes back. Lebron isn't gonna have

923
01:06:11,360 --> 01:06:15,960
Anthony Damis for the foreseeable future,
and he's just all everything Lakers. I

924
01:06:15,079 --> 01:06:18,800
feel like I'm gonna eat a thirty
percent chance. Do you think who is

925
01:06:18,840 --> 01:06:21,440
so who you have embed as your
pick to win a scoring title? I

926
01:06:21,519 --> 01:06:27,559
think so. I think so,
And I think what makes Lebron scoring so

927
01:06:27,719 --> 01:06:30,920
amazing, it's just the consistency year
over year. Like, he only has

928
01:06:30,719 --> 01:06:33,519
one scoring title and it came in
two thousand and seven, two thousand and

929
01:06:33,519 --> 01:06:38,039
eight, when he averaged thirty points
per game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But

930
01:06:38,079 --> 01:06:41,199
the fact that we had to say
only is telling in and of itself,

931
01:06:41,239 --> 01:06:45,000
and if you look at his ranks
through the years after his rookie season,

932
01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:48,440
when he's still finished thirteenth in the
scoring race, third third, fourth,

933
01:06:48,599 --> 01:06:51,320
first, second, second, second, third, fourth, third, third,

934
01:06:51,480 --> 01:06:58,400
fifth, eight third, twelfth,
second, it doesn't make sense.

935
01:06:58,760 --> 01:07:01,760
That's that's wild. Who's who's more
likely than win the scoring title? Kevin

936
01:07:01,800 --> 01:07:05,320
Duranna Lebron, Lebron. I think
I'm with you there. I might.

937
01:07:05,440 --> 01:07:11,000
I might even have Lebron is my
most likely choice here. That's an instrg.

938
01:07:11,159 --> 01:07:13,199
But I think it's better than I
would say it's better than a twenty

939
01:07:13,199 --> 01:07:16,360
percent said twenty five percent. I
think it's better than a twenty percent chance

940
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:18,320
that he wins the scoring title,
which is I don't know that I would

941
01:07:18,320 --> 01:07:20,840
have ever thought to have protected that
at the beginning of the season. The

942
01:07:20,960 --> 01:07:25,960
stat that he is the only player
in NBA history who has a fifty point

943
01:07:26,039 --> 01:07:31,039
game before twenty one and after thirty
six ridiculous. This is also only the

944
01:07:31,559 --> 01:07:35,320
fourth time in his career that he
has averaged twenty nine or more points per

945
01:07:35,400 --> 01:07:41,239
game, and it's happening at age
fucking I. Look, I know threes

946
01:07:41,960 --> 01:07:45,880
are like a I think there's a
conversation to be had about how impactful his

947
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:51,440
numbers have been this year. Oh
so you're saying the Lakers have been in

948
01:07:51,519 --> 01:07:55,400
so many like meaningless games, does
it actually matter? Yeah? I think,

949
01:07:55,480 --> 01:07:58,119
Like, you know, that's one
of the common criticisms of James is

950
01:07:58,199 --> 01:08:03,320
that he has chased some of these
stats, like in meetingless situations and games

951
01:08:03,360 --> 01:08:06,679
that are already won, He's stayed
in longer than some players would. I

952
01:08:06,719 --> 01:08:10,760
think there's some validity to that this
year, Like, the Lakers obviously are

953
01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:14,960
just even more of a fiasco than
they already are if he's not putting up

954
01:08:14,960 --> 01:08:17,520
his numbers. But like, the
defense hasn't been great this year. You've

955
01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:21,880
seen the videos of him just like
not even participating, and you know a

956
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:27,239
lot of these big performances have common
games that were pretty hopeless from the start.

957
01:08:27,279 --> 01:08:29,920
That's not to say, like,
but Lebron doesn't even deserve to be

958
01:08:30,079 --> 01:08:32,840
like on the back end of an
MVP ballot, because by my definition,

959
01:08:32,920 --> 01:08:35,760
even despite the Lakers struggles, like
he's done a lot to keep this team

960
01:08:35,800 --> 01:08:42,399
afloat. But I do think that
there's there's some validity to the overall stat

961
01:08:42,479 --> 01:08:47,000
line not necessarily being totally indicative of
how he's actually played this year. Something

962
01:08:47,079 --> 01:08:50,680
that I do find incredible, and
I looked it up while you were talking,

963
01:08:51,479 --> 01:08:56,359
is I don't think we're talking enough
about how he is shooting sixty two

964
01:08:56,399 --> 01:09:00,840
point one percent inside the arc this
year. That is the set highest two

965
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:04,520
point conversion rate he has ever had
as of right now. He just doesn't

966
01:09:04,560 --> 01:09:09,279
make sense. He doesn't and because
it's like I don't know, I will

967
01:09:09,359 --> 01:09:12,600
check this as i'm talking. But
when you look at his game, there

968
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:15,399
are people don't I don't think anyone
was actually calling him the washed King,

969
01:09:15,920 --> 01:09:19,600
but there are people that talk.
He just doesn't look as explosive. And

970
01:09:19,960 --> 01:09:23,840
no, this isn't a version of
Lebron. That's just getting to the rim

971
01:09:25,039 --> 01:09:28,239
at an absurd rate. And then
I look and forty three percent of his

972
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:32,159
shots are coming at the at the
rim this season. That's it's in a

973
01:09:32,239 --> 01:09:36,319
lower percentile than he's used to because
his position is different this year. That

974
01:09:36,520 --> 01:09:40,279
is, it's higher than last season. It's not the highest of his career,

975
01:09:40,359 --> 01:09:44,039
but it's not like insignificant. Still, he's shooting all these turnarounds and

976
01:09:44,079 --> 01:09:47,760
fadeaways. So I looked he is
shooting on turnaround, fade away jump shots,

977
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:55,159
specifically forty eight point four percent,
and we're talking like a not insignificant

978
01:09:55,239 --> 01:09:59,560
number of total attempts here. He
has over the still level is just unreal.

979
01:10:00,119 --> 01:10:02,680
He's just it's just absolutely wild that
we can say that. So he

980
01:10:02,800 --> 01:10:08,319
is shooting on turnaround fade away jump
shots, and I included the ones that

981
01:10:08,359 --> 01:10:11,439
were banked in so not turnaround jump
shots. He also needs to be fading

982
01:10:11,439 --> 01:10:15,560
away. NBA Playtype data breaks this
down. He is shooting thirty of sixty

983
01:10:15,640 --> 01:10:20,520
two. That is that's sucking,
unreal, ridiculous. It feels like a

984
01:10:20,600 --> 01:10:24,439
great place to end this podcast.
Well, not not quite yet, because

985
01:10:24,479 --> 01:10:29,319
I do want to keep talking about
this. Sorry. I think, like,

986
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:31,520
you know, I'm thinking back to
the conversation that we had one of

987
01:10:31,600 --> 01:10:36,640
our more heated discussions, you know, on the heels of or maybe it

988
01:10:36,720 --> 01:10:43,039
was midway through the first round loss
to the Sun's last last postseason, where

989
01:10:43,279 --> 01:10:48,920
I said that it felt like the
decline was coming because it didn't seem like

990
01:10:49,520 --> 01:10:55,960
he had that next level where he
could ascend and lift his team to victories.

991
01:10:56,000 --> 01:11:00,319
We no longer had that feeling of
inevitability. And on the surface level,

992
01:11:00,760 --> 01:11:04,840
I think it looks like that was
just fucking stupid at this point.

993
01:11:05,159 --> 01:11:10,920
But I still want to stand by
that, and I'm curious how you feel

994
01:11:11,520 --> 01:11:17,319
because to me, like Lebron every
year until this year, he's so good

995
01:11:17,479 --> 01:11:23,039
at not just getting his numbers,
but doing so in a way that elevates

996
01:11:23,119 --> 01:11:27,359
whoever's around him. And he's had
a lot of garbage lineups around him over

997
01:11:27,439 --> 01:11:30,520
the years. I'm not seeing that
this year. So like he's getting to

998
01:11:30,680 --> 01:11:34,479
the rim frequently, he's finishing around
the rim frequently, and I wonder how

999
01:11:34,600 --> 01:11:39,880
much of that is because there's no
longer a need to devote quite as much

1000
01:11:39,920 --> 01:11:43,960
defensive attention to him, and as
a result of that, he's not really

1001
01:11:44,079 --> 01:11:48,000
elevating those around him like we've typically
come to see, and that's what's typically

1002
01:11:48,199 --> 01:11:54,840
made his teams so good. The
numbers here, you know, the net

1003
01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:59,079
rating swing, as valid as that
can be and as invalid as it can

1004
01:11:59,119 --> 01:12:02,279
be in certain situation, and it's
all sorts of wonky because the Lakers have

1005
01:12:02,439 --> 01:12:08,800
had such a topsy turvy season and
have so little depth. But plus one

1006
01:12:08,880 --> 01:12:12,520
point seven net rating swing this year, it's the worst mark of his career,

1007
01:12:12,920 --> 01:12:15,920
and it's coming on the heels of
plus ten point six last year plus

1008
01:12:15,079 --> 01:12:19,600
nine point nine the year before that. So I feel like, even if

1009
01:12:19,800 --> 01:12:24,520
he could win the scoring title,
if he could put these jaw dropping per

1010
01:12:24,640 --> 01:12:29,640
game statistics together, I have that
same feeling that I had in the playoffs

1011
01:12:29,760 --> 01:12:33,720
last year. Where as good as
he is individually, there's still not that

1012
01:12:33,960 --> 01:12:40,279
feeling of inevitability that we came to
associate with him during his ridiculously extended prime.

1013
01:12:40,560 --> 01:12:43,600
Not trying to hate here, like
what he's doing is ridiculous and he's

1014
01:12:43,600 --> 01:12:47,279
trying to make the most of a
bad situation. It just doesn't feel the

1015
01:12:47,399 --> 01:12:55,359
same way that Lebron's dominance has felt
in years past. I think that's fair.

1016
01:12:55,680 --> 01:13:00,920
There's also the Lakers status quo is
working from like just a horrific baseline,

1017
01:13:01,159 --> 01:13:05,520
and I'm wondering how that impacts it. I guess having Anthy Davis is

1018
01:13:05,560 --> 01:13:09,920
your second best player, he's had
worst teams, then in a nutshell,

1019
01:13:10,439 --> 01:13:13,520
Anthony Davis hasn't been available, and
when you start to look at the lineups,

1020
01:13:14,039 --> 01:13:16,399
his most used lineups, and even
if let's just assume that Russell Westbrook

1021
01:13:16,439 --> 01:13:21,079
has didn't been detrimental to this team, which is fair, the most used

1022
01:13:21,119 --> 01:13:26,159
lineup that the Lakers have played with
Lebron and no Westbrook is Malik Munk,

1023
01:13:26,560 --> 01:13:30,520
Austin Reeves, Town Horton Tucker,
and Carmelo Anthony. So why isn't why

1024
01:13:30,640 --> 01:13:36,680
isn't that swing larger? I'm saying, because that lineup he's not gonna uplift

1025
01:13:36,760 --> 01:13:40,800
if the Lakers are bad on a
baseline and then they're just getting worse.

1026
01:13:41,359 --> 01:13:45,000
That's the most frequent he's played with. Yes, okay, got it so,

1027
01:13:45,039 --> 01:13:48,439
and that he doesn't have much to
work with. That that is indisputable,

1028
01:13:48,640 --> 01:13:53,319
But it's also I'm not I think
you're right overall though, because it's

1029
01:13:53,359 --> 01:13:57,079
I'm not gonna sit here and say
if Lebron was how many years younger would

1030
01:13:57,119 --> 01:14:00,079
he, would this team have a
better record? It probably would. I

1031
01:14:00,119 --> 01:14:01,479
don't know. I haven't dug into
this or thought about this. I don't

1032
01:14:01,520 --> 01:14:05,199
know where this ranks on the scale
of like the worst supporting cast that he's

1033
01:14:05,279 --> 01:14:10,640
had. And it's muddied just by
the fact that Anthony Davis exists, and

1034
01:14:10,720 --> 01:14:14,439
I know he hasn't been super healthy, but he's played in what what what

1035
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:16,079
is he at? Twenty something games? How many games Anthy Davis played in

1036
01:14:16,159 --> 01:14:20,520
this season? I just have no
idea like negative three. So I don't

1037
01:14:20,560 --> 01:14:24,600
know, we're not honestly ranks,
but I don't. I don't view him

1038
01:14:24,600 --> 01:14:28,359
as responsible though, But it's definitely
not, definitely not. I'm not I'm

1039
01:14:28,399 --> 01:14:33,960
not trying to blame Lebron playing thirty
seven games that is that is wow.

1040
01:14:34,039 --> 01:14:38,600
I was shocked it's that high.
I'll also say the Lakers have lost the

1041
01:14:38,720 --> 01:14:43,840
minutes this season that he and Anthony
Davis played without Russell Westbrook. I believe.

1042
01:14:44,680 --> 01:14:46,800
Let me see double checking, Yes, they're minus four point eight per

1043
01:14:46,840 --> 01:14:50,520
one hundred possessions, so see.
I just I think if you went back

1044
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:56,279
and you found some of the lineup
data, even on like Lakers teams from

1045
01:14:56,720 --> 01:15:00,119
two years ago, that there are
similar lineups that he's floated to a lot

1046
01:15:00,159 --> 01:15:03,600
more success than he has with the
makeshift ones I've used this year. I

1047
01:15:03,760 --> 01:15:10,159
just there's been more of who's the
second best player on this team in Lions

1048
01:15:10,199 --> 01:15:14,359
with Lebron and who's the second best
player in this lineup with Linumps with Lebron

1049
01:15:14,479 --> 01:15:16,439
than we've ever had during his Lakers
tenure, whether it was the year that

1050
01:15:16,520 --> 01:15:19,880
he was there, like when you
had Ingram Kuzma was there for a while,

1051
01:15:19,960 --> 01:15:24,920
you've Lonzo whatever, then you've had
Davis this season, It's like,

1052
01:15:25,119 --> 01:15:28,720
oh, he's playing in line ups
with Trevor Ariza. Malik Monk might be

1053
01:15:28,800 --> 01:15:31,560
a valid answer to that some nights. Who's the Laker who has been the

1054
01:15:31,640 --> 01:15:43,399
Lakers third best player this season?
The final buzzer? Probably that's a great

1055
01:15:43,479 --> 01:15:46,680
question. I'm not even is it
Malik Monk? Is is it Carmelo Anthony.

1056
01:15:46,760 --> 01:15:51,279
I think it's Carmelo Anthony. I'm
on this is an honest question because

1057
01:15:51,359 --> 01:15:54,800
I don't know the answer to it. I don't have a strong opinion.

1058
01:15:54,920 --> 01:15:59,680
I think the answers I assume we're
saying Anthony Davis is the second best player

1059
01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:05,520
availability at all. I think it's
either mellow Malik Monk or Dwight Howard.

1060
01:16:08,319 --> 01:16:12,439
It can't be Dwight Howard. They
don't even want to play Dwight Howard anymore

1061
01:16:12,680 --> 01:16:17,600
because because we should definitely base our
evaluations on their decision making. It's fair

1062
01:16:17,680 --> 01:16:20,800
enough that look the Rambi, that
would be the plural of Rambis, right,

1063
01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:26,479
it is Ramby. The Rambi wanted
to play Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan

1064
01:16:26,520 --> 01:16:29,840
together. So we're never going to
know how good this Lakers team could have

1065
01:16:29,920 --> 01:16:34,000
been because we never saw what the
Rambai wanted. Is Austin Reeves a vellent

1066
01:16:34,039 --> 01:16:40,920
answer? It a season he might
be and it hasn't been rushed. Let's

1067
01:16:40,920 --> 01:16:43,520
just make that clear. That wasn't
a joke. By the way, And

1068
01:16:43,720 --> 01:16:45,119
if you want to even make it
value, because can you say, is

1069
01:16:45,199 --> 01:16:48,439
it has Ampthy has been the second
most valuable player the Laker thirty seven games,

1070
01:16:48,479 --> 01:16:51,359
I'd probably say yes. And look, even if you want to say

1071
01:16:51,399 --> 01:16:56,359
it's been Russ, it hasn't been
Russ. You start to run into pecking

1072
01:16:56,479 --> 01:17:00,000
order questions with this team very quickly. It's it's Malik, Monk or mellow

1073
01:17:00,000 --> 01:17:04,600
a like think let's see wind Shares
Lebron six point six, Davis four point

1074
01:17:04,720 --> 01:17:09,119
six, Melow three point five,
Monk two point eight, Dwight Howard two

1075
01:17:09,159 --> 01:17:13,239
point four, Austin Greaves one point
eight, DeAndre Jordan one point four,

1076
01:17:13,560 --> 01:17:17,640
Russ and Stanley Johnson one point two. Well, now we have to end

1077
01:17:17,720 --> 01:17:20,000
the podcast on a sad note.
I was gonna end on a high note,

1078
01:17:20,000 --> 01:17:23,000
but you had to keep going.
If you've made it this far,

1079
01:17:23,079 --> 01:17:26,119
please remember to rate, review and
subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

1080
01:17:26,479 --> 01:17:30,279
Join our Discord links in the podcast
description, Subscribe to us on YouTube,

1081
01:17:30,560 --> 01:17:34,000
Follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. Follow us on Instagram at Hardwood

1082
01:17:34,199 --> 01:17:39,840
Underscore Knox. Follow all of our
personal accounts those are in the podcast descriptions

1083
01:17:39,960 --> 01:17:45,560
as well. Follow sports Math on
Twitter at sports math Net. Spelled exactly

1084
01:17:45,960 --> 01:17:48,239
as it sounds. Until next time, we'll move with the shout out to

1085
01:17:48,359 --> 01:17:54,840
one the only should be playing more
in the dunker spot. Frank, He'll kid