Hello, everyone, Welcome to the latest episode of Harvard Comas. This is
Adam from Wile here with my fantastic, fantabulous co host Dan Valley. We
have a goal today to keep this episode under an hour, which is basically
unfathomable whenever Dan and I are the ones recording together. While I'm going through
this introduction, Dan is looking through our history of episodes to see if we've
even done that in like the last few years, and he's shaking his head,
so I don't think he's going to find anything. But we are doing
a mailbag episode. We have a ton of great questions. We're gonna try
to get through them all and still keep it under an hour. Wish us
luck because we'll probably need it. So before we get into the questions,
my favorite question ask is always Dan, how's it going. I am doing
it fantastic. So I did find that we published an episode. This goes
against us kipping it under an hour because we already on a tangent. We
published a fifty six minute episode on January seventh. That is our last episode
that was under an hour. It was a mailbag I can't remember if it
was a solo mailbag or not though it was a Blazer's fire sale, and
I never distinguish it in the thing. But I do remember there was a
round it was it was it was a mail bag. Yeah, and then
that that really doesn't count. So I will, I guess, try and
continue to find it. But as of we have not published even an episode.
Forget about both of us being on it. Even when we've had guess,
there's not been a sub one hour. There's been one sub one hour
episode. It was a solo one. No, Caitlyn Cooper was on that
one for the Indiana Pacers in December. We've had two sub one Oh wait,
nope, you were not. You weren't on that one. I don't
we look, we can't keep going. There's you and I. Let's see
if we can make history. Then right, let's do it. You're leading
round. Everything's good with you, You're ready, everything's good with me.
Well, let's do it. Let's jump right in, going through the discord
mald bad questions first, This one comes from demos quol. I apologize if
I butchered the hell out of that. Does bam at a Bio have a
legitimate chance for Defensive Player of the Year given the fact that he's a better
defensive rating, more defensive wind shares and opponent points in the paint than Rudy
Gobert, who is right now considered the favorite. I would say, yes,
he has a chance, just because it feels like this defensive player.
The race of the year race is so topsy turvy because the leading candidates have
all missed so much time. So I mean, bam Adebayo has only played
forty four games because he had the thumb injury that he had to recover from.
Rudy Gobert's miss time, Draymond Green is miss time, so on and
so forth. Personally, I think that one of the leading Celtics defenders should
be the front runner right now. Whether you want to have Robert Williams the
third or Marcus Smart, you can make cases for both of them. Smart
through the versatility, the point of a tack defense, the off ball defense,
Williams because he's such a suffocating presence on the interior. They both spent
a lot of time on the floor for a defense that throughout the season has
been arguably the best in the league, and certainly has been over the last
few weeks and months because it has been leaps and bounds better than anyone else.
So I think BAM has a case because he's been so impactful when available
and should theoretically be available during the stretch run when he's able to make that
final impression. I don't know that he's the leading figure right now because he's
suffering from the same drawback that all of the typical leaders are suffering from.
Yeah, and I don't know how you because Gobert missed most of his time
with COVID this year, I believe, and he's still played like two hundred
minutes more than Bam, So the gap in playing time right now isn't significant.
But I don't know if the context under which they missed it matters where
it's like I wouldn't, I don't think it should. Well, my whole
thing is, if we're talking about the MVP discussion, I'm going to give
it to Joel Embiad over Kevin Durant because I'm not even going a factor in
that. Joel and beat so far as miss time only with COVID for the
most part, where Durant miss all that time with an injury, the gap
in minutes is obviously bigger. So perhaps that this is why it's so different.
I would say Bam has a chance and at this point might even be
likely to finish in the top three. My preference would still be Rudy Gobert
there, just because I think he impacts the geometry of the floor more when
you're looking at it's not just his ability to send it back or to tur
shots at the rim, like more so than Bam out of Baio, who's
not like this dominant rim protector necessarily anyway, his their values are so different,
where Bam is like rooted in versatility more than any one elite skill.
I feel like you might even count he's better. He's the better one on
one defender. If you've to defend the honest, you want Bam ten times
out of ten. But like teams won't even take floaters if Gobert is anywhere
near the basket because they're so afraid of him. And I do think he's
gotten a little bit or not a little bit better. I think he's always
been let's say, undervalued or underestimated when he is pulled away from the basket.
So he would be my pick. But I think you hit on all
the necessary points where it's there, doesn't really feel like I know Gobert's the
consensus favorite, but if someone told me they voted for Michael Bridges as the
defensive player of the year, I'd buy it. So Jaren Jackson, Junior,
Jannis, there are a ton of options. And I was actually looking
at the draft Kings Odds per Vegas Insider while while you were talking here,
and at fourteen players are listed. This is as of March nine, so
it is a little bit outdated. Bam Adebayo is not one of the fourteen
players listed, which I find interesting. Rudy Gobert is a favorite at minus
one fifty five, followed by Jannis at plus four seventy five, Jaren Jackson
Junior at plus nine fifty, Draymond Green at plus fourteen hundred, Robert Williams
at plus sixteen hundred, and then Michael Bridges, Joel andbiad, Evan Mobley,
Jared Alan, Matisse's Tyble DeAndre eight and Jimmy Butler, Drew Holiday and
Marcus Smart. I think, I think it's ridiculous that he's not on there.
I also get it because he's only played forty four games, but then
again, so have some of the players on that list. Yeah, I
mean when you're I just said, like, he's played how many fewer minutes
than Gobert at this point? He said, So Bam is at it's in
forty four games, he's played fourteen sixty on the minutes, and Rudy Gobert
is at fifty two games sixteen sixty two. So he's only playing four more
games or eight excuse me, than Bam. That's not he should definitely be
on there. You're right, I would say Jannis at plus four seventy five,
though, if you're better, that's that's great value because I do think
there just might be the element of Rudy Gobert's won at three times already.
People generally don't not generally, but there are a lot of people that don't
like Johannis is more likable than Rudy Gobert. That's just I don't know that
that's fair, but Johannis is more liked ben Gobert. Just when you're looking
at the perception plus four seventy five for Yannis, I know Milwaukee's defense is
struggling. It's not Jannis's fault that they're struggling. So that's I almost want
to place a bet on your honest to win. This really does feel like
a year though We're just like anyone could win it because I feel like you
can easily make a case for Robert Williams, for Jared Jackson Junior, for
Gobert, for Yannest, for Draymond Green because of the value he's shown in
his absence, especially if he does come back this this following week and performs
at a high level. There are a lot of options. Yeah, he
Draymond Green with thirty four games and just one thousand, eighteen minutes. Basically,
I don't think he has a chance, But this is the awarding.
You can make a case because it's a weird year. I wouldn't. I
wouldn't personally make that case. I'm also not going to turn my nose up
at someone who does. He wouldn't shock me if he made the top three.
Still, it would shock me if he won just because of that minute's
thing. And this is the award, and we'll eventually do an awards pod
the Defensive Player of the Year. It's the I think it's the only award
where I just don't even look at it as having like, if you ask
me who my favorite is right now, I don't know. If I could
give you an answer, I'd probably just the fault to Gobert. I wouldn't
feel good about it. This question comes from Ian forty two on Discord and
it follows a similar line Top five small forward point of attack defenders who can
guard positions one through four? So the way this question is phrased is very
specific. And Fro who that? That's Adam? I call Adam Fro.
If people on the podcast, I wonder if they know that. But I
call Adam Fro. I don't know which is ironic they having the lack of
hair. Fro came up with a way to try and like specify this,
So why why don't you? Yeah, So I looked at deep Ball Index,
which has defensive play analyzed on so many different granular levels, from defensive
roles to versatility indexes to the position they guard most frequently and all of that.
So I looked at their positional versatility metric just showing how frequently players are
guarding different positions, and only looked at players they have classified as point of
attack defenders. The issue here is that this isn't saying their high quality.
It's saying that their point of attack defenders who do guard a lot of positions,
but like Russell Westbrook is fifth on this list and has by no means
played good defense for the Los Angeles Lakers this year. So I kind of
wanted to just present the top of this list and see if we could parse
out the players we also thought belonged from a quality standpoint. So the top
ten, going from most versatile to least verse Phil again, of these very
versatile players, Aaron Gordon, Dorian Finney Smith, Kyle Lowry, Andrew Wiggins,
Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Hunter, Javonte Green, Norman Powell,
and Matisse Tyble. And I am only looking at players with over a
thousand minutes. So from that list, I think that Gordon is a good
answer to this question. I think that Finney Smith is a good answer to
this question. I think the Tyble is a phenomenal answer to this question.
And then going down a little further on the list, like guys like Drew
Holiday show up, Fred van Vleet is an interesting one. Beyond that,
it seems to be a lot of guys who get torched in a lot of
different roles though, right and I think it's if we were to do this
like anecdotally, or maybe I think some of the guys that you might put
on this list, like a Mchaal Bridges probably doesn't classify as a point of
attack defender based on how they he can do it not the primary role,
right, so you know him Marcus Smart, probably the fact that he doesn't
classify as a point of attack defender probably just proves that he belongs as the
answer to this question when looking at the scope that he covers and looking at
small forwards specifically because we know it Smart's not a small forward. That's just
I would throw that piece of criteria out the window just because like, positions
are so fluid at this point, so non ex and if we're asking for
guys who are regarding four different positions, then I don't know that their primary
listed position should truly matter anyway, right, So I'd be curious to see,
like the and Bball Index does have this, They have a wealth of
information at that site, like the sort of positional breakdowns of those guys that
are you know, class fied is the most versatile, like Matisse Thybel.
I feel like I never necessarily see him guard that far up and I'm actually
looking now, yeah, so he guards power forwards fifteen percent at a time,
which is not insignificant, but he's basically at twenty five plus percent on
one through threes. So it's interesting how that distribution impacts that. I would
say his name, Phinny Smith's, Gordon and Holiday. I know he doesn't
defend up a lot, but those feel like the inclusions that, if you
were even to say it anecdotally, that are most likely to come up if
we remove the if we remove the point of attack clarification on the ball index.
The top ten in positional versatility this season again with a thousand or more
minutes, Scotty Barnes number one, Nicholas but two, number two, Jimmy
Butler three, Aaron Gordon, four, Grant Williams, five, Ogna Nobi,
Dorian, Phinny Smith, Jaden McDaniels, Josh Hart, and Jay Shawn
Tate. I can see that most of those, most of those guys are
are listed as wing stoppers the BEAU, and that's those guys are going to
spend more time on force, Like that's how you get to the reason the
force, that's how you get to that quassification. I will say a name
that I had jotted down because I did this a completely different way. I
won't go through my entire list, and we named a bunch of them already.
I would just like props because you think that I despised this player and
he hasn't played enough minutes this season to wind up on any of these lists.
Dylan Brooks is someone who's spraying to mind for me. That's all I'm
saying, is it? Ever since I accused you of being a Dylan Brooks
hater, you can't stop saying good things about him. So like, I
feel like you're overcompensating a little here, but I appreciate that because Dylan Brooks
deserved it. Kat Alexander asked what trade offers would the Lakers realistically get for
a twenty nine year old Anthony Davis coming coming off the back of an injury
riddled season. I mean, this is this is a damn question through and
through. But I'll just say before letting you run free here, that I
don't know that Davis's appeal is going to be diminished that much if he truly
has put on the market, because he's still such a game changing force in
his twenties. Like the injury history is really troubling, obviously, but he
is the kind of player that you still dream about acquiring, so we might
we might disagree on that because I think it's just been proven now and I
don't want to diminish what he can do, but you can't build a team
around him, not a good one. It's just he doesn't have the offensive
skill set to do that to be a real featured weapon. We saw it
in New Orleans, and unless he's gonna ever play like he did in the
bubble in twenty twenty, like, you just can't run an offense around him.
And that's why the comparisons to Jannis are just so ridiculous. But don't
you think that don't you think that that might change if he wasn't playing on
a team with Lebron James and now Russell Westbrook. I feel like I could
still see franchises who don't typically have pathways to stars of this caliber wanting to
test that out enough that I don't know that his trade return would diminish,
And that's the perspective that I'm focusing on here, So I think it would
demand it. Just because I'm not placing the blame for the Pelicans never winning
huge while he was there, But Drew Holliday then under the circumstances, should
have been like the quintessential, like co partner for him and the Pelicans just
never got to these exalts and there was a lot of stuff that happened there.
I just think this is not the Lakers aren't gonna And this is with
him under contract for long where so he's two years left that a player option
worth forty three plus million. You probably assume he's gonna be coming off his
age thirty season. Next year's age twenty nine. Yet, so he's coming
off his age thirty season with that player option. He probably declines it,
but you know, you have him for two years. I'd be shocked if
the Lakers got anywhere near what they gave up to get him, and I
actually think what they gave. But yeah, and I'm going through like teams,
Yeah, there'd be a bunch of teams that would trade for Anthony Davis,
Like, who are the teams that would mortgage the farm for him?
These are the teams I think. These are the teams that I thought of
where it might make sense. So I thought about Atlanta, build something around
Clint Capela, Hunter and Picks, and that would with Trey Young. I
feel like that makes sense. Seems like a tree and pairing. Uh,
Charlotte, anyone outside of the Melo ball just asn't bolted down some reason.
This one's is stretched just they don't have the assets. But I would absolutely
do it. Dallas pairing with Luca would just be absolutely absurd. And that
was Memphis. I thought about that. But are you giving up Desmond Maine
to get Anthony Davis when you have Jaren Jackson's R Yes, yes, yes,
yes, I and you know how pro I am keeping Memphis together too?
Right? Oh? What about? Okay? This is just as an
example. I'm not saying, like, would you if you're the Lakers and
Miami offered you Kyle Lowry, Tyler Hero and stuff like? Is my is
that? Should Miami consider something like that? Or do you not like bam
Ad? I don't really like Bamad there. I feel like it's like,
if they can work together, bam is versutile enough to definitely make that happen.
I just don't know that it's a worthwhile move because at some point you're
running into diminishing marginal returns. The a couple of other teams that had at
least circles for all and I just refresh the whatever I was on. So
the Knicks were on there, but whatever Minnesota because he doesn't like playing Center
Towns is already there. Those two kind of fit. Yeah, but what
are you giving up to make it happen? Because if you're not moving Towns,
you're definitely not moving Anthony Edwards. True the value there, that's gonna
be tough. Oklahoma City has the picks. If the Lakers are willing to
rebuild, we're about New Orleans. Pair him with Zion Oh, that would
be great. So just in that just I'm trying to picture the reactions.
Would you this is just this is strictly hypothetical. Would you build something around
DeAndre and Cam Johnson if you're Phoenix? No, I don't think I would.
Why Why would you mess with what Phoenix has going on right now?
That's the biggest thing. Portland was another team. Pair him with Dame for
as long as Dames there my dark horse and this is the last one I
have that I think would make sense for Toronto, Like that would just be
are you building around Pascal Siakam? I could like, just because you have
so many different options on this team. I look at this and say,
the only players I'm probably not giving up for Anthony Davis would be Fred Van
Fleet and Og. Those are just the guys that I'm And if you're really
Barnes for it, would you give Okay? So would it take Scotty Barnes
and Siakham to get Anthony Davis? I think so, That's kind of what
I mean that I don't. I don't think the trade value has gone down
that much. You're not gonna recoup what you gave up to get him in
LA in the first place. We are still talking about like a guaranteed when
healthy all star in his twenties, who has all NBA upside on a yearly
basis, would you give up? We are not that far removed from Davis
being on the periphery of the MVP conversation. Yes, but if the has
happened between then and now. But if there's a bidding war, So if
you were THRONO know what I mean, if you were thrown, oh,
you would give up Trent Siakam or Barns or and then plus picks whatever it
takes from there. Yeah? Yeah, really mhm. I don't know that.
I don't know if I would do it. There's like a chance I
might like Pascal Siakam more just because of his ball skills that Anthony Davis offensively,
Davis is clearly the better devender. Right, maybe maybe that's too spicy.
Let's move on. That seems like a good spot to move on from.
Jay Dobbs ninety four. As if the Jazz of another unsuccessful postseason first
slash second round exit, they have in parentheticals, what do you think the
front office will do? Please give a reasonable outcome and an extreme outcome.
The extreme outcome might be the reasonable outcome. But I was thinking the same
thing where I'm not sure those are all that different, because if you're doing
anything, like what are you doing if it's not an extreme move, right?
Like what if you're making these moves on the margins, like are you
going to get rid of like Bogdanovitch? Like is that a needle mover?
I think to me, you're blowing it up. It's Donovan Mitchell is on
the way out. Oh see, I would look at it the other way
around. Donovan Mitchell is the more valuable player? Are you in the playoffs?
Agree that Donovan Mitchell is the more likely to ask out of those or
at least so it seems the extreme would be trading one or both of your
two stars and just starting a That would be the extreme. Uh. And
if you look, if you're trading Donovan Mitchell to me, you probably might
as well trade Rudy Gobert if anyone's going to be willing to take on that
contract, I think the reasonable outcome would be Bogdanovich. And now we are
putting these distant first round picks on the table. What does that get us?
I don't know what it's right, I don't The problem is, I
don't know what it gets you. You could really use a Jeremy Grant type
player. You could also use like you need some backup guards. Is like
the middle ground. And you can't even look at moving Mike Conley because that
defeats the purpose. I mean you could, but that almost defeats the purpose
of one of the things that you need. It just makes the playmaking hierarchy
that much dinner. So, but that the reasonable or the I wouldn't even
say it's reasonable, because if the jazz decide that they need to do more
of a whole stale pivot. I would agree, like they're at the point
where they're kind of getting I know they have excuses and legitimate excuses. I'm
not using that in a derovatory right for why they've been eliminated, but it
gets to a point where it's this team has been so good for so long.
If you can't make it past the second round, you grow stale.
So reasonably you could do whatever I think if you were trying to keep this
intact and not overreact or do something nuclear is Bogdanovich. Plus, you can
trade your twenty twenty six and twenty twenty eight picks like you. I don't
know. I don't know who that gets you. I don't even know if
I would trade that much for Jeremy Anthony Davis, maybe Anty Dames, Rudy
Goolbert be quite Demos also asks what would be the plan for the Warriors to
integrates What should be the plan for the Warriors to integrate Moses Moody into the
rotation because so far he's only been playing when everyone is out. He's a
second follow up question about James Weisman, but let's let's stick with the Moody.
I kind of like what they've been doing with him. I mean,
he started the other night against Denver. He's played significant minutes when these guys
have been out, and he's been paired with the stars so that he's not
tasked with doing too much, so that he can show off these these flashes
of growth, and he's looked like he's capable of holding his own even at
this early stage. You know, Steve Kurr recently mentioned that he's strongly considering
the possibility of using different starting lineups on a game by game basis, a
series by series basis in the playoffs, and I would have confidence in him
to do that at this point because this Warrior's team does have so many high
quality players. Now. There was also, I think it came via the
Athletic the report about Kerr having internal pressure to play Jordan poolmore, you know,
maybe even at Clay Thompson's expense while he's been struggling. And that was
before the Saturday night breakout the Thompson had with I think thirty eight points.
There's there's a lot of different lineup options here, and they're all good ones.
So I like the way that the Warriors have been bringing along these young
guys Moses Moody and Jonathan cominga chief among them at the moment because they're they're
getting chances to play legitimately impactful minutes in a way that isn't detrimental to the
team, even if they go through rookie struggles. So I really wouldn't change
much. I also don't think that you can. There's the issue that you
run into here we've already I think one of the things you could do is
say, Moses Moody is going to be ahead of want Ascano Anderson in the
rotation, and it seems like we look at the Bucks game specifically that he
is. You run into just a minute's problem. So Draymond Green is going
to come back. You can cut all of the elites as minutes. If
you want to have Draymond take those, then have him eat into some of
Looney's minutes. So you have cominga Draymond Looney sort of upfront, But it's
whose minutes is he taking. You have to play pool, You have to
play kids. It would be Wiggins or like Otto Porter Junior, so he
didn't play in the Milwaukee game. So when Otto Porter Junior comes back.
But even if Otto Porter Junior comes back these other guys minutes have to go
down. So I'm with you that I think the one thing they've done is
tethering his minutes to certain players makes a lot of sense. It's gonna have
to be more of just a situational decision with his minutes, though, because
I don't know that you look at anyone and say unless you're just like you
could say what you want about Andrew Wiggins. He's been bad since he also
break, but then he also has this huge game against the Bucks on Saturday
night. So I think you just keep doing what you're doing. It's just
it's hard to still guarantee in playing time. The closest you can come and
say is gonna say like, we're gonna call his number before Jtas But even
look that might and even if you say we'll give his number, we'll call
his number before out of Porter Junior, even though Porter Junior can play some
big man minutes for you, Andrew go Dollar is going to come back too,
So are you just gonna not play Iggy? So I do think that
you're you're right on the money with what you said, and I do think
that you know if push comes to shove, because there are only so many
minutes in a game. Unless the Warriors are just intentionally going to triple overtime
every time out, which would be dumb, you have to prioritize Kameno over
Moody. The other question here on the Warriors was how do we expect Wiseman's
role to be and what is his ceiling? Do you think assistant coach Dayan
Malosovitch can help him reach his potential? So the first question, I'll just
say, and I think we both agree, James Weisman doesn't have a role
this year. It's just it's not happening. He'll do nothing this year.
Yeah, I don't think he should play this year, right, I mean
he's in the G League now, that's fine, Like, keep going with
that. And if you want to give him garbage time at the NBA level,
practice time, of course, do that for sure. If he's healthy,
his ceiling, I don't know. I like, I'm not coping to
watch a ton of college basketball. He only had three college basketball games last
year. Look, if he can, if he can show improvement as a
rebound or and defender, that's his path to helping this team the most.
He has to get more diverse on offense, I think is the way to
phrase it, which is where Malasovitch comes in, because we know that he's
credited with working with Nicole Yokich among other guys. But Nicole Yokis is like
the why wouldn't Nicole just be the crowning story. Is he gonna like infuse
James Watson with a higher understanding of offense how to move the ball, or
just give him, like help him with the top priorities being able to catch
the ball, which he struggled with even that as a rookie. But I
do think he can help. But and I just don't know if it's gonna
I do think James Wiseman's potential is probably more of a streamlined big man on
offense, where it's pick and pop, pick and roll. Maybe he can
put the ball on the floor a little bit in space, but I don't
think you're gonna want to run the offense through him, work him in the
post. I don't even know if I trust him to make a bunch of
decisions with the ball that Perhaps that's where Malasovich, though, can make the
biggest impact is ball control, so coordination. Let's say that he and then
like basketball, I hum, I don't know how. I don't want to
call it James Wiseman stupid. He's a smarter basketball player than of people who've
ever played basketball, probably because he's made it this far. But I just
I don't know that when when you watched him last year and even just knowing
what he said to be that, I don't know if you have this player
who's gonna operate on a higher plane of existence offensively. I feel like if
you're the Warriors are kind of hoping that he turns into like a version of
DeAndre Ayton in a lot of ways. Yeah, that's that's still dreaming pretty
big at this point because we just haven't seen it to the three games in
college, a handful of games in the NBA which didn't look very good,
and then we're evaluating high school tape again. Yeah. I think if anyone
is telling you they know what James Weisman can be, they're full of it.
That I just and when are they gonna work him in though it's like
you we're looking to next season in year three? That's kind of wild.
This is why I have firmly been advocating for them to trade him when they
can because the stock is only going to keep going down, and it's not
even through a fault of his own, you know, even if he's developing
on a good schedule. You know, we just we just covered how hard
it is to allocate minutes to Moody and Kamina, who have already shown that
they're way further along in their development into NBA caliber players. So like at
some point other teams are gonna are gonna bulk because Wiseman hasn't been on the
floor, even if that's a roster construction issue and not a hymn issue.
I haven't been wondering, just because the Warriors are so committed to balancing this
era with the next one. What what have to happen in the playoffs?
Like how would the playoffs have to end for them to increase the urgency with
which they would consider trading their younger guys in future picks. Would it have
to be a first round I think it's like a first round exit because the
West has so much period this year that like you can very easily explain away
a second round loss. I'm probably with you, and they might not even
do anything after a first round loss because they it's like the people that run
that team are just very intent on we're not mortgaging the future, like we're
going to develop and let's let's be real. Like they've done an amazing job
of straddling eras, Like they still have all of the key pieces from the
dynastic version of the Warriors. They're incorporating Moody, they're incorporating Kuminga whose ceiling
looks about as high as he can jump. They still have Weissman, Jordan
Pool looks like an absolute stud. There's a lot to like about the future
of the Warriors, even while they've kept everything intact. Like, kudos to
that organization because it truly has been light years ahead. Wow, let's move
on to the next discord question. Jolt the Goat asked after the crackdown on
drifting fouls this season, there's been a big push to eliminate the take foul
next season. How would you officiate it? It seems like a gray area
foul that would be hard to literally define in the rule book, so I
would imagine it would fall under I know it when I see it situation.
I could see teams having a problem with that in the heat of the moment.
Also, how would you penalize it two shots in the ball team technical
just leave it on called and let the play go on. I think you
treat it like a defensive three seconds, but also give a foul to the
player in violation where they do get the technical foul shot and the ball.
As for how you legislate against it, I think it is ultimately like a
subjective call made by the referees, and ultimately most calls are subjective. You
know, we have a rule book that identifies what the violation is specifically,
but it's still open for interpretation. You know, the referees do the best
job they can of applying that rule book correctly. But how many times have
we seen, you know, somebody you know banging away in the post and
are they lowering their shoulder? Are they not? Like is it a charge?
Is it a blocking foul? Like that's subjectively determined. So I think
that, you know, it can't be as simple as like a clear path
foul because that's such an obvious one where they're ahead of any of the defenders.
But you know, maybe it's something like if there are fewer players in
a fast break opportunity, if there are a fewer offensive players down the or
if there are fewer defensive players down the court than offensive players and it's you
know, a foul as the guy goes by you, where it's just clearly
an intentional that's the other part of this that doesn't get recognized, like it's
an intentional foul, you know, Like most fouls are not intentional, they're
unintentional, they're incidental contact, they're a violation of the rules. But these
take fouls are guys just grabbing another player, Like that's pretty fucking intentional.
So I don't feel like even if it's subjective, it's that hard to determine
subjectively. Yeah, and I'm with you. If you were really worried about
discrepancies, you can maybe give the coaches an extra challenge per game that would
only be able to be used on that type of foul. But they're just
so obvious and egregious that if if it's questionable, maybe they won't call it
because it means that they're like going about making plays in the ball the right
way. But I'm absolutely of the mind i'd like to the defensive three second
penalization type where it's one shot and the ball plus assess the foul to the
player who committed it, but you have to penalize it at some point because
these plays are just ridiculous and they break up what should be like some of
the most exciting play in basketball in transition, and also just it kills the
flow of the game further there. So, just like how they've kind of
weeded out some of the gimmicky attempts to draw fouls and that's been a lot
of you know, that's obviously up to the officials in their own judgment,
this can be the same thing. These are just so egregious that there's less
of a gray area, I feel like for the most part. And while
we're at it, can we also get rid of blowing plays dead for shot
clock violations when it's a clear rebound by the defensive team, Like, it's
not that hard to apply an advantage rule like you see in hockey or in
soccer, you know, where there's a delayed penalty in effect. The only
thing though, with that is are you so you're not assessing the team a
shot clock violation. You're letting it play on because I get that if the
ball is in the air, if the ball is in the air before the
shot clock violation, don't sound the buzzer, see what happens, and if
it's a rebound by the defensive team, then go for it. I'd be
with it. I bet there are the teams that missed the shot would prefer
the chance to get their defense set. But I totally, I totally understand
that this question comes from Darkwing Duck. Why the hell is Teryll Owens in
front of in the front row of the King's at Jazz game in March.
I think he was wearing the same shades as that. That's my quarterback speech.
Why not? I tried to find out why he was actually at that
game. I'm I'm like, there's a tweet from twenty and twenty where I
think he references the Jazz and he might be friends with Jordan Clarkson, So
is that why he was there? That's the only I that seems right.
If anyone knows about a history of Terrell Owens, the Utah, the Jazz,
any players on the Jazz, feel free to add us. But that
was truly one of the more felt like the more random famous cameos from a
from a from a fan. For all we know, though, he was
just in Utah and felt like attending a game, Kyler asked, every fan
base seems to think that the media is biased against their team. Are there
any teams that you feel have a legitimate case to claim this or are we
all just homers? I feel like we're all just homers. Fan is by
definition, short for the word fanatic, and I think that says a lot
like I don't know that. The other the other issue that I have here
is like the media is not a singular entity, right right, So like
certain certain media personalities might be biased against this specific team, a specific player,
but the media in general is not. Like, let's do what we
can to make sure that Detroit Pistons don't get enough national airtime. I will
say the Pistons plus the the Kings, those are two teams that I look
at where feels like they're can an absence of nuance when it comes to coverage
that's not team specific, where it's someone who covers those teams on a day
to day basis. That's not to loop on media into one, but let's
use the Kings as an example. We're all in a rush to just troll
them for every single decision they make because they're the Kings. And then with
the or the Thunder would be the other one. People trolling them for tanking
where it's like there's a real rebuild going on there if you watch the Thunder
at all or paid attention to the going pretty well, right, So those
are the three teams I would just single out as that there could stand to
be more nuanced. That's fair. Maybe the Magic too, The Magic would
be fair. I also thought about the Raptors a little bit. They seem
to go overlooked still. I know the Raptors fans think that people believe their
team doesn't exist, and that's an extreme, but I don't think that's like
born from some misplaced in security. I think it's legitimately. The Raptors have
been in part because they're not going to be on national TV a ton because
they are in Canada. But it also even feel like the title season with
Kauai. It just feels like they want a title within the last half decade
and they're just they feel like a footnote, which is weird to me.
And they have the best basketball executive in the business and they still feel like
a footing with you. I think that's no. I think that's totally fair,
But I mean it's every team's players, every team itself feels like they're
bias against it. Yeah, Lebron James, Los Angeles Lakers, most famous
player in the sport, went on his crusade about Washed King, and you
know how everyone was doubting the quality of this year's Lakers team because they were
all saying it was too old and all that. You know, like,
let's let's prove the media wrong. It's it's everywhere. Is there a team
where you think the fan base will claim this but they couldn't be more wrong?
I guess would have to be the Lakers. If you think that the
Lakers aren't being if you think there's an agenda against the Lakers, Jake Ass
don't know if it's oh, Jake Ass. Well, let's say the Cavs
continue to slide into the play in tournament, how good your fans feel about
their team moving forward drastically exceeding expectations. Having a stud with Mobiley and Garland
is clearly the man in the moment, probably got to be pretty disappointed,
but this year proved they have some building blocks. Yeah. Absolutely, you
still have to be pleased because this Cavs team has been cursed from an injury
perspective. You know, Darius Garland is back now, but he missed time.
Rajon Rondo is out, Colin Sexton is out, Jared Allen is out
indefinitely. Of course, you're sliding down the standings, and you should still
be very encouraged about having three all star level players in your lineup already in
Garland, Evan Mobley and Jared Allen, you know, all of whom could
have made the All Star team in the Eastern Conference this season. And I'll
also say the thing that you should be worried about if you're a cash fan
is you don't want them to try accelerating this reinvention, because it's not really
rebuild anyway. It's a rebuild, but it's just they're so close. I
would use the word that you don't want them to over accelerate their position.
Me, Carris, the Vert trade I think was ultimately fine, but you
don't want to see them go out there and make a bunch of rash decisions
this offseason based off the You don't want them to trade for Anthony Davis.
Maybe you do, I mean they might start him in point guard, Larry
Marketing, Evan Mobley, Jared Allen, throw Dean Wade out there, and
Anthony Davis, there's your lineup, Kevin Love maybe instead of d Jake did
ask another question about the defensive player you're discussion, but I'm actually gonna get
more in depth on that specific topic with a guest this coming week, so
I'm gonna leave it. Jake. It's a really good question, which is
why I'm only teasing it now so everyone should come back for the next episode
in the middle of the week. Let's move on. We have a couple
of Twitter questions. Anthony asked, could you imagine if the Hornets had Mitchell
Robinson? Are we a certified average team? If you think I'm gonna take
this one just because if you think Mitchell Robinson is going to be the answer
to a lot of what's Allen Charlotte, I'd probably push back. He's not
a good enough rebounder, I think to fix what's gone on with them,
And yeah, he'd help the interior defense. I will also argue that they
are still not in the bottom ten of points allowed per possession when you look
at their personnel, their center rotation, that's overachieving. So maybe mister Robinson
makes you a lot better. But that might be the way to phrase it
is how Emphy said, Yeah, you might be a certified average defense the
difference between Raking twentieth and sixteen or something. I will say during one of
the earlier questions from the smeilback, though I couldn't help but think about Ruddy
Gobert and Charlotte. How do you feel about that fit? I think it
would work. I'd be curious to see how he plays if up tempo with
the melo there. It would be a change of pace quite literally, given
on Gordon Hayward Reunion and Utah to get him absolutely absolutely rebuild around Gordon Hayward
and Utah. But I kind of like that pairing if you can, If
you can do that while retaining Miles Bridges, a LaMelo ball, Miles Bridges
Rudy Gobert trio is fun. You also, you have to there's no way
you're getting out of that deal without giving up, because what is it?
Book night, PJ. Washington, And then every single pick and swap that
you're held exactly by the way, You're not gonna have a lot of picks
to trade unless the one to New York or now it's oad to Atlanta,
and that fucking cam Reddish trade was a disaster. I know he was playing
better before he got injured, but that cam Reddish trade was, by basketball
standards, a catastrophe. That pick is not going to convey should be Marky.
The one thing that's a good point here, aside from Rudy Gobert being
a quality fit, is I could see teams worrying about his contract thirty eight
point two million next year, forty one million the year after that, forty
three point eight the year for that, and then a forty six point seven
million dollars player option because during this span you're gonna get two more years of
Lamello on his rookie scale, not super cheap, but super cheap belt of
what he could cost you. And then the MAX that he signs is gonna
be his first max, so you're not dealing with a veteran max necessarily.
Charlotte might be the team that could talk itself into not worrying about Rudy Gobert's
contract because their team doesn't have to be mega expensive, is my point,
until the final two years of his deal, So food for thought. I
just don't know if they can build. Do you think they could build a
package enticing enough. If let's just say Utah's wi want to move Gobert if
the season, do you think Charlotte without Lamello has the assets necessary to peak
if the Jazz still want to win and you're dang, yeah, it really
depends on the motivation that the Jazz have in blowing Are they blowing it up
or are they like trying to fix things around Donovan Mitchell with a different lineup
construction. If it's the latter, you need a thirteen probably not yeah,
And it's just like, even if it's not Terry Rosier, James book Night,
Kai Jones, PJ. Washington like those are you probably if you're Utah,
you probably want Miles Bridges as part of that deal. That would be
the I think you're pushing for it and to be included for sure, And
it would have to be a sign in trade, so he would want to
have to go to Utah as well, which is just just pointing that out.
I'm not inferring anything. This question comes from Charles who said, we
talked about on the last part when we were ranking future, but Adam wasn't
there, and I think we could go in deeper this, he says,
can Fox, it's a bonus be the nucleus of the next Great King's team.
This presupposes that there will be a next Great King's team, and that's
a pretty big leap. Oh I had I had a similar joke cute up
about how I was a little confused by the question because next implies that there
has been one that's that's mean and also untrue. It's media biased against the
Kings. There is thus proving thus proving our answer to the previous question.
I still worry about the fit here. I still I still don't know that
I like Dearon Fox, who moves in hyper speed when he's trying to operate
slowly, and Montes Sabonis, who wants to slow things down and operate methodically
within the half court set. I don't know that I love that fit enough
to think that this could turn into the nucleus of a great team. It
helps that Fox has been playing better since the trade. It helps it Sabonis
has been so effective since the trade. But it's also not translating into wins.
I mean, they have the two wins as we're recording this since the
All Star break. So what is the pathway to future improvement here? Is
it? Is it Mitchell blowing up and becoming an absolute star as a sophomore?
Is it Rishaun Holmes becoming the player Dan wants him to be? Is
it Dante DiVincenzo going boom? Like? Which free agent is going to come
in and make a big impact here? Are you going to rely on hitting
on another draft pick? Like I just I don't know that this move was
a precursor to or so I'm actually and I was doubting the offensive fit when
the trade first happened. After watching and going through some of their plays together,
I'm ultimately fine with it. Fox has played so well. I think
he's moved off. Is still not excited about it? What's that? Being
fine with it is different than being excited about it. I'm saying, offensively,
you can be excited about it. They have a one seventeen offensive rating
with those two on the court, which is an eighty nine percentile, And
the fit is not and they don't haven't I personally, I don't think when
you look on paper, they don't have enough shooters around them just yet.
So that's the pathway to getting better on offense. It's defense that's a problem
because Fox has been just as bad as advertised on that end. I know
people want to bang this. A Bonus is underrated on defense, drum.
If he's your five, you've got to have like positive defenders in front of
him, of which they do not have very many right now. Devincenzo has
not been that guy for the Buxer for them. He's coming back from injury.
Justin Holliday is fine, Harrison Barnes is fine. Davian Mitchell's trying to
run through a brick wall, so he's great. But you need players who
can also provide that type of while also being more consistent with their offense or
at least their drump shot when looking at Mitchell specifically, that's the path to
building around Fox and sa Bonus. You need to surround them with high quality
defenders who are not net negatives on offense. They do not have nearly enough
of those players right now. You also need one of them, and I'm
looking at Fox for the most part, needs to play better defensively like that
is the That's what makes me uneasy is that this skews so offense first.
Between those two, that's the bigger issue. How do you flesh out the
team around them, and my answer would be overall, no, I don't
think this is gonna be the next great version of the Kings. I think
excused too far offense, and I also look flat out. I know some
people have a lot of respect for Monty McNair, that's great. I don't
trust this organization under Vivek roan Adeve. I didn't trust it before him.
But just to be clear, there's decisions they've made have been questionable enough,
bad enough to where I don't need to trust them, and I don't,
So my answer would be no. But I will say I am excited about
what they can do offensively with Somebotis and Fox. That's based off just seeing
I haven't seen every game they've played together. Again, I went back and
watched a lot of the plays they were involved with together, and so I
am excited about that. I'll clarify on my answer. I don't think that
they're going to be like a disastrous offense or anything like that. I just
I don't know that they're good enough on offense to counterbalance the putridity on defense,
and if you're putting enough shooters around them that that offense is sustainable.
You're just, in all likelihood, creating more issues to be solved on the
defensive end. So I think that they're talented enough that this could be the
core of a team that sneaks in at the back end of the Western Conference
playoffs. And that's a huge success for a Sacramental organization that hasn't been there
in a long time. I don't know how much higher than that the ceiling
goes. Maybe if they win the lottery this year. That's what I'm not
It's not the greatest year to win the lottery though fair enough, so may
if they win the lottery next year, because this pairing obviously isn't working.
Like and that's the other thing, like this is so typical Sacramento that like
this the year that it's really bad the draft. It's like, it's not
worth being that bad for we're I think we're mostly in locks that there.
The one thing I will correct you is I don't need I think you put
it better than I did about the offense, because I didn't mean to make
it sound like they're terrible on offense. I don't think it's a good fit.
Pace wise, it can still work. It requires more pieces those pieces
make the defense even tougher to build. Yeah, I would just say I
think it's already working, so that I'm like, you still have concerns.
I think theoretically there could be stuff that crops up, but you have to
keep Harrison Barnes. He's been mission critical to making these two work. Overall,
though the answers no, and it's not reductant to say it's because it's
the but I think defensively, it's gonna be hard to flesh out this team.
Bios we asked how valuable is Tyler Hero. I mean, I still
think that he is quite a valuable presence for the Heat. He is.
He's in the running for what was that? That was quite the take?
Tyler Hero is valuable to the Heat. How valuable I'm not quite sure.
I'm not quite sure what we're going for here, because like he's averaging he's
averaging twenty five and four. Basically, I'm forty five and four. Report
from Bleach reports Jake Fisher that a lot of people think he's gonna command the
full boat in extension talks. So do you think he's worth a five year
max and extension talks? Yeah? I do, I do. I think
as a as a change of pace guard who can operate on and off the
ball, who is already demonstrating that he is an elite scorer with you know,
three point capabilities both off the dribble and off the catch, whose playmaking
skills have been growing year by year. I think he makes sense in that
role. I think he's on the lower threshold for what a max player should
be in today's NBA, but he's at least there, and I'd be curious
to see him in a bigger role. I know the way he plays with
the Heat helps him, but also he's played at because they've been banged up.
And also, here's the thing, Miamie just has a bunch of players
that get banged up. This is not Kyle Lowry's old Jimmy Butler has been
injured before bam Adebayo. I feel like he's had some stuff in the past
that one might not be true. Still, though the Heat are winning the
minutes he plays without or they're playing opponents to basically a net. Even in
the minutes he plays without all three of those players, that's a big deal,
an even bigger deal. They're winning fairly decided even minutes that he and
BAM play without Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler and the other thing. You can't
worry about regression here. But we're getting to the point where, like this
has been his shot diet per b Ball Index, he has sixth worst three
point pull up shot quality in the league, the sixth worst. He's the
third worst mid range shot quality in the league. Now, when you look
at his efficiency in those areas, he's shooting almost thirty seven He's shooting thirty
six point seven percent on off the dribble threes, but on pull up threes.
That's on pull up threes, that's above average. He's shooting forty three
percent for mid range this year, which is in the sixtieth percentile, also
above average. When you have players who can hit difficult shots at what would
just be above a league average clip, not even relative to the quality of
looks, but just to league average in general, that's massive. And I
think what you also just talked about, and not enough people are talking about
there's been improvement as a passer there, not just with a willingness, but
like this is not the greatest barometer for how have you playmakers with brand Ingram's
a great example, if you're making passes that I can't see in real time
or read because I'm just such an idiot of when it comes to the xs
and owers of basketball. I've noted like you've made some type of jump when
it's just the simple stuff that than I could see, then it's okay,
five, you made the right pass. But he's made more complicated passes this
year, So I think you're also right that he probably is on the lower
end of what a max contract player would be based off this season. Though
going into extension talks, I absolutely would not sign if they are offering me
less than the max, right, and he shouldn't. The defense is not
where it needs to be for him to like truly ascend into that tier,
but the playmaking growth and I really liked how you put it there. And
then you know, I think the stats you throughout are great and it works
from the eye test as well, because if you watch Tyler hero play as
just purely as a scorer, you can easily convince yourself that this is a
guy who's going to average twenty eight plus points for a season, right,
and he has the shot making ability in every area. He makes the tough
shots, he seeks out those shots when that shot profile eventually improves, which
it typically does as players are moving into their second contract and are more familiar
with the nuances of NBA defenses in their own skill set. I could I
could realistically see him factoring into a scoring title race one year. And like,
this is someone who was a twenty nine usage this season. That's borderline
superstar level and it's uses and he only just turned twenty two in January.
And I guess the thing you could wait, And by the way, it's
not because we just went over all this. It's not the type of us
is where it gets the balls. It's not a finishing like big Man.
This is someone who has to plaut his hands and self creates a good amount.
I guess what you could say is, how does this translate to the
playoffs? He just like the rest of the Heat team last year, he
was pretty bad in the playoffs. See I get wanting to see how he
fares in the postseason if they're healthy and they have a better team around him.
And but he got it done when in the bubble in twenty twenty he
was great. I get that it was the bubble, but like, this
is not It's not an egregious ask on his part to want a max contract
after this season. It's just it's the other. The other type of improvement
that I always love to see from young gunners, which is essentially the role
that he wants to fill and is capable of filling, is the percentage of
their field goals made that are assisted. As a rookie from three point territory
seventy eight point four, felled to seventy two point nine as a sophomore,
and it's down to sixty nine point eight this season. On two's forty seven
point four percent as a rookie fell to forty six point zero thirty two point
seven this year. He is creating so many of his own looks and has
not sacrificed efficiency even while spiking in volume. That combination of stats is not
easy to come by for young suc course, and just so we're clear,
like him creating basically a third or thirty percent of his own three point looks,
that is significant. I know some people look at that number and it's
like, oh, seventy percent of his three pointers are assisted, Okay,
like's not a lot. Yeah, And also there's something to be said we've
seen not so I don't want to use this guy as the example, but
like Andrew Wiggins for so long and felt like the quintessential guy who is more
comfortable operating on ball than off And look at Russell Westbrook like there's value in
being able to talk between on and off ball responsibilities, and Tyler Hero can
do that. We have two more questions. This one is well fairly quick,
but I want to see if you can guess the answer to the different
measures of the best crunch time score. That was the running man Albert asking
who has been the best clutch scorer this season? Now, without any numbers
or anything into the equation, if you were just giving an anecdotal answer,
who would it be? Chris Paula. Chris Paul's like kind of sort of
one of the answers in this. So first I did it buy three different
categories impredictable has clutch win probability added. This is not just scoring, but
I thought it was fun to look at just the macro impact in the clutch.
I want to go through the top five. I just want to see
if you can get any names from that top five. I think you'll get
some of them, but YO, Kich one Lebron No, I just figured
because he does so much. Yeah, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say
Paul again. Fair he's Paul in the top five despite the low minutes threshold.
No, he is. Paul is twentieth on the list, which,
again given the minutes threshold, is probably pretty impressive. Yeah it is Booker.
No, he's not in the top five. You're missing I feel like
at least one obvious guy. Hmm, all right, so William No Tatum
is not in the top twenty. I'm all over the place. DeMar derozen
is one. Oh, dah, Steph is dah, Steph is two.
See that surprises me because I've just I've not gotten the sense that he's closing
that frequently this year, Like not on the court, they're not playing him
and crunch time. No, I mean like I'm operating as the closer.
Yeah, Kyle Kuzma is three. Never would have guessed that Cam Johnson is
four and Yokich just five. See, I knew there was going to be
a son in there. Then the other two ways I looked at this,
so we can look at the actual just scoring and crunch time ear ear respective
of efficiency. Who do you think? The answer is the same, So
who do you think leads the league and crunch time points scored? I'm gonna
go look to Rosen. No, he neither leads the league in crunch time
points scored, nor does he need points per crunch time appearance if it helps.
If it helps, he is number two in both categories. So it's
not that I feel I feel better about that, though, that is a
lie, so obviously Kyle Kuzma, right, No, it's not the Rosen
was second in total crunch time points he is six and crunch time points per
crunch time appearance number one in both categories. Though. Is Joel embiid all
right? There's an MVP case there for him or something. Yokich is fifth,
by the way, in crunch time points per appearance and fourth in total
crunch time points. John Moran is in the top three of both of these
categories as well. In case you care, the final way to look the
final way to look at it, and I feel like I kind of already
gave this one away, but it's not. It's not. Chris paul I
sorted it by players who have appeared in at least fifteen crunch time games or
games that entered crunch time. So fifteen crunch time appearance is a usage rate
of at least at least twenty five in those situations, and then sorted it
by true shooting percentage. I want to see how many you can get off
the top five. You better kill this one. But I'm gonna tell you
right now, I'm not gonna get I'm not gonna get any at this point.
So okay, I feel like I've I've thrown enough of bad guesses out
there already. So Devin Booker is one, Chris Paul is two, Zach
Kilvine Johnson, No, he's not on there, sorry, Zach Kilvine is
three, Kyle Lowry is four, and demarda Rozen is five. I felt
like you would have gotten three are sticking together? Do you want to know
who's six? By the way, and I will be insufferable about this,
Neil Kea, Nili Keena Gazing. Let's say that RJ alright looks really good
lately, by the way, really really good. Him attacking the basket and
getting the usage that he is so much better. It's huge. Final question.
Scottie Barnes for Rookie of the Year that comes from s I wanted.
The one thing I want to note is that he now leads rookies in wind
shares this season, and also wind shares for fort Wall among rookies that have
actually played a bunch of minutes, I should say, but he leads all
rookies in total wind shares, he leads, He's tied for the lead with
Mobile and value over replacement player and he is. They're both high up there
in box plus minus they're they're again tied. I think where I'm at with
this Rookie of the Year race is that I have no idea because they're all
so good in such different ways too. By the way, I still think
it's a two man race between Mobilian Barnes. I genuinely do not know which
I have leading the race, because I feel like it changes on a weekly
basis. They've both been so ridiculously impressive, and the second half surge that
Barnes is showing off right now is ridiculous. I personally view Rookie of the
Year as a look at the total impact that was made throughout a player's first
season, rather than the level that they reached by the end of the first
season or else Kaide Cunningham might have a legitimate case win. While we've been
recording this, I'll be in a close loss to the Clippers twenty three,
nine and ten, another ridiculous performance, because all of a sudden, it
feels like he might be jumping over Mobilian, like maybe he's going to be
the best player from this class long term. So I think, like,
if you made me pick right now, I would go Barnes one, Mobley
two, Cunningham three, because Barnes has been so consistent throughout the year and
has like ascended these last few weeks. But Mobley's defense has been abjectively ridiculous
all year, granted while playing on a team that needs him to do a
little bit more on that end. It's it's so difficult to parse out because
I don't want to put down either of these incredible first year players, and
like you're inherently doing that by not having both of them at number one.
So the fact that you didn't mention franz Wagner just proves that you'll watch fucking
basketball right absolutely. I will say the argument for Kade over franz Wagner is
I know that Kate is like was not as good during the beginning of the
year, he was also injured. He is more central to what Detroit is
doing, and so like his peak this season, it's okay to say that
he's been more valuable working than Franz Wagner spreading with the way the Pistons have
been playing by the way over the past, like right before the All Star
Breaker. So if you want to put Wagner above him, but it's not
what Adams. But I just you caught shit on Twitter the other day because
first of all, people don't know who Herb joneses and don't watch Herb Jones.
That's on that's on them, that fucking whatever, that dumb ass his
name ass hats name was, I can't even remember, so, but I
was just trolling you there. So I have Evan Mobley's of right now because
I do feel like he's the fulcrum of the defense. I know Jared Allen
does a lot, but they asked him to do so much, and everything
Barnes does feels in an ancillary role. And that's why I would probably if
I'm splitting hairs, I have Mobili ahead of him. That being said,
we were at the point where I think I would have just kept saying,
Mobili, We're at the point where this is going to be a discussion by
the end of this it was a rookie based purely on post All Star Break
performance, and Cunningham might have the spot over everyone, right, and it's
not it's rookie of the Year. He's not. He's not. If people
don't have him in their top three, I'll totally understand. But he is
by the way to me, he's clearly going to be the best player in
this draft class. Like that, I know Evan Mobley is going to be
a transcendent like guy I've I've been I've said that I think Mobley has best
player in the league potential, and I'm still like Kaid might be might be
the best, better than the best player in the league potential. I don't
know how he is incredible. He is just able to the game is on
a street. I also like, I might I might put Scotty Barnes in
that like, could be the best player in the league conversation. At this
point, I don't know if I've seen enough from him as I would view
someone like needs to be like the primary playmaker to be that. Maybe I'm
i don't know just because he's so I mean again, like leading the Ball
Index's defensive Versatility metric as a rookie and also be in the positive defender while
doing that. What if he is a defensive Player of the Year candidate scoring
twenty points per game in a secondary role with playmaking chops. I thought he
definitely has secondary playmaking chops. It's just because Kaden Mobley I feel like,
look like they could be folcrams of the offense. I'm not gonna put a
cap on Barnes's potential, though. This was a fun mail bag. Was
definitely not under an hour, but it was a blast to do. It's
close right, We're not not anymore. If you're gonna ask questions about it,
please remember the rate review and subscribe to us wherever you get in your
podcast down the very episode. Recommend us to friends, Stanley, member,
strangers on the internet, anyone you know who likes or even hates basketball.
Until next time, we give you the shout out to the one the only
one of the most clutched players in basketball, RJ. Barrett. We're also
Frank Gilli Theater