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All right, welcome to the latest
episode of Hardwood Notts as we fight through

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some technical difficulties here with the Nets
Bucks game in progress as we record.

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It is forty four forty two in
the Bucks favor as we start. But

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we are not going to be talking
about that game so much as all the

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questions that have been submitted via Twitter, direct message and hopefully in this chat

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as well. And we also have
Dan is queued up and ready to go

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with a Nikola Yoki's rant. Do
you want to just jump straight into that,

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Dan? Yeah? And again,
well, we'll prioritize everyone who's stuck

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with us because we have a ton
of questions, but anyone who has questions

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in the room or speaker requests,
we will prioritize all of you because you

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are troopers and we heart you infinitely. Okay, So before we get to

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these questions, we're gonna lose their
second round playoff series to the Phoenix Suns.

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I'm not dating this podcast by saying, Matt before we see game four.

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It's just they're they're not going to
win this series. And there was

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discourse. I listened to a few
podcasts, some from people I respect,

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and they weren't trolling. I saw
the discourse on Twitter, so I don't

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think I'm fighting against phantoms here.
Maybe I saw the wrong people on Twitter.

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There is this logic of thought that
it is harder to build the championship

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team around NICOLEA. Yokich than it
would be certain other players because he's not

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an elite defender. Now I'm calling
bullshit. We go through this every year.

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When a start gets eliminated earlier in
the playoffs, day makes it harder

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on his team to defend. Rudy
Gobert makes it harder on his team because

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he's not a number one option on
offense. NBA superstar does not exist.

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There are challenges with everybody. There
are challenges with Luka Doncic. He's I

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think he's gotten better on defense.
He could probably switch with him more,

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but it's gonna be hard to build
a defense around him, and he still

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needs into their shock creator. It
was the same thing with James Harden.

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It's the same thing with Lebron James
Anthony Davis basically turned into the best three

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and D wing we've ever seen during
the NBA playoffs last year and the Lakers

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won the championship. I get Nicole
Yokich is not a good You know the

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discourse can be. How good is
nicolea Yokich? On defense? Do you

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want him as your backline rim protector. I think you're gonna get screwed over

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and over again. You want to
be more aggressive. He has great hands,

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he's like kind of quick. But
even if he's not quick, the

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hands will help you maybe be more
aggressive. Can you get some help rim

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protection coming from the weak side if
he gets beat there are things you can

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do there. It's the personnel around
him. You're gonna have to tailor it

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better. I think we would run
into this issue had they had Jamal Murray,

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had they had PJ. Dojer And
that's okay, Like I don't think

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the Nuggets have screwed up. They
went after Aaron Gordon and he helps a

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ton on defense for them in the
longer view. But you look at let's

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look at the Phoenix Suns. Like
they have Jay Crowder, they have mckel

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Bridges, they have Tory Craig,
and they have like a big and DeAndre

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Ayton who's perfectly built to defend an
Anthony Davis type player or as we've seen

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against like a Yoki type guy,
because these aren't these guys that are going

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to carve him up necessarily in the
you know, the pick and roll dives,

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like he's better suited to go against
I don't want to say stationary bigs,

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but like, if you're not going
to get them in a ton of

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screening action, DeAndre Atan is better
suited to defend that. And so my

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whole thing is, yeah, Nicola
Yoka gives you challenges. There's maybe what

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one like prime Lebron James didn't give
you challenges, And I just I don't

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understand this need to think that there's
not like stipulations for every superstar that we

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have in today's game, like name
the superstar Adam, that there wouldn't be

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stipulations that you need to build a
specific team around. And I'm not exactly

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and I don't want to say the
Nuggets have failed because I think, you

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know, it's important that teams like
them are so good because they're in small,

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non glamour markets, let's call them
whatever, and I want them to

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be good. It's good for the
NBA that they're good. But we sort

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of go through this with Rudy Gobert. Do I think Nicola Yoka is better

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than Rudy Gobert. Yes, by
a substantial margin. And I'm always going

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to favor the person who creates more
on offense. That doesn't mean that Rudy

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Gobert was not a top fifteen player
in the NBA this year, because you

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better believe that he was when you
look at the defensive value that he provided.

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He's a defense unto himself. And
you know what. To build a

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championship team around Rudy Gobert, you
need a Donovan Mitchell. You need other

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guys who are gonna make three pointers
that can handle the ball because he can't

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do it. Because there's not a
single damn player in the NBA that can

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do all these things at once.
And it's just mind melting to me that

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we have to look at a top
five, top seven, top ten guy

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whatever, Nakol Yoka just at this
point and think, oh, it's too

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hard to build a championship team around
him. No, there's just a very

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specific way you have to go about
it. Some teams have gotten luckier or

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maybe gone about it better than dever, if you wanted to say, but

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can we also just look at the
fact that, okay, we don't none

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of us think that Portland was a
contender, right, It's just beat Portland

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without Will Barton, without Jamal Murray
and p J. Dooser would have been

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important in that series. I think
for the defense he could have provided against

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Portland's backcourt weapons. You were missing
two of your top six players, though,

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and you still beat them because Nikola
Yokai is a monster. And like,

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let's look at what about if Michael
Porter Junior's not dealing with back issues

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right now? Are they down three
zero about to get kicked out of the

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second round by the Suns. I
don't know. I would have picked the

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Suns anyway if the Nuggets were at
full strength, full disclosure. That doesn't

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mean that you can't build a title
team around Nicole Yokich. And I know

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Robert in the chat says Nate Duncan
is the worst about this. He stubbornly

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refuses to change his opinion about Yokis
from four years ago and finds every opportunity

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to cloud on him disrespect him,
which is a shame because I enjoy his

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work for the most part. Otherwise, I enjoyed Nate Duncan's work too.

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I actually did not hear any of
the latest Nicole Yokish stuff, if there's

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been that. But sometimes teams are
just not as good as other teams,

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and it happens like that is I
think I can't remember who said this thing.

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Was Kaitlyn Cooper on Twitter might have
just said that sometimes there are teams

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that you can't adjust because they're just
worse than the other teams. It was

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either her or set part Now or
both. And there were a bunch of

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other people that had level headed takes
that didn't go as viral as the stupid

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ass takes because we have to live
off this like inflammatory commentary. Now,

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I just like we have reached and
this isn't a Nicola Yokis thing. I've

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heard it with Luca don Chich.
I get there's flaws there, but like

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you have to go about like look
at James harn Kevin Durant, a Kyrie

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Irving. It might be easier in
theory to build the title team around any

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one of them, all three of
them teamed up, because that's the league

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today, Like you need a ton
of shot creators, and if Brooklyn loses,

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we're gonna have questions about, oh, they have enough defenders around them,

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Like this is just I just I
can't. And it's even with Jannis

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and the Bucks. There's I think
there's a real discourse about Yiannis when they're

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talking about, hey, you have
to trade Chris Middleton or something if the

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Bucks lose now, and like I
kind of get it, But if you

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can't win, come out of the
East with Chris Middleton and Drew Holliday,

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who again, they've they've been iffy, both of them at differ points during

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the playoffs, but so is Jannis. And if you can't win, get

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out of the East with those three
guys, and Drew and Chris Middleton as

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you're, you know, two a
tow b however you want to staff them.

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Maybe the problem is Jannis at that
point. And I love Jannis,

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but like the shooting is an issue. Stop taking those shots. Be better.

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You have to figure out the free
throw line stuff, take few or

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threes or figure out the three point
shooting stuff. I think it's important there's

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volume there. As I've said,
because the volume itself is kind of a

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counter I've compared it to Marcus Smart, where I do think defense has changed

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the way they go at you.
If you're taking those shots with Yannis,

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they don't because they're just not going
in. And I think Yannis is a

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top five player in the NBA.
I actually had him a top my MVP

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ladder at one point this season.
I'm not I'm just pointing out that like

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so warped where it's like, well, how come it's Nicole Yoka just fall

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nugget. It's harder to build a
championship team around him. But the response

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in Milwaukee to Yannis struggling is,
oh, hey, we got a trade

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now, Chris Middleton's gotta go on
the trade block. I do not get.

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I am just it takes a lot
for me to get triggered nowadays,

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but this triggered me. I think
so much of this as the result of

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the pervasive rings culture, where so
much of an MBA legacy is determined by

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how many championships a player has won, for better or for worse, and

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in this case, I think it's
very much for worse because it means that

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every team that didn't win a title
failed and I just I don't think that

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is an accurate way to look at
what transpires during any given basketball season.

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No, we set it with the
Knicks, where even though they got blown

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out of the first round of the
playoffs by the Hawks. This was a

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massively successful season, albeit one that
has a bunch of unanswered questions for the

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future going. But it was a
massively successful season the Nuggets. You know,

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anyone who mentions their struggles in the
second round without saying the words Jamal

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Murray, which seems to be happening
pretty frequently, that's not a fair analysis

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of the season that this team had. The Golden State Warriors had a good

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season given everything that was thrown their
way, because Steph carried them into the

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play and tournament, even if they
didn't advance into one of the actual playoff

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rounds. You know, you can
look at team after team that way,

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but we don't because as soon as
they're eliminated from the postseason field, there's

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this immediate urge to run and analyze
how it could have been fixed and how

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it could have been better. Sometimes
it couldn't have been better, and that

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doesn't get said enough. So I
wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. I

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don't think that there's a single player
in the NBA where you can just put

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him there and no matter what is
around him. Yeah, they're going to

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be a contender. Every single top
player is going to have a weakness that

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needs to be accounted for, whether
it's Steph's lack of defensive game changing ability

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and you need to put wing defenders
around him while also still making sure that

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defenses can't totally collapse towards him,
or Lebron James needing Anthony Davis as a

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running mate to win a title at
this more advanced stage of his career,

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or Yokich not being a great primary
rim defender for as a defensive centerpiece.

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You know, every single player,
Jannis is probably the best example where I

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think that he of those superstars,
regardless of where he might fall in the

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pecking order, does have the biggest
flaw that really needs to be accounted for

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and makes it more difficult to build
a championship caliber team around him, and

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the Bucks are still doing their darnedist
to account for that. I do think

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that this is a good segue into
the first mail bag question, which is

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actually one I submitted because it really
does tied directly into this. For those

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who aren't familiar with the Crystal Basketball
project that we've been doing for four years

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now at NBA Math, we're ranking
before the season starts, we rank every

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single player on a one to twelve
scale based on our expectations going into the

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season. After this season is over, we do a retroactive analysis on that

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same one through twelve scale, ce
who rose Cy, who fell, And

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it's basically just grouping players into tiers. So once you get up into those

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top ones, nine is supposed to
be an all NBA caliber player, ten

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is a lesser MVP candidate, eleven
is an MVP frontrunner, and each person

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voting on these ballots can only submit
one twelve, which is their designated best

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player in the league. In each
of the past three years that we've done

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this, it felt like there were
one or two options you could go with

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the MVP from that season. You
could go with Lebron James because he was

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able to hit that higher gear during
the playoffs and reassert himself as probably the

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best player in the league. This
year feels different to me, where it's

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like you can throw a name of
like seven or eight players at me and

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I'm totally fine with handing that twelve
to them. So my question, Dan,

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was, who is your twelve this
year? Granted there's still there's still

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time for that to change based on
what happens in the postseason, but it's

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Steph already. That's not going to
change. I'm trying to think, you

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know, the other aspect of this
that goes into what we're talking about too,

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is availability, and so you could
talk me into Kevin Durant the way

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that he's played, or even a
Kawhi Leonard, like there's a switch defensive

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switch, though with Kawhi Leonard there's
even an offensive switch with him, I

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feel sometimes. But anyway, I
think it's it's death for me right now.

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I'm not sure who left in the
playoffs could change that. If you

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told me Joel Embiid would play in
sixty eight games of eighty two next year,

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I might pick Joel Embiid. They
would all be in the conversation.

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Lebron's not out of it for me. We had a very long debate about

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that a few podcasts ago. So
but right now, it's just looking at

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Steph. I think he's kind of
the right mix of you don't like this

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huge defensive liability, and I think
his size sort of helps there at the

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guard position. But when you look
at how nuclears and go on offense,

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and he is, you know,
Zach Lewis said this about Kevin Durant,

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but I do think Stephan Curry is
to a certain extent. He amplifies every

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single star that he's ever played with, and so he's It's not always easy

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to take superstars plugged them together.
I can't. I get Kevin Durant is

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one of those guys for sure,
but I think Steph is just you take

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him and just the way he can
move off the ball, what he does

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on the ball. I guess Kevin
Rant because of what he can do defensively

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on certain nights, maybe you you
elevate him over that. But right now,

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Stephan Curry would be my twelve.
I don't know who you have.

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It's hard to look past Yoki's just
given his obvious status as the MVP,

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which is now official. But here's
it's really hard to build a title team

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around him, much harder than all
these other stars. Yeah. I've heard

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that a few times. Sorry,
go ahead, I just had to get

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that in there. No, I
no, I think it's it's valid.

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The way we always frame this is
that it's a snapshot of this moment in

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time, while also looking back,
it's the level of player reached by the

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end of the season. So even
if Yoka has the most impressive body of

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work, I still have trouble giving
him my twelve. I think right now

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Kauai is the front runner for mine. Just the two way ability, and

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even if we the defensive ability seems
to not quite be there like it's been

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in previous seasons, and it might
not have even been there at the same

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level while he was with the Toronto
Raptors for that one year. We've seen

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Donovan Mitchell go off. We've seen
Luca don Chich go off against the Clippers,

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and these are missmatchups that Kawhi might
have done more to shut down in

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the past. But just the two
way ability, the increasing availability, the

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knack for taking over a game offensively
in the playoffs. I just year after

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a year now, I feel like
I'm watching him and seeing the closest thing

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we've seen to Jordan in a long
time on the offensive end, where it

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just the way that he plays.
I'm not saying he's as effective as Pete

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Michael Jordan was, but the way
that he plays, that smooth mid range

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pull up, the ability to get
to his spots, the ability to attack

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the basket through traffic, the efficiency
that he plays with. It's remarkable how

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easily he's been able to take over
game after game for the Clippers. But

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if you wanted to make an argument
for Yokich, for Jannis, for Harden,

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for don Chich, for Steph for
KD, like the options are limitless

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this year. Yeah, Noah said
to yours, I low key agree with

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Adam the efficiency too on Kauai.
And my argument against Kauai, aside from

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the the flip that he switches,
which is I feel like that the lowbrow

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argument anyway, it would just be
I don't know what he can do as

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a primary playmaker aside from put him
in high pick and roll and like that's

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like you need him to do that. I don't know that. I feel

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like there are a lot more players
that I'd rather have in that primary playmakers

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one. We've kind of seen it
at certain times for Los Angeles this season,

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but he is certainly one of the
what five to ten candidates that I

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think he could put in that discus
they smell bad? Question kind of coincide

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that we were just talking about from
Brandon Ebert. If you were trying to

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build a perfect team for longevity purposes
and championship aspirations. Would Imbat or Yokis

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be the better player to build around, he noted. He said health is

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obviously he also had a health Is
obviously favor. But I wonder if Imbid's

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ability to dominate and defend would make
it close. And that's I think it

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does make it close, right,
But I feel like I would probably still

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lean towards Yokich because of the ability
to elevate others around him and kind of

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serve as that system unto himself on
offense. And I just can't help but

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look at the availability with Imbid,
because you just don't know what you're going

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to get. I mean, the
first two seasons of his career zero games,

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then thirty one, sixty three,
sixty four, fifty one fifty one.

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Part of that is for maintenance purposes, but the other part is that

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he just hasn't been able to go, and sometimes when he's been able to

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go, it's not at full strength, and I think that has to matter.

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Do you know what an interesting question
here would be? And I agree

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with you. I think it's so
close. And I do think peek Ebid

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I had him as my MVP peak
and Bid might be better than peak Yokich,

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and he's certainly more of an all
around player, but the availability matters.

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I also, you know, when
you look at what Yokich does as

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a passer and even like kind of
the they're both kind of like hitting these

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ridiculous jumpers. Now, so forget
me saying that. But if you took

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Ben Simmons and Matisse Tybel put them
on the Nuggets instead of let's say Jamal

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Murray and then who's there like specialty
winning defender, like instead of p J

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Doser or something, do the Nuggets
get further a title threat than the Sixers

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right now? And I think the
argument or the way to build around Yoka

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would be just get all these defense
first guys and see how far you can

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go, because he can create so
much your offense. Where Ben Simmons might

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be able to score off Cots to
be better suited in the dunker spot,

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did over Mercy's Tiebel. He's gonna
get super wide open through He's getting them

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anyway, just doesn't hit them.
He's not taking a ton to begin with,

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so that you know, you can't
even do the same thing with like

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if you put Jay Crowden, mcal
Bridges let's use the team that Denver is

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going up against on Denver. I
could be trolling here, but hey,

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if you put Tory Cer on Denver, but like I feel like you go

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further. And so while the peak
of Eimbiad might be better than Yokich,

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the availability matters. And I do
think that if you did surround Yokich with

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Embiad supporting cast. But within the
the other question, if you put Jamal

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Murray the Sixers instead of Ben Simmons, really better than Denver. There's it's

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we need a challenge trade, we
need a challenge trade. I just want

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to respond to two of the comments
that we got in the chat. John

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Bond says Joel's defense puts him over
Yokich for me, and I get that,

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like his defensive advantage is massive,
but I think that's a little bit

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too simplistic, just because Yokich isn't
a huge defensive liability. Even if he's

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not a game changing rim defender,
he's still good in the margins. He

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still isn't a huge, blaring liability. Maybe some of that defensive weakness is

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exposed a little bit more in the
playoffs, but we still have to take

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it. So much more into account
and Robert Norman says response to that,

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where he has a point though,
it was just like the things that you

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can do. I know in Game
one against Atlanta, Embid was moving kind

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of weird on defense, but the
things you can do with him beat on

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defense, like the gap there is
for sure. And then Robert Norman says,

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Yokis would benefit from perimeter defenders,
but he also benefits from shooters around

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him as well. I guess I
would argue that the Sixers have placed shooters

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around and beat two like Tobias Harris, Danny Green, Seth Curry. That's

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a pretty good trio of shooters to
have. I would also say Denver probably

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could have could stand to put more
shooters around Nicole Yokes like they weren't.

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They were very middle of the road
in three point efficiency this year. And

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so like there are people in theory, there are you know, good shooters

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on that team, but they are
Michael Porter Junior is a great shooter that

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that guy looks like he has all
time touched on the outside. But a

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lot of these guys will so well
or there are three point opportunities will exist

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because of what Yokich can do with
the ball, and so Denver was this

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season in let me just let me
search Denver, all right, they were

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eight and three point efficiency, so
I was off. I thought they were

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lower. But I don't know that
they have like these. I mean,

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who is the elite shooter of five
from Michael Porter junior on that team,

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Jamal Murray because of his self creation, I guess. But like Will Barton

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is fine. PJ. Dooger's fine, Aaron Gordon is certainly not fine,

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like what he's on, like he's
the gverage Gary Harris. No, Robert

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00:19:32,839 --> 00:19:37,039
has clarified that he meant Denver needs
more shooting and then agreed with what you

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were saying. So apologies for misinterpreting
that. Robert I always liked Robert Roberts

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is really on point with his basketball
themes. Also, Denver was only seventeenth

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and three point volume p one hundred
possessions, so that's something to consider too.

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Noah says, what the shooters in
Philly are two Ben Simmons offensive limitations.

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That's also a good point is that
Yo Kich isn't playing beside someone with

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those type of limitations. So I
also think away with Yo Kitchen Simmons more

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so than you can get away with
Embid and Simmons would be my take.

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I think so too. But Embied
and Simmons have still thrived together. Yeah,

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Like that's important to know too.
It's almost like it's really hard to

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build a perfect basketball team, and
all of the teams capable of winning a

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title have significant flaws. I don't
know if you've ever thought about that,

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like it could be hard to build
around a superstar sometimes. No, I've

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never I've never even given side of
that. Yokich just trash. Well,

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here's an exercise. Would you take
throw health out of the equation? And

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I really think that's the deciding factor
in this discussion. By the way,

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is Embid is just you can't count
on him. It has to be Yo

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kids for me. But if you
had Embiad and Jamal Murray versus Yoki and

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Ben Simmons, that's the starting point
for your team. No, don't worry

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00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,559
about the health stuff. Jamal Murry, I mean Murray had embide. Now

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looking at it, Beat's history plus
Murray's acl like, that's that's pretty Like

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that's a shifty out look. But
who would you take, Like what would

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be the better base? I think
I might still rather have the Embid Murray

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side, even though in a vacuum, I would have both players ranked below

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the Yo Simmons side, because I
think that there's a little bit of diminishing

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marginal returns in play. If you
have Yokich and Ben Simmons sharing the basketball

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in the half court set, that's
just not an ideal use of Simmons because

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you're either taking the ball away from
Yokich and not allowing him to serve as

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that all encompassing offensive hub, which
is what makes the Denver offense hum or.

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You're forcing Simmons into an entirely off
ball situation in the half court.

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There would be deadly in transition with
Yokis hitting those those kickout passes and letting

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Simmons attack. But he struggles enough
in the half court sometimes, and I

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think if you take him away from
his one big strength in that area,

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yeah, he could be a really
dominant cutter. But I think that you

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are not maximizing the talents of the
dynamic duo. They're quite like you would

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be with the Embead Murray pairing,
where it just makes more sense together.

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I just feel like the way Philly
has used Ben Simmons in the playoffs is

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kind of mirroring what you just said, and so that's gonna happen anyway.

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You'd rather have Yokich as the on
bol Gun I next him. And look,

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the context of this is Michael Porter
Junior still in Denver. So that

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makes it saucier because then you don't
necessarily need Simmons a shot volument or like

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like you would from Murray. So
I would I would probably need him beat

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in Murray though, But that was
a fun exercise. Did you want to

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get to the mail bag question that
you were really excited about? Yeah?

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Do you want me to read it? Or you kicking it off here?

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I don't even see it. So
that's why I all it comes from at

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thunder Van who said if you had
to design a starting five that average seventy

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00:22:48,799 --> 00:22:52,680
points per game or less, who
would yours be? And we actually interpreted

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this very differently. My initial interpretation
was I'm looking at what players average this

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season and trying to build the best
starting lineup that I can with players who

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combined averaged seventy or fewer points per
game. I think you were looking at

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it as let's build the best lineup
we can that wouldn't score more than seventy

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points per game. So I just
kind of cobbled this together in a few

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minutes before we started recording, because
the question came in kind of late.

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And I'm just gonna basically not have
any great shooting on this team aside from

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one three and D guy and Steph
Curry, who helps make up for a

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lot of shooting woes. But I'm
going with Steph Curry, Rudy Gobert,

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Ben Simmons, Matisse Tyble, and
Devin Vassell, who together average exactly seventy

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points per game. The idea of
having Simmons and Tyble defending the perimeter with

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Gobert behind them means that Steph can
basically sit down on the defensive end and

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not need to do anything because Tyble
is basically capable of apperating all over the

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court, so you wouldn't really be
playing four on five on defense. And

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then Steph can just shoot every time
down the floor and average fifty points a

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game and we're gonna win a bunch
of games. I also thought about swapping

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out Simmons for Robert Covington, just
to get another three and D body into

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that lineup and get a little bit
more shooting. But I just kind of

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liked the idea of totally committing to
defense with the one good spacer and Vascell

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the great role threat in Gobert a
cutting threat and secondary creator, and Simmons

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and Steph just shooting flames. Yeah. My issue there is that Steph probably

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averages seventy a game by himself on
that team. By my interpretation of the

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00:24:41,079 --> 00:24:48,039
question, though, that is fair
game. So my team would be Jannis,

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00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,720
Ben Simmons, Rudy Gobert. They're
amount of Bio and o Gianna Nobi,

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super light on floor spacing and that
I'm going super big. I know

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00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,759
that they could probably do stuff in
tr position. Who is the on ball?

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00:25:00,839 --> 00:25:03,640
Like, if you're looking at Jannis
and Ben Simmons having to create together

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00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:08,519
in the half court, I'm gonna
get super imfy. So that team is

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probably allowing forty points a game?
Are they scoring eighty? I mean it's

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the modern day MBA. I think
they're I think they're scoring over eighty a

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00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:22,200
game. There's one guy who will
shoot threes or make threes because Johanness will

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00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,599
shoot them. That's o Gianna Nobi. Right. The Church is gonna overpower

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everyone. Also, Jannis will shoot
threes, should he? I didn't said

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00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,160
he wouldn't make them? Okay,
fair fair The important clarification, There'll be

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00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,000
one guy on that team making three. So that's how I interpreted it.

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00:25:37,039 --> 00:25:40,920
I didn't go as exact. I
thought about even like I didn't want to,

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because there is good passers on that
team when you look at them and

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Ben and Jannis. I tried to
like lower those, but then I was

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00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,519
like, you know, if I
put Mchael Bridges on that team, like

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00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:51,440
he's got some kind of creation so
that you're looking at like those specialty wings,

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00:25:52,039 --> 00:25:55,759
maybe if you went with like a
put table instead of Ben Simmons on

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00:25:55,799 --> 00:25:59,119
that team or instead of Jannie,
like, that would be the safer way

399
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,720
to ensure that you average semi points
a game. But that's my team,

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00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,640
John says. Head Hunting a weak
defender, and I am pretty sure this

401
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,559
is in response to my team.
Head hunting a week defender in the NBA

402
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,119
is on a completely different level now, and we saw that in the twenty

403
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:17,480
eighteen Rocket series when they hunted Curry. Yeah, absolutely true. It's way

404
00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:21,359
easier now, just given the proliferation
of three point shooting and the ability to

405
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:26,079
get switches basically whenever you want them
to target that one poor defender. But

406
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,960
this team is specifically designed for that
not to be a concern because Simmons and

407
00:26:32,039 --> 00:26:36,640
Tyble are just so ridiculously rangey.
I mean, we've heard Doc Rivers say

408
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,480
multiple times the table in particular,
he just breaks all of the defensive rules

409
00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:44,920
because he can. He doesn't have
to worry about following them, because he

410
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,240
can just show up as if he's
just teleported to a different area of the

411
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,759
court. So I do think that
despite that one hundred percent being true,

412
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:59,640
that that specific team construction, given
these parameters, would still be able to

413
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:07,680
account for that. Enough, fair
enough, let's move on to this is

414
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,240
interesting talk about deep cut. Shout
out Kade Hornack for asking what contracts do

415
00:27:11,279 --> 00:27:15,480
you expect Campaign and Tory Craig to
sign this offseason? Backup Campaign has like

416
00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:22,599
not had a great playoff game yet, but he's been so good and solid.

417
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,559
I think you're both at the end. Look, Tori Craig just wings

418
00:27:26,599 --> 00:27:30,000
that crashes the offensive glass, shooting
well from three in Phoenix. Overall really

419
00:27:30,039 --> 00:27:33,720
good defensively for them. I would
think that both of these guys end up

420
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,680
getting a mini MLIE money at least, which would be five point seven million

421
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,119
dollars about to start. If I
had to guess which one doesn't might be

422
00:27:42,279 --> 00:27:48,319
campaign just because the point guard markets
not super deep, but the the backup

423
00:27:48,319 --> 00:27:52,200
point guard market is always sort of
weird and there's a shortage of wings.

424
00:27:52,519 --> 00:27:56,079
And if you're going to look at
the way that Tory Craig has played in

425
00:27:56,119 --> 00:28:00,319
Phoenix this year and been like,
okay, well, this is what happens

426
00:28:00,319 --> 00:28:03,559
when he's kind of surrounded by you
know, he's getting I don't want to

427
00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:07,279
say extra playing time because he did
play in Denver, but if he's going

428
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,079
to shoot forty percent from three in
the playoffs and I think he shot over

429
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:12,799
forty percent in the regular season with
them, no, it's thirty six point

430
00:28:12,839 --> 00:28:15,839
nine percent, still good enough.
And give you just a ton of defensive

431
00:28:15,839 --> 00:28:18,920
minutes across a bunch of positions.
That's just more of a you know,

432
00:28:19,079 --> 00:28:22,640
not playing on the ball as much. That is more of a in demand

433
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,079
than I would argue than necessarily a
backup point guard. I don't know how

434
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,440
you feel, but I would assume
that both of those guys end up getting

435
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,160
at least in the mini MLI market, which for you know, Tory Craig

436
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,839
was given away for free essentially at
the trade around the trade deadline by the

437
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:41,440
Bucks, and then campaign was about
the NBA for a while, so's a

438
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,960
that's great for those guys. I
think the only spot I disagree is that

439
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,839
I feel like Payne will get a
little bit more than that. The backup

440
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,720
point guard market is always weird,
but there's always such a priority on that

441
00:28:55,759 --> 00:29:00,279
position. Every team wants to have
two capable point guards or more on its

442
00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:04,440
roster. And given how he's played
throughout this postseason, just as a reliable

443
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:10,079
shooter or a reliable secondary creator,
just a very effective backup point guard.

444
00:29:10,119 --> 00:29:12,759
And his age, he'll be twenty
seven in August, he is not going

445
00:29:12,799 --> 00:29:17,359
to be declining on this next contract. I wouldn't be surprised if he signs

446
00:29:17,599 --> 00:29:21,880
an extension or a new contract in
the same ballpark is what Monte Morris signed,

447
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:26,000
which was three twenty seven. Yeah, so like basically full non taxpayers

448
00:29:26,079 --> 00:29:29,880
mL E money goes to it anyway. I'm just trying to think of the

449
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,319
team that might give it to him
if you think he can play in tandem

450
00:29:33,359 --> 00:29:37,960
guard lineups with like another creator as
I'm like joking over here, that might

451
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,079
be an interesting way to look at
it. Also, you could try and

452
00:29:40,119 --> 00:29:42,160
go a short term if you're one
of the teams with cap space and looking

453
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,920
for a scoring Hey, look,
if you're the Knicks, would you pay

454
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,160
campaign like, you know, a
one plus one for twelve million dollars or

455
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,079
something so that you don't have alphabeton
on your team? Why not? Sure?

456
00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:56,680
Sure? Miami would be a fun
spot too. They have Druggage,

457
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,720
though, I guess if you don't
think he's gonna be healthy and there probably

458
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,599
I have seen nothing recently to convince
me that that dragge is not on the

459
00:30:04,599 --> 00:30:11,240
decline. Kim asked, can Phoenix
be stopped by anyone in the West,

460
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:17,920
and how I would argue that by
scoring more points than Phoenix, I'd probably

461
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:23,359
be able to stop him. I
think the answer is Utah. And granted,

462
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,200
Utah still has to make it past
the Clippers, just as the Sun

463
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,400
still have to close out the Nuggets. But that's the team that has the

464
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:37,680
two way ability to keep pace on
offense and to make a defensive dent against

465
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:44,000
against the Suns. As soon as
you laugh about something, Noah in the

466
00:30:44,079 --> 00:30:47,000
chat was because I think it was
to my campaign and he just got outed

467
00:30:47,079 --> 00:30:49,400
yes in the chat every other bad
thing. I'm sorry, please continue.

468
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,160
That was rude. I mean,
that's about what I got. Like,

469
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:57,960
I don't. I think the matchups
themselves are still difficult because Utah's defensive strength

470
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,880
isn't necessarily on the perimeter, which
is what makes Phoenix so good because of

471
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,319
that dual guard ability with Chris Paul
and Devin Booker, but the rim protection

472
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:12,480
that Gobert affords you, which in
turn allows you to focus more resources on

473
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:19,119
stopping the perimeter players. That coupled
with the offensive explosiveness of this Utah Jazz

474
00:31:19,119 --> 00:31:23,119
team that is willing to just chuck
up three after three and has so many

475
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:29,000
good shooters and so much depth on
the offensive ends, that's the matchup.

476
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,559
I think even both the teams that
they could face might end up being their

477
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:37,119
toughest matchup because how does you know
how does eighton respond when the Clippers are

478
00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:41,599
going small? Because I think you'll
probably be fine against UBOs and we know

479
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:42,880
Abacca is not going to play,
and if they decided to bust out to

480
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:48,119
Marcus Cousins, they'll be ultra fine. That's just freaking Clippers rotation. This

481
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,079
series against the Jazz just bizarre anyway, I think, because then you could

482
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:56,599
play charge more like get away.
With that, the Clippers might actually be

483
00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,359
the better matchup for them, if
that makes any sense. I think the

484
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,640
Suns would rather play the Clippers,
especially because you're not playing Gobert off the

485
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,240
floor, and there's this misconception that
he's a bad defender in space, and

486
00:32:08,279 --> 00:32:13,559
we've seen just how easily Chris Paul
and Devin Booker can cook bigs in space.

487
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:20,000
Gobet's actually good when he's targeted in
isolation. There's not a way to

488
00:32:20,079 --> 00:32:24,039
neutralize him defensively. I think there
is because of their shot selection. Those

489
00:32:24,079 --> 00:32:27,599
two will just put up the mid
Rangers before he gets out there to contest

490
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,319
them, and we've seen Chris Paul
cook him well. When Chris Paul has

491
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:32,880
that look in his eyes, it
can right. And if they're going to

492
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:37,240
take those mid Rangers and make them
they're going to beat anyone, that's still

493
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:42,160
what you want to be forcing them
to do. I think actually what makes

494
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,759
the Jazz scarier. And I agree
with your overarching point, but I'm assuming

495
00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:51,359
that Mike Conley plays I'm basically thinking
that his injury is not too serious right

496
00:32:51,359 --> 00:32:52,440
now, and Utah is trying to
see how the games they can deal without

497
00:32:52,519 --> 00:32:57,480
him. But if Mike Conley plays, you're gonna have Rudy Gobert in a

498
00:32:57,519 --> 00:33:00,279
ton more screen and role action.
And I think that's where DeAndre eight,

499
00:33:00,319 --> 00:33:04,000
and I don't want to say it
can be exposed. He's gonna struggle more

500
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,839
against that type of approach than the
bigs that he's faced so far. And

501
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:14,640
if you're gonna you could send help, that's great, gotten its spritzing out

502
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:19,759
those passes too. Shooters and Sharge
isn't gonna help you in that matchup either,

503
00:33:19,839 --> 00:33:22,759
if you decide to go smaller there. So I think the Sons are

504
00:33:22,759 --> 00:33:24,599
still my pick to come out of
the West. I haven't see anything that

505
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:29,319
changed that Utah, which seemed to
be the less favorable matchup for them.

506
00:33:29,319 --> 00:33:31,440
Noah had a fantastic question about this
though, since we're on this series,

507
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,319
is anyone else not Noah Otage?
By the way, is anyone else actually?

508
00:33:37,559 --> 00:33:38,880
Noah? Tell me if I'm pronouncing
your last name right, by the

509
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,960
way, I've just been pronouncing it
for months now. Is it like odige?

510
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,880
Because whatever? But anyway, carry
on, I'll carry on. Is

511
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,359
anyone else not at all phased by
the Clippers winning Game three against the Jazz.

512
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,400
It feels as if Utah will have
a very good hold on this series,

513
00:33:52,519 --> 00:33:54,400
and if Mitchell and Conley are healthy, Jazz don't let it get to

514
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,240
seven sons, Jazz will be one
of the best Western Conference finals of all

515
00:33:58,279 --> 00:34:00,880
time. I would be we didn't
mention when were talking about that. I

516
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,400
want to see Sun's Jazz, I
think in the worst way. I think

517
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,920
I like the way the Clippers match
up better than any team if we're going

518
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,239
to get a series against the fully
healthy Nets. But as we're recording this,

519
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,760
Kyrie Irving injured his ankle and is
out for the rest of came four

520
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,440
with Brooklyn, and we know James
Harden with against Milwaukee. We know James

521
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,599
Harness still dealing with the hand shrink
stuff. I want to see Sun's Jazz

522
00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:23,639
is like the basketball matchup that I
want to see. But how do you

523
00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:27,559
feel about that? Overall question?
Are you do you look at games three

524
00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:30,159
as this turning point for the Clippers? Are they What's that? Adam Sandler

525
00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:34,800
mean? This is how I win
from uncut gens every time the Clippers go

526
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,440
down to to oh this postseason,
apparently they're gonna come raging back. Maybe

527
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,840
I don't see it. You know, again, the Jazz, as you

528
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,440
said, the Jazz have taken a
two one lead without my comp Mike Conley

529
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:52,199
was an All Star this season.
He's he makes this offense. Hum,

530
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,199
he Mike Conley was an All Star. I just want to throw that he

531
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,559
didn't. Yeah, I mean he
was more of an honorary All Star,

532
00:34:57,639 --> 00:35:00,760
but like, let's not pretend he
wasn't playing at that kind of level.

533
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,440
Oh no, And I had a
tweet, but the Western Conference was really

534
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,920
deep, which is why you kind
of need that aster us there a little

535
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,519
bit where it might have been somewhat
of a legacy award. He was absolutely

536
00:35:09,519 --> 00:35:15,079
good enough to merit an All Star
inclusion this year. You know, just

537
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,519
if we did what we should have
a long time ago and expanded the All

538
00:35:17,599 --> 00:35:22,559
Star rosters, because that's a soapbox
I just seemed to live on. But

539
00:35:22,679 --> 00:35:25,800
yeah, I mean the Jazz of
a two one lead without without Conley,

540
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,760
with Mitchell fighting through these injuries to
his lower extremities and probably taking it a

541
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:36,719
little bit easy, but still showing
ridiculous shot baking craft. Some of the

542
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,679
buckets that he made in the first
half of Game three were just flat out

543
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:46,840
ridiculous. I just I don't see
this series changing in the Clippers favor.

544
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,960
I'm with you and my boy on
Bardanovich. Not shooting two of ten again

545
00:35:53,079 --> 00:35:57,280
and one of five and three just
not going to happen. I do think

546
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,599
Mike Conley's huge. If you want
to, you know, put make sure

547
00:35:59,639 --> 00:36:04,719
that Rudy Gobet is gonna stay more
in uh like the pick and roll situations.

548
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:10,760
And as Noah odies, it's pronounced
like prestige, So Noah ODIs plus

549
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:14,039
Dowtin. Mitchell was out for most
of the fourth quarter in Game three.

550
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,480
Even though La was up, the
Jazz kept fighting back. There's a team

551
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,119
that's not going to go away.
I like them exponentially better than the Clippers.

552
00:36:20,159 --> 00:36:24,719
Who I look, Geggie Jackson having
a fantastic season, Nick Patom fantastic

553
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:29,719
season. If you're depending on them
to be like two of your top five

554
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,519
guys on a game to the game
basis in the year twenty and twenty one,

555
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:36,440
I'm wildly uncomfortable with your situation.
I don't know, Rudy, I

556
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:37,880
wasn't Reggie Jackson had out in game
one or game two of this series,

557
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,000
and in my head, I'm like, oh, the Clippers are screwed.

558
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:44,880
That's not that's not okay. It's
not an okay way to think. It

559
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,280
wouldn't surprise me if the Clippers want, I want to make that clear,

560
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,880
because on paper, they're a really
good team. If Paul George is gonna

561
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,519
have you know, the night he
did. But I yeah, I'm not

562
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,840
too concerned after a game three of
seeing any Van's gonna choose. Now if

563
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,719
you tell me my comedy's not playing
again this series and I haven't, that's

564
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:02,719
when changes. Yeah, that's that's
when it changes. But they got out

565
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:06,239
to a two row lead, and
I point this out, that's a gigantic

566
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,119
ass deal to do that without my
comedy, because I do think he's important

567
00:37:08,119 --> 00:37:12,639
to keeping I've mentioned this a ton, Brudy Gobert involved on offense. But

568
00:37:13,159 --> 00:37:15,440
I'm just looking at game three and
like, you know, Jordan Clarkson is

569
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:20,960
gonna have those high variants moments,
but you're gonna get better nights from Bogdanovitch,

570
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,400
You're gonna get better nights from Donovan
Mitchell, and you're even like,

571
00:37:24,599 --> 00:37:28,559
I just I don't know how the
Clippers defend a lot of this stuff that

572
00:37:28,559 --> 00:37:30,639
the Jazz are doing. Because even
if you're just like throwing Klaie on Donovan

573
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:34,639
Mitchell, which is the answer,
That's what the answer was in the Dallas

574
00:37:34,679 --> 00:37:37,400
series too, throw them on Luke
dont to make life harder. The Jazz

575
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,719
are just so good shooting overall.
I mean even look, they shot forty

576
00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:45,039
three point two percent in a loss
in Game three or no, yeah,

577
00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:49,079
And like, how do you defend, okay, if let's Klai's on Donovan

578
00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:51,239
Mitchell, I don't know how the
Clippers are built to defend, like the

579
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:52,559
Joe Angles side pick and roll.
At this point, even if my comedy's

580
00:37:52,559 --> 00:37:57,920
not on the floor, there's just
the Jazz are there. Their talent level

581
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:02,119
falls off after their top eight guys. They're top big guys are really fucking

582
00:38:02,119 --> 00:38:07,840
good. The Jazzes swing passes and
just ability to work the ball around the

583
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:12,320
key, turning down good shots for
great ones and making sure that every single

584
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:21,559
minuscule rotational mishap is capitalized upon is
just eerily reminiscent of like twenty thirteen San

585
00:38:21,599 --> 00:38:27,440
Antonio Spurs the twenty seventeen Golden State
Warriors, those teams that truly excelled and

586
00:38:27,519 --> 00:38:31,000
made offense look really easy. I
just that's what I keep coming back to,

587
00:38:31,119 --> 00:38:36,719
is that this is not a team
that's dependent on Donovan Mitchell hero ball

588
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,760
or the pick and roll game or
knocking down a ton of threes. It

589
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:45,599
is an offensive machine that is fine
tuned at this point when all the pieces

590
00:38:45,599 --> 00:38:50,119
are available, and is remarkably good
at getting the best shot out of every

591
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:57,440
single possession. Let's get to this
question from I don't know why I scrolled

592
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,480
away from it. That's been kind
of route on my part. Leo Anstein

593
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,440
asked who was the most efficient rookie
this year? There's not a perfect way

594
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,559
to measure this, so I just
looked at the rookies that qualified for the

595
00:39:07,599 --> 00:39:10,039
minutes per game leaderboard and then sort
of them by true shooting and affective field

596
00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:16,159
goal percentage. Xavier Tillman led both
categories, followed by in second place in

597
00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:22,280
both categories was Desmond Bane and Isaiah
Strew. It was three and then I

598
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,360
think, if you're looking at a
rookie that actually had the ball on his

599
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:30,039
hands and was tasked with some creation, Tyrese Haliburton was the most efficient rookie

600
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:34,119
fifty eight five true shooting was fourth, and his effective field goal percentage was

601
00:39:34,159 --> 00:39:37,440
also a fourth fifty six nine.
That would be my answer, and I

602
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:42,159
think his role was a big part
of this Peyton Pritchard top five there with.

603
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:46,039
None of these guys shouldered the same
offensive responsibilities as little Mellow Ball,

604
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,400
who ranked outside of the top ten, So there's a different way to sort

605
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,239
of measure the efficiency. I don't
know if there's anyone you're super impressed by

606
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:57,079
when you're looking at their efficiency numbers
as a rookie, or maybe even concerned

607
00:39:57,159 --> 00:40:00,199
by, but that's just my take
on it. Yeah, I mean the

608
00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:02,360
rookie's the top were hyper efficient,
but their roles were a lot different.

609
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:07,280
But that's also why Torry's Talibert was
still impressive to me because he had real

610
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,360
ball handling responsibility, not as much
as the Meloball at the same time,

611
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:14,719
for a rookie, it was,
you know, it was impressive, and

612
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,360
that's why I think he would be
my pick. He might not be number

613
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:22,400
one in any of the catch all
numbers, in true shooting percentage, anything

614
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:27,679
like that, but ultimately we're looking
at a guard who was heavily involved in

615
00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:30,920
the offensive sets and still shot fifty
two point nine percent on two's, forty

616
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:34,960
point nine percent on threes, eighty
five point seven percent on free throws.

617
00:40:35,199 --> 00:40:37,559
He averaged five point three assists and
only one point six turnovers per game.

618
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:43,239
Those are the two typical pitfalls for
rookie guards as they're breaking their way into

619
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:46,559
the NBA. They shoot poorly,
especially around the basket, especially from three

620
00:40:46,599 --> 00:40:51,840
point range, and they often have
turnover issues because they're trying to force the

621
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,840
issue a bit too much. They're
not quite up to speed with the ridiculous

622
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:59,320
pace of NBA games. And he
came in and looked like a veteran in

623
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:05,079
both areas. So if you combine
together context with the pure numbers, I

624
00:41:05,119 --> 00:41:08,960
feel like that has to be the
answer. Yeah, I'm totally with you

625
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:13,880
on that. I don't even know
what the alternative answer would be. One

626
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,639
of the one of the shooters,
like you could say the cell or Isaiah

627
00:41:16,639 --> 00:41:21,519
Stewart, because he never took shots
that he wasn't capable of taking. But

628
00:41:21,599 --> 00:41:29,400
again, context has to matter there. This one comes from geez Hoop Diary

629
00:41:29,639 --> 00:41:32,079
love the Twitter name. Would you
be able to find a stat on the

630
00:41:32,119 --> 00:41:36,480
top three ISO scores per game so
far in the playoffs. Turns out I

631
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,280
would be I sort of this a
minimum of ten possessions in the playoffs because

632
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:45,239
we're dealing with like very small sample
sizes. Damian Millard finished first, shocker.

633
00:41:46,559 --> 00:41:52,599
Guess what he's averaging per isolation possession? How many points per isolation possession

634
00:41:52,599 --> 00:42:00,519
he's averaging? He was unstoppable.
I'm gonna go with something like one point

635
00:42:00,519 --> 00:42:05,519
four two, one point six five. Whoa one point six five? And

636
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,760
you know what, So for context, that's a big number, right,

637
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:15,079
And so for context, second place
is Devin Booker at one point three three.

638
00:42:15,159 --> 00:42:19,039
And here's the crazy thing, but
small sample sizes, I want to

639
00:42:19,039 --> 00:42:25,960
reiterate that Damian Lillard still seventh shots
attempted out of isolation sessions. So he's

640
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:30,800
played in six games and the only
players that have attempted more shots in isolation

641
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,599
are Kauai, Jannis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Jason Tatum is on

642
00:42:34,599 --> 00:42:37,199
there, which is also incredible,
and then Luka don Chich. So this

643
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,360
isn't like a matter of volume thing. One point six five, the dude

644
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:45,079
is just absurd. Third place is
James Harden at one point three one.

645
00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:49,599
Kevin Durant is fourth at one point
two nine, and fifth was Tatum at

646
00:42:49,599 --> 00:42:52,239
one point two three. I would
what's Chris Paul out? Because he would

647
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,280
have been my guest for number two. He's six at one point two zero.

648
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:59,840
I will say my guests would have
been Damian Lillard. I never would

649
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:04,239
have one point six five is an
unfathomable number. I know it's six games.

650
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,440
I don't care. I thought my
guests might have been laughably high and

651
00:43:07,519 --> 00:43:14,400
it was too low. So yeah, one point six five. The dude

652
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,280
is just I on another level,
and he will be in Portland next season.

653
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:21,679
For anyone who who cares. I
know, there's luck. If you

654
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:24,119
had made me guess who the top
three were going to be, I probably

655
00:43:24,159 --> 00:43:28,559
would have said Lillard at one,
Paul at two, and Katie at three.

656
00:43:29,639 --> 00:43:31,800
I'm actually surprised Katie's under one point
three points perso. Yeah, like,

657
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:35,519
I don't was that Just like in
Game three against the Box, he

658
00:43:35,639 --> 00:43:37,960
wasn't as hot as he normally was. Potentially, it also feels like Dylan

659
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:43,440
Brooks could be really high up that
list. Oh man, that's a player

660
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:45,360
we fundamentally disagree about it. He
would like me to see where Dylan Brooks

661
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:51,239
and it was a total fluke that
was that was not a sustainable performance.

662
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:57,480
But he was really good in isolation
throughout the brief postseason adventure. He is

663
00:43:58,119 --> 00:44:01,840
nice behind Carmendo Anthony, who's one
point one point one three for Dylan Brooks.

664
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:07,000
So I'll take that second coming of
it. If you put basically,

665
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:12,119
you know, Kelton Johnson and Carmelo
Anthony together, Dylan Brooks is the player

666
00:44:12,159 --> 00:44:15,599
that you get. Apparently, So
there it is this next question, I'm

667
00:44:15,599 --> 00:44:16,920
gonna change it up a little bit
or like we'll have an answer to the

668
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:22,039
actual question. Fern asks, and
I know you don't necessarily like this trade

669
00:44:22,039 --> 00:44:24,880
stuff. Can you give us your
best Malcolm Brogden and Buddy Healed hypothetical trades

670
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:30,039
I assume not for each other.
But the question I want to throw to

671
00:44:30,079 --> 00:44:32,440
you, do you think either of
these players should actually be traded for their

672
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:37,719
teams to get better? Healed?
Yeah, I would definitely not move Brogden.

673
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,519
Was that I think he's too valuable. I don't think so. I

674
00:44:42,519 --> 00:44:46,880
mean, the Pacers have had a
lot of tumult with the coaching change and

675
00:44:47,159 --> 00:44:52,760
just the continued Demonta Sabonis and Miles
Turner situation, whatever you're going to make

676
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:57,000
of that. With t J.
Warren's injury and some of the weird reports

677
00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:01,519
that came out about that and his
relationship with the now former coach, I

678
00:45:01,519 --> 00:45:05,920
feel like anything could happen in Indiana, But why would you get rid of

679
00:45:06,119 --> 00:45:09,920
that jack of all trades guard like
Brogden, who is capable of playing like

680
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:14,239
a top twenty five player for short
stretches of the season. I don't even

681
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,800
need to fuck with the audio there
because you gave me that sound bite look.

682
00:45:17,039 --> 00:45:22,840
And also, can you guess how
many minutes did Brogden, Warren,

683
00:45:22,119 --> 00:45:27,639
Turner, Sabonis and Carra Slavert played
together this season? Zero? It's less

684
00:45:27,639 --> 00:45:31,719
than that zero. Wow, that's
impressive. So I would want to see

685
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:36,480
more. That being said, if
you were to trade Brogden, I'd be

686
00:45:36,519 --> 00:45:39,960
curious if so, Indiana being in
a smaller market. McConnell's a free agent,

687
00:45:40,039 --> 00:45:43,559
mcdermot's a free agent. They gotta
start thinking about TJ. Warren's next

688
00:45:43,599 --> 00:45:49,440
contract. Would you do Andrew Wiggins
the Minnesota pick and maybe another first round

689
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:54,800
pick for Brogden and Miles Turner?
Say that one more time, but two

690
00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:59,440
first, one of which is the
Minnesota pick plus Andrew Wiggins for Miles Turner

691
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:06,360
and Malcolm Rock. Did you could
put James Probably not? Probably not.

692
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,519
Would you do it if it was
the Mini pick and James Wiseman plus Wiggins

693
00:46:10,639 --> 00:46:14,679
also probably not. I think having
Wiggin the Wiggins money on the books is

694
00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:17,719
too detrimental for a team that is
still trying to figure out its core identity.

695
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:22,159
Indiana doesn't know what it is yet. It has a bunch of pieces

696
00:46:22,159 --> 00:46:30,360
that are great pieces but are kind
of haphazardly assembled. And I don't think

697
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:36,400
that you want to limit yourself quite
like you need to when that Wiggins contract

698
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:40,719
is on the books and ultimately as
good as that Mini pick looks, aren't

699
00:46:40,719 --> 00:46:44,599
you kind of hoping that you get
someone as effective as brog done with it?

700
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:50,159
I mean, those picks carry with
them far higher upside, especially in

701
00:46:50,159 --> 00:46:53,119
this class if it does convey this
year, because the top six or seven

702
00:46:53,159 --> 00:46:58,840
players all have superstar potential. Projects
and doesn't have superstar potential, but the

703
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:04,079
bus chance is real too, and
he is a legitimate top end talent,

704
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:07,519
and you need a player like that
on a contending team. So no,

705
00:47:07,639 --> 00:47:12,159
I don't think I would. I
think that there are too many limitations given

706
00:47:12,199 --> 00:47:16,880
the inherent risk of building around picks. The I agree with you because you're

707
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:21,360
only saving if you're if you're looking
at as exchanging Turner and Broad in salary

708
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:23,400
for Andrew Wiggins. I think you're
saving like eight to twelve million annually when

709
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:27,599
you look at those deals flesh out. If you were able to build the

710
00:47:27,639 --> 00:47:30,199
deal without Andrew Wiggins going to Indiana, that might be where it gets interesting,

711
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:34,039
just because the reality of Indiana situation
where I don't think that they're going

712
00:47:34,079 --> 00:47:37,400
to pay the tax. I think
they keep this team together at least until

713
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:40,079
next year. Maybe one of McConnell
McDermott leaves just because they're so close to

714
00:47:40,079 --> 00:47:44,239
the attacks. And by the way, Doug McDermott I think is going to

715
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,159
get the bag in free agency.
That is my surprised Yeah, so maybe

716
00:47:47,159 --> 00:47:50,960
that's not his icy prediction. Heeled
though, I think you just have to

717
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,920
move him. I'm shocked he's still
in Sacramento because he's very much a luxury

718
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:58,519
item for a team that shouldn't be
focused on luxury items right now. Great

719
00:47:58,519 --> 00:48:01,400
shooter to like it. There limit
role he hasn't been happy. You need

720
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:07,400
to establish culture, just as you
need to establish a winning basketball team whose

721
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:13,440
kind of go together hand in hand
and held. Would be far more effective

722
00:48:13,639 --> 00:48:15,599
on a team that can use him
in the proper role, not try to

723
00:48:15,639 --> 00:48:21,519
over extend him, and just allow
him to accept what he is and accept

724
00:48:21,639 --> 00:48:23,760
him for what he is. At
the same time, Noah says, I'm

725
00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:28,039
shocked a lot of people are still
in Sacramento, personnel included. Yes,

726
00:48:28,119 --> 00:48:30,800
yeah, calor me amaze that Luke
Walton has managed to keep his job there.

727
00:48:31,159 --> 00:48:35,880
Where would you so with held?
His contract is a little from a

728
00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:39,559
team perspective is inflated. He's guaranteed
sixty two point five million over the next

729
00:48:39,559 --> 00:48:43,239
three years. That can make it
tough to trade. I'm curious if there

730
00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:49,199
are any destinations that you would be
interested in seeing him going anywhere that's not

731
00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:52,320
Sacramento. No, I don't.
I don't have a good top of mind

732
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,280
answer to that one. I just
I have not been focused on off season

733
00:48:55,360 --> 00:49:01,639
stuff with the playoffs in full swing. I'd be curious if like Memphis would

734
00:49:01,639 --> 00:49:06,400
be a good fit, if they
can probably get a requisite salary, because

735
00:49:06,599 --> 00:49:08,159
in lieu of getting another star,
what if he just got a dude that

736
00:49:08,199 --> 00:49:12,000
could shoot a ton of threes and
give you, like a little like off

737
00:49:12,039 --> 00:49:15,480
the dribble juice when he's taking his
jumpers. Sure, I think that he

738
00:49:15,559 --> 00:49:21,239
works. He's one of those players
who really does work on almost any contending

739
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,679
team, because what contending team doesn't
need more shooting on the wings? Oh?

740
00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:28,679
Noah said, would you do this? Let's say Buddy Healed into the

741
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:30,199
Knicks cap space or do you think
that Held is more of that? He's

742
00:49:30,199 --> 00:49:37,280
more valuable than that, right than
what in the cap space? Yeah?

743
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,199
No, I would do that for
New York. No, I'm talking about

744
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:45,719
Zacramento. Would you do that that
would allow you to resign Rashaun Holmes?

745
00:49:47,079 --> 00:49:52,679
Probably not. I think that you
still need something coming back because you are

746
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:59,039
taking a step back without Buddy Held. Kevin Knox try and rehabilitate a wing.

747
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:05,039
I don't. Maybe Alfred Peyton not
on the books well as we that

748
00:50:05,159 --> 00:50:07,079
we know of as of now.
I'm just curious, like what would if

749
00:50:07,079 --> 00:50:10,199
you're a team though, So forget
about destinations, like what would you give

750
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:13,800
up for Buddy Heeled though? Because
that's not he's not a perfect player.

751
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:16,880
He's making a crap ton of money
for the next three years. The right

752
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:22,800
team could justify giving a late first
round pick. I think, oh yeah,

753
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:24,440
I'm not giving up a first round
pick for that deal. Shooting is

754
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:30,039
just so vital in the NBA today, and you look at any combination of

755
00:50:30,119 --> 00:50:32,639
volume in efficiency numbers over the last
two years, the last three years,

756
00:50:32,679 --> 00:50:36,719
the last five years, whatever the
case may be, and Heeld is going

757
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:38,559
to be near the top of those
leaderboards. He is one of the NBA's

758
00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:43,039
elite shooters. He just has not
been on a team that is maximizing that

759
00:50:43,079 --> 00:50:47,559
ability, and has not been able
to try to maximize that ability and is

760
00:50:47,559 --> 00:50:52,280
still putting up those numbers. I
think if you're building a shortlist of the

761
00:50:52,639 --> 00:50:57,360
best shooters in the league, he's
on it. So I think I do

762
00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:01,079
think that you can justify giving up
that value bull a pick again for the

763
00:51:01,199 --> 00:51:07,360
right team. Yeah, I guess, I'm just that's all he does.

764
00:51:07,679 --> 00:51:10,960
Like Portland should not do that because
that that's not the kind of piece that's

765
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:15,159
pushing you over the top. The
Jazz similar you don't need to do that

766
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:22,039
because you have the wing shooting Denver. That makes sense, you know,

767
00:51:22,159 --> 00:51:27,199
someone one of those kind of teams
where you want to push higher up the

768
00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:30,440
three point leaderboards and you are ready
to swing for the fences. I feel

769
00:51:30,559 --> 00:51:35,360
like that's this kind of situation where
you can float that type that type of

770
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:40,079
draft capital you'll walk over. You
know where it makes sense the Lakers,

771
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:45,159
it does. It absolutely does.
If they traded their first round pick and

772
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:47,480
then you were willing to do like
a double signing trade. I don't know

773
00:51:47,519 --> 00:51:51,000
why Sacramento would want true or why
I want to go there. Like what

774
00:51:51,159 --> 00:51:54,760
if like Caruso's involved, Maybe you'reven
getting the first Roust pick and I'm not

775
00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:59,360
giving up the first round pick.
Then if it's Kuzma for Buddy, he'll

776
00:51:59,519 --> 00:52:02,440
maybe because it's number twenty, it's
number twenty two. Are we still on

777
00:52:02,480 --> 00:52:07,360
the Kyle Kuzma can be a good
player train though I think he's a solid

778
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:09,119
defender now, I don't think yes
he is. He is developed into a

779
00:52:09,119 --> 00:52:13,360
solid defender. I don't think he's
ever gonna be put. The issue run

780
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:15,960
into there is you would have to
give a Kuzma and another contract plus that

781
00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:19,639
first round pick. That seems like
kind of a steep price to pay if

782
00:52:19,639 --> 00:52:22,360
you're Los Angeles for it, Buddy, healed, but that would be Los

783
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:27,639
Angeles would be a fun team.
That was the last of the mailbag ones

784
00:52:27,679 --> 00:52:30,639
that I had mark the other The
other issue with la there though, is

785
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:35,880
that I think there's a secret contractual
provision in the CBA that prevents teams from

786
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:39,679
putting enough shooting around Lebron. So
you might have to get Silver involved for

787
00:52:39,679 --> 00:52:44,360
that one, unless you're in the
Disney bubble, because they're a bit His

788
00:52:44,599 --> 00:52:47,599
entire supporting cast will shoot the lights
out. Let's try and squeeze in a

789
00:52:47,639 --> 00:52:55,039
couple more questions here. We did
that one. What's James Hardon's value after

790
00:52:55,039 --> 00:53:00,480
this season if he remains the same
size, well his field goal for scentage

791
00:53:00,639 --> 00:53:05,480
made decrease or will he remain consistent? Comes from Iceberg, Maine. I'm

792
00:53:05,559 --> 00:53:13,000
very confused by that question, like
if he gets shorter, if his beard

793
00:53:13,039 --> 00:53:19,840
stops growing. I don't know.
I've been on the bandwagon that Harden is

794
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:25,559
still underrated over these last few years, just that he is a historically efficient

795
00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:34,039
volume scorer who you could reasonably call
one of the greatest scorers in NBA history,

796
00:53:34,639 --> 00:53:37,679
and the way that they've built teams
around him hasn't always been ideal.

797
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:43,800
And there have been injury issues both
for him and for teammates. But I

798
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:46,760
just I don't see any reason to
believe he's going to stop being that at

799
00:53:46,840 --> 00:53:52,719
any point. And it was telling
to me that when he moved to Brooklyn,

800
00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:58,719
he was the one who changed his
role, that instead of being that

801
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:04,960
primary secondary and tertiary scorer who could
also function as a great passer, he

802
00:54:05,119 --> 00:54:09,239
accepted more of a past a past
first role from the get go, allowing

803
00:54:09,599 --> 00:54:15,000
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to continue
playing the styles but they were most comfortable

804
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,760
playing. And to me, that's
just a sign of the overwhelming amount of

805
00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:23,159
offensive talent that he has and an
indication that even if he starts to lose

806
00:54:23,239 --> 00:54:28,599
that quick first step, if he's
not quite as physical, if his body

807
00:54:28,639 --> 00:54:30,519
starts to betray him, that there's
more to his game than we've seen.

808
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:37,920
And I just don't expect him to
be anything but a continuing MVP candidate for

809
00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:40,719
the foreseeable future. Yeah, the
owners I think he would fall out of

810
00:54:40,719 --> 00:54:46,079
that discussion discourse is because he plays
with two other top ten players, right.

811
00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:51,679
Chris asked Tray, what are Trey
Young stats and guarded by Ben Simmons

812
00:54:51,679 --> 00:54:55,760
this series. I'll preface this by
that data is always imperfect, but Trey

813
00:54:55,840 --> 00:55:00,519
Young has a shot five of eleven
against Ben Simmons. That's forty five point

814
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:05,800
five percent from the flour oh three
on three pointers, and he has committed

815
00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:09,320
one turnover versus Ben Simmons. Now
what's interesting, though, what I also

816
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:13,360
like to look at is a number
of team points that have been scored on

817
00:55:13,400 --> 00:55:16,519
the possessions with Ben Simmons defending Trey
Young. This is again imperfect, but

818
00:55:16,559 --> 00:55:21,320
on the partial possessions that Ben Simmons
has spent guarding Trey Young, Atlanta is

819
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:25,880
averaging one point three points per possession
as a team, which is incredibly high.

820
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:30,920
I don't know how much of that
is inflated by Game one even if

821
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:35,880
even if it isn't, I think
that's still the beneficial move for Philadelphia because

822
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:40,280
you're still forcing Atlanta's secondary players to
be the ones to beat you. You

823
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:45,320
just do it regardless. It's the
fact that Trey Young only has eleven shots

824
00:55:46,159 --> 00:55:51,639
while Ben Simmons is guarding him this
series. That's a victory in and of

825
00:55:51,679 --> 00:55:55,360
itself, because Simmons is forcing the
ball out of his hands and preventing him

826
00:55:55,400 --> 00:56:00,559
from getting touches better than any other
defender has to this point, even if

827
00:56:00,559 --> 00:56:06,360
the numbers don't bear out that it's
a successful strategy, it's the right strategy,

828
00:56:07,719 --> 00:56:12,360
right. I mean, you look
at dude, ten shots against Danny

829
00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,519
Green in about half as many partial
possessions that day been spent on him.

830
00:56:15,639 --> 00:56:19,760
It's like the discrepancy there is huge. He's attempted four shots against Mattias tibel

831
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,159
In again, roughly half of the
possessions that Ben Simmons has faced him.

832
00:56:23,199 --> 00:56:31,800
So yeah, I'm in lockstep with
you. This other question, he greateful,

833
00:56:32,960 --> 00:56:37,880
will the phenomenal fruit? Will the
Timberwolves ever make the playoffs again?

834
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:42,360
With Karl Anthony Towns Now? I
think a way to frame this question would

835
00:56:42,360 --> 00:56:45,199
be, and I'm not trying to
say Karl Anthony Towns is going to request

836
00:56:45,239 --> 00:56:49,400
to trade, but just based off
how things are going with player contracts now,

837
00:56:49,719 --> 00:56:52,400
where a year out from free agency
at least it becomes an issue you're

838
00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:57,360
saying, I think you're this is
akin to asking will the Timberwolves make the

839
00:56:57,360 --> 00:57:00,000
playoffs in one of the next three
seasons? And I think that's a fairway

840
00:57:00,039 --> 00:57:01,880
to put it. I'm not trying
to be about it. I'm gonna say

841
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:07,400
yes, I think there isn't a
player in the core who's going to age

842
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:12,199
out of productiveness. Maybe Ricky Rubio
is the one you're looking at there,

843
00:57:12,639 --> 00:57:15,960
given his relatively advanced age compared to
everyone else, but this is a young,

844
00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:22,519
improving core, and Karl Anthony Towns
was not available and was dealing with

845
00:57:22,559 --> 00:57:28,400
a lot because of the pandemic throughout
this past season and the one before.

846
00:57:28,880 --> 00:57:34,519
Anthony Edwards improved astronomically during the second
half of the season. Malik Beasley played

847
00:57:34,559 --> 00:57:37,960
well when he was available, but
was not always available. D'Angelo Russell was

848
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:42,000
not always available. We haven't seen
what this roster can do when all the

849
00:57:42,039 --> 00:57:45,079
pieces are together for a prolonged period
of time, and there are still going

850
00:57:45,119 --> 00:57:50,679
to be more positive players coming in. Jaden McDaniels looked like a keeper.

851
00:57:50,719 --> 00:57:53,440
We still haven't seen most of what
Jared Culver can do, and it's too

852
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:59,000
soon to call him an absolute abject
bust. Josh Kogi can do more.

853
00:57:59,199 --> 00:58:01,440
I think Culver is trending in that
direction, but I definitely don't think that

854
00:58:01,480 --> 00:58:06,079
you can condemn a player this soon
into his career when he's on an organization

855
00:58:06,119 --> 00:58:09,239
that has historically struggled with player development
and has not had all the key pieces

856
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:14,639
available. So I look at this
roster, this depth chart, and I

857
00:58:14,719 --> 00:58:17,599
see enough to be intrigued by.
And there's quite a bit of top end

858
00:58:17,639 --> 00:58:22,159
talent there. So I don't at
the very least, I won't go as

859
00:58:22,159 --> 00:58:25,360
far as as saying that with one
certainty, the Timberwolves will make the playoffs

860
00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:29,280
in the next three years. But
I think it's foolish to rule that out.

861
00:58:30,239 --> 00:58:32,719
That wasn't a question, nice hedge
there, yes or no, that's

862
00:58:32,719 --> 00:58:36,400
the question. I said yes right
off the bat, I would put it.

863
00:58:36,559 --> 00:58:42,719
I'll give it like a seventy percent
chance. I'm the Ante Edwards closing

864
00:58:42,760 --> 00:58:45,079
kick to the season and that will
be We have a final question that I'm

865
00:58:45,079 --> 00:58:47,800
gonna get to about Auntie Edwards,
which is officially your slant. I think

866
00:58:49,199 --> 00:58:52,079
is Auntie Edwards at this point his
close to the season makes it super interesting

867
00:58:52,119 --> 00:58:55,800
because that might give them that legitimate
second best player on a really good team

868
00:58:55,840 --> 00:59:00,679
that they just haven't had. Also, we need to see what happens in

869
00:59:00,719 --> 00:59:02,599
the draft lottery this year, because
if they keep their pick, there are

870
00:59:02,639 --> 00:59:06,760
a lot of different avenues that are
open to them. I mean, even

871
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:08,480
if they lose it, they could
technically done trade twenty twenty two pick after

872
00:59:08,519 --> 00:59:13,159
the draft is over, and maybe
that gets you something. But anyway,

873
00:59:13,599 --> 00:59:16,480
I the West is just so brutal, and you have to look at which

874
00:59:16,480 --> 00:59:20,679
teams are falling out of there.
I think the Lakers will stay there,

875
00:59:20,880 --> 00:59:23,360
the Clippers probably stay there, the
Sun's probably stay there, the Nuggets probably

876
00:59:23,360 --> 00:59:27,480
stay there. There are a lot
of other teams that the Jazz that's five.

877
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:30,039
I just it's so top would I'm
going to call it a fifty fifty

878
00:59:30,039 --> 00:59:34,239
proposition and that that's hedging. If
I had to pick, I'd say no,

879
00:59:34,719 --> 00:59:37,559
I don't know that I trust the
rebuilding model there, and I think

880
00:59:37,599 --> 00:59:40,159
there's something just off. And how
much time do they have to give towards

881
00:59:40,239 --> 00:59:44,239
development if they keep their pick this
year, and if he is so important

882
00:59:44,239 --> 00:59:47,760
to what they're doing whoever they select? This question though, and I'm laughing

883
00:59:47,800 --> 00:59:52,920
at of Tyson men ass is Christiano
Felicio just a giant baby and shout out

884
00:59:52,960 --> 00:59:55,519
had a Morning responded laughing my ass
off to that. Shout out to had

885
00:59:55,519 --> 01:00:00,840
a Morning, who dmp me very
politely about a mistake. That was in

886
01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:04,719
one of my most recent articles where
I lost track of when Zach Collins played

887
01:00:04,760 --> 01:00:07,159
last I forgot he played in the
Disney Bubble. But shout out to Hannah

888
01:00:07,159 --> 01:00:10,760
for being very respectful and alerting me
to it. But this question, final

889
01:00:10,840 --> 01:00:19,159
question is from Devasta asked how would
you interpret Edwards' TPA this season and as

890
01:00:19,199 --> 01:00:24,199
a recap for it negative one twenty
seven point three five that ranked five hundred

891
01:00:24,239 --> 01:00:29,239
and thirty second in the league.
He was a negative eighty three point two

892
01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:34,960
seven on defense, negative forty point
four four zero eight on offense. But

893
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:37,840
the end of this question is do
you consider it rigged based on the team

894
01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:43,039
he played in or or there's some
other reasons behind linked to his game.

895
01:00:43,159 --> 01:00:45,239
Now, I just want to say
I don't think it's rigged in any way.

896
01:00:45,239 --> 01:00:47,639
Shape or form wouldn't be the word
for it. We've talked about this

897
01:00:47,679 --> 01:00:55,280
a few times, and if you
look at the way that Anthony Edwards collected

898
01:00:55,360 --> 01:01:00,280
all of the negative TPA, it
was primarily in the first half of the

899
01:01:00,280 --> 01:01:06,760
season. From the All Star break
on, he actually increased his TPA score,

900
01:01:06,800 --> 01:01:10,000
which means that for roughly half of
the season he was a net positive

901
01:01:10,079 --> 01:01:15,920
despite playing on a team that was
not a net positive. TPA penalizes players

902
01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:19,559
who shoot a lot if they're not
shooting at the league average in terms of

903
01:01:19,559 --> 01:01:22,679
efficiency, which he did not because
he was over extended because Minnesota was missing

904
01:01:22,679 --> 01:01:25,679
so many key pieces and forcing him
into a role that he was not ready

905
01:01:25,719 --> 01:01:31,360
for. We've also seen so many
rookies struggle with their shots, so that's

906
01:01:31,360 --> 01:01:36,000
all working against him. He's not
a defense He was not a defensive positive

907
01:01:36,119 --> 01:01:38,159
for most of the year. I
don't think he ever got to true positive

908
01:01:38,239 --> 01:01:43,599
territory, but he still showed progress
on that end, and he was playing

909
01:01:43,639 --> 01:01:47,320
for a non competitive team that struggled, which meant that the team modifiers within

910
01:01:47,400 --> 01:01:52,599
the calculations for box plus minus are
also going to bring him down. So

911
01:01:52,639 --> 01:01:57,559
it was a perfect storm for him
where everything that could go negatively in that

912
01:01:57,639 --> 01:02:02,000
specific calculation did go negative. And
then he still managed to be a positive

913
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:07,199
for the final thirty six or so
games of the season, and less we

914
01:02:07,280 --> 01:02:10,280
forget after the All Star break,
he averaged twenty three point eight points,

915
01:02:10,320 --> 01:02:15,159
five point three rebounds, three point
four assists, one point four steals,

916
01:02:15,239 --> 01:02:20,119
only two point six turnovers per game. Despite that heavy, heavy workload while

917
01:02:20,119 --> 01:02:22,119
slashing forty five, four, thirty
four, nine, seventy six two.

918
01:02:22,239 --> 01:02:27,400
Are those phenomenal superstar caliber numbers,
No, but they were a distinct,

919
01:02:27,840 --> 01:02:34,840
obvious improvement from the first half of
his season while still shouldering that ridiculously heavy

920
01:02:34,880 --> 01:02:38,400
burden that he had no business shouldering. If you watched Anthony Edwards for ten

921
01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:40,840
minutes at the beginning of the season
and then ten minutes at the end of

922
01:02:40,840 --> 01:02:45,239
the season, the only reason you
would know that they're the same player is

923
01:02:45,519 --> 01:02:49,119
the number, the name, and
the look of the player. The way

924
01:02:49,199 --> 01:02:52,039
they operated with the basketball, the
way they operated without the basketball, the

925
01:02:52,039 --> 01:02:58,199
way they played defense were polar opposites. Because he showed so much in season

926
01:02:58,280 --> 01:03:01,679
improvement. And we have plenty of
the examples of guys who have thrived at

927
01:03:01,679 --> 01:03:06,199
the tail end of a season that
obviously isn't leading the playoffs because they're given

928
01:03:06,199 --> 01:03:09,320
more opportunities, they're given more bandwidth. But this doesn't feel like that because

929
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:14,280
his opportunity level didn't change. If
anything, it went down a little bit

930
01:03:14,320 --> 01:03:17,280
because the Timberwolves were getting healthier,
and he proved that he deserved to carve

931
01:03:17,280 --> 01:03:22,039
out such a large role. So
I don't look at that negative TPA score

932
01:03:22,320 --> 01:03:25,400
as anything other than an indicator that
he was in an outsized role and was

933
01:03:25,440 --> 01:03:32,280
a rookie with a high volume shooting
job. You didn't answer whether Christianofoliho's just

934
01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:37,119
a giant baby, though sure it
does look like him. I thought that

935
01:03:37,119 --> 01:03:37,920
was a great good point. I
agree with everything he said, and I

936
01:03:37,920 --> 01:03:42,400
know this is not scientific, but
for like rookie and sophomore seasons, I

937
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:45,519
am more inclined to just throw efficiency
out the window, and just like any

938
01:03:45,559 --> 01:03:49,480
sort of numbers and less they're you
know, it's clear like a Tyree's Halbert

939
01:03:49,519 --> 01:03:52,760
in situation where every single metric loves
him. I'm more inclined to read a

940
01:03:52,760 --> 01:03:57,000
lot into that than I am every
single metric hating a certain rookie or sophomore.

941
01:03:57,800 --> 01:04:00,599
I wonder how many Anthony Edwards monologues
I've done at this point. If

942
01:04:00,599 --> 01:04:03,679
you're wondering how many questions we had
about Christiana Felicio in the mentions of the

943
01:04:03,679 --> 01:04:08,119
mail bag, it was three,
which is wild. I want to ask

944
01:04:08,159 --> 01:04:09,800
you got to ask a question on
this, so I want to ask you

945
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:14,519
a question. I'm probably the Bucks
are going to beat the next in game

946
01:04:14,559 --> 01:04:17,960
three, Game four, and what
is what do you give the Bucks a

947
01:04:18,039 --> 01:04:20,599
chance to win this series? And
what is the discourse around Brooklyn if they

948
01:04:20,639 --> 01:04:24,719
lose the series? Is it just
that, oh, wait until they're healthy.

949
01:04:25,239 --> 01:04:30,440
It has to be right. They
lost Kyrie Irving during this game.

950
01:04:30,480 --> 01:04:32,280
We don't know how long he's going
to be out for. At the time

951
01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:35,559
of this recording, as we're talking, it's eighty one sixty nine Milwaukee at

952
01:04:35,559 --> 01:04:41,639
the end of the third quarter.
James Harden hasn't played yet. Jeff Green

953
01:04:41,679 --> 01:04:46,039
hasn't played yet. You're giving major
minutes to Mike James, who was signed

954
01:04:46,320 --> 01:04:51,079
off the street midway through the season. You're giving major minutes to Landry shammittt

955
01:04:51,440 --> 01:04:55,199
Jeff Green has played, I should
say, because we haven't been watching this

956
01:04:55,199 --> 01:04:58,519
game while we're recording, but he
has played nineteen minutes to this point.

957
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:01,119
Speak for yourself. Kevin Ranchers hit
a ridiculous baseline jumper. That's gonna make

958
01:05:01,119 --> 01:05:04,440
this question look super foolish. Actually, but it might. But no,

959
01:05:04,840 --> 01:05:10,159
I would not be surprised if Milwaukee
does win this series. We both I

960
01:05:10,199 --> 01:05:13,920
think we both pitched them right.
Yeah, Bucks and seven that that takes

961
01:05:13,639 --> 01:05:15,880
look extremely rough even after they won
Game three. I wasn't feeling it,

962
01:05:16,159 --> 01:05:19,559
but I will stand by it because
I need to. I'll go down with

963
01:05:19,559 --> 01:05:25,760
my sinking ship. I just I
don't think it says anything about the nets.

964
01:05:27,679 --> 01:05:30,039
Someone will try and make it say
something about and that's who's the force

965
01:05:30,599 --> 01:05:32,599
who gets thrust. Should they trade
him? It'll be was the James Harden

966
01:05:32,639 --> 01:05:35,199
trade a mistake? And the answers
no, because given the amount of superstar

967
01:05:35,199 --> 01:05:40,440
injuries they've had, he became a
necessity for the regular season. He became

968
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:43,840
a necessity. I think it'll be
Kyrie Irving. It'll be like, oh,

969
01:05:43,840 --> 01:05:45,800
sh the net Kyrie Irving. It's
you have to give. You have

970
01:05:45,840 --> 01:05:48,280
to see what happens or if they
can stay healthy, and they're also they're

971
01:05:48,280 --> 01:05:51,920
out of moves unless they trade one
of those guys like Kyrie. Kyrie's the

972
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:56,679
right answer. It's not to say
that he deserves blame if they lose the

973
01:05:56,719 --> 01:06:00,000
series, but if you're looking to
take the next step as a team,

974
01:06:00,079 --> 01:06:02,599
it's probably the answer. Because James
Harden can do everything that Kyrie Irving does

975
01:06:02,639 --> 01:06:08,119
plus more. You're not going to
ever replace the shot making excellence of Kevin

976
01:06:08,199 --> 01:06:12,119
Durant, who can get looks off
in any situation whatsoever, and also play

977
01:06:12,239 --> 01:06:15,639
high quality defense in a number of
different scenarios. It's got to be Kyrie

978
01:06:15,679 --> 01:06:20,280
Irving because he's the most limited player
among that trio. That's like super Soaker

979
01:06:20,639 --> 01:06:24,559
pointed to the head with spoiled mayonnaise
in it, and you have to make

980
01:06:24,559 --> 01:06:27,320
a decision of right. I don't
think again, and I'm not saying that

981
01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:31,360
we should blame Kyrie whatsoever, just
that if if they are looking to quote

982
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:36,239
unquote blow up this team, yeah, that's got to be the answer there.

983
01:06:36,239 --> 01:06:40,280
And they're out of moves, like
they've changed, like the head coach

984
01:06:40,280 --> 01:06:44,079
has been changed, they've given up
everything for the trade assets. Nicholas Clackson

985
01:06:44,119 --> 01:06:46,440
is still interesting and I would keep
him, but you could dangle him and

986
01:06:46,440 --> 01:06:48,519
if you want to try and sign
and trade Spencer dim Witty, but then

987
01:06:48,519 --> 01:06:51,639
you're hardcapped, which yo. I
think they're a tax bill slated to be

988
01:06:51,639 --> 01:06:54,960
through the roofnext season, so that's
not even really an option for them,

989
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:59,199
I don't think. But I don't
know what you would do in the scenario

990
01:06:59,280 --> 01:07:03,400
of how you improve this team.
I think you count on what we saw

991
01:07:03,519 --> 01:07:08,840
with Lebron as soon as he joined
the Lakers, where you're in a massive

992
01:07:08,920 --> 01:07:14,639
market both in terms of size and
media attention, with three established stars,

993
01:07:14,960 --> 01:07:16,840
and you might be able to get
veterans who are chasing a ring on the

994
01:07:16,880 --> 01:07:21,920
cheap. There. It's it's very
possible, given the construction of this team,

995
01:07:21,960 --> 01:07:28,559
that you could realistically sign a key
player in his thirties to a minimum

996
01:07:28,559 --> 01:07:32,079
contract because he wants to play for
this team. I was kind of thinking,

997
01:07:32,079 --> 01:07:34,800
like, is this could be this
be the next to Marcus Cousins,

998
01:07:34,840 --> 01:07:39,039
to the Warrior situation, which obviously
didn't pan out, but it was remember

999
01:07:39,039 --> 01:07:41,320
when that news broken, Yeah,
and he was just and it was just

1000
01:07:41,360 --> 01:07:44,079
like what we were all like,
up, the NBA is broken now,

1001
01:07:44,960 --> 01:07:46,400
Yeah, So I wonder if that's
I don't know who that guy would be,

1002
01:07:46,440 --> 01:07:48,840
but like Otto Porters, not on
that level, even though he needs

1003
01:07:48,840 --> 01:07:53,360
to reboot his value. So I
don't think it's they need to be healthy.

1004
01:07:53,400 --> 01:07:57,480
But I do that the Bucks are
gonna win with pennants up, no

1005
01:07:57,519 --> 01:08:00,920
voice for the Bucks are gonna win. I that makes a series so much

1006
01:08:00,920 --> 01:08:02,239
more interesting. And if the Nets
lose, I really don't think it's an

1007
01:08:02,280 --> 01:08:08,519
indictment on anything other than the health
of their three key players this season.

1008
01:08:08,800 --> 01:08:13,239
Yeah, that does it for us, though. Thank you all for listening

1009
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:16,000
to this mail bag, and thanks
to everyone in the locker room room who's

1010
01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:20,840
stuck with us through two created rooms
with our technical issues. But I apologize

1011
01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:24,520
if I sound like ass or if
Adam sounds like ass. We had to

1012
01:08:24,520 --> 01:08:27,319
record it this way. I hope
we will be up and running again next

1013
01:08:27,319 --> 01:08:30,199
week. Otherwise I'll make the executive
decision to not record a locker room.

1014
01:08:31,079 --> 01:08:34,159
If this is the same situation of
this sound quality is terrible and we can't

1015
01:08:34,159 --> 01:08:39,000
get the desktop thing working, that's
not going to be on us in my

1016
01:08:39,039 --> 01:08:42,720
opinion, So then we will put
it back to our normal equipment until next

1017
01:08:42,760 --> 01:08:46,760
time. Leave it to shout out
to the one the only build a championship

1018
01:08:46,760 --> 01:08:50,680
team around him. He might be
a bottom fifteen player in the league and

1019
01:08:50,720 --> 01:08:55,560
we need to give him a shout
out for a self esteem Nicole Kich and

1020
01:08:55,600 --> 01:09:01,000
also Luca Nanci, also maybe Jannis
lebron Kawa, I dwell Embiid all these

1021
01:09:01,039 --> 01:09:04,399
guys, they're just you can't build
title teams around It's too damn hard.

1022
01:09:04,439 --> 01:09:08,520
Nom. They need their shout outs, So just hugs hugs out to them.

1023
01:09:08,720 --> 01:09:10,680
Thoughts and prayers, condolences everything,