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What is up Dello's thermo nuclear a
effort I am and Dan Favalley I'm manage

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with another At twenty twenty three,
twenty and twenty four NBA Team look Ahead,

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we are on to the Los Angeles
Clippers, and I am super excited

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and appreciative to be joined by making
his first appearance on the podcast Justin Russo.

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Follow him on Twitter at fly by
Night. That's at f L y

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B y K N I t E. He covers the Clippers and the NBA

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at large. Over at Substack,
go to Justin Russo dot substack dot com.

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The link to it will be in
the podcast and YouTube description as well.

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His work is incredibly detailed, so
go over there support him. Like

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I said, links in the podcast
and YouTube description. Justin, how the

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heck are you doing? I'm doing
good Man's say, Wednesday early afternoon,

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so you know, I'm just kind
of enjoying my time over here. Just

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before the season begins. Clippers have
a game on Thursday, and then they're

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offer almost a week, so that's
very nice. I'm gonna join the time

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off that they've given throughout this camp. So they went to Hawaii for a

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week, which was cool. Then
they came back and they had about a

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week off and it was that was
nice. So it's a nice slow ramp

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up to the season rather than just
being thrown right into everything. I've said

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this a bunch to people, but
that first Tuesday of the NBA season or

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the Wednesday where there's like the ten
or eleven games, I have like an

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existential crisis of how did I cover
all this last year. I can't intake

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all of this basketball and content.
So I never look forward to Opening Night

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is great, I never look forward
to the night following it. Yeah,

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the night after is always like hectic. There's like too much happening, and

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you feel like you're not going to
get your money's worth for your League Pass

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subscription. And then and then like
somehow it calms down throughout the season.

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Yeah, or you just get the
hang of being incomplete and other chaos is

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probably what happens. Speaking of complete
and other chaos, I will eventually have

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to get to the James Harden stuff
as a recording this. I'm just hoping

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that the podcast doesn't become dated because
something outlandish happens with him. I actually

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wanted to ask you about last season. I know there was a bunch of

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stuff going on, But what was
kind of the single biggest to you or

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most important driving factor behind how it
transpired. Was it really just the lack

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of availability from Kuhi and PG?
Did that spawn some of the weird rotation

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stubbornness from ty LeWitt points? Did
it harm the defense? Like, did

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it screw up how they were going
to try and play with pacing. It's

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just there was so much going on. I'm just wondering if one thing is

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sticking with you more than anything else, And if it was just the injuries,

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I totally get it. So they've
talked this camp that like the injuries

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were the big thing, is what
they've been saying, Like they just once

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the injuries happened, it was such
a stop and start season that they weren't

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able to fully get comfortable as a
unit and they kind of just bled into

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their play on the court. Anytime
you watched them last year, you knew

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they weren't that good because they just
looked like a jumbled mess for the majority

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of the year. They'll say injuries. There was probably other stuff that was

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at play, but it was probably
a trickle down effect from the injuries where

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guys had to move into roles that
they not that they weren't comfortable with,

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but that they were being asked a
lot of. For instance, last year,

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going into last year, Reggie Jackson
and Marcus Morris had been asked a

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lot of themselves the year prior,
when Kawi was out for the whole year.

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PG missed I believe fifty one games
that year and Reggie and Marcus kind

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of dragged the Clippers to a forty
two and forty season and which was actually

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crazy, like in retrospect, that
was a remarkable year for the team.

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And last year, going into the
year, it was almost like, all

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right, Coli and PG are back, everyone can kind of take a step

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back kind of, you know,
get comfortable with their role again. And

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then that that didn't happen because Kawi
then had to miss about a month early

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on due to the knee issue,
and then PG missed time due to injuries.

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But when KLi came back from the
initial knee thing, he rolled his

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ankle after like four games and he
had to miss another six games. So

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it was like this constant we have
one guy and then we don't have the

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other, and then when we get
both of them someone else gets hurt,

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and it was just this endless cycle
of injuries and no camaraderie. The chemistry

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was always just slightly off, and
you could see it in their play there.

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They were not a fast paced team. They were very slow all year.

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Tied talked about them having to play
quicker, and they never did until

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they got rust and they started playing
a little bit quicker. But basically,

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long story short, like injuries affected
them a great deal. But I think

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it's a disservice to just say the
injuries were what did it like? They

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they did it themselves. They they
did it themselves. There were a lot

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of mistakes that they made along the
way, roster construction wise, they went

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in the year they only had one
center, you know, if Y'sazubats was

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their only saying, they had no
backup center. And then you know,

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they didn't play Robert Coventon as much
as they should probably should have to,

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which Tie said he at media day, I should have played Roco a lot

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more. They're a veteran team,
and when veteran teams get tired, you

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know, you can kind of see
their defense slip, which is what happened

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the first the first about fifteen to
twenty games of the year, their defense

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was really good and their offense was
bad, and then like it really flipped

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after that, like their offense became
really good and their defense was disastrous,

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and I kind of just think,
like the long season got them. But

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what's weird is like Kawhi was incredible
for the last like half of the season

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y and it kind of glossed over
a lot of like what ailed them and

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the people. The reason people picked
them to at least give Phoenix some level

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of a series was simply just because
of Kauai, which still tells you how

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good he is. But you know, injuries were a big factor, but

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it wasn't the only factor for them. There was a lot of other stuff

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of play. Why is this team
is synonymous with the load management or injured

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player discussion. Why does it feel
like for every other player or most other

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players that their their absences, the
way that their injuries are treated or framed

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is this is the team's decision.
But when it's Kawhi and even PG to

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some extent, it's something about these
two rather than is there something to that,

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Is there something happening behind the scenes
with practices or like these aren't neither

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of them is just struck me as
players who don't want to play basketball,

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and so I've just been curious,
if you view there's a primary reason why

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the discussion unfolds the way it does
around them. So it's a weird situation

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because they have input. To say
that they don't have input would be mistaken.

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Every star has input into the medical
side of things. But what's really

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interesting is every time you hear the
team talk about it, it's training staff

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and medical decision and then the stars
just have to go along with it.

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There was a point last season that
I won't say the player, but during

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the locker room prior to a game, that player who had missed several games

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due to injury, we were in
the locker room, the media was this

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player said, I'm ready to play, got asked, well, are you

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playing tonight? No, medical just
won't clear me. I'm ready to play.

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They just won't clear me. And
so there is like a disconnect a

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little bit I think for perception,
which is the players don't want to play,

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but they do. It's medical who
is telling them, hey, you

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can't play today, and they will
go to the higher ups and tell them

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like they're redlining, they're in the
red you need to tone of back stuff

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like that. Do I think it's
gone too far at times? Yeah?

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I do. I think there's been
times where they should have played and they

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just didn't, and the players wanted
to play, but they were medical wouldn't

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let them play, so I think. But with PG and Kawi, I

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do think there's just a perception Kauai, especially where because of his time in

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San Antonio and how that ended,
and his time in Toronto where it was

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perceived that he just wasn't going to
play back to backs, which was a

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medical decision, and that carried over
to the Clippers on what last season.

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He didn't play back to backs until
like the last month of the season,

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then he started playing them. But
that was always the plan. That was

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the play with him all last season, was to ramp him up to play

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back to backs at the end of
the season. But I kind of just

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think it's a well Kawhi plays when
he wants to play, Like that's the

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perception on the outside, but on
the inside, this is a very regimented,

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detailed guy who loves basketball. I've
had conversations with him about basket.

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He loves to play he wants to
play. No one likes sitting out being

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injured. It's not a fun thing. And I think I just think the

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perception is, well, he just
doesn't want to play, like he got

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his money and he's home. It's
funny because I think if either guy wasn't

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played in LA I think if they
were somewhere else and it wasn't home,

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I think the perception would be different. And it's also like Kawhi has the

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quad ten like that's a real thing. And so I was gonna ask you

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how both these guys looked in training
camp preseason. It feels like Kawhi had

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the meniscus procedure and then it seems
like he's come back without any real limitations.

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Do you expect there to be so
is there no ramp up process here?

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Do you expect them to be playing
back to backs coming out the gate?

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Like? What should we really look
for from them? As far as

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back to backs? I'm uncertain.
If he didn't have the meniscus thing,

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I think he played back to backs. But they have so many back to

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backs this year. They have fifteen
back to backs. It's tied for the

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most in the league. They travel
more than any other team this year.

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I think a prosidual or positive residual
had it as a fifty thousand miles,

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which I believe is five or six
thousand miles more than any other team.

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That's a lot of miles, and
you know, they're gonna have to manage

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guys. Whether or not people like
it, They're gonna have to manage guys.

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That's a lot of mileage, it's
a lot of travel, it's a

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lot of back to backs. I
think they have the most or they're tied

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for the most instances of three and
four nights, Like I think Golden State's

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the other team that's tied with them. So like they're gonna there's gonna be

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times where they have to rest guys
and people are gonna hate it, but

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it is what it is, and
you know that's just the way it's gonna

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have to go. But for Kawhi
Uh and PG, they look good.

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Everything looks on track. They said, you know a week before training camp

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opened that Kawhi is good. There's
no ramp up like he's good. He's

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one hundred percent. He's ready to
go, and he's shown that three preseason

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games. He and PG played the
first half of every preseason game, they've

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spent fifty one minutes on the floor
together. Uh so far in three games.

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Tis talked about that during the regular
season, they're gonna stagger them,

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which is what they did a couple
of years ago, or Tie's first year

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with the team, they staggered him
like all the time. One was always

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always on the floor. They look
good. PG looked great yesterday. I

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think he had twenty three obviously in
the first half, but it's it's a

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season long process to where I don't
think I can say right now Kawi is

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for sure not playing back to backs
or for sure will play back to backs.

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I think this is just what I
hypothesize. I think he'll start out

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sitting back to backs and then gradually
move into playing both of them. The

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more he plays, probably the better
in terms of health. But I also

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get why they limit him in some
capacity because of the degenerative quad issue,

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where you do have to be careful
with it, like, oh yeah,

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at any moment, that could be
the last time he steps on the floor.

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And I think he understands that more
than anyone. Based on the two

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injuries he suffered, the one in
twenty twenty one with Joe Ingles and the

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one that he suffered against Phoenix in
Game one, which were they were bumps.

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He got bumped running full speed and
he took a a misstep and it

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caused what happened, and you have
to be careful. And I think for

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Kaalide, they're gonna they're gonna ramp
him up a little bit for back to

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back, but otherwise I don't think
there's gonna be any raining in of him.

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Like there was a start last year
where they brought him off the bench

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to start last season, and he
he hated it. He's been on very

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vocal about how much he hated uh
specifically warming up for a game and then

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having to sit for you know,
twenty five thirty minutes of real time and

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how much that affected him, not
just physically but mentally with what he was

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used to. So I don't think
you're gonna see any of that type of

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stuff. I think he's gonna be
you know, thirty minutes pretty consistently for

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the first you know a little bit
of the season, and then probably ramp

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up to playing both ends of a
back to back, depending on what that

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back to back is like if there's
no travel, I think he'll play both

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both both ends of a back to
back. What if anything, do we

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make of the lack of extension report
taught like reporting talks. Is it more

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this team wants to preserve flexibility.
Is it more we need to see that

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these guys are just gonna be healthy
and on the floor together for maybe half

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the season will be nice, or
maybe in the postseason together. Is it?

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Does it even really matter? At
this point these two have never really

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communicated that they would think about leaving. Just what do we make of the

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silence on this front? They've both
have been very vocal over the last couple

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of weeks in extension talks that everything
is fine. Their relationship with the front

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office is great, Like there's nothing
there, Like when it's time to when

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it's time to hash it out,
they'll get to and it's kind of like

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what they're relaying. I don't think
it's that crazy that they've kind of been

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They the players and the front office
have kind of taken this to the level

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that they have, which is there's
no rush, Because I don't think there

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is a rush. I think both
sides understand the flexibility at play. I

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think both sides understand how much this
season matters, and not just this season,

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but going into the New Arena next
season. I think they both both

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endies understand how important this year is, and one misstep by either side can

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sour the relationship. Even though they
say everything is fine, you never know

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until you know, you know,
so I don't think I don't think there's

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really anything to worry about it.
I kind of just think both sides are

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just waiting to see how everything plays
out. And look, both guys can

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opt it or not opt in,
but agree to an extension anytime to the

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end of the season. So they're
gonna they have all the time in the

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world, and there's nothing that says
you get to February, everything's going great

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and hey, we're gonna we're gonna
extend you guys, or you know,

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they opt out just to sign full
length deals and get everything they can,

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and hey, these guys are locked
up for four and five years, go

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to to the new Arena, hooray. But there's a lot between now and

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you know, June thirtieth, and
it depends a lot on how the season

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goes. But all signs for right
now point to both guys being back.

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They love both guys, both guys
are happy being hauled, and I kind

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of don't see that changing for the
foreseeable future. Among the many things I

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missed on last season was Russell Westbrook's
fit with the Clippers. I thought he

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defended well, especially when we got
to that playoff series against Phoenix. Like

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you said, he had a pace, he hadded some like he helped them

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get some additional rim pressure. I'm
wondering what were your general impressions and is

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there any concern or tweaks that he's
gonna need to make when you're looking at

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a team that plans to play both
KWI and MPG more often, because a

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lot of last season was unfolding with
he is playing without one or both of

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them. Yeah, it's it's funny. I wasn't a big fan of the

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Russ fit. I thought it was
rather an odd fit because at the time,

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just because like that day that PG
name dropped Russell Westbrook, he did

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it completely unprompted in the locker room
on the record, just mentioned Russ by

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name, which was very like I
remember being in the locker room and we

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were like, that's like, no
one asked about him like that. So

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it was funny because it happened like
four to five hours after Lawrence Frank held

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a press conference after the trade deadline
and basically outlined the types of players that

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they were looking for, and he
outlines the type of point guard they were

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looking for. And the point guard
did not sound like Russell Westbrook at all.

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So it was like a weird situation
that night. But then Russ played

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fine. He was he was good
for what the Clippers asked him, you

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know, to do. But then
you know, you're right. He didn't

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play a lot with Kawhi and PG. They only played I think like two

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hundred and thirty minutes together, you
know, and then PG suffered the knee

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injury or the leg injury against uh
Okay See Billy played ten games, they

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went five and five. I think
they lost the first five games actually,

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and then then they won the next
five. But uh, I don't think

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we know what the fit is yet. I think we think we know what

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the fit is. But there's been
very little indication even in preseason of how

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it's gonna how it's gonna mesh together. Tyas said they're they're they're behind on

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offense in terms of installing everything he
wants to install they've been predominantly focused on

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their defensive side of things. As
far as Russ is concerned, I think

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if he supplies the pace and he's
unselfish, I think it's fine. Even

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yesterday or on Tuesday against Denver in
the preseason game, Russ was really good

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at finding zoo uh on Duccans,
especially after offensive rebounds. Russ is really

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good offensive rebounding, so you know
that helps a team that kind of struggles

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at time for possessions. But with
Russ, I think if they can rain

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in his desire to take jumpers and
get them more focused on just attacking the

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basket, I think everything's fine.
The defense comes and goes, but that's

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a veteran thing for a lot of
guys, where veterans don't always lock in

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defensively as much as they probably should. But as you mentioned in the Phoenix

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series, he was incredible defensively.
He shot horribly in Game one of that

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series, but his defense arguably won
them that game. So if he focuses

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defensively on and on the little things, I think it works. There are

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spacing issues, but maybe they feel
that with Kawhi and PG spacing doesn't matter

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as much because they're that good,
but that's only time will tell. Terrence

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Man was probably another guy who for
a good chunk of the season should have

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been playing more. It sounds like
they're gonna lean on him a lot more

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this year. He's also been reported
the sticking point in James Harden trade talks,

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which to speak to how much he
means. Is there something specific he

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uknocks with this team or is it
more about the gap filling, the ball

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handling, the cutting, even the
even the hope of his shooting, even

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some of the undersized screening, that
he's able to do everything. It's I

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would just classify it as literally everything. He, more than anyone else,

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has probably been the perfect role guy
alongside Kawhi and PG because he fits into

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everything they try to do. If
they want to run small, small pick

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and rolls, he excels at it
as the screener and the short role decision

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maker. He called him he himself, Terrence called himself one of the best

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in the league at it, And
I don't think that's too crazy. He's

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00:20:57,319 --> 00:21:02,559
very good in that in that position. He's very good as a catch and

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shoot three point guy. You know, thirty eight percent three point shooter.

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For his career. Last year he
was almost thirty nine. You look at

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him alongside the two Stars. He
does everything that they I'm not gonna say

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that they won't do, but you
don't really ask stars to do like he

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00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:23,480
cut. He excels at slot cuts. He excels as a screener. He

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excels crashing the glass, very good, one on one point of attack defender,

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good good as a rebounder to where
it's not just on the Stars to

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do it. He does everything they
ask of him, and he should have

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00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,960
played a lot more than he did
last season. Ties admitted as much that

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he failed by not playing Terrence more. The team wants Terrence to play more.

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Obviously, as you mentioned, he's
been a no go in James Harden

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trade negotiations, and I'd heard that
even back in June that they just he's

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off the table. It was just
something that they were just not going to

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entertain. He's still extension eligible for
about another week. I believe they just

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because this is the first year that
his other extension kicks in. I just

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find that funny. Yeah, it's
it's it's really weird when you when do

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00:22:15,559 --> 00:22:18,000
you think about it, But like
you know, he's got two years left,

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and you know, they could extend
him for I think like three fifty

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six or something like that. So
you know, look, I asked Terrence

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point Blake on the record at media
Day if he'd be interested in the extension,

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and he said, you know what, or if his representatives and the

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Clippers of Hell talks. He says, not that he knows of. Then

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I asked him, you know,
would you be open to stay? And

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he said, and he said,
point blank, you know, I've been

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00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,920
here for five years, or I've
been here for my entire career. Of

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course I would be open to staying. Like he wants to stay. He

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00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,000
likes LA, he likes the organization, he likes the team, he likes

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the teammates. It's up on it's
up to the team to use him in

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a better capacity. And you know, maybe maybe he turns down an extension

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and you know, plays it out
to see what he can get. But

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you know, he he is going
to be twenty seven and or or actually

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he's twenty seven today as a recording
this, he just turned twenty seven.

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00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:23,160
Yeah, so you know, I
think people think he's younger than he is,

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but he is twenty seven. And
he'll be going on twenty nine by

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00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,240
the time you know, this current
deal ends, so the clock is ticking

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00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,400
for both him and the team.
But he is the perfect role guy,

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00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,559
the perfect blue guy for that,
you know, for that duo and that

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00:23:41,599 --> 00:23:47,440
lineup. So I get why they
won't include him. I understand for people

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00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,319
it might seem a little crazy,
but you also have to look at it

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00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,960
as like an asset point of view, which is, if they trade Terrence,

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00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,960
that's it. They have nothing left
that they can trade. Like,

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00:23:57,319 --> 00:24:00,680
so I've given up all their picks. I'll give up Terrence. That's it.

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00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:07,200
They don't have anything else. And
I think he represents the last bastion

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00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:12,519
of trade equity for the team,
but also on court value that they can

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00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,920
both kind of maximize on the floor
and off if they need to. I

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00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,519
know he's older than people think,
but I think with his extension, he

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00:24:22,519 --> 00:24:26,000
could technically be on the books for
five and seventy eight million dollars. That

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00:24:26,079 --> 00:24:30,559
is a fucking fantastically team friendly deal. If he signs that, I would

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00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:34,039
say, considering he would also be
like to thirty two years old, it

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00:24:34,079 --> 00:24:37,960
would actually be crazy. Yeah,
And I think it's a no brainer for

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00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,759
the Clippers to offer him that extension, I'm uncertain. I have no idea

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00:24:42,759 --> 00:24:48,200
if you would actually accept that actual
extension, just because like in the marketplace,

331
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,920
that is so far below his actual
value that like it's not disrespectful to

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00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,119
him, but it is like like
you look at what he does and you're

333
00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,160
like, that's there's there's gonna be. Why is this coming off season to

334
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:04,599
make that who are not as good? Yeah? For sure, I have

335
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,279
some other rotation questions, But looking
specifically at these three where Terrence Man,

336
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,319
Paul George Kawhi Leonard, how do
you want to see them flesh out the

337
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,319
lineups around them? We know how
they might start, will be a lot

338
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,519
of there will be one big on
the court plumble or zoobox with thems at

339
00:25:19,559 --> 00:25:22,359
all times. Do you see it
being maybe more of a combo big where

340
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,440
Robert Covington is in there. I'm
just how do you think they can optimize

341
00:25:26,519 --> 00:25:33,720
those? Like what is the best
lineup combination for those three? So they

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00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:40,559
experimented with long ball last year,
and in the conversations with them, they

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00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,000
believe the reason it didn't go so
well was quite simply just because Kawhi and

344
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:49,119
PG were hurt, and Ties told
me that, you know, when those

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00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,440
two are healthy, it makes obviously
it makes their lives easier. But when

346
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:59,480
they go smaller, it's not as
much of a detriment. And they need

347
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,920
those two to be healthy and a
lot. And if you put Terrence with

348
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,319
them, you kind of have the
makings of you can go so many,

349
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,880
so many routes that it really does
give you greater light up flexibility. I

350
00:26:14,039 --> 00:26:19,720
like Roco alongside them. I think
for what he provides, which is back

351
00:26:19,759 --> 00:26:25,440
line defense, has been not a
problem for them, but it doesn't hurt

352
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,920
to have another guy who you know
can be a rim protector. He's got

353
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,440
very fast hands and passy lanes.
There was a play yesterday, uh in

354
00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:41,359
the preseason game where he read a
pass right in front of him that was

355
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,640
actually it was such a fast reaction
that when he moved his hand and the

356
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,839
ball hit his hand, it was
it's the loudest I've ever heard a ball

357
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,559
hit a hand that like, actually
didn't swat at the ball, he just

358
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,720
put his hand there and it was
so loud. And that's just that's just

359
00:26:56,759 --> 00:27:00,880
how fast he is. And I
think Roco has to play more. But

360
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,720
Zoo's gonna be the guy who achres
the defense for them alongside the stars.

361
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:11,039
Just because he is so unselfish and
was Zoo. They have maximized their value

362
00:27:11,039 --> 00:27:17,680
with him, especially around the stars, because Zou's so malleable. He does

363
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,880
all the little things. He screens. He's their best screener obviously, and

364
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,960
he's mastered or begun to master the
Gortat screen in the paint, which has

365
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,960
been a nice little thing. Everyone
loves playing with them. It's just they

366
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,839
have a lot of options. But
I also think that's a bad thing.

367
00:27:36,039 --> 00:27:38,160
I think it messed with them last
year, and I do think a lot

368
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:44,680
of options is not necessarily the best
way forward. I think that they sometimes

369
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,200
lose the forest for the trees,
so to speak. Where they have all

370
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,720
these guys who and they talk about
their depth and like, oh, we

371
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,279
should play this guy and this guy
and this guy. Well, you can't

372
00:27:56,279 --> 00:27:59,880
play everybody. And if you play, if you try to play everybody,

373
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,559
that's how stuff gets jumbled and you
know, it gets out of whack.

374
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,400
So like a guy like Norma Powell
for instance, has to play, but

375
00:28:07,559 --> 00:28:11,000
where like, how do you play
him? Because you have Bodes Hyland,

376
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,519
who you've said is your backup point
guard, and you've kind of seen how

377
00:28:15,519 --> 00:28:19,079
he fits around the Stars, at
least in preseason. But like it throws

378
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:23,559
stuff out of whack that there's a
lot of uncertainty line up wise that I

379
00:28:23,599 --> 00:28:26,720
think they're gonna have to figure out. It's not easy to figure that out.

380
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,359
Among the many options that they have
now is kJ Martin, which for

381
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,000
the value, great pickup. We
know what he brings in terms of athleticism,

382
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,319
his room pressure. What type of
role do you expect him to have

383
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,839
on this team though, because he
can be if he even though he is

384
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:52,319
malleable on defense. So in Hawaii
for Trading camp, Ty said he views

385
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:57,480
him as a three, four and
five. I don't think he's a three.

386
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:03,119
I just think that's wishful thing.
He needs to take slash make more

387
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:08,039
threes for that to even be right, and they're trying to get him to

388
00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:11,680
do that. They are dialing stuff
up for him. To his credit,

389
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:17,039
in the preseason game in Hawaii,
he did relocate from one corner along the

390
00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:19,200
baseline to the other and he made
that three. It was very nice and

391
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,200
you're like, Okay, well,
least he knows how to do that,

392
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,119
which was a little bit of a
worry coming from Houston and how they played,

393
00:29:26,839 --> 00:29:30,119
Like not to sound like, you
know, how many relocation threes he

394
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,119
hit while in Houston, I'll take
the under whatever over under your setting.

395
00:29:34,279 --> 00:29:37,000
Yeah, I mean the way that
Houston played, not to sound disrespectful to

396
00:29:37,039 --> 00:29:41,680
the Houston Rockets, but it wasn't
exactly the most keymrians that approach to basketball.

397
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,680
So you know, it's probably a
little bit of a culture shock to

398
00:29:45,759 --> 00:29:48,519
him, which he has said has
been a little bit of a culture shock

399
00:29:48,559 --> 00:29:55,000
to him since coming here. A
lot will rely on whether or not I

400
00:29:55,039 --> 00:29:57,680
won't say makes threes, but takes
them. You just got to take them.

401
00:29:57,759 --> 00:30:00,920
I don't like, you know,
have to make thirty, but you

402
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,160
gotta at least take take the ones
that you're being given. It's I've equated

403
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,319
that to the Marcus smartification, whereas
he's had years where he hits a good

404
00:30:11,319 --> 00:30:15,799
amount of his threes, but like
he takes them, and so defenses react

405
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:21,000
to him in different ways than right
his shooting percentage would imply there is a

406
00:30:21,039 --> 00:30:22,519
respect that is given, like,
oh, this guy's taking like Dylan Brooks,

407
00:30:22,519 --> 00:30:26,240
for instance, not a good three
point shooter, but teams do close

408
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:32,799
out on him because regular right,
yeah, yeah, because if you're willing

409
00:30:32,839 --> 00:30:34,319
to take them, teams will respect
that. They have to come out to

410
00:30:34,359 --> 00:30:41,119
defend you, so he has to
take threes. But I think they also

411
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,160
just viewed as a five. I
think he is their small ball five.

412
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,559
He's played there in preseason. Mason
probably missed the game on Tuesday, so

413
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:56,319
kJ got back up five minutes.
Second preseason game in Seattle, Zoom missed

414
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:57,759
I think all about the first like
five or six minutes of the game,

415
00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:03,400
so kJ got backup center minutes behind
Mason. They view him as a five

416
00:31:04,119 --> 00:31:10,160
and as a four. They like
him defensively a lot. They like him

417
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:15,920
in transition. Obviously, I will
say there's been a little bit of a

418
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:19,039
surprise to me. At least when
he sets screens. He is a willing

419
00:31:19,119 --> 00:31:22,440
passer. I think that's been like
a thing that's kind of like jumped out.

420
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,359
But of all the guys in that
like four or five range for them,

421
00:31:30,119 --> 00:31:33,359
he might be the guy who doesn't
see as many minutes as he probably

422
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,480
should because he is younger. But
while he gives them more athleticism, I

423
00:31:38,519 --> 00:31:44,640
do think that they value spacing so
much that it becomes very hard to play

424
00:31:44,799 --> 00:31:52,200
him and either plumbly or zoo together
alongside a guy like Russ like that becomes

425
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,839
like such a stranglehold of spacing that
I'm not sure how that works. You

426
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:02,440
already mentioned that they're defense took that
downslide after a pretty good start last year.

427
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,279
We know they were dealing with injuries. That's the caveat with this team

428
00:32:06,319 --> 00:32:09,079
on everything. What was sort of
the root cause for that? Was it

429
00:32:09,119 --> 00:32:14,160
this lack of athleticism or point or
speed at the point of attack. Was

430
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,240
it simply just not being committed to
getting back in transition enough on some of

431
00:32:17,279 --> 00:32:22,200
the live ball possessions. Just what
really? What were some of the biggest

432
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,480
factors that went wrong there? To
put it bluntly, as players have said,

433
00:32:25,599 --> 00:32:30,119
old, they were just old.
They had old players trying to defend

434
00:32:30,119 --> 00:32:34,960
in space at the point of attack
that didn't go well. And I think

435
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,960
they feel that, you know,
with kJ if Terrence plays more, even

436
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:44,359
with Bones who, while not a
great defender, is still youthful and athletic

437
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,720
enough to at least, you know, give you good minutes there. I

438
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,799
think they feel that their defense at
the point of attack, especially will at

439
00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:58,200
least be someone improved. They just
got destroyed at the point of attack.

440
00:32:58,279 --> 00:33:04,000
Last year, it put have been
a rotation so much that they just it

441
00:33:04,119 --> 00:33:07,079
was really bad. Like I have
no other thing to say that it was

442
00:33:07,119 --> 00:33:10,279
really bad like it was. It
was. It got disheartening to watch at

443
00:33:10,319 --> 00:33:15,960
times because you could see guys who
they weren't quite used to having this happen.

444
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,240
And there were half court possessions with
them a lot of the times,

445
00:33:20,319 --> 00:33:22,039
like sort of after the first I
don't know, like fifteen or twenty games,

446
00:33:22,039 --> 00:33:25,920
where it felt like their players looked
like they were children lost in a

447
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:30,759
supermarket searching for their parents. Like
that's well, like that that's my super

448
00:33:30,759 --> 00:33:34,240
technical analysis of like kind of what
happened at points of the Clippers defense.

449
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,240
Yeah, they it was a lot
of It was a lot of standing around

450
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:44,079
and kind of trying to figure out
why it was happening rather than just making

451
00:33:44,119 --> 00:33:46,599
the next rotation and that happens,
Like I get it, it happens.

452
00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:52,000
It was just very bad, and
they're they're working to fix it. They've

453
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,799
been running a ton. The one
thing we've been hearing about training camp is

454
00:33:54,759 --> 00:33:59,680
they've been running and trying to get
into condition. There's been some thought that

455
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:04,880
they just weren't in the conditioned well
enough last season that they got worn down,

456
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,480
especially because of injuries. But the
big change that they've talked about making

457
00:34:08,519 --> 00:34:13,760
this year is they're gonna try to
stop playing as much drop and pick and

458
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,800
roll. They're gonna try to They're
gonna try to start coming to the level

459
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:21,639
of the screen a lot more.
Uh. They have felt that by playing

460
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,000
dropped so much, it got guys
comfortable with not having to move their feet

461
00:34:25,039 --> 00:34:29,840
as much. Uh, not center
oriented, so to speak, but like

462
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,360
just guys on the perimeter didn't have
to actually, you know, move their

463
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,000
feet as much, and then they
got beat on rotation, et cetera.

464
00:34:37,039 --> 00:34:38,159
So they're gonna try to come to
the level of the stream more. Which

465
00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:43,400
Mason Plumbley, that's that's the defense
he loves to play. I remember when

466
00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:47,119
his first interview with the Clippers after
they got him, he said, uh,

467
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:50,719
when he got asked like what type
of defense he excels at, he

468
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:52,360
says, I love to play at
the level of the stream. I don't

469
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,800
like playing drop. I don't like
playing drop a lot. Well, Zoo

470
00:34:54,840 --> 00:35:00,159
plays drop a lot, so Zoo's
having to adjust to that. So I'm

471
00:35:00,159 --> 00:35:07,440
sorry. There's a dog, so
Zoo plays drop a lot and he's having

472
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:09,960
to get used to it. But
all all signs from Tye and the coaching

473
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:15,000
staff point to Zoo, uh figure, getting pretty good at it and figured

474
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,320
it out. So so we'll see. I mean, you know, they

475
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:22,320
have a lot to work on defensively, but all signs, based on what

476
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,039
they've said so far in training camp
is that they're getting it. And I

477
00:35:24,079 --> 00:35:29,039
will say that their defense has been
good in preseason. It's been pretty good,

478
00:35:29,039 --> 00:35:31,559
and you know, at least they
can take that to the bank in

479
00:35:31,599 --> 00:35:37,360
preseason, I will say, I
would. I have some questions about ken

480
00:35:37,599 --> 00:35:40,320
Zu bots play that higher up that
consistently, but he's always kind of had

481
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:45,159
better foot speed than he's credited with, and so I am I'm still curious

482
00:35:45,159 --> 00:35:47,920
as to whether it'll work. But
I think it's a lot of people view

483
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,480
him as some plotting big and he's
not that. And so I'm very intrigued

484
00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:55,559
because I've not seen a lot of
them in a lot of their preseason possessions.

485
00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:59,119
So I'm very intrigued to see how
that would work out. Because I

486
00:35:59,119 --> 00:36:01,440
don't think it'll I wouldn't guarantee it, but I don't think like, I

487
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:06,800
think it's fully possible that he can
work well in that type of a scheme.

488
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:13,159
Yeah, he's his hip rotation isn't
the most fluid, But I also

489
00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,519
don't think they're worried about that,
especially if they have like Kawai and PG

490
00:36:16,679 --> 00:36:20,800
on the back line able to kind
of help out, because I don't think

491
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,800
it's a thing that they're gonna worry
about. I do think this is good

492
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,800
for him. I do think he's
needed to play more to the level of

493
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,840
the screen. I think the team
just got way too comfortable and Drop,

494
00:36:30,119 --> 00:36:36,440
and you know, they seeded a
lot of stuff to guards. They they

495
00:36:36,639 --> 00:36:39,760
for years they've had problems with smaller
well not smaller, but just quicker guards

496
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:45,559
have given them problems, and I
think Drop was their way of like trying

497
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:51,159
to somewhat contain it. But they
needed to go in a different direction.

498
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:57,119
They needed to try a holistic approach
where, look, we might give up

499
00:36:57,119 --> 00:37:00,400
stuff to guards, but we need
to shut down everybody else and coming to

500
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,719
the level of screen is the best
way to do that. So we'll see.

501
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:07,400
I mean, I'm curious how it
goes. I'm curious how many games

502
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,159
at last. I'm curious, you
know, we could get a month into

503
00:37:10,159 --> 00:37:13,880
the season, they just decided to
scrap it because it's not going well.

504
00:37:14,559 --> 00:37:16,480
But you know, based on their
analytical stuff, they think that this is

505
00:37:16,519 --> 00:37:22,719
the best way forward. They've talked
more about pacing, pushing the pace,

506
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:25,199
and we saw that you already mentioned
it. When Russ was there, they

507
00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:30,920
got some more transition ops. Is
this team built to play that way consistently?

508
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:35,039
And are there any other aside from
that? Just offensive concerns? Do

509
00:37:35,079 --> 00:37:37,280
they have enough you know, higher
volume outs. They have guys who can

510
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:42,000
hit threes, but will they take
them in enough volume? Like what are

511
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,679
some of the offensive tenants or concerns
that you are just wondering about heading into

512
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:52,039
the regular season. I do wonder
if they can actually play fast. Look,

513
00:37:52,199 --> 00:37:57,199
they can play fast. I do
wonder if they can have the mindset

514
00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:02,320
to just play fast more often.
In conversations with Time over the last year,

515
00:38:04,159 --> 00:38:09,599
he has described pace to me as
more of not getting up and down

516
00:38:09,639 --> 00:38:14,559
the court faster, but just getting
into your stuff quicker. Yeah, and

517
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:20,760
so they don't fully subscribe to pace
as more of like, all right,

518
00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,559
we're gonna get one hundred and three
possessions per game here, They subscribe it

519
00:38:23,639 --> 00:38:27,039
more to like, all right,
are we actually getting into our stuff quicker,

520
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,400
which then allows us to yield a
higher points for possession in the long

521
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:36,360
run. But that's on the stars. Everything is on the stars. Kawhim

522
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,480
pg like, you know, to
slow it down. They like to take

523
00:38:39,519 --> 00:38:43,840
their time. There's nothing wrong with
that. Their offense with the two on

524
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:47,039
the floor has been so good over
the years that you understand why they are,

525
00:38:47,519 --> 00:38:51,360
you know, like that. But
they need to they do need to

526
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,920
play it a little bit quicker at
times. They they don't value possessions as

527
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,639
much as they should. They they
are careless with the ball. Tis talked

528
00:38:59,639 --> 00:39:05,079
about it for a while that they
they just make way too many sloppy passes

529
00:39:05,079 --> 00:39:09,280
and mistakes. And the one thing
he can't stand is jump passes, like

530
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:13,800
if you're just if you're jumping to
pass without knowing where you're going. That

531
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,400
is the quickest way to just irritate
them. And it's very easy to see

532
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:27,400
on the sideline like when he when
that happens. They their mission this year

533
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:31,280
shouldn't be to play at a very
fast tempo. It should just be to

534
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:36,480
play at a tempo that is conducive
to not getting bogged down as often.

535
00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:40,239
Too many possessions over the years have
gotten bogged down to the point where it's

536
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:44,639
five seconds on the shot clock and
now you're asking Kawhi and PG to go

537
00:39:44,679 --> 00:39:47,280
create something out of nothing from thirty
feet away, and that's not the best

538
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:52,239
way. So they got to figure
that out. I think they can,

539
00:39:52,599 --> 00:39:57,079
but they do need to start playing
a little bit quicker. They hope that

540
00:39:57,199 --> 00:40:00,320
kJ will allow that. They hope
that Russ will allow all that. The

541
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:06,239
one thing I will say in Russ's
favor is I think attacking and secondary transition

542
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,360
has been a lot better with him
than it has been with anyone else on

543
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,880
the team outside of Terrence. I
think Terrence is their best at it,

544
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:21,079
but Russell allows them to take possessions
off, so to speak, because they

545
00:40:21,159 --> 00:40:22,920
don't have to run up and down
the floor as much. Russell go do

546
00:40:23,039 --> 00:40:28,079
something and make or miss. You
know, at least the possession guys don't

547
00:40:28,119 --> 00:40:30,760
have to fully run out the floor. I know that sounds like weird,

548
00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:35,519
but it's energy you don't have to
expend, Yeah, for sure. And

549
00:40:35,519 --> 00:40:38,239
I really do think the point you
made with Sailing about how it's not just

550
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:43,159
pace is not just getting out in
transition, even semi transition. It's just

551
00:40:43,199 --> 00:40:45,480
I like to look at the average
offensive possession time. It was like before

552
00:40:45,559 --> 00:40:50,159
Russ made his debut, I think
they were twenty fifth in average offensive possessions

553
00:40:50,159 --> 00:40:52,239
time. With Russ they were twelve. Maybe twelfth's a little and I mean

554
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:57,519
we're talking about the seconds are just
so minor that separates from twenty five,

555
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,920
but they matter because they kind of
dictate, like where your shots or one

556
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,199
of your shots coming in the shot
clock. Are we able just to go

557
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,039
through some of the non or the
younger non two way players on this roster

558
00:41:08,079 --> 00:41:12,360
and just get your general impressions and
where you think they're headed with this team.

559
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,039
So let's start with Brandon Boston Junior. And I guess the big question

560
00:41:15,079 --> 00:41:24,039
with him is is that left knee
stuff serious. They're giving the inclination that

561
00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:30,480
it's not as serious as it could
be. I feel bad for him because

562
00:41:31,639 --> 00:41:36,639
I want to say he only played
like eight seconds or no, it was

563
00:41:36,679 --> 00:41:39,039
like fifty seconds of preseason the first
game, and then he had to leave

564
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:46,760
in Hawaii with the injury. He's
had a lost offseason. He didn't play

565
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:52,280
Summer League, which was a little
bit surprising. They wanted him to work

566
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:54,320
on his player development, which he
has. They're very high on him,

567
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,400
but then you know, you only
get fifty seconds of preseason basketball. You

568
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,119
don't know what you don't know what
you're gonna get after that. They believe

569
00:42:02,119 --> 00:42:07,880
the sky is the limit with him
as an offensive player. There are worries

570
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:15,559
for me, and this is just
me talking. I do worry about his

571
00:42:17,119 --> 00:42:22,800
ability to get stuck in tunnel vision
and not really pass the ball when he

572
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:29,679
should. It's been a little bit
of a problem from watching games. But

573
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,400
the talent is clearly there. They
believe in it. They you know,

574
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,079
we saw it in a game against
Boston. I believe he had twenty seven

575
00:42:36,119 --> 00:42:39,719
that night. The other his rookie
year, I believe it was. They

576
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:44,039
believe in his talent. I don't
think the injury is anything serious. I

577
00:42:44,079 --> 00:42:47,159
saw him yesterday. He was moving
around five. But it's never a good

578
00:42:47,159 --> 00:42:51,360
when you don't play, especially in
preseason. Those are lost reps. I

579
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,920
don't know where he's gonna get the
reps during the season. I don't know

580
00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:58,239
if he goes back down to the
G League for a couple of weeks and

581
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,360
just tries to get it there.
But you know, time is ticking.

582
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:06,800
This is his third year. Something
has to be shown. I know very

583
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,719
little about Kobe Brown, aside from
his NBA frame is viewed as just ready,

584
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:16,119
are you able to give me the
lowdown on him? Very very good

585
00:43:16,199 --> 00:43:21,320
NBA frame is what I will say, very strong guy in Summer League.

586
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:27,639
He bullied people. Excuse me,
especially down Lowie bullied people. The shot

587
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:31,280
is the biggest question mark with him. He didn't shoot well in college until

588
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:37,960
his last year. I'm so sorry, but they believe in a shot.

589
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:43,199
They believe in the improvement that he's
had, so it'll all come down to

590
00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:45,639
that. They like his defense.
He's got very quick hands, He's very

591
00:43:45,639 --> 00:43:51,719
strong. His hands are I would
actually say he would rival Kawhi in my

592
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:55,920
opinion for the strongest hands on the
team. Comparable to size. Comparable to

593
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,960
size. There are times a guy
will drive and he will literally grab the

594
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:07,840
ball with his hand and just yanke
him down. It's very remarkable. But

595
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:12,920
it's gonna come down to his shot. That's the biggest thing. There's a

596
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,159
player who I know a lot about
but don't necessarily know what the Clippers are

597
00:44:16,199 --> 00:44:19,519
hoping to get from him or their
plans for him. What do you make

598
00:44:19,559 --> 00:44:23,159
of bones Highlands. They're all in
on him. They're all in the bones.

599
00:44:23,199 --> 00:44:28,679
That's their backup point guard. They
love them. He can light it

600
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:32,199
up. Everyone knows he can light
it up. But he's been trying to

601
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:36,599
tell people he is a point guard. He's not just a scoring guard.

602
00:44:36,599 --> 00:44:39,280
He has a point guard. I
actually had an interesting conversation with him yesterday

603
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:45,119
in the locker room before he did
his media availability, because I noticed he's

604
00:44:45,119 --> 00:44:49,320
been getting a lot better at putting
defenders in jail, in picking rolls.

605
00:44:50,039 --> 00:44:52,039
So I want to ask him about
us, you know, like how have

606
00:44:52,119 --> 00:44:55,159
you improved? And he said,
it's just been the repetitions. He said

607
00:44:55,159 --> 00:44:59,199
he has more reps now than he
did before, so he's able to work

608
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:01,239
on it a lot more. But
he said he's always had that natural instinct.

609
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:04,719
And he said, you know,
so I asked him, I said,

610
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,360
you know, do you watch anybody
like Chris Paul Jalen Brunson. He

611
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:08,599
said, yeah, he goes.
I watch a lot of guys and then

612
00:45:08,599 --> 00:45:10,880
I try to implement a little bit
of you know, a little bit here

613
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,039
and there to kind of figure it
out. But he he wants people to

614
00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:20,039
know he's a passer who can score
well. He does struggle around the rim

615
00:45:20,039 --> 00:45:22,280
in his career. In preseason,
he's been very good on twos. I

616
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,840
think he came into yesterday. I
believe it was like ten or fourteen on

617
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:29,360
twos. And he's gotten a lot. Yeah, he's gotten a lot better.

618
00:45:29,559 --> 00:45:31,239
He's gotten a lot better around the
rim, especially in preseason. He's

619
00:45:32,039 --> 00:45:37,760
he's added craft to your finishes.
It was actually funny because yesterday, I

620
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:42,360
believe it was the third three pointer
he attempted in the game he made it,

621
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,559
which was the first three he's made
off preseason. He was O eleven

622
00:45:45,639 --> 00:45:50,800
before that, so he made everything
inside the arc basically, but nothing outside.

623
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:53,360
They believe in his range, they
believe in his passing, they believe

624
00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:58,920
in his scoring. For him,
it'll come down to defense, toughness,

625
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,360
and whether or not he's able to
fit in around the guys around him.

626
00:46:02,039 --> 00:46:09,880
From a from an unsolft standpoint,
to not get too stuck in the moment

627
00:46:10,679 --> 00:46:15,559
trying to do too much. We
have to go here. The James Harden

628
00:46:15,639 --> 00:46:19,360
stuff, and I think when you
mentioned that the Clippers have decided that Bones

629
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:22,639
Highland is their backup point guard.
As much as I loved the first part

630
00:46:22,639 --> 00:46:25,239
of the Bones experience in Denver and
still believe in him as a player.

631
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:29,599
I think you can kind of understand
then why James Harden appeals to this team

632
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:34,079
for his playmaking predominantly and then just
having that extra star body when Kwi PG

633
00:46:34,159 --> 00:46:39,559
you're out at the same time he
runs so counterintuitive to playing faster. The

634
00:46:39,599 --> 00:46:43,639
whole thing with Russell, Westbrook and
Houston didn't really end that well, and

635
00:46:43,679 --> 00:46:45,280
so you're just gonna get those dudes
back together. I'm sure they'd be fine

636
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:50,719
personally. What do you before getting
into what the Clippers have been willing or

637
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,280
not willing to give up, what
do you even make of a perspective James

638
00:46:53,280 --> 00:47:00,280
Harden fit on this team. Uh, it's interesting, right, because,

639
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:04,280
like it's not just like you plug
him in and that's it. Like he

640
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:09,480
is his own ecosystem. It's not
like a Bradley Beale where you're able to

641
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:15,440
just throw Bradley Beal in and you
know it just it's fine with James.

642
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:20,800
He needs the ball so much that
you do wonder how much it's gonna affect

643
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:24,320
Kawhi and PG and to a lesser
extent, Russ. It's not really gonna

644
00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:30,519
affect guys like Zoo that much because
you know that's not his role. I'm

645
00:47:30,519 --> 00:47:34,800
a little concerned about the fit,
but I also get it. I get

646
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:40,760
it. I get that they're if
if their game plan is to take some

647
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:45,679
of the burden off Kawi and PG, James makes sense. But what it's

648
00:47:45,679 --> 00:47:51,000
hard for me to come to terms
with is if your goal was to take

649
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:55,159
some of the pressure off of Kawhi
and pg's shoulders, and that's why you

650
00:47:55,239 --> 00:48:02,079
got Russ, why do you need
James, right. So that's the interesting

651
00:48:02,159 --> 00:48:07,360
question to me, and I'm not
sure they have the best answer yet.

652
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:14,480
I would have again, I understand
the theory. I would just have I

653
00:48:14,519 --> 00:48:17,000
would be more. I would understand
it more, support it more. And

654
00:48:17,039 --> 00:48:20,719
I'm not even sure whether I'm supporting
I support her against it. If James

655
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:23,440
Harden was used as a player who
was not even just easy, but you

656
00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:28,760
can envision fitting into the larger context
of a system. Last year was probably

657
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,559
his most adaptable year, and less
than thirteen percent of his shots came his

658
00:48:31,639 --> 00:48:37,679
catching shoot threes. That's just that's
a ball dominance that is so bizarre.

659
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:39,760
When you have Kawhi PG, you're
great at playing off the ball, But

660
00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:43,320
Kawhi PG, you're also great at
playing on the ball, and now you

661
00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:46,559
have Russ and I'm also wondering to
you. And this gets into the asking

662
00:48:46,599 --> 00:48:50,360
price. It seems like the Clippers
might be going to give up one unprotected

663
00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,639
first and a swap in salary or
something close to maybe another swap in there.

664
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:57,599
The Terrence Man stuff, people like, We'll just give up Terrence Man

665
00:48:57,639 --> 00:49:00,360
if it gets you James Harden.
I view that, yes, the vote

666
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:02,280
of confidence in Terrence Mann, but
I do also think there has to be

667
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:07,400
a level of skepticism within the organization. He's headed into free agencies. He

668
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:09,239
has not been a good postseason player. It's just a fact. At this

669
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:14,840
point. This has to speak to
how much they actually value James Harden to

670
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:16,440
where, yes, they might be
in on the sweepstakes, but the idea

671
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:22,199
that they're all in or are sure
that this could work, I think that

672
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:29,480
they've telegraphed they're not. Yeah,
look, if they were all in on

673
00:49:29,559 --> 00:49:32,920
him, it would have been done
months ago. It's that simple. We

674
00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:37,400
wouldn't be you know what is it
six days from the beginning of the season,

675
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:43,719
and this would still be a topic
of conversation when you look at it.

676
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:52,559
James is an interesting guy. Obviously
everyone knows it's it's such a weird

677
00:49:52,679 --> 00:49:58,639
fit from an off the ball standpoint. But yet I get it on the

678
00:49:58,719 --> 00:50:02,480
ball because at the ball in James's
hands, Kawhi and PG can play off

679
00:50:02,519 --> 00:50:07,840
the ball and then you and then
defenders have to try to leverage spacing to

680
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:14,000
where they can stop James picking rolls
and and keep an eye on Kawhi and

681
00:50:14,039 --> 00:50:17,239
PG. But like, James is
not a good off the ball player to

682
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:22,360
the point where if Kawhi and PG
have the ball, defenders don't care about

683
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:23,760
James. They know he's not gonna
He's not a catching shoo guy, as

684
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:29,280
he pointed out, and he's been
going to the rim less I believe.

685
00:50:30,079 --> 00:50:34,400
So like there is there is a
worry, and then there's the well,

686
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,920
you know, he he has to
hit free agency, like you can't extend

687
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:42,559
him. So is he gonna resign? Is he not going to resign?

688
00:50:42,679 --> 00:50:45,679
It's a big gamble, Like yeah, if James comes to the Clippers,

689
00:50:45,679 --> 00:50:50,079
he's home, He's back in LA. I get it. That doesn't mean

690
00:50:50,119 --> 00:50:53,360
anything. I think it means more
with Kawhi and PG than it does for

691
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:58,440
James. At this point. Even
now he's supposed to be in filling,

692
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,559
he's in Houston, He's not in
La, so right, you know,

693
00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:07,119
I've always heard Houston is the La
of Texas, so you know. And

694
00:51:07,159 --> 00:51:09,679
so when it just comes down to
it, what is would you make the

695
00:51:09,719 --> 00:51:13,760
trade? What is the if you're
the Clippers, what is actually your hard

696
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:16,239
line? Would you give up the
max picks and swaps but not terrorists?

697
00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:20,440
Man? Like? What is the
max that you yourself would give up to

698
00:51:20,519 --> 00:51:24,199
get him? So that's the interesting
part. I think the Clippers are trying

699
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:30,679
to to to weigh whether or not
the picks are worth it. I think,

700
00:51:31,079 --> 00:51:35,079
especially because of the new CBA,
and I've talked to people within the

701
00:51:35,159 --> 00:51:42,239
organization about it that look, if
you're going to be in the second apron

702
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:45,199
and you have no way below the
second apron, you might as well just

703
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:49,960
go all in and just blow past
it, and your picks get frozen.

704
00:51:51,119 --> 00:51:54,119
And then I believe they get frozen
the last pick in the round after a

705
00:51:54,119 --> 00:51:58,920
certain amount of years. So like, maybe there's no downside to them,

706
00:51:58,920 --> 00:52:00,639
Maybe the pick they give up is
the last pick in the draft. You

707
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:07,079
never know, but they are cognizant
of the new CBA. The reason is

708
00:52:07,119 --> 00:52:09,519
taking so long. And yes,
people are gonna say, well because they

709
00:52:09,519 --> 00:52:14,079
don't want to include Terrence Man,
that's partially it. But the new CBA

710
00:52:14,159 --> 00:52:16,400
has been the driving course behind why
this is taking so long. They know

711
00:52:16,559 --> 00:52:19,760
now that they can only give up. I believe it's one hundred and five

712
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:24,559
percent of the salary to get up, and their their plan is to kind

713
00:52:24,639 --> 00:52:31,400
of wait Philadelphia out to where you
know they're gonna make it hurt Philadelphia to

714
00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:37,400
keep waiting and keep waiting and keep
waiting. But that's also a dangerous game

715
00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:39,519
because they have a guy that apparently
the Clippers do want, you know,

716
00:52:39,639 --> 00:52:43,719
and if they because if the Clippers
didn't want that, we wouldn't hear for

717
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:49,159
months and months about how long down
the road these talks have gone. It

718
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:52,599
just comes down to whether or not
they believe that the risk is worth it.

719
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:57,920
And if James leaves, they're left
holding the bag going into free agency,

720
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,760
where you know your look that a
team that doesn't have Kawhi and PG

721
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:07,000
under contract if they opt out,
so and you go into a new arena.

722
00:53:07,119 --> 00:53:09,599
That new arena is another driving force
for them where they have to weigh

723
00:53:09,679 --> 00:53:13,559
the risk of look, if we
trade for James, you better be here

724
00:53:13,559 --> 00:53:16,639
for the new arena because we need
fans to come into it. And that

725
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:21,559
leads me to ask, what is
the level of urgency this team is operating

726
00:53:21,639 --> 00:53:24,800
with leading into this season? And
I mean this in the sense of there's

727
00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:28,360
the new arena, you have Kuhi, PG or getting older and that's the

728
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:30,920
other thing. So you have Russ
thirty four, James, Harden's thirty four,

729
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:34,400
Pg's thirty three, Kui thirty two. Like that is your window is

730
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:37,079
super finite if you make that deal. But is this is their interest in

731
00:53:37,159 --> 00:53:40,920
Harden? More about this matter of
opportunity or let's throw the hard and stuff

732
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:44,440
off the table. Let's say he
goes somewhere else, or it's just it's

733
00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:46,639
not the Clippers. Would they be
prepared to put these same picks on the

734
00:53:46,679 --> 00:53:51,119
table for someone else, not just
in an offseason, but in the middle

735
00:53:51,639 --> 00:53:52,960
of the year. And I know
it's a hard question to answer now,

736
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:55,519
but I think with them specifically,
you could argue, well, they should

737
00:53:55,559 --> 00:53:59,199
only do it if they get off
to a hot start. But then you

738
00:53:59,199 --> 00:54:01,199
look at the contract situations, the
age of PG and Kawhi, the new

739
00:54:01,199 --> 00:54:04,840
arena coming up, you can also
argue if they don't get off to a

740
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,440
great start, that might be the
nudge to know. But like, we

741
00:54:07,519 --> 00:54:12,159
need to go and make this kind
of splashing movie. I think they're I

742
00:54:12,159 --> 00:54:15,440
think they're handicapped and making a move
regardless, I don't think that this roster

743
00:54:16,840 --> 00:54:21,039
can be just run back, not
after last season. I think so much

744
00:54:21,039 --> 00:54:24,559
went wrong last season on the court, off the court, behind the scenes,

745
00:54:24,679 --> 00:54:31,199
that running it back without a move
at any point during the season is

746
00:54:31,639 --> 00:54:37,199
not not a good idea. I
don't know what players out there besides James

747
00:54:38,119 --> 00:54:44,880
that would interest them. Months ago, I wrote that Zach Levine would be

748
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:50,239
a guy that that they should go
after if he became available. Obviously,

749
00:54:50,920 --> 00:54:53,920
the price point for Leavina would be
higher than for Harden. He's locked into

750
00:54:53,960 --> 00:55:01,920
more years, he's younger, he's
been healthier. I just for the Clippers

751
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:05,719
that are locked into a deal,
they have to do something. But you're

752
00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:07,880
right, if they get off to
a great start, hey, we have

753
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:10,960
to maximize us while we can.
If they don't get off to a great

754
00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:15,079
start, well how can we turn
this around? And I kind of just

755
00:55:15,119 --> 00:55:20,400
feel like they have to do something. But whether or not they do something

756
00:55:20,599 --> 00:55:23,719
is entirely contingent upon whether the price
point that they're willing to give up is

757
00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:29,440
met by the team willing to give
up something else. Like if Philly is

758
00:55:29,559 --> 00:55:35,239
adamant that they it's okay that they
don't need Terrence, Okay, we'll take

759
00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:40,280
one pick and a slop. I
think it gets done today. Maury's holding

760
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:46,000
on and that's his right. Nothing
against him for that. It's just gonna

761
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:50,239
be a great game of chicken while
we get down to the season. People

762
00:55:50,239 --> 00:55:52,960
have tried to use the Ben Simmons
situation as an analog, and I do

763
00:55:52,039 --> 00:55:55,800
think that speaks to how long Dall
Moury's willing to let things get awkward.

764
00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:59,639
But there's just to me something different, And I've said this too many times

765
00:55:59,639 --> 00:56:01,639
at this point. When Ben Simmons
at the time, you were reportedly turning

766
00:56:01,679 --> 00:56:06,400
down offers that included Tyrese Haliburton,
and right now you can't get the Clippers

767
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:09,519
to include Terrence Mann. And so
there's just something that's different about this situation.

768
00:56:10,239 --> 00:56:14,679
Are you ready to enter the cookie
cutter portion of this podcast? Yep?

769
00:56:15,800 --> 00:56:19,800
But are there any strengths, weaknesses, concerns, storylines about this team

770
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:25,800
they're flying under the radar that we
have not discussed yet. Well, there's

771
00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:30,400
the whole Marcus Morris situation. I
guess whether or not I was trying to

772
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,840
will him out of the rotation for
Clippers fans. Sorry, well yeah,

773
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,480
I mean Clippers fans have been trying
to will him out of the rotation for

774
00:56:37,159 --> 00:56:38,920
you know, the last eight months, so you know, I think the

775
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:45,000
thing that gets lost with Marcus is
prior to a ribb injury he suffered against

776
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,920
the Lakers in January, he was
having a pretty good season and then the

777
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:51,880
ribb injury happened. He had to
miss I believe four or six games something

778
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:58,960
like that. He came back and
it was just disastrous. That situation is

779
00:56:59,039 --> 00:57:05,719
not great. There's a lot happening. He is injured right now. I

780
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:07,159
know people think that the reason he
hasn't been played is because they're trying to

781
00:57:07,239 --> 00:57:10,480
keep him healthy so that he doesn't
you know, if he's in a trade,

782
00:57:10,519 --> 00:57:14,719
blah blah blah. But he actually
did hurt his groin in training camp.

783
00:57:15,199 --> 00:57:19,360
That was a real thing that happened. He did work out on the

784
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:22,719
floor before Tuesday's game. I didn't
play, obviously, but might play Thursday.

785
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:31,920
That's just an awkward situation. It's
one that they need to figure out.

786
00:57:31,960 --> 00:57:36,440
And I think that's why the hardened
thing is so enticing to the Clippers,

787
00:57:36,480 --> 00:57:38,320
is because they can get off of
him. And if they're able to

788
00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:43,239
get off of Marcus, you know, with James, I kind of think

789
00:57:43,239 --> 00:57:45,519
they'll take that. But that's kind
of the only under the radar thing happening

790
00:57:45,519 --> 00:57:50,239
with the Clippers. There's really nothing
else. I mean, they're trying to

791
00:57:50,280 --> 00:57:54,360
take more threes, but they always
try to do that. So we'll see.

792
00:57:55,159 --> 00:58:00,480
When looking specifically at who will be
the top ten players used on this

793
00:58:00,519 --> 00:58:02,559
team, even if they're gonna shorten
the rotation or expand the rotation, does

794
00:58:02,559 --> 00:58:07,039
it feel like there's nine locks when
you're kind of looking at Okay, Russ,

795
00:58:07,039 --> 00:58:13,400
Paul, George Kawhi, Terrence man
Zubots, Norman Powell, Roco plumb

796
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:21,719
Lee and Buttom, Yes, it
was actually funny you mentioned this because just

797
00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:25,840
yesterday, Uh, there was a
there was four or five of us Clippers

798
00:58:25,840 --> 00:58:31,320
beat writers having the conversation of who
are the nine guys, Like, let's

799
00:58:31,320 --> 00:58:38,480
try to let's try to figure this
out, and so we settled on Russ,

800
00:58:38,519 --> 00:58:49,559
PG, Kawhi, Terrence Zoo norm
Nico Mason, and then we tried

801
00:58:49,559 --> 00:58:52,320
to figure it out from there because
I was seven seven, that was eight,

802
00:58:52,840 --> 00:58:55,119
and so we tried to find the
ninth guy. And it's like,

803
00:58:55,199 --> 00:58:59,960
Okay, some Knights, it could
be Kennyan, some Knights, it's gonna

804
00:58:59,960 --> 00:59:05,280
be Bones, and kind of beyond
that, it's really tough. Sometimes it's

805
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:10,039
gonna be Roco. I think the
ninth guy is very much in plus depending

806
00:59:10,039 --> 00:59:17,760
on who starts with the four and
who they're playing. There's no there's no

807
00:59:17,920 --> 00:59:22,840
set in the stone thing, and
it's it's very odd. And to that

808
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:27,920
end, do you expect them to
kind of shape shift and they're starting five

809
00:59:28,039 --> 00:59:30,000
depending on the matchup, or who
would you expect to get the you know,

810
00:59:30,079 --> 00:59:32,039
like, what do we expect the
starting line? It feels like there's

811
00:59:32,039 --> 00:59:37,360
three locks with Kawhi, PG and
Zubots and I'm like, as Russ,

812
00:59:37,519 --> 00:59:39,519
he's apparently gonna start if they view
Bones as their backup, and so like,

813
00:59:39,559 --> 00:59:43,159
how do you see the I know
a lot of people want Terrence Man

814
00:59:43,159 --> 00:59:45,199
to start, and there's definitely a
case for it, but then if you

815
00:59:45,199 --> 00:59:49,719
want to maximize your playmaking or just
optionality off the bench, having both him

816
00:59:49,719 --> 00:59:52,159
and bones as options make some sense, but you do have batomb still,

817
00:59:52,199 --> 00:59:55,199
So like, how how do how
do you expect that fifth spot on most

818
00:59:55,320 --> 01:00:00,000
nights to be filled? Well,
it's funny you have because I actual,

819
01:00:00,079 --> 01:00:02,559
she asked ty pregame yesterday. You
know, because it was a third different

820
01:00:02,639 --> 01:00:07,079
starter in that starting lineup for that
four spot. So I asked him,

821
01:00:07,079 --> 01:00:09,480
I said, do you want to
be like a bi committee or do you

822
01:00:09,519 --> 01:00:15,320
want an actual starter? And he
said he's thought about it in both aspects,

823
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:22,800
and he mentioned that it's likely to
be a position where they sub a

824
01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:25,840
guy in and then sub another guy
in a couple of games later, or

825
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:30,840
based on opponent, which is very
counterintuitive to the way that Ties operated.

826
01:00:31,159 --> 01:00:36,559
But as he also said yesterday,
quote I've evolved is how he said it.

827
01:00:37,039 --> 01:00:42,719
So, I mean, we'll see. I mean the common thought is

828
01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:45,880
that Terrence or Roco should get it. Nico's been a lot better with bench

829
01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:51,280
lineups, and he likes coming off
the bench a lot more. But we'll

830
01:00:51,280 --> 01:00:53,559
see. I mean, you know, you get five games in. If

831
01:00:53,559 --> 01:00:58,280
it's not going the way you want, don't make a switch. Tye likes

832
01:00:58,280 --> 01:01:02,559
ten to fifteen games sample sizes,
but the season was so much riding on

833
01:01:02,599 --> 01:01:07,599
the Clippers and how they perform if
they don't come out of the gates firing,

834
01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:10,159
especially when you look at their first
couple of games. I mean,

835
01:01:10,199 --> 01:01:15,960
they get they get Portland, they
get Utah, they get San Antonio,

836
01:01:15,199 --> 01:01:19,840
they get Orlando. They gotta go
four and Oh. If you start four

837
01:01:19,840 --> 01:01:23,239
and oh, I think everything's all
hunky Dorian. You know, everything's kumbaya.

838
01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:28,800
They lose any of those games,
you know they're gonna start questioning themselves.

839
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:32,280
But I think they're gonna rotate guys
in and out. Whether or not

840
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:37,199
that works, I don't know.
That's a risky proposition. If you had

841
01:01:37,199 --> 01:01:39,159
to guess right now we fast roaring
to the end of the season, what

842
01:01:39,360 --> 01:01:52,079
ends up being their most relied upon
crunch time unit PG Kawhi Russ, PG

843
01:01:52,199 --> 01:01:59,400
Kawhi Russ, Terrence and Roco or
Nico. I would say, I think

844
01:01:59,400 --> 01:02:04,079
they like to play small. I
think they just like the options that it

845
01:02:04,079 --> 01:02:07,280
gives them. It's nothing agains zoo. They just like the options. Is

846
01:02:07,280 --> 01:02:12,719
there a weirdo unconventional? They won't
try it, but maybe they should line

847
01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:16,559
up that you would like to see
them roll out? Oh, that's tough.

848
01:02:21,519 --> 01:02:23,920
Not really, because I think they're
gonna throw everything out there. I

849
01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:28,719
think they're gonna see what happens.
I think, you know, I don't

850
01:02:28,719 --> 01:02:31,920
see the downside of them trying new
things, But I don't know, like

851
01:02:32,039 --> 01:02:37,400
a lineup that they could kind of
play around with, I guess is like

852
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:47,360
Bones, Terrence Bones, Terrence Roco, Nico, kJ, Kenny Martin Junior.

853
01:02:47,440 --> 01:02:51,400
Maybe you get some spacing, you
get a lot of cutters, and

854
01:02:51,440 --> 01:02:55,559
it's your youthful, more athletic lineup, even though Nico's, you know,

855
01:02:55,599 --> 01:03:00,960
going into a sixteenth season. At
least Nico operates very well as so there's

856
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:09,400
that I think I might want to
see man Powell, kJ, Roco and

857
01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:15,079
Norm Let's just if you're really committed
to pushing the pace, Like, let's

858
01:03:15,119 --> 01:03:19,199
just throw those guys out there and
see and like Roko, we can already

859
01:03:19,199 --> 01:03:22,199
play them five. And you mentioned
that they view that kJ is someone who

860
01:03:22,280 --> 01:03:24,159
might be able to be a five
proxy, and so having both those guys

861
01:03:24,159 --> 01:03:27,679
in the court, I have no
idea what that looks defensively, I would

862
01:03:27,679 --> 01:03:30,880
guess that it's probably a train wreck, but I would be very interesting seeing

863
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:34,960
what the offense looks like. It
would be that would be interesting to see,

864
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:37,440
especially from the standpoint of like if
you turn games into run and gun

865
01:03:37,480 --> 01:03:43,400
type of stuff, maybe that benefits
you because the last time you have to

866
01:03:43,400 --> 01:03:47,960
sit on idle hands, the better. So as we record this, the

867
01:03:50,400 --> 01:03:52,800
congratulations to the Clippers for graduating from
the forty four and a half win club,

868
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:55,559
because every team seem to have forty
four and a half wins over unders.

869
01:03:55,679 --> 01:03:59,719
But as of October eighteenth, and
this will go out almost immediately,

870
01:04:00,199 --> 01:04:01,880
hold it to the nineteen. So
James Harden, please don't get traded to

871
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:05,360
the Clippers just yet. They're at
forty five and a half. Would you

872
01:04:05,440 --> 01:04:14,679
hit the over the under on that? That is tough. I'll say over.

873
01:04:14,960 --> 01:04:19,840
I'll be optimistic and say over because
they did have guys miss time last

874
01:04:19,880 --> 01:04:27,320
year and still got to was it
forty four? I believe, So I'll

875
01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:30,840
be optimistic and say if KWUI and
PG each plays sixty games, I think

876
01:04:30,880 --> 01:04:34,840
they get the over. Where do
you see them stacking up in the Western

877
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:39,039
Conference realistically for the regular season,
and maybe even the best way to do

878
01:04:39,079 --> 01:04:44,360
this is how many teams right now
would you guarantee are going to be better

879
01:04:44,480 --> 01:04:46,440
have a better record than the Clippers
in the West, because it feels like,

880
01:04:47,360 --> 01:04:50,199
just for me it's been Denver and
Phoenix are my top two, and

881
01:04:50,239 --> 01:04:54,880
then everyone else to me, Yeah, could I see the Timberwolves doing some

882
01:04:54,920 --> 01:04:57,960
fantastic stuff? Could I see the
Lakers? Could I see even the Pelicans

883
01:04:58,000 --> 01:05:00,960
of Zion stays healthy? But everyone
else to me, like, aside from

884
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:04,440
the Houston, San Antonio Portland's they're
kind of just in that same tier.

885
01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:08,840
Would you have other teams that you'd
be prepared to guarantee here better than the

886
01:05:08,840 --> 01:05:12,400
Clippers in the regular season, I
think Denver and Phoenix are the two teams

887
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,039
that are pretty much locks. Outside
of that, like, every team has

888
01:05:15,079 --> 01:05:19,159
their own hiccups. Every team's got
injury question marks. Every team you know,

889
01:05:19,239 --> 01:05:24,760
for the could have bench issues.
Even Denver's bench isn't that good.

890
01:05:24,840 --> 01:05:30,079
Phoenix has injury question marks. Yeah, Lakers have injury question marks, some

891
01:05:30,280 --> 01:05:35,599
bench question marks, you know,
Warriors, same thing. As good as

892
01:05:35,599 --> 01:05:40,880
the Kings were last year, they
were relatively healthy. Memphis has their stuff.

893
01:05:41,079 --> 01:05:44,039
I kind of just think Denver and
Phoenix might be the only two teams

894
01:05:44,079 --> 01:05:46,440
where I'm like, those are the
teams that are for sure better and the

895
01:05:46,440 --> 01:05:49,800
other teams just got to figure it
out after them, And you're right that

896
01:05:49,840 --> 01:05:54,440
they bolso have question marks to where
it's like Denver still only stretches six reliable

897
01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:58,239
players deep and they had seven last
year when you include Christian matt By the

898
01:05:58,239 --> 01:06:00,440
playoffs, and then Phoenix is just
killed the minimum market. But there's a

899
01:06:00,480 --> 01:06:03,880
reason those guys are on the minimum
market to begin with, and they you

900
01:06:03,880 --> 01:06:06,400
know, they eate in trade.
I don't know. I'm not a huge

901
01:06:06,400 --> 01:06:10,840
believer in Nurkic, but we'll see. And I like noslittle justin. Is

902
01:06:10,880 --> 01:06:13,960
there anything else I haven't asked you
about that you think needs to be discussed

903
01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:17,800
with regards to this team. Uh? I kind of just think that entire

904
01:06:17,840 --> 01:06:20,159
team is This is like a weird
thing, but I kind of think the

905
01:06:20,280 --> 01:06:27,039
entire team is waiting just to get
to the new arena. Everything just feels

906
01:06:27,039 --> 01:06:31,440
like it's stuck in a limbo where
everyone knows this is the last season at

907
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:36,599
Staples Center or Crypto whatever people care
to call it, and they've been doing

908
01:06:36,639 --> 01:06:42,760
renovation at the arena, so it's
a little bit change now. They just

909
01:06:42,800 --> 01:06:45,320
want their own space, and I
think guys are just kind of yearning for

910
01:06:45,360 --> 01:06:49,679
that. That's kind of like the
weird storyline of the season for me is

911
01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:53,880
guys are just waiting to get to
the new arena, not like a bad

912
01:06:53,920 --> 01:06:57,159
way, like it's gonna affect their
play on the court, but you know,

913
01:06:57,239 --> 01:07:00,079
having seen the new arena a couple
of times now and doing walkthroughs and

914
01:07:00,079 --> 01:07:04,559
stuff, it's gonna be an incredible
arena, and that's they're waiting to have

915
01:07:04,639 --> 01:07:11,039
their own space. So I'm kind
of interested to see how that plays out.

916
01:07:11,880 --> 01:07:15,760
Do you think that will factor in, not in the sense of urgency

917
01:07:15,800 --> 01:07:18,280
to win with Quie and PG,
but well that factor into how they view

918
01:07:18,360 --> 01:07:23,320
like the James Harden trade talks from
here to where it's imagine opening the arena

919
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:27,039
with Harden and Paul George and Kawhi
Leonard on the rosters, they're like more

920
01:07:27,039 --> 01:07:32,239
mistique than oh look, Terrence Man
is still here. Yeah, that's it's

921
01:07:32,239 --> 01:07:38,199
been explained to me that that is
partially a driving force you don't want to

922
01:07:38,239 --> 01:07:41,760
go into a new arena kind of
I would say, nothing to show for

923
01:07:41,840 --> 01:07:45,239
it, but with like less than
what you left the previous one with,

924
01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:48,920
so to speak. Justin this was
great. Thank you for being so generous

925
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:51,360
with your time. Are you able
just to tell our listeners where they can

926
01:07:51,400 --> 01:07:56,599
find you in all the fantastic work
that you do. If you want to

927
01:07:56,599 --> 01:08:00,559
follow me on Twitter x whatever we're
calling it this week, it's Twitter,

928
01:08:00,639 --> 01:08:06,519
Please don't. Yeah, yeah,
it's always Twitter to be so it's at

929
01:08:06,559 --> 01:08:10,559
fly by Night. That's f L
y B y K and I t E.

930
01:08:11,599 --> 01:08:15,119
If you want to go to my
substack, it's Justinarusso dot substack dot

931
01:08:15,119 --> 01:08:21,159
com. I actually just released a
story today about how kJ Martin got the

932
01:08:21,239 --> 01:08:27,520
number six jersey with the Clippers that
was not retired so to say, for

933
01:08:27,640 --> 01:08:32,720
DeAndre Jordan's, but was held off
from you since DJ left the team and

934
01:08:32,760 --> 01:08:36,800
now kJ has it. So I
did some digging around and I ended up

935
01:08:36,840 --> 01:08:42,640
writing about it's a rather interesting story. But uh, there's a lot more

936
01:08:42,680 --> 01:08:45,640
to it that I didn't divulge in
there, but it's a rather interesting story.

937
01:08:45,960 --> 01:08:49,760
I can't recommend follow follow justin the
level of detail he puts into his

938
01:08:49,800 --> 01:08:53,920
work both on Twitter and the substack. All the links Twitter substack would be

939
01:08:53,960 --> 01:08:57,479
in the podcast US description. Once
again, thank you so much, Justin,

940
01:08:57,680 --> 01:09:01,399
and I will definitely be pestering you
again. No worries. I'm more

941
01:09:01,399 --> 01:09:04,399
than walking the door