What is up Dello's thermo nuclear a effort I am and Dan Favalley I'm manage
with another At twenty twenty three, twenty and twenty four NBA Team look Ahead,
we are on to the Los Angeles Clippers, and I am super excited
and appreciative to be joined by making his first appearance on the podcast Justin Russo.
Follow him on Twitter at fly by Night. That's at f L y
B y K N I t E. He covers the Clippers and the NBA
at large. Over at Substack, go to Justin Russo dot substack dot com.
The link to it will be in the podcast and YouTube description as well.
His work is incredibly detailed, so go over there support him. Like
I said, links in the podcast and YouTube description. Justin, how the
heck are you doing? I'm doing good Man's say, Wednesday early afternoon,
so you know, I'm just kind of enjoying my time over here. Just
before the season begins. Clippers have a game on Thursday, and then they're
offer almost a week, so that's very nice. I'm gonna join the time
off that they've given throughout this camp. So they went to Hawaii for a
week, which was cool. Then they came back and they had about a
week off and it was that was nice. So it's a nice slow ramp
up to the season rather than just being thrown right into everything. I've said
this a bunch to people, but that first Tuesday of the NBA season or
the Wednesday where there's like the ten or eleven games, I have like an
existential crisis of how did I cover all this last year. I can't intake
all of this basketball and content. So I never look forward to Opening Night
is great, I never look forward to the night following it. Yeah,
the night after is always like hectic. There's like too much happening, and
you feel like you're not going to get your money's worth for your League Pass
subscription. And then and then like somehow it calms down throughout the season.
Yeah, or you just get the hang of being incomplete and other chaos is
probably what happens. Speaking of complete and other chaos, I will eventually have
to get to the James Harden stuff as a recording this. I'm just hoping
that the podcast doesn't become dated because something outlandish happens with him. I actually
wanted to ask you about last season. I know there was a bunch of
stuff going on, But what was kind of the single biggest to you or
most important driving factor behind how it transpired. Was it really just the lack
of availability from Kuhi and PG? Did that spawn some of the weird rotation
stubbornness from ty LeWitt points? Did it harm the defense? Like, did
it screw up how they were going to try and play with pacing. It's
just there was so much going on. I'm just wondering if one thing is
sticking with you more than anything else, And if it was just the injuries,
I totally get it. So they've talked this camp that like the injuries
were the big thing, is what they've been saying, Like they just once
the injuries happened, it was such a stop and start season that they weren't
able to fully get comfortable as a unit and they kind of just bled into
their play on the court. Anytime you watched them last year, you knew
they weren't that good because they just looked like a jumbled mess for the majority
of the year. They'll say injuries. There was probably other stuff that was
at play, but it was probably a trickle down effect from the injuries where
guys had to move into roles that they not that they weren't comfortable with,
but that they were being asked a lot of. For instance, last year,
going into last year, Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris had been asked a
lot of themselves the year prior, when Kawi was out for the whole year.
PG missed I believe fifty one games that year and Reggie and Marcus kind
of dragged the Clippers to a forty two and forty season and which was actually
crazy, like in retrospect, that was a remarkable year for the team.
And last year, going into the year, it was almost like, all
right, Coli and PG are back, everyone can kind of take a step
back kind of, you know, get comfortable with their role again. And
then that that didn't happen because Kawi then had to miss about a month early
on due to the knee issue, and then PG missed time due to injuries.
But when KLi came back from the initial knee thing, he rolled his
ankle after like four games and he had to miss another six games. So
it was like this constant we have one guy and then we don't have the
other, and then when we get both of them someone else gets hurt,
and it was just this endless cycle of injuries and no camaraderie. The chemistry
was always just slightly off, and you could see it in their play there.
They were not a fast paced team. They were very slow all year.
Tied talked about them having to play quicker, and they never did until
they got rust and they started playing a little bit quicker. But basically,
long story short, like injuries affected them a great deal. But I think
it's a disservice to just say the injuries were what did it like? They
they did it themselves. They they did it themselves. There were a lot
of mistakes that they made along the way, roster construction wise, they went
in the year they only had one center, you know, if Y'sazubats was
their only saying, they had no backup center. And then you know,
they didn't play Robert Coventon as much as they should probably should have to,
which Tie said he at media day, I should have played Roco a lot
more. They're a veteran team, and when veteran teams get tired, you
know, you can kind of see their defense slip, which is what happened
the first the first about fifteen to twenty games of the year, their defense
was really good and their offense was bad, and then like it really flipped
after that, like their offense became really good and their defense was disastrous,
and I kind of just think, like the long season got them. But
what's weird is like Kawhi was incredible for the last like half of the season
y and it kind of glossed over a lot of like what ailed them and
the people. The reason people picked them to at least give Phoenix some level
of a series was simply just because of Kauai, which still tells you how
good he is. But you know, injuries were a big factor, but
it wasn't the only factor for them. There was a lot of other stuff
of play. Why is this team is synonymous with the load management or injured
player discussion. Why does it feel like for every other player or most other
players that their their absences, the way that their injuries are treated or framed
is this is the team's decision. But when it's Kawhi and even PG to
some extent, it's something about these two rather than is there something to that,
Is there something happening behind the scenes with practices or like these aren't neither
of them is just struck me as players who don't want to play basketball,
and so I've just been curious, if you view there's a primary reason why
the discussion unfolds the way it does around them. So it's a weird situation
because they have input. To say that they don't have input would be mistaken.
Every star has input into the medical side of things. But what's really
interesting is every time you hear the team talk about it, it's training staff
and medical decision and then the stars just have to go along with it.
There was a point last season that I won't say the player, but during
the locker room prior to a game, that player who had missed several games
due to injury, we were in the locker room, the media was this
player said, I'm ready to play, got asked, well, are you
playing tonight? No, medical just won't clear me. I'm ready to play.
They just won't clear me. And so there is like a disconnect a
little bit I think for perception, which is the players don't want to play,
but they do. It's medical who is telling them, hey, you
can't play today, and they will go to the higher ups and tell them
like they're redlining, they're in the red you need to tone of back stuff
like that. Do I think it's gone too far at times? Yeah?
I do. I think there's been times where they should have played and they
just didn't, and the players wanted to play, but they were medical wouldn't
let them play, so I think. But with PG and Kawi, I
do think there's just a perception Kauai, especially where because of his time in
San Antonio and how that ended, and his time in Toronto where it was
perceived that he just wasn't going to play back to backs, which was a
medical decision, and that carried over to the Clippers on what last season.
He didn't play back to backs until like the last month of the season,
then he started playing them. But that was always the plan. That was
the play with him all last season, was to ramp him up to play
back to backs at the end of the season. But I kind of just
think it's a well Kawhi plays when he wants to play, Like that's the
perception on the outside, but on the inside, this is a very regimented,
detailed guy who loves basketball. I've had conversations with him about basket.
He loves to play he wants to play. No one likes sitting out being
injured. It's not a fun thing. And I think I just think the
perception is, well, he just doesn't want to play, like he got
his money and he's home. It's funny because I think if either guy wasn't
played in LA I think if they were somewhere else and it wasn't home,
I think the perception would be different. And it's also like Kawhi has the
quad ten like that's a real thing. And so I was gonna ask you
how both these guys looked in training camp preseason. It feels like Kawhi had
the meniscus procedure and then it seems like he's come back without any real limitations.
Do you expect there to be so is there no ramp up process here?
Do you expect them to be playing back to backs coming out the gate?
Like? What should we really look for from them? As far as
back to backs? I'm uncertain. If he didn't have the meniscus thing,
I think he played back to backs. But they have so many back to
backs this year. They have fifteen back to backs. It's tied for the
most in the league. They travel more than any other team this year.
I think a prosidual or positive residual had it as a fifty thousand miles,
which I believe is five or six thousand miles more than any other team.
That's a lot of miles, and you know, they're gonna have to manage
guys. Whether or not people like it, They're gonna have to manage guys.
That's a lot of mileage, it's a lot of travel, it's a
lot of back to backs. I think they have the most or they're tied
for the most instances of three and four nights, Like I think Golden State's
the other team that's tied with them. So like they're gonna there's gonna be
times where they have to rest guys and people are gonna hate it, but
it is what it is, and you know that's just the way it's gonna
have to go. But for Kawhi Uh and PG, they look good.
Everything looks on track. They said, you know a week before training camp
opened that Kawhi is good. There's no ramp up like he's good. He's
one hundred percent. He's ready to go, and he's shown that three preseason
games. He and PG played the first half of every preseason game, they've
spent fifty one minutes on the floor together. Uh so far in three games.
Tis talked about that during the regular season, they're gonna stagger them,
which is what they did a couple of years ago, or Tie's first year
with the team, they staggered him like all the time. One was always
always on the floor. They look good. PG looked great yesterday. I
think he had twenty three obviously in the first half, but it's it's a
season long process to where I don't think I can say right now Kawi is
for sure not playing back to backs or for sure will play back to backs.
I think this is just what I hypothesize. I think he'll start out
sitting back to backs and then gradually move into playing both of them. The
more he plays, probably the better in terms of health. But I also
get why they limit him in some capacity because of the degenerative quad issue,
where you do have to be careful with it, like, oh yeah,
at any moment, that could be the last time he steps on the floor.
And I think he understands that more than anyone. Based on the two
injuries he suffered, the one in twenty twenty one with Joe Ingles and the
one that he suffered against Phoenix in Game one, which were they were bumps.
He got bumped running full speed and he took a a misstep and it
caused what happened, and you have to be careful. And I think for
Kaalide, they're gonna they're gonna ramp him up a little bit for back to
back, but otherwise I don't think there's gonna be any raining in of him.
Like there was a start last year where they brought him off the bench
to start last season, and he he hated it. He's been on very
vocal about how much he hated uh specifically warming up for a game and then
having to sit for you know, twenty five thirty minutes of real time and
how much that affected him, not just physically but mentally with what he was
used to. So I don't think you're gonna see any of that type of
stuff. I think he's gonna be you know, thirty minutes pretty consistently for
the first you know a little bit of the season, and then probably ramp
up to playing both ends of a back to back, depending on what that
back to back is like if there's no travel, I think he'll play both
both both ends of a back to back. What if anything, do we
make of the lack of extension report taught like reporting talks. Is it more
this team wants to preserve flexibility. Is it more we need to see that
these guys are just gonna be healthy and on the floor together for maybe half
the season will be nice, or maybe in the postseason together. Is it?
Does it even really matter? At this point these two have never really
communicated that they would think about leaving. Just what do we make of the
silence on this front? They've both have been very vocal over the last couple
of weeks in extension talks that everything is fine. Their relationship with the front
office is great, Like there's nothing there, Like when it's time to when
it's time to hash it out, they'll get to and it's kind of like
what they're relaying. I don't think it's that crazy that they've kind of been
They the players and the front office have kind of taken this to the level
that they have, which is there's no rush, Because I don't think there
is a rush. I think both sides understand the flexibility at play. I
think both sides understand how much this season matters, and not just this season,
but going into the New Arena next season. I think they both both
endies understand how important this year is, and one misstep by either side can
sour the relationship. Even though they say everything is fine, you never know
until you know, you know, so I don't think I don't think there's
really anything to worry about it. I kind of just think both sides are
just waiting to see how everything plays out. And look, both guys can
opt it or not opt in, but agree to an extension anytime to the
end of the season. So they're gonna they have all the time in the
world, and there's nothing that says you get to February, everything's going great
and hey, we're gonna we're gonna extend you guys, or you know,
they opt out just to sign full length deals and get everything they can,
and hey, these guys are locked up for four and five years, go
to to the new Arena, hooray. But there's a lot between now and
you know, June thirtieth, and it depends a lot on how the season
goes. But all signs for right now point to both guys being back.
They love both guys, both guys are happy being hauled, and I kind
of don't see that changing for the foreseeable future. Among the many things I
missed on last season was Russell Westbrook's fit with the Clippers. I thought he
defended well, especially when we got to that playoff series against Phoenix. Like
you said, he had a pace, he hadded some like he helped them
get some additional rim pressure. I'm wondering what were your general impressions and is
there any concern or tweaks that he's gonna need to make when you're looking at
a team that plans to play both KWI and MPG more often, because a
lot of last season was unfolding with he is playing without one or both of
them. Yeah, it's it's funny. I wasn't a big fan of the
Russ fit. I thought it was rather an odd fit because at the time,
just because like that day that PG name dropped Russell Westbrook, he did
it completely unprompted in the locker room on the record, just mentioned Russ by
name, which was very like I remember being in the locker room and we
were like, that's like, no one asked about him like that. So
it was funny because it happened like four to five hours after Lawrence Frank held
a press conference after the trade deadline and basically outlined the types of players that
they were looking for, and he outlines the type of point guard they were
looking for. And the point guard did not sound like Russell Westbrook at all.
So it was like a weird situation that night. But then Russ played
fine. He was he was good for what the Clippers asked him, you
know, to do. But then you know, you're right. He didn't
play a lot with Kawhi and PG. They only played I think like two
hundred and thirty minutes together, you know, and then PG suffered the knee
injury or the leg injury against uh Okay See Billy played ten games, they
went five and five. I think they lost the first five games actually,
and then then they won the next five. But uh, I don't think
we know what the fit is yet. I think we think we know what
the fit is. But there's been very little indication even in preseason of how
it's gonna how it's gonna mesh together. Tyas said they're they're they're behind on
offense in terms of installing everything he wants to install they've been predominantly focused on
their defensive side of things. As far as Russ is concerned, I think
if he supplies the pace and he's unselfish, I think it's fine. Even
yesterday or on Tuesday against Denver in the preseason game, Russ was really good
at finding zoo uh on Duccans, especially after offensive rebounds. Russ is really
good offensive rebounding, so you know that helps a team that kind of struggles
at time for possessions. But with Russ, I think if they can rain
in his desire to take jumpers and get them more focused on just attacking the
basket, I think everything's fine. The defense comes and goes, but that's
a veteran thing for a lot of guys, where veterans don't always lock in
defensively as much as they probably should. But as you mentioned in the Phoenix
series, he was incredible defensively. He shot horribly in Game one of that
series, but his defense arguably won them that game. So if he focuses
defensively on and on the little things, I think it works. There are
spacing issues, but maybe they feel that with Kawhi and PG spacing doesn't matter
as much because they're that good, but that's only time will tell. Terrence
Man was probably another guy who for a good chunk of the season should have
been playing more. It sounds like they're gonna lean on him a lot more
this year. He's also been reported the sticking point in James Harden trade talks,
which to speak to how much he means. Is there something specific he
uknocks with this team or is it more about the gap filling, the ball
handling, the cutting, even the even the hope of his shooting, even
some of the undersized screening, that he's able to do everything. It's I
would just classify it as literally everything. He, more than anyone else,
has probably been the perfect role guy alongside Kawhi and PG because he fits into
everything they try to do. If they want to run small, small pick
and rolls, he excels at it as the screener and the short role decision
maker. He called him he himself, Terrence called himself one of the best
in the league at it, And I don't think that's too crazy. He's
very good in that in that position. He's very good as a catch and
shoot three point guy. You know, thirty eight percent three point shooter.
For his career. Last year he was almost thirty nine. You look at
him alongside the two Stars. He does everything that they I'm not gonna say
that they won't do, but you don't really ask stars to do like he
cut. He excels at slot cuts. He excels as a screener. He
excels crashing the glass, very good, one on one point of attack defender,
good good as a rebounder to where it's not just on the Stars to
do it. He does everything they ask of him, and he should have
played a lot more than he did last season. Ties admitted as much that
he failed by not playing Terrence more. The team wants Terrence to play more.
Obviously, as you mentioned, he's been a no go in James Harden
trade negotiations, and I'd heard that even back in June that they just he's
off the table. It was just something that they were just not going to
entertain. He's still extension eligible for about another week. I believe they just
because this is the first year that his other extension kicks in. I just
find that funny. Yeah, it's it's it's really weird when you when do
you think about it, But like you know, he's got two years left,
and you know, they could extend him for I think like three fifty
six or something like that. So you know, look, I asked Terrence
point Blake on the record at media Day if he'd be interested in the extension,
and he said, you know what, or if his representatives and the
Clippers of Hell talks. He says, not that he knows of. Then
I asked him, you know, would you be open to stay? And
he said, and he said, point blank, you know, I've been
here for five years, or I've been here for my entire career. Of
course I would be open to staying. Like he wants to stay. He
likes LA, he likes the organization, he likes the team, he likes
the teammates. It's up on it's up to the team to use him in
a better capacity. And you know, maybe maybe he turns down an extension
and you know, plays it out to see what he can get. But
you know, he he is going to be twenty seven and or or actually
he's twenty seven today as a recording this, he just turned twenty seven.
Yeah, so you know, I think people think he's younger than he is,
but he is twenty seven. And he'll be going on twenty nine by
the time you know, this current deal ends, so the clock is ticking
for both him and the team. But he is the perfect role guy,
the perfect blue guy for that, you know, for that duo and that
lineup. So I get why they won't include him. I understand for people
it might seem a little crazy, but you also have to look at it
as like an asset point of view, which is, if they trade Terrence,
that's it. They have nothing left that they can trade. Like,
so I've given up all their picks. I'll give up Terrence. That's it.
They don't have anything else. And I think he represents the last bastion
of trade equity for the team, but also on court value that they can
both kind of maximize on the floor and off if they need to. I
know he's older than people think, but I think with his extension, he
could technically be on the books for five and seventy eight million dollars. That
is a fucking fantastically team friendly deal. If he signs that, I would
say, considering he would also be like to thirty two years old, it
would actually be crazy. Yeah, And I think it's a no brainer for
the Clippers to offer him that extension, I'm uncertain. I have no idea
if you would actually accept that actual extension, just because like in the marketplace,
that is so far below his actual value that like it's not disrespectful to
him, but it is like like you look at what he does and you're
like, that's there's there's gonna be. Why is this coming off season to
make that who are not as good? Yeah? For sure, I have
some other rotation questions, But looking specifically at these three where Terrence Man,
Paul George Kawhi Leonard, how do you want to see them flesh out the
lineups around them? We know how they might start, will be a lot
of there will be one big on the court plumble or zoobox with thems at
all times. Do you see it being maybe more of a combo big where
Robert Covington is in there. I'm just how do you think they can optimize
those? Like what is the best lineup combination for those three? So they
experimented with long ball last year, and in the conversations with them, they
believe the reason it didn't go so well was quite simply just because Kawhi and
PG were hurt, and Ties told me that, you know, when those
two are healthy, it makes obviously it makes their lives easier. But when
they go smaller, it's not as much of a detriment. And they need
those two to be healthy and a lot. And if you put Terrence with
them, you kind of have the makings of you can go so many,
so many routes that it really does give you greater light up flexibility. I
like Roco alongside them. I think for what he provides, which is back
line defense, has been not a problem for them, but it doesn't hurt
to have another guy who you know can be a rim protector. He's got
very fast hands and passy lanes. There was a play yesterday, uh in
the preseason game where he read a pass right in front of him that was
actually it was such a fast reaction that when he moved his hand and the
ball hit his hand, it was it's the loudest I've ever heard a ball
hit a hand that like, actually didn't swat at the ball, he just
put his hand there and it was so loud. And that's just that's just
how fast he is. And I think Roco has to play more. But
Zoo's gonna be the guy who achres the defense for them alongside the stars.
Just because he is so unselfish and was Zoo. They have maximized their value
with him, especially around the stars, because Zou's so malleable. He does
all the little things. He screens. He's their best screener obviously, and
he's mastered or begun to master the Gortat screen in the paint, which has
been a nice little thing. Everyone loves playing with them. It's just they
have a lot of options. But I also think that's a bad thing.
I think it messed with them last year, and I do think a lot
of options is not necessarily the best way forward. I think that they sometimes
lose the forest for the trees, so to speak. Where they have all
these guys who and they talk about their depth and like, oh, we
should play this guy and this guy and this guy. Well, you can't
play everybody. And if you play, if you try to play everybody,
that's how stuff gets jumbled and you know, it gets out of whack.
So like a guy like Norma Powell for instance, has to play, but
where like, how do you play him? Because you have Bodes Hyland,
who you've said is your backup point guard, and you've kind of seen how
he fits around the Stars, at least in preseason. But like it throws
stuff out of whack that there's a lot of uncertainty line up wise that I
think they're gonna have to figure out. It's not easy to figure that out.
Among the many options that they have now is kJ Martin, which for
the value, great pickup. We know what he brings in terms of athleticism,
his room pressure. What type of role do you expect him to have
on this team though, because he can be if he even though he is
malleable on defense. So in Hawaii for Trading camp, Ty said he views
him as a three, four and five. I don't think he's a three.
I just think that's wishful thing. He needs to take slash make more
threes for that to even be right, and they're trying to get him to
do that. They are dialing stuff up for him. To his credit,
in the preseason game in Hawaii, he did relocate from one corner along the
baseline to the other and he made that three. It was very nice and
you're like, Okay, well, least he knows how to do that,
which was a little bit of a worry coming from Houston and how they played,
Like not to sound like, you know, how many relocation threes he
hit while in Houston, I'll take the under whatever over under your setting.
Yeah, I mean the way that Houston played, not to sound disrespectful to
the Houston Rockets, but it wasn't exactly the most keymrians that approach to basketball.
So you know, it's probably a little bit of a culture shock to
him, which he has said has been a little bit of a culture shock
to him since coming here. A lot will rely on whether or not I
won't say makes threes, but takes them. You just got to take them.
I don't like, you know, have to make thirty, but you
gotta at least take take the ones that you're being given. It's I've equated
that to the Marcus smartification, whereas he's had years where he hits a good
amount of his threes, but like he takes them, and so defenses react
to him in different ways than right his shooting percentage would imply there is a
respect that is given, like, oh, this guy's taking like Dylan Brooks,
for instance, not a good three point shooter, but teams do close
out on him because regular right, yeah, yeah, because if you're willing
to take them, teams will respect that. They have to come out to
defend you, so he has to take threes. But I think they also
just viewed as a five. I think he is their small ball five.
He's played there in preseason. Mason probably missed the game on Tuesday, so
kJ got back up five minutes. Second preseason game in Seattle, Zoom missed
I think all about the first like five or six minutes of the game,
so kJ got backup center minutes behind Mason. They view him as a five
and as a four. They like him defensively a lot. They like him
in transition. Obviously, I will say there's been a little bit of a
surprise to me. At least when he sets screens. He is a willing
passer. I think that's been like a thing that's kind of like jumped out.
But of all the guys in that like four or five range for them,
he might be the guy who doesn't see as many minutes as he probably
should because he is younger. But while he gives them more athleticism, I
do think that they value spacing so much that it becomes very hard to play
him and either plumbly or zoo together alongside a guy like Russ like that becomes
like such a stranglehold of spacing that I'm not sure how that works. You
already mentioned that they're defense took that downslide after a pretty good start last year.
We know they were dealing with injuries. That's the caveat with this team
on everything. What was sort of the root cause for that? Was it
this lack of athleticism or point or speed at the point of attack. Was
it simply just not being committed to getting back in transition enough on some of
the live ball possessions. Just what really? What were some of the biggest
factors that went wrong there? To put it bluntly, as players have said,
old, they were just old. They had old players trying to defend
in space at the point of attack that didn't go well. And I think
they feel that, you know, with kJ if Terrence plays more, even
with Bones who, while not a great defender, is still youthful and athletic
enough to at least, you know, give you good minutes there. I
think they feel that their defense at the point of attack, especially will at
least be someone improved. They just got destroyed at the point of attack.
Last year, it put have been a rotation so much that they just it
was really bad. Like I have no other thing to say that it was
really bad like it was. It was. It got disheartening to watch at
times because you could see guys who they weren't quite used to having this happen.
And there were half court possessions with them a lot of the times,
like sort of after the first I don't know, like fifteen or twenty games,
where it felt like their players looked like they were children lost in a
supermarket searching for their parents. Like that's well, like that that's my super
technical analysis of like kind of what happened at points of the Clippers defense.
Yeah, they it was a lot of It was a lot of standing around
and kind of trying to figure out why it was happening rather than just making
the next rotation and that happens, Like I get it, it happens.
It was just very bad, and they're they're working to fix it. They've
been running a ton. The one thing we've been hearing about training camp is
they've been running and trying to get into condition. There's been some thought that
they just weren't in the conditioned well enough last season that they got worn down,
especially because of injuries. But the big change that they've talked about making
this year is they're gonna try to stop playing as much drop and pick and
roll. They're gonna try to They're gonna try to start coming to the level
of the screen a lot more. Uh. They have felt that by playing
dropped so much, it got guys comfortable with not having to move their feet
as much. Uh, not center oriented, so to speak, but like
just guys on the perimeter didn't have to actually, you know, move their
feet as much, and then they got beat on rotation, et cetera.
So they're gonna try to come to the level of the stream more. Which
Mason Plumbley, that's that's the defense he loves to play. I remember when
his first interview with the Clippers after they got him, he said, uh,
when he got asked like what type of defense he excels at, he
says, I love to play at the level of the stream. I don't
like playing drop. I don't like playing drop a lot. Well, Zoo
plays drop a lot, so Zoo's having to adjust to that. So I'm
sorry. There's a dog, so Zoo plays drop a lot and he's having
to get used to it. But all all signs from Tye and the coaching
staff point to Zoo, uh figure, getting pretty good at it and figured
it out. So so we'll see. I mean, you know, they
have a lot to work on defensively, but all signs, based on what
they've said so far in training camp is that they're getting it. And I
will say that their defense has been good in preseason. It's been pretty good,
and you know, at least they can take that to the bank in
preseason, I will say, I would. I have some questions about ken
Zu bots play that higher up that consistently, but he's always kind of had
better foot speed than he's credited with, and so I am I'm still curious
as to whether it'll work. But I think it's a lot of people view
him as some plotting big and he's not that. And so I'm very intrigued
because I've not seen a lot of them in a lot of their preseason possessions.
So I'm very intrigued to see how that would work out. Because I
don't think it'll I wouldn't guarantee it, but I don't think like, I
think it's fully possible that he can work well in that type of a scheme.
Yeah, he's his hip rotation isn't the most fluid, But I also
don't think they're worried about that, especially if they have like Kawai and PG
on the back line able to kind of help out, because I don't think
it's a thing that they're gonna worry about. I do think this is good
for him. I do think he's needed to play more to the level of
the screen. I think the team just got way too comfortable and Drop,
and you know, they seeded a lot of stuff to guards. They they
for years they've had problems with smaller well not smaller, but just quicker guards
have given them problems, and I think Drop was their way of like trying
to somewhat contain it. But they needed to go in a different direction.
They needed to try a holistic approach where, look, we might give up
stuff to guards, but we need to shut down everybody else and coming to
the level of screen is the best way to do that. So we'll see.
I mean, I'm curious how it goes. I'm curious how many games
at last. I'm curious, you know, we could get a month into
the season, they just decided to scrap it because it's not going well.
But you know, based on their analytical stuff, they think that this is
the best way forward. They've talked more about pacing, pushing the pace,
and we saw that you already mentioned it. When Russ was there, they
got some more transition ops. Is this team built to play that way consistently?
And are there any other aside from that? Just offensive concerns? Do
they have enough you know, higher volume outs. They have guys who can
hit threes, but will they take them in enough volume? Like what are
some of the offensive tenants or concerns that you are just wondering about heading into
the regular season. I do wonder if they can actually play fast. Look,
they can play fast. I do wonder if they can have the mindset
to just play fast more often. In conversations with Time over the last year,
he has described pace to me as more of not getting up and down
the court faster, but just getting into your stuff quicker. Yeah, and
so they don't fully subscribe to pace as more of like, all right,
we're gonna get one hundred and three possessions per game here, They subscribe it
more to like, all right, are we actually getting into our stuff quicker,
which then allows us to yield a higher points for possession in the long
run. But that's on the stars. Everything is on the stars. Kawhim
pg like, you know, to slow it down. They like to take
their time. There's nothing wrong with that. Their offense with the two on
the floor has been so good over the years that you understand why they are,
you know, like that. But they need to they do need to
play it a little bit quicker at times. They they don't value possessions as
much as they should. They they are careless with the ball. Tis talked
about it for a while that they they just make way too many sloppy passes
and mistakes. And the one thing he can't stand is jump passes, like
if you're just if you're jumping to pass without knowing where you're going. That
is the quickest way to just irritate them. And it's very easy to see
on the sideline like when he when that happens. They their mission this year
shouldn't be to play at a very fast tempo. It should just be to
play at a tempo that is conducive to not getting bogged down as often.
Too many possessions over the years have gotten bogged down to the point where it's
five seconds on the shot clock and now you're asking Kawhi and PG to go
create something out of nothing from thirty feet away, and that's not the best
way. So they got to figure that out. I think they can,
but they do need to start playing a little bit quicker. They hope that
kJ will allow that. They hope that Russ will allow all that. The
one thing I will say in Russ's favor is I think attacking and secondary transition
has been a lot better with him than it has been with anyone else on
the team outside of Terrence. I think Terrence is their best at it,
but Russell allows them to take possessions off, so to speak, because they
don't have to run up and down the floor as much. Russell go do
something and make or miss. You know, at least the possession guys don't
have to fully run out the floor. I know that sounds like weird,
but it's energy you don't have to expend, Yeah, for sure. And
I really do think the point you made with Sailing about how it's not just
pace is not just getting out in transition, even semi transition. It's just
I like to look at the average offensive possession time. It was like before
Russ made his debut, I think they were twenty fifth in average offensive possessions
time. With Russ they were twelve. Maybe twelfth's a little and I mean
we're talking about the seconds are just so minor that separates from twenty five,
but they matter because they kind of dictate, like where your shots or one
of your shots coming in the shot clock. Are we able just to go
through some of the non or the younger non two way players on this roster
and just get your general impressions and where you think they're headed with this team.
So let's start with Brandon Boston Junior. And I guess the big question
with him is is that left knee stuff serious. They're giving the inclination that
it's not as serious as it could be. I feel bad for him because
I want to say he only played like eight seconds or no, it was
like fifty seconds of preseason the first game, and then he had to leave
in Hawaii with the injury. He's had a lost offseason. He didn't play
Summer League, which was a little bit surprising. They wanted him to work
on his player development, which he has. They're very high on him,
but then you know, you only get fifty seconds of preseason basketball. You
don't know what you don't know what you're gonna get after that. They believe
the sky is the limit with him as an offensive player. There are worries
for me, and this is just me talking. I do worry about his
ability to get stuck in tunnel vision and not really pass the ball when he
should. It's been a little bit of a problem from watching games. But
the talent is clearly there. They believe in it. They you know,
we saw it in a game against Boston. I believe he had twenty seven
that night. The other his rookie year, I believe it was. They
believe in his talent. I don't think the injury is anything serious. I
saw him yesterday. He was moving around five. But it's never a good
when you don't play, especially in preseason. Those are lost reps. I
don't know where he's gonna get the reps during the season. I don't know
if he goes back down to the G League for a couple of weeks and
just tries to get it there. But you know, time is ticking.
This is his third year. Something has to be shown. I know very
little about Kobe Brown, aside from his NBA frame is viewed as just ready,
are you able to give me the lowdown on him? Very very good
NBA frame is what I will say, very strong guy in Summer League.
He bullied people. Excuse me, especially down Lowie bullied people. The shot
is the biggest question mark with him. He didn't shoot well in college until
his last year. I'm so sorry, but they believe in a shot.
They believe in the improvement that he's had, so it'll all come down to
that. They like his defense. He's got very quick hands, He's very
strong. His hands are I would actually say he would rival Kawhi in my
opinion for the strongest hands on the team. Comparable to size. Comparable to
size. There are times a guy will drive and he will literally grab the
ball with his hand and just yanke him down. It's very remarkable. But
it's gonna come down to his shot. That's the biggest thing. There's a
player who I know a lot about but don't necessarily know what the Clippers are
hoping to get from him or their plans for him. What do you make
of bones Highlands. They're all in on him. They're all in the bones.
That's their backup point guard. They love them. He can light it
up. Everyone knows he can light it up. But he's been trying to
tell people he is a point guard. He's not just a scoring guard.
He has a point guard. I actually had an interesting conversation with him yesterday
in the locker room before he did his media availability, because I noticed he's
been getting a lot better at putting defenders in jail, in picking rolls.
So I want to ask him about us, you know, like how have
you improved? And he said, it's just been the repetitions. He said
he has more reps now than he did before, so he's able to work
on it a lot more. But he said he's always had that natural instinct.
And he said, you know, so I asked him, I said,
you know, do you watch anybody like Chris Paul Jalen Brunson. He
said, yeah, he goes. I watch a lot of guys and then
I try to implement a little bit of you know, a little bit here
and there to kind of figure it out. But he he wants people to
know he's a passer who can score well. He does struggle around the rim
in his career. In preseason, he's been very good on twos. I
think he came into yesterday. I believe it was like ten or fourteen on
twos. And he's gotten a lot. Yeah, he's gotten a lot better.
He's gotten a lot better around the rim, especially in preseason. He's
he's added craft to your finishes. It was actually funny because yesterday, I
believe it was the third three pointer he attempted in the game he made it,
which was the first three he's made off preseason. He was O eleven
before that, so he made everything inside the arc basically, but nothing outside.
They believe in his range, they believe in his passing, they believe
in his scoring. For him, it'll come down to defense, toughness,
and whether or not he's able to fit in around the guys around him.
From a from an unsolft standpoint, to not get too stuck in the moment
trying to do too much. We have to go here. The James Harden
stuff, and I think when you mentioned that the Clippers have decided that Bones
Highland is their backup point guard. As much as I loved the first part
of the Bones experience in Denver and still believe in him as a player.
I think you can kind of understand then why James Harden appeals to this team
for his playmaking predominantly and then just having that extra star body when Kwi PG
you're out at the same time he runs so counterintuitive to playing faster. The
whole thing with Russell, Westbrook and Houston didn't really end that well, and
so you're just gonna get those dudes back together. I'm sure they'd be fine
personally. What do you before getting into what the Clippers have been willing or
not willing to give up, what do you even make of a perspective James
Harden fit on this team. Uh, it's interesting, right, because,
like it's not just like you plug him in and that's it. Like he
is his own ecosystem. It's not like a Bradley Beale where you're able to
just throw Bradley Beal in and you know it just it's fine with James.
He needs the ball so much that you do wonder how much it's gonna affect
Kawhi and PG and to a lesser extent, Russ. It's not really gonna
affect guys like Zoo that much because you know that's not his role. I'm
a little concerned about the fit, but I also get it. I get
it. I get that they're if if their game plan is to take some
of the burden off Kawi and PG, James makes sense. But what it's
hard for me to come to terms with is if your goal was to take
some of the pressure off of Kawhi and pg's shoulders, and that's why you
got Russ, why do you need James, right. So that's the interesting
question to me, and I'm not sure they have the best answer yet.
I would have again, I understand the theory. I would just have I
would be more. I would understand it more, support it more. And
I'm not even sure whether I'm supporting I support her against it. If James
Harden was used as a player who was not even just easy, but you
can envision fitting into the larger context of a system. Last year was probably
his most adaptable year, and less than thirteen percent of his shots came his
catching shoot threes. That's just that's a ball dominance that is so bizarre.
When you have Kawhi PG, you're great at playing off the ball, But
Kawhi PG, you're also great at playing on the ball, and now you
have Russ and I'm also wondering to you. And this gets into the asking
price. It seems like the Clippers might be going to give up one unprotected
first and a swap in salary or something close to maybe another swap in there.
The Terrence Man stuff, people like, We'll just give up Terrence Man
if it gets you James Harden. I view that, yes, the vote
of confidence in Terrence Mann, but I do also think there has to be
a level of skepticism within the organization. He's headed into free agencies. He
has not been a good postseason player. It's just a fact. At this
point. This has to speak to how much they actually value James Harden to
where, yes, they might be in on the sweepstakes, but the idea
that they're all in or are sure that this could work, I think that
they've telegraphed they're not. Yeah, look, if they were all in on
him, it would have been done months ago. It's that simple. We
wouldn't be you know what is it six days from the beginning of the season,
and this would still be a topic of conversation when you look at it.
James is an interesting guy. Obviously everyone knows it's it's such a weird
fit from an off the ball standpoint. But yet I get it on the
ball because at the ball in James's hands, Kawhi and PG can play off
the ball and then you and then defenders have to try to leverage spacing to
where they can stop James picking rolls and and keep an eye on Kawhi and
PG. But like, James is not a good off the ball player to
the point where if Kawhi and PG have the ball, defenders don't care about
James. They know he's not gonna He's not a catching shoo guy, as
he pointed out, and he's been going to the rim less I believe.
So like there is there is a worry, and then there's the well,
you know, he he has to hit free agency, like you can't extend
him. So is he gonna resign? Is he not going to resign?
It's a big gamble, Like yeah, if James comes to the Clippers,
he's home, He's back in LA. I get it. That doesn't mean
anything. I think it means more with Kawhi and PG than it does for
James. At this point. Even now he's supposed to be in filling,
he's in Houston, He's not in La, so right, you know,
I've always heard Houston is the La of Texas, so you know. And
so when it just comes down to it, what is would you make the
trade? What is the if you're the Clippers, what is actually your hard
line? Would you give up the max picks and swaps but not terrorists?
Man? Like? What is the max that you yourself would give up to
get him? So that's the interesting part. I think the Clippers are trying
to to to weigh whether or not the picks are worth it. I think,
especially because of the new CBA, and I've talked to people within the
organization about it that look, if you're going to be in the second apron
and you have no way below the second apron, you might as well just
go all in and just blow past it, and your picks get frozen.
And then I believe they get frozen the last pick in the round after a
certain amount of years. So like, maybe there's no downside to them,
Maybe the pick they give up is the last pick in the draft. You
never know, but they are cognizant of the new CBA. The reason is
taking so long. And yes, people are gonna say, well because they
don't want to include Terrence Man, that's partially it. But the new CBA
has been the driving course behind why this is taking so long. They know
now that they can only give up. I believe it's one hundred and five
percent of the salary to get up, and their their plan is to kind
of wait Philadelphia out to where you know they're gonna make it hurt Philadelphia to
keep waiting and keep waiting and keep waiting. But that's also a dangerous game
because they have a guy that apparently the Clippers do want, you know,
and if they because if the Clippers didn't want that, we wouldn't hear for
months and months about how long down the road these talks have gone. It
just comes down to whether or not they believe that the risk is worth it.
And if James leaves, they're left holding the bag going into free agency,
where you know your look that a team that doesn't have Kawhi and PG
under contract if they opt out, so and you go into a new arena.
That new arena is another driving force for them where they have to weigh
the risk of look, if we trade for James, you better be here
for the new arena because we need fans to come into it. And that
leads me to ask, what is the level of urgency this team is operating
with leading into this season? And I mean this in the sense of there's
the new arena, you have Kuhi, PG or getting older and that's the
other thing. So you have Russ thirty four, James, Harden's thirty four,
Pg's thirty three, Kui thirty two. Like that is your window is
super finite if you make that deal. But is this is their interest in
Harden? More about this matter of opportunity or let's throw the hard and stuff
off the table. Let's say he goes somewhere else, or it's just it's
not the Clippers. Would they be prepared to put these same picks on the
table for someone else, not just in an offseason, but in the middle
of the year. And I know it's a hard question to answer now,
but I think with them specifically, you could argue, well, they should
only do it if they get off to a hot start. But then you
look at the contract situations, the age of PG and Kawhi, the new
arena coming up, you can also argue if they don't get off to a
great start, that might be the nudge to know. But like, we
need to go and make this kind of splashing movie. I think they're I
think they're handicapped and making a move regardless, I don't think that this roster
can be just run back, not after last season. I think so much
went wrong last season on the court, off the court, behind the scenes,
that running it back without a move at any point during the season is
not not a good idea. I don't know what players out there besides James
that would interest them. Months ago, I wrote that Zach Levine would be
a guy that that they should go after if he became available. Obviously,
the price point for Leavina would be higher than for Harden. He's locked into
more years, he's younger, he's been healthier. I just for the Clippers
that are locked into a deal, they have to do something. But you're
right, if they get off to a great start, hey, we have
to maximize us while we can. If they don't get off to a great
start, well how can we turn this around? And I kind of just
feel like they have to do something. But whether or not they do something
is entirely contingent upon whether the price point that they're willing to give up is
met by the team willing to give up something else. Like if Philly is
adamant that they it's okay that they don't need Terrence, Okay, we'll take
one pick and a slop. I think it gets done today. Maury's holding
on and that's his right. Nothing against him for that. It's just gonna
be a great game of chicken while we get down to the season. People
have tried to use the Ben Simmons situation as an analog, and I do
think that speaks to how long Dall Moury's willing to let things get awkward.
But there's just to me something different, And I've said this too many times
at this point. When Ben Simmons at the time, you were reportedly turning
down offers that included Tyrese Haliburton, and right now you can't get the Clippers
to include Terrence Mann. And so there's just something that's different about this situation.
Are you ready to enter the cookie cutter portion of this podcast? Yep?
But are there any strengths, weaknesses, concerns, storylines about this team
they're flying under the radar that we have not discussed yet. Well, there's
the whole Marcus Morris situation. I guess whether or not I was trying to
will him out of the rotation for Clippers fans. Sorry, well yeah,
I mean Clippers fans have been trying to will him out of the rotation for
you know, the last eight months, so you know, I think the
thing that gets lost with Marcus is prior to a ribb injury he suffered against
the Lakers in January, he was having a pretty good season and then the
ribb injury happened. He had to miss I believe four or six games something
like that. He came back and it was just disastrous. That situation is
not great. There's a lot happening. He is injured right now. I
know people think that the reason he hasn't been played is because they're trying to
keep him healthy so that he doesn't you know, if he's in a trade,
blah blah blah. But he actually did hurt his groin in training camp.
That was a real thing that happened. He did work out on the
floor before Tuesday's game. I didn't play, obviously, but might play Thursday.
That's just an awkward situation. It's one that they need to figure out.
And I think that's why the hardened thing is so enticing to the Clippers,
is because they can get off of him. And if they're able to
get off of Marcus, you know, with James, I kind of think
they'll take that. But that's kind of the only under the radar thing happening
with the Clippers. There's really nothing else. I mean, they're trying to
take more threes, but they always try to do that. So we'll see.
When looking specifically at who will be the top ten players used on this
team, even if they're gonna shorten the rotation or expand the rotation, does
it feel like there's nine locks when you're kind of looking at Okay, Russ,
Paul, George Kawhi, Terrence man Zubots, Norman Powell, Roco plumb
Lee and Buttom, Yes, it was actually funny you mentioned this because just
yesterday, Uh, there was a there was four or five of us Clippers
beat writers having the conversation of who are the nine guys, Like, let's
try to let's try to figure this out, and so we settled on Russ,
PG, Kawhi, Terrence Zoo norm Nico Mason, and then we tried
to figure it out from there because I was seven seven, that was eight,
and so we tried to find the ninth guy. And it's like,
Okay, some Knights, it could be Kennyan, some Knights, it's gonna
be Bones, and kind of beyond that, it's really tough. Sometimes it's
gonna be Roco. I think the ninth guy is very much in plus depending
on who starts with the four and who they're playing. There's no there's no
set in the stone thing, and it's it's very odd. And to that
end, do you expect them to kind of shape shift and they're starting five
depending on the matchup, or who would you expect to get the you know,
like, what do we expect the starting line? It feels like there's
three locks with Kawhi, PG and Zubots and I'm like, as Russ,
he's apparently gonna start if they view Bones as their backup, and so like,
how do you see the I know a lot of people want Terrence Man
to start, and there's definitely a case for it, but then if you
want to maximize your playmaking or just optionality off the bench, having both him
and bones as options make some sense, but you do have batomb still,
So like, how how do how do you expect that fifth spot on most
nights to be filled? Well, it's funny you have because I actual,
she asked ty pregame yesterday. You know, because it was a third different
starter in that starting lineup for that four spot. So I asked him,
I said, do you want to be like a bi committee or do you
want an actual starter? And he said he's thought about it in both aspects,
and he mentioned that it's likely to be a position where they sub a
guy in and then sub another guy in a couple of games later, or
based on opponent, which is very counterintuitive to the way that Ties operated.
But as he also said yesterday, quote I've evolved is how he said it.
So, I mean, we'll see. I mean the common thought is
that Terrence or Roco should get it. Nico's been a lot better with bench
lineups, and he likes coming off the bench a lot more. But we'll
see. I mean, you know, you get five games in. If
it's not going the way you want, don't make a switch. Tye likes
ten to fifteen games sample sizes, but the season was so much riding on
the Clippers and how they perform if they don't come out of the gates firing,
especially when you look at their first couple of games. I mean,
they get they get Portland, they get Utah, they get San Antonio,
they get Orlando. They gotta go four and Oh. If you start four
and oh, I think everything's all hunky Dorian. You know, everything's kumbaya.
They lose any of those games, you know they're gonna start questioning themselves.
But I think they're gonna rotate guys in and out. Whether or not
that works, I don't know. That's a risky proposition. If you had
to guess right now we fast roaring to the end of the season, what
ends up being their most relied upon crunch time unit PG Kawhi Russ, PG
Kawhi Russ, Terrence and Roco or Nico. I would say, I think
they like to play small. I think they just like the options that it
gives them. It's nothing agains zoo. They just like the options. Is
there a weirdo unconventional? They won't try it, but maybe they should line
up that you would like to see them roll out? Oh, that's tough.
Not really, because I think they're gonna throw everything out there. I
think they're gonna see what happens. I think, you know, I don't
see the downside of them trying new things, But I don't know, like
a lineup that they could kind of play around with, I guess is like
Bones, Terrence Bones, Terrence Roco, Nico, kJ, Kenny Martin Junior.
Maybe you get some spacing, you get a lot of cutters, and
it's your youthful, more athletic lineup, even though Nico's, you know,
going into a sixteenth season. At least Nico operates very well as so there's
that I think I might want to see man Powell, kJ, Roco and
Norm Let's just if you're really committed to pushing the pace, Like, let's
just throw those guys out there and see and like Roko, we can already
play them five. And you mentioned that they view that kJ is someone who
might be able to be a five proxy, and so having both those guys
in the court, I have no idea what that looks defensively, I would
guess that it's probably a train wreck, but I would be very interesting seeing
what the offense looks like. It would be that would be interesting to see,
especially from the standpoint of like if you turn games into run and gun
type of stuff, maybe that benefits you because the last time you have to
sit on idle hands, the better. So as we record this, the
congratulations to the Clippers for graduating from the forty four and a half win club,
because every team seem to have forty four and a half wins over unders.
But as of October eighteenth, and this will go out almost immediately,
hold it to the nineteen. So James Harden, please don't get traded to
the Clippers just yet. They're at forty five and a half. Would you
hit the over the under on that? That is tough. I'll say over.
I'll be optimistic and say over because they did have guys miss time last
year and still got to was it forty four? I believe, So I'll
be optimistic and say if KWUI and PG each plays sixty games, I think
they get the over. Where do you see them stacking up in the Western
Conference realistically for the regular season, and maybe even the best way to do
this is how many teams right now would you guarantee are going to be better
have a better record than the Clippers in the West, because it feels like,
just for me it's been Denver and Phoenix are my top two, and
then everyone else to me, Yeah, could I see the Timberwolves doing some
fantastic stuff? Could I see the Lakers? Could I see even the Pelicans
of Zion stays healthy? But everyone else to me, like, aside from
the Houston, San Antonio Portland's they're kind of just in that same tier.
Would you have other teams that you'd be prepared to guarantee here better than the
Clippers in the regular season, I think Denver and Phoenix are the two teams
that are pretty much locks. Outside of that, like, every team has
their own hiccups. Every team's got injury question marks. Every team you know,
for the could have bench issues. Even Denver's bench isn't that good.
Phoenix has injury question marks. Yeah, Lakers have injury question marks, some
bench question marks, you know, Warriors, same thing. As good as
the Kings were last year, they were relatively healthy. Memphis has their stuff.
I kind of just think Denver and Phoenix might be the only two teams
where I'm like, those are the teams that are for sure better and the
other teams just got to figure it out after them, And you're right that
they bolso have question marks to where it's like Denver still only stretches six reliable
players deep and they had seven last year when you include Christian matt By the
playoffs, and then Phoenix is just killed the minimum market. But there's a
reason those guys are on the minimum market to begin with, and they you
know, they eate in trade. I don't know. I'm not a huge
believer in Nurkic, but we'll see. And I like noslittle justin. Is
there anything else I haven't asked you about that you think needs to be discussed
with regards to this team. Uh? I kind of just think that entire
team is This is like a weird thing, but I kind of think the
entire team is waiting just to get to the new arena. Everything just feels
like it's stuck in a limbo where everyone knows this is the last season at
Staples Center or Crypto whatever people care to call it, and they've been doing
renovation at the arena, so it's a little bit change now. They just
want their own space, and I think guys are just kind of yearning for
that. That's kind of like the weird storyline of the season for me is
guys are just waiting to get to the new arena, not like a bad
way, like it's gonna affect their play on the court, but you know,
having seen the new arena a couple of times now and doing walkthroughs and
stuff, it's gonna be an incredible arena, and that's they're waiting to have
their own space. So I'm kind of interested to see how that plays out.
Do you think that will factor in, not in the sense of urgency
to win with Quie and PG, but well that factor into how they view
like the James Harden trade talks from here to where it's imagine opening the arena
with Harden and Paul George and Kawhi Leonard on the rosters, they're like more
mistique than oh look, Terrence Man is still here. Yeah, that's it's
been explained to me that that is partially a driving force you don't want to
go into a new arena kind of I would say, nothing to show for
it, but with like less than what you left the previous one with,
so to speak. Justin this was great. Thank you for being so generous
with your time. Are you able just to tell our listeners where they can
find you in all the fantastic work that you do. If you want to
follow me on Twitter x whatever we're calling it this week, it's Twitter,
Please don't. Yeah, yeah, it's always Twitter to be so it's at
fly by Night. That's f L y B y K and I t E.
If you want to go to my substack, it's Justinarusso dot substack dot
com. I actually just released a story today about how kJ Martin got the
number six jersey with the Clippers that was not retired so to say, for
DeAndre Jordan's, but was held off from you since DJ left the team and
now kJ has it. So I did some digging around and I ended up
writing about it's a rather interesting story. But uh, there's a lot more
to it that I didn't divulge in there, but it's a rather interesting story.
I can't recommend follow follow justin the level of detail he puts into his
work both on Twitter and the substack. All the links Twitter substack would be
in the podcast US description. Once again, thank you so much, Justin,
and I will definitely be pestering you again. No worries. I'm more
than walking the door