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What's up y'all is Drewski and I've
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your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal
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team? Was it the Raptors at
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even started on the topic? Come
on, b Hill you like I'm Vity,

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and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the

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latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This
is Adam Framwell. Here is my fantastic

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co host, Dan's Valley. We
are deep in the midst of the first

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weekend of the twenty twenty one NBA
Playoffs. We've had a number of compelling

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games so far. We're going to
talk about those and all of the questions

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that you, the listeners have submitted. But before we do that, as

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always, how's it going, Dan, I'm doing well. How are you

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doing? I'm already built a sandbox
over the Weekend rumor is correct. Yeah,

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we did it from scratch from my
toddler. We still have to put

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like a roof over it to protect
the sand from the neighborhood raccoons and the

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elements in general. But it was
a shockingly long and arduous process. Well,

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I'm sure your son will appreciate it. Did we already? I had

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a speaker request before I made you
the host? Do you still have it?

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Did that go away? It went
away because I think they left the

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room, all right? They didn't
want to ask that question offs right,

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Yeah, I am always curious about
the speaker request before we started recording.

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But yeah, well, congrats to
your son. What have you any quick

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before we get to all these questions, and if anyone in the room has

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a question, feel free to ask
it in the chat or a quest to

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speak. Any early playoff impressions play
in tournament hot takes, since those were

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flying around after the Warriors lost,
I don't think anything surprised me that much

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in this first set of games.
It seems like the teams that had to

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fight a little bit harder with a
shorter rotation at the end of the regular

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season suffered for it in the play
in game namely the Golden State Warriors against

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the Memphis Grizzlies, the Denver Nuggets
against the Portland Trailblazers in Game one.

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But I don't think any outcomes are
truly surprising to this point, I'm kind

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of with you. I think I
might have missed on the Nuggets Blazers series

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a ton though I had Nuggets in
seven, but kind of watching the Blazers

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offense and just a lack of bodies
and then firepower on the Nuggets end outside

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of Yokich, it does seem like
Portland's very much gonna play. Yokis can

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drop thirty something a night and be
efficient for most of the night, and

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we don't care. We're gonna make
everyone else beat us. And I know

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Michael Porter Junior won't shoot one of
ten from three every single night. But

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if you don't get Will Barton back
in this series, or if you don't

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get PJ. Doser back to help
you defend McCullum and Dames, yeah,

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I'm not gonna. I'll never back
off my picks. But that's the one

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I feel shakiest about at the moment. Well, that and I had Clippers

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in five. That was a that
was a terrible picks. I think the

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biggest thing though, is just not
taking too much away from Game one because

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I think historically like the winner of
Game one only wins the first round series

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like fifty two percent of the time
or something like that. I thought it

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was in the sixties, but I
haven't checked probably in two years. So

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that's not don't don't go off me, but we do. You have a

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first speaker request, so I'm going
to assume that's a question here and I

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will invite you to speak. Little
Trey Wallace. How's it going today?

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We'll go and get there's launching Lakers
and Sons. Yeah, talk about an

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interesting early start here with DeAndre Aden
just going off. Deange is just tortunate

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eighty right now. Yeah, So
did you have a question for us?

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Yeah, well, I'll talk about
the game was yesterday. It books very

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surround against the heat. Yeah,
the Clippers are still the Clippers, and

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the Blazers beat then gets in the
nets destroy as Celtics. Yeah. Yeah,

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we can definitely elaborate on those a
little bit here. Dan. Did

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you have any thoughts on the Bucks
in particular? Yeah, Yo, the

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Bucks are legit as hell, because
I thought that more so going into the

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playoffs to begin with. But you
won a game where Yanni shoots ten of

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twenty four from two, so that's
forty one point seven percent six of thirteen

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at the foul line. The Bucks
as a whole were trash from the foul

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line. They were were they five
of thirty one from three, which was

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the first time they shot under seventeen
percent from three while taking at least twenty

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attempts since twenty eighteen. Ironically,
that game was also against the Heat and

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the other thing that's just not being
talked about Drew Holiday and Jannis. I

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don't know if you saw when I
tweeted this out, they combined for more

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turnovers than assists. The Bucks still
won that game. I know Jimmy Butler

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and bam Adebayo struggled, right,
That's what I was gonna say, is

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like the Devil's Advocate. Here is
that Butler shuck of twenty two and Tyler

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Hero shot two of ten and bam
Adebayo couldn't buy a bucket? Here's does

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that negate itself? No, Because
first of all, Tyler Hero, that's

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going to happen. It happened a
little bit last year. In the bubble

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even though he was hot, and
that's that's his game. He's going to

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be up and down, and this
year he's been mostly down, although he

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had a nice close to the season. I'll also argue that Bam will be

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better, but like Bam is not
even when you look at his numbers,

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Bam is not a scorer. They
need him to be more aggressive and until

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he gets to that point, like
I'm not, I think Jimmy struggles are

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the ones that will correct themselves and
maybe you'll get a better version of Draggage

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perhaps, But the fact that the
Bucks were, you know, you still

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have Chris Middleton. But that's sort
of the point, is that now all

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of a sudden, they have these
closers galore where it's Janis and Drew and

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Chris Middleton, and you have two
players I think that you can resently put

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the ball in their hands in the
half court and Drew and Chris Middleton when

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things are at a standstill and crunch
time. And we saw that they went

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to Drew a bunch. He wasn't
great. Beat up some guys in the

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post though, and that create opportunity
and then Middleton was obviously the hero there

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I picked the Bucks in five in
that one. I don't know what made

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me pick all these five games series. I must have been I don't know

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if I was stoned when I did
that podcast. But I don't feel terrible

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about that pick. It's no MAVs, no MAVs and Clippers. Yeah,

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I mean, I really am just
playing Devil's advocate because my primary takeaways from

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that game are all positive from Milwaukee, especially just looking at the rotations,

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the fact that Mike Budenholtzer only played
nine guys in that game, the fact

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that he kept the starters on for
the entire overtime period, and even more

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importantly, Jannis played forty minutes and
twenty seven seconds in regulation. When was

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the last time we could say that
in a postseason game. So it feels

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like all of those critiques of the
Bucks that helped explain these playoff shortcomings in

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previous season in previous seasons, those
are slowly being eradicated, and this Milwaukee

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team is supremely talented and beating the
heat is not an easy feat in the

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playoffs when they're coached by Eric Bolster, despite the shooting woes of Stars.

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And the other thing here, too
is that I know, Jannis did not

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have the greatest game and he looked
like he tweaked is I don't know if

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it was his hip or what happened. Is at the beginning of the game

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or earlier in the game. He's
going to have better nights, and I

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don't think the Heat necessarily defended him
particularly well. They went with Trevor Ariza

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a bunch, but then they went
with bam Adebayo when it matters. That's

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where you missed Jay Crowder probably the
most, is because he was the one

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that defended Jannis primarily last year.
So you could have Bam mucking things up

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as the helper. If you have
him on Jannis, it makes sense.

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I'm not you know, you can't
criticize Spoe if they go that route for

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most of the game from now on. But then it takes him away from

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doing a lot of the other things
that not only make him great, but

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makes the Heat defense so dangerous,
right, yeah, I think. And

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then with the other three games,
I think I was a little bit surprised

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that Brooklyn didn't win more easily,
and the other two series, I just

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I don't have a field for them
yet. It feels like it could go

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either way any given night, and
kind of the same for Dallas in LA.

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Yeah, we have questions on some
of these series too, and let's

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start with one that as of this
recording, as you have to be played

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at the Lions, King asked why
are the Jazz being slept on as championship

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contenders? I don't know. It's
it baffles me because they're my pick to

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win at all. I'm on the
record with a Jazz Bucks Finals, with

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the Jazz winning in seven games.
Be sure, not Jazz sixers. I

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confused myself because I've waffled between the
sixers and Bucks, but it is officially

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on the record. The corrected version
is Jazz verse six I mean Bucks.

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So yeah, you're the wrong person
asked that question. I think the Jazz

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are legit contenders, but the reasons, some of the reasons that they're being

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slept on, most notably the gobet
being played off the floor stance our bullshit.

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That was multiple years ago. That
season's team was I believe fourteen offensive

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rating, so they didn't have that
offensive juggernaut to fall back on. This

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year's is fourth in offensive rating and
third in defensive rating during the regular season.

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This is a great two way team. But I think the other reason

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is last year's shortcoming where Boyon Bogdanovitch
was hurt, Mike Conley hadn't been fully

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integrated into the rotation. Neither of
those are issues. Now this is a

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complete team and it's a dominant team. The two things that concern me the

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most would be, and we've talked
about this ad nauseum here, the absence

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of that clear bigger wing defender Roy
Sone was a little small. He'll help

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you when you're going up against guards, for sure, anyone in the backcourt

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really after that, Joe Angels can
help you, But like, that's not

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who you want checking Lebron or Kauai
or Paul George that matter, because they

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would be slated to meet the Clippers
in the second round, which I think

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is I say, it's a terrible
draw, but the Clippers are the Clippers,

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and I don't anytime you want to
think you're going to trust the clip,

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you end up not trusting the Clippers
because the Clippers are the Clippers.

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That's my justification there. The other
thing, which I actually think is probably

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more salient. I've seen people focus
a lot on how their offense will fare

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in the postseason. They're gonna be
fine. Maybe they don't generate as looks

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as easily, but we've actually seen
them before. They were as talented as

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this team generate high quality looks in
the playoffs. They just weren't hitting them.

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The players they have now are going
to hit them. They were first

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in the league during the regular season
and affect a field goal percentage on pull

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up drumpers. The actual concern at
this point is Donovan Mitchell didn't play towards

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the end of the regular season because
of that s brand ankle, and now

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he's gonna you know, maybe the
rest does him well, but you are

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asking him to come back all of
a sudden in the playoffs. How long

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does it take to ramp them back
up? And the Grizzlies are gonna go

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at you. Dylan Brooks is gonna
try and be physical with him, and

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will be physical with him. That's
a matchup to really watch. They're not

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going to lose to the Grizzlies.
And I shouldn't dismissed the Grizzlies so easily,

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because I did. When we were
doing previews for every series. I

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went right into Warriors Jazz and only
spent like minutes on Grizzlies Jazz. The

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Donovan Mitchell thing concerns me, I
think because they're so much better than their

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first round opponent, though it does
give him that wee way to work himself

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back into the action, even him
and my Conley, who missed a bunch

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of time towards the end of the
year two. I kind of think it's

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a blessing in disguise that it's not
a more severe injury that he was able

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to take it so easy at the
end of the regular season and get more

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rested up for this playoff run.
Because the Jazz were another team that played

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deep into the bubble season and didn't
have as long an off season, and

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I don't mind that that's the way
the end of the regular season worked out

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for them. I think it could
be pretty beneficial. Sugar Ray, Leonard,

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Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns legends whose four

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way rivalry define one of the greatest
errors in boxing history, relive their decade

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00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:54,279
of dominance in the new Showtime Sports
documentary The Kings, a four parts series

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00:11:54,279 --> 00:11:58,720
premiering Sunday, June sixth, only
on Showtime. Would you have a question

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00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,279
in the chat right now from long
time Faithful listener Noah Otage. Yes,

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what happens to the Hawks offense when
Frank Natila Kina. I'm gonna keep saying

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it like that for you, Dan
effectively shuts down Trey Young And No,

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I'm just confused by the question because
when Trey Young gets shut down, they

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don't have an offense. This year
they did have a little bit more of

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an offense with when Bogdanovitch coming on
has been huge for them. I will

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say if Frank Niela Kina does not
play at least fifteen to twenty minutes per

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game in this series, my prediction
would be that the Knicks have lost it

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because they don't have anyone else who
makes sense to defend Trey Young. Maybe

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Reggie Bullock maybe, but that's just
I don't know. I don't think that

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they should be starting Alfred Peyton.
I would start Franknielickina or Alec Burks if

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I were them. See I'm not
even saying just Frank. I understand that

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you want someone who can maybe get
you into your offense. I personally think

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that if you put someone like Nila
Keen on the floor. It would force

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RJ. Barrett to be more aggressive. But Nila Keena needs to play this

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series. And I know Tom Thibodeau
is like tiptoed around and saying he might

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play him. I have two concerns
there. These aren't questions so much as

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just observations. I'm kind of tired
of hearing Tom Thibodeau compliment Frank Nilikina so

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much only to not play him.
It just it bugs the hell out of

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me. I'm not saying it's fake, but if you're if you have this

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much faith in him, why not
play him? And then two with that,

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I've already touched upon this, I'm
not I still don't understand Alfred Peyton

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stuff. If you're not going to
start Neil Kina, start Alec Burke someone

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I understand not wanting to start Derek
Rose because of what that could do for

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your bench to him, and I
Q minutes have been fire. It shouldn't

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be Alfred Peyton and this is the
series where that could come back to haunt

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you. You give if Alfred Peyton
is the one that winds up defending Trey

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Young and you even do that till
the six thirty six mark or whatever the

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trademark minute is where you pull him. That's like five minutes of Trey Young

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potentially just going bonkers, and that's
you know, a lot of damage in

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those five minutes. Correct. We
also have a live update here. I

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saw this around the podcast. You
know, I don't I don't have the

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Lakers soun's game on because we're recording
here. I have it a pause to

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watch later. But per Mike Traudell
at Lakers reporter, looked like Chris Paul

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heard his next slash upper back area
by making contact with he make Cam Johnson

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after landing trying to contest to put
back lay up from Lebron, he just

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walked off straight to the locker room. Sounds like he was in a lot

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of pain on the floor. Players
from both teams surrounding him. That would

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be a disaster for the Suns.
I don't think there's any way around that.

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You have to you immediately waived Cam
Johnson and yeah, I'm not trying

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to make light of it, but
they would they be fucked pardon my French.

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Yeah, I mean we both picked
the Suns in this first round series.

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That immediately changes not making that pick
Yeah, it's Lakers in three without

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Chris Paul. There's nothing that you
can do to replace those minutes. So

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all the best thoughts to Chris Paul
right now. Yeah, No, seriously,

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and we want to see good series. And this was this I think

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was shaping up to be would have
shaped up to have been good one.

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And I do have it on here. I saw him get injured him how

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my fingers crossed? It wasn't serious, but it's on mute, so I

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didn't know the context. Another playoff
question from at Nugget one zero five.

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Does Boston have any chance of winning? No, it's over And I think

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Game one is almost a disaster in
the sense you hold the Nets to under

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one hundred and five points and you
still lose the How do you score ninety

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three points against that Brooklyn defense?
Kemba Walker plays like not a very good

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player. Jason Tatum. Life was
made hell on Jason Tatum. That's where

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they really missed Jalen Brown, and
it like the defense. The Nets weren't

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king in on Kemba Walker the way
that they were Jason Tatum. You saw

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Jeff Green and Kevin Durant defen Tatum
a bunch but that was just like the

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kitchen sink was thrown at Jason Tatum, and that they're able to do that

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defeats the purpose of having Kemba Walker. And I do think after this series,

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if Kemba Walker, no one expects
the Celtics to win. But if

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he doesn't have like two or three
straight games of close to vintage Kemba performances,

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there are so many conversations that need
to be have about Kemba's place in

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league overall and where the Celtics go
from here. Here's two years left on

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his MAX deal. They can't They're
not gonna win anything with this version of

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Kemba Walker. And I know he's
been banged up this year oblique and knee

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issues. Still like that's just the
reality of Boston situation. They need Kenba

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to be right now. He has
to be their second best player, but

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you have to look at this through
the lens of can he even be our

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third or fourth best player next year? I think players like Lebron James and

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Chris Paul have kind of made us
forget that. For primary ball handlers who

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are tasked with initiating a lot of
offense, thirty one is usually that magic

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age where you see the sudden drop
offs, and Kemba turned thirty one earlier

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in May. It's not inconceivable that
we've just seen the last of vintage Kemba.

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Sad as that may be. But
to answer the original question, like,

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I'd be downright shock if this is
anything more than a gentleman's sweep.

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Yeah, I had I believe the
Nets just sweeping them out right, because

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Jaylen Brown means that much to them. I don't even like, what's the

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bright spot for the Celtics, nest
I guess Robert Williams he put on a

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shot blocking clinic. I did see
though, that only one of his nine

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blocks resulted in the Celtics winding up
with possession. The rest went out of

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bounds or ended up in the in
the Nets hands. That's I think that

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does show that there's limited value to
shop blocking. It's important, but steels

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and forcing turnovers are way more important. There are shot blocking artists throughout NBA

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history who were uniquely adept at keeping
the ball in bounds or swatting into their

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teammates. Bill Russell famously was able
to start fast breaks off of his blocks.

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Tim Duncan was an absolute master at
keeping them in bounds. Shaquille O'Neil

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loves swatting them into the fourteenth row
of the stands. One of those things

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is more valuable than the others.
I will also say, though, that

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Robert Williams looks like he got a
lot better in one on one situations where

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he held up on some switches.
Maybe that's the bright spot is okay,

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center of the future here, let's
move forward. We have to trade kemba.

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That's the discussion that's happening this year. That's all Hardwood Knocks nominee Robert

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Williams. By the way, Oh
yes, I forgot Congratulations to you,

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Thank you. We have some other
playoff related questions here at Karan k Hannah

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or Karan Kana. I apologize if
I butchered the hell out of that pronunciation.

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Hi, can you find some data
on eighties offensive efficiency and Lakers overall

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driving, paid finishing when Drummond is
on the court, And I can because

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you ask so politely, you said, Hi, I really appreciate that.

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So I brought up some numbers here
because I'm assuming you don't have those off

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of top of mind. Maybe you
do because you're a genius. But this

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season a D is taking a career
low thirty two percent of his field goal

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attempts at the rim and a career
high fifty three percent are coming from mid

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range. A lot of that I
think has to do I mean even now,

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but at the beginning of the season, and it was point blank said

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he wasn't in the best shape after
the championship run and he was injured.

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I think that really contributed to the
diminished volume at the basket. He is

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still shooting like seventy five percent at
the rim, and that's a career high,

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so there is that to consider.
He is shooting on those mid range

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attempts though, forty three percent,
which is tied for the second best mark

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of his career, so at least
that's not goes on with the attempts that

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you want. But when he's not
hitting threes at an astronomical clip, the

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fact that he has that in his
arsenal is huge. I do think they

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need him to get to the basket
more. And that brought me up to

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a piece of trivia for you,
Adam, concerning a DA. When is

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the last time that rollman possessions accounted
for at least twenty percent of Anthony Davis's

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offense. I feel like there's a
solid chance this is a trick question and

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it's never happened. So I'm gonna
go with his rookie season back in twenty

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twelve, thirteen. It was twenty
sixteen, twenty seventeen, but it's been

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and yeah, and look, it's
been so a half decade. The thing

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here is that he became such a
great player. He didn't only have to

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be a play finisher. So I
get why that volume would dip this season,

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and it was even last season,
fourteen point seven percent of his offensive

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possessions came as the rollman, not
particularly efficient, shot fifty five point eight

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00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,720
percent on them, a lot more
popping there. His affective field goal percent

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00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,160
was around sixty in these situations.
That's that's great. And then last season

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was kind of the same story twelve
point seven percent, So it's only a

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tick up. I don't know if
this has to do with the Laker spacing

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00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,559
or what. I would love to
see Anthony Davis involved in way more pick

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and roll than he is now.
I understand he's so much more than a

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play finisher, but if you give
him the wiggle room, to maneuver,

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and I think when you're playing him
at the four, he probably doesn't have

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it as much, especially if the
other big is Andre Drummond on the court.

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I don't know. That just feels
like you're leaving money on the table

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00:20:55,519 --> 00:20:57,440
by not easing him more as the
diver. Look, I'm gonna channel my

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00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:03,200
my inner Charles Bark and Shaquille O'Neal
here, which is like very deep somewhere

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00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,960
in the recesses of my psyche,
and you haven't watched any of the games

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00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,240
and you slept through them, and
you're going to give your opinions anyway,

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Yeah, essentially, But anecdotally,
I think Anthony Davis spends too much time

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on the perimeter. And I'm in
no way one of those people who's like,

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00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,440
oh, we need the traditional big
man play, like bring back the

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00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,039
post of blah blah blah blah blah. But he does. It feels like

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00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,640
the Lakers use him just spotting up
on the wings a little bit too much

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00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,000
and take him away from his strengths. I don't know if that's the scheme

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that Frank Vogel has designed, if
that's Anthony Davis just not wanting to play

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00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:45,319
the five, it actually reform maybe
because I don't know if you have good

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around the basket. I just you're
taking away such a dangerous, devastating weapon

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00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:56,079
from that offense. I think part
of it is out of necessity because he's

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the second big on the floor and
unless that other big is this season,

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00:22:00,079 --> 00:22:03,640
to look at Marc Gasol, if
it's tres if it's Drummond, he can't

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00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,000
be that guy because they have to
be that guy, right or they could

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play him at the five, not
have him be the second big, but

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of the two. Really, you
know, we never talked about that latter

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point before. I used to think
I was oversimplifying it by saying that players

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00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,000
need to stop with the I don't
want to play this position in that position.

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Until Modac Hill, former video coordinator
for two NBA teams and the Australian

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00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,960
national team, I believe, told
me that it is absolute bs and that

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they should. You know, for
Anthony Davis, there's I know he wants

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00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,680
to fly around the perimeter on defense. Is he really getting like he gets

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00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,519
banged up enough? He's on the
floor all the time. Maybe if he's

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00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:42,119
guarding centers, he actually won't have
to move as much and won't get injured

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00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,799
or whatever. But I he's gonna
take shots to the face wherever he is

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because he's Anthony Davis and that's his
thing, right, So this is this

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00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,759
is like mellow not wanting to play
the four way back when all over again,

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00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:59,039
really quickly on the Drummond stats.
So the Lakers four point three percent

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00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,400
more of their shots come from short
mid range when he's on the court.

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00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:07,839
One point four percent of their rim
frequency drops. So the percent of shots

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00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,160
that are coming at the rim when
he's on the court are are dipping by

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one point four percent. I actually
do think that's his fault a little bit,

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just because he's going to bail out
of some of his roles a little

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00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,519
too soon and throw up those junkie
short mid rangers as we just alluded to.

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00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,799
When you're looking at the accuracy in
those situations, Los Angeles is accuracy

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00:23:26,799 --> 00:23:30,200
at the rim drops by two point
nine percentage points when Drummond is on the

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00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,440
court. The short mid range accuracy
drops by four point nine percentage points.

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00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,559
Those are very not good numbers.
Look, we just not good numbers.

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00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:42,799
This is going to be so dated, but for anyone who has not had

356
00:23:42,799 --> 00:23:45,680
the update on Chris paul Or is
listening live. He will return to game

357
00:23:45,759 --> 00:23:49,920
one, so well he's available to
return to game one. We don't yet

358
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,599
know if he will. Right,
well, he better. I have sons

359
00:23:53,599 --> 00:24:00,720
in seven, like, come on, CP three, let's go right I

360
00:24:00,759 --> 00:24:03,359
do. We have two questions on
the Warriors that I guess I'll save because

361
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,599
they are interesting. We have because
it's the Hardware Knox podcast. We do

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00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,559
have a Nicole Yokis question. It
wouldn't be an episode with that one.

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00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:17,920
This comes from at Cryptofer asks Yokich
has been the best player in the league

364
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,160
this season and deserves MVP, but
where would he rank among players overall?

365
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,599
I'd assume Lebron, Katie and Steph
are still better, but it's hard to

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00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:29,480
say that with how the season has
gone. There are two different ways to

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00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,319
look at this question. Before I
hand you the talking stick, would be

368
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,640
this season specifically, where did he
rank? Or if you were just doing

369
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,400
this heading into next year, where
would you put him? I will throw

370
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:44,240
out these three number or I've looked
at some of my favorite catchalls just to

371
00:24:44,279 --> 00:24:48,119
see where he ranked this year in
TPA total points added? Do you know

372
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:52,839
which website has that it's ESPN right, No, it's it's NBA Math.

373
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,240
Okay, do better next time.
He ranks first, and total points added

374
00:24:56,759 --> 00:25:00,799
in estimated plus minus from dunks and
threes, he ranks first. In luck

375
00:25:00,839 --> 00:25:04,599
adjusted real adjusted plus minus, he
ranked second, and then in Lebron,

376
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:07,839
which I'm very of, but I
really do love the Ball Index. I

377
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,599
just stats that are named after players
always. I don't know if there's any

378
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,880
science on that, but when they're
named after players, it's just it tweets

379
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,440
me a little bit. He ranks
first in Lebron And the other thing I'll

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00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:18,359
say is, if you were going
to do this as a multi year thing,

381
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,960
ad him. He is twelve in
three year luck adjusted real adjusted plus

382
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,920
minus. So please first acide note
that Chris Willis Reid Paul has officially re

383
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,240
entered the game. The way,
the way I want to look at this

384
00:25:30,319 --> 00:25:34,799
question. At NBA Math, we
do the Crystal Basketball Rankings. Preseason.

385
00:25:36,759 --> 00:25:41,000
We ask all the contributors to rank
players and grade them and scale them based

386
00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:45,880
on how we expect them to play
for the upcoming season. After the postseason,

387
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:52,079
we ask them to grade how they
played during the previous season. So

388
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,000
one of those is looking solely at
the contributions and availability and everything from the

389
00:25:56,039 --> 00:26:02,079
campaign in question. The other is
more of a forward looking exercise that allows

390
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,119
you to be predictive and get a
little bit bolder with your takes. So,

391
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,400
yeah, he's been the best player
in basketball this season. We've seen

392
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:14,680
prominent outlets write about that and whether
it's the case or if he's the MVP

393
00:26:14,839 --> 00:26:18,559
despite not being the best player in
basketball, just the narrative factors and the

394
00:26:18,599 --> 00:26:22,400
availability factors and the quality of his
team and all that. But I think

395
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,200
if you look at it from the
perspective of the forward looking analysis, that

396
00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:30,200
you're still putting him behind a few
guys. I would be pretty surprised again

397
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,000
looking at like the Crystal basketball exercise, because I think it's a good way

398
00:26:33,039 --> 00:26:38,039
to frame this question. If he
finishes looking ahead to the twenty one twenty

399
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:41,640
two season, if he's ahead of
Lebron, if he's ahead of Steph,

400
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:48,160
if he's ahead of Kauai, Donness
probably too. Beyond those, I'm not

401
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,440
sure that you're going to have anyone
else. Those would be the only names

402
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,440
I consider. Maybe Luca don Jich
you might throw in there. I think

403
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:02,359
Luca is going to be one of
those guys battling for fifth with him?

404
00:27:02,519 --> 00:27:04,720
Is Kauai still in front of him? I think I'm letting the I don't

405
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,519
think he should be. I think
he will be. I think I'm letting

406
00:27:07,519 --> 00:27:11,799
the Clippers clipperiness cloud my judgment there
because I do think he should probably be

407
00:27:11,039 --> 00:27:14,599
in front of him. There's a
chance maybe Lebron is the one that drops

408
00:27:14,599 --> 00:27:18,799
off behind him when looking at just
sort of that group, and Harden could

409
00:27:18,839 --> 00:27:22,119
still be in the mix. But
I do think the calculus changes for him

410
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,440
and n k D given how the
nets are built now with all three of

411
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,359
those stars there would say, Stephan
Yannas are the two guarantees. Yeah,

412
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,880
those are those are the only guarantees. I would actually say, yeah.

413
00:27:33,039 --> 00:27:37,200
So hopefully that answered that question.
More playoff questions we have here. Again,

414
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,559
if anyone as a question live,
let Adam know because I made him

415
00:27:41,599 --> 00:27:45,279
the hosts because he's the hostess with
the mostess. Oh, this isn't power,

416
00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:48,480
this is interesting. I marked it
down and then did only minimal research

417
00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:55,480
on it. At am Underscore Blaal
thirty five asked which player who isn't well

418
00:27:55,519 --> 00:28:00,799
known in mainstream basketball conversations will have
a breakout playoff run. Wow, that's

419
00:28:00,839 --> 00:28:07,599
a great question. I think Robert
Williams probably counts. That's a good answer.

420
00:28:11,319 --> 00:28:14,759
Not well known. I want to
say Nicholas Claxton, but he's not

421
00:28:15,039 --> 00:28:19,440
good enough minutes. Well, he
brought that upon himself in Game one because

422
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,839
he fouled so much early on switches. But I don't think the Nets are

423
00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:26,200
going to trust him anyway, so
yeah, i'd write him off. Marcus

424
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,000
Howard is probably a good one in
Denver due to Bridges. Okay, that's

425
00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:33,839
fine. Please, I want to
hear everything about Michael Bridges. I'm gonna

426
00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:37,200
set my stop watch for sixty minutes
and you need to use all of them.

427
00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:41,880
I think we talked about how he
might have moved out of the underrated

428
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,359
category during the regular season for people
who are paying very close attention to the

429
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,680
NBA, But the Suns still haven't
really broken through on the national scene,

430
00:28:49,759 --> 00:28:55,519
despite being a primary talking point.
When Chris Baul was being talked about as

431
00:28:55,559 --> 00:29:00,640
a potential MVP challenger for Nicola Yokich, people talking about Devin Booker as they

432
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,680
always want to do. I don't
think the nuances of that team are known

433
00:29:04,799 --> 00:29:10,160
yet, and mckill Bridges now has
one of the most marquee first round series

434
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,039
imaginable, where he's going to be
asked to check Lebron James and Anthony Davis

435
00:29:14,559 --> 00:29:18,480
and make his presence felt. And
I think he's going to get a lot

436
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:23,039
more love from national audiences, especially
if they win that series and then he's

437
00:29:23,079 --> 00:29:26,519
tasked with either slowing down Luca don
Chi or Kawhi Leonard in the next round.

438
00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:30,960
That, yeah, I never know
how deep cut to do with these,

439
00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:36,359
Noah said in the chat TLC or
Shammitt from the Nets, those dudes.

440
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,839
Shammitt needs to not be just so
much of Game one was disastrous for

441
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,960
him, and TLC started off the
season so well but ended off falling off

442
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,640
a cliff. But yeah, TLC
would be a good one, just because

443
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,279
he sort of came on for the
Nets in the last year when they had

444
00:29:49,319 --> 00:29:53,279
their skeleton crew in the bubble,
and he, in theory, is someone

445
00:29:53,319 --> 00:29:56,319
the Nets could use if they want
to play him a wing that can shoot

446
00:29:56,359 --> 00:30:00,000
and make threes while playing off the
ball and then and check some different guys

447
00:30:00,079 --> 00:30:04,240
on defense. No one else really. I did mention Marcus Howard because the

448
00:30:04,319 --> 00:30:08,759
Nuggets are throwing everybody out there and
he is just an offensive lightning rod,

449
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,960
as we saw in Game one against
the the Blazers. I don't know who

450
00:30:14,039 --> 00:30:15,960
else brings some mindfire. You know
what the problem is here is because a

451
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,119
lot of these guys are not going
to see minutes in the postseason enough to

452
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,960
make that imprint. So let's just
say it's naturally go to like those second

453
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:26,880
level stars like Tobias Harris. There's
another name who comes to mind here that's

454
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:32,839
too He's I think that's too well
known already because of the contract. I

455
00:30:33,319 --> 00:30:37,960
think sure I'm looking at I think
Bryn Forbes has a chance because Milwaukee is

456
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,799
so focused on diversifying their offense.
They gave him some minute in Game one.

457
00:30:41,839 --> 00:30:45,599
It helps that you can hide him
on Trevor Riza defensively, and he

458
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,000
led the NBA. I think we've
said this multiple times in points per touch

459
00:30:48,319 --> 00:30:52,200
this season, and look, frank
Niel Keena, He's gonna lock down Trey

460
00:30:52,279 --> 00:30:56,680
Young. It's gonna happen. So
to that point, I actually think Kevin

461
00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,480
Herder is a good answer here,
just to do everything guy. Where if

462
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,319
they actually do put Frankie Smokes on
Trey Young throughout the game and force a

463
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,880
secondary playmaker to emerge. That that's
a role that Hurd has capably filled this

464
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,079
season. That's a good point.
Also, Frankie smokes, have we made

465
00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:15,720
him to mainstream? I think we
have on this podcast for sure. Hurder

466
00:31:15,759 --> 00:31:18,440
is a good one though I was
gonna say DeAndre Hunter, but I feel

467
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,160
like he sells his draft pick cache
and he's really only under the radar because

468
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,359
he missed so much of the season, not because he's a bad player exactly.

469
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:33,240
This is Oh, that's a Grizzlies
Let's save the Grizzlies. Oh,

470
00:31:33,279 --> 00:31:37,200
this one's an easy one. At
Rose on y t as, has a

471
00:31:37,319 --> 00:31:40,759
one seed ever been swept in the
first round? The answer is no.

472
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,400
They have lost five times. The
two times it happened in the best of

473
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,920
five series it went the full five
games. In the best of seven ERA

474
00:31:48,559 --> 00:31:52,559
or any best of seven series,
they've all gone at least six for the

475
00:31:52,559 --> 00:31:56,359
other three. Do we believe Warriors
over the Mavericks was six? Right?

476
00:31:56,839 --> 00:32:04,519
Correct? Do the MVP question,
Let's get out of the way. Let's

477
00:32:04,519 --> 00:32:07,519
go to something else first. That
I could find the the MVP question here

478
00:32:07,519 --> 00:32:08,440
because I didn't have it marked down. I didn't know you wanted to do

479
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:16,359
it? So okay, this one
from at Dario Underscore Rivero is CP three

480
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:23,720
MVP. He is in my book. Go ahead, That's all I got.

481
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:30,480
Just a sigh of just I'm resigned
to this question always populating our mailbags.

482
00:32:31,759 --> 00:32:35,920
That's all I got. I'm just
sad. All right, Well that's

483
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:37,759
a little disappointing. So I haven't
found the other question that you wanted just

484
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:42,720
yet. I would just say I
don't understand the impetus to make it the

485
00:32:42,839 --> 00:32:45,079
CP three MVP thing happen. Is
it just we need to change the conversation

486
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,480
so much. I don't you know, if you want to throw him in

487
00:32:47,559 --> 00:32:52,799
the top five, I think that's
fine. I don't know how you make

488
00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:55,759
a case for him over Yokich.
I don't know how you make a case

489
00:32:55,759 --> 00:33:07,480
from either over embiid steff Yannie.
It's just m Lebron playing off this season.

490
00:33:07,119 --> 00:33:10,640
I don't know. But like,
isn't the argument fairly similar where it's

491
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:15,400
just about raising the level of a
team, both with on court contributions and

492
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:21,640
leadership contributions. I mean, I
suppose, I literally it is not showing

493
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,079
up in the replies. I'm gonna
go back through our chat because I sent

494
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:29,720
it to you, so here it
is if if at MVP World, as

495
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:36,160
if if every MVP vote from every
single year of the NBA was cast at

496
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,359
once, including second and third place
votes, who would be the all time

497
00:33:39,559 --> 00:33:45,880
MVP and what would the next nine
years look like? My file question would

498
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,759
be unless he's not including this year
and wanted to get like just ended at

499
00:33:49,799 --> 00:33:52,799
twenty thirty, why nine years that
would bring us to twenty twenty nine.

500
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,160
I'm just I'm just very curious.
I'm very confused about the nine years part

501
00:33:57,559 --> 00:34:00,240
in general, like, are we
predicting the next nine MVP? Are we

502
00:34:00,319 --> 00:34:02,440
predicting who's going to get the most
MVP votes over the next nine years?

503
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,640
Because if that's the question, it's
probably going to be Luca don Chich,

504
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:16,079
Kake Cunningham. Maybe I'll allow it. I don't have an answer to well,

505
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:20,920
I have a pseudo answer, because
there's no way that I have the

506
00:34:21,039 --> 00:34:23,840
hours and hours and hours of free
time necessary to compile all of the MVP

507
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,960
votes that are not in one place, especially because the ones from the sixties

508
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,800
and seventies. We don't have the
full breakdowns immediately available. But we do

509
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,760
have something called MVP Award shares,
which is a Basketball Reference creation and looks

510
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:44,000
at the percentage of the possible voting
points that a MVP candidate received. So

511
00:34:44,079 --> 00:34:47,519
when twenty fifteen sixteen Stephan Curry was
unanimous, he got one full award share.

512
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,320
Everyone else who has not been unanimous
is, you know, getting point

513
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,400
nine something award shares because they're still
the runaway winner, but they're not getting

514
00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:01,599
every single possible first place vote.
We do have all time leaderboards for MVP

515
00:35:01,679 --> 00:35:06,960
Award shares, so this is publicly
available on Basketball Reference. But I'll just

516
00:35:07,079 --> 00:35:09,679
run through the top ten and I
guess see if anyone really jumps out at

517
00:35:09,679 --> 00:35:15,079
you as being a surprising inclusion or
being way too low. Number ten is

518
00:35:15,159 --> 00:35:20,880
Kobe Bryant at four point two.
Tim Duncan is four point three, Karl

519
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,079
malone is four point three, Shaquille
O'Neil is four point four, Bill Russell

520
00:35:24,199 --> 00:35:29,280
is six at four point seven,
Magic Johnson is fifth at five point one,

521
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,880
Larry Bird is fourth at five point
six, Kareem abdul Jabbar third with

522
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,400
six point one, then a gigantic
jump to Michael Jordan at number two with

523
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:42,559
eight point one, and Lebron James
at eight point eight. It seems like

524
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,679
I've always really liked this metric,
just because it is a pretty good approximation

525
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:51,519
of NBA history. Just right off
the cuff, I was gonna say,

526
00:35:51,519 --> 00:35:54,119
I'm probably a bit surprised that Larry
Bird was so high, not that he

527
00:35:54,280 --> 00:36:00,480
was on the list. Yeah,
I think I'm a little surprised Bill wasn't

528
00:36:00,519 --> 00:36:05,639
higher. But some of the MVP
votes back in Russell's era were kind of

529
00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:08,880
strange, like the fact that Will
Chamberlain didn't win MVP during his fifty point

530
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:15,039
per game season. That's always been
weird. He might have he could have

531
00:36:15,119 --> 00:36:16,920
won six Man of the Year though, if he was coming up at points

532
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,280
per game, even if he was
starting, could have just given him six

533
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,840
minutes. Considering he didn't miss a
single minute of a single game including overtime,

534
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,559
that year and played more than forty
eight minutes per game, I feel

535
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,840
fairly confident that he would not have
been eligible for six Men of the Year.

536
00:36:31,039 --> 00:36:34,400
No no, I said, even
though he started games. Clearly,

537
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,480
just give it to him, Okay, okay, give him the board.

538
00:36:37,639 --> 00:36:42,840
I guess that's called the scoring title. So yeah, he got thrown a

539
00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:47,199
bone somewhere at Karagan Holt asked,
is this the year we get an answer

540
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:52,840
on the Donovan Mitchell versus Devin Booker
debate, whoever goes further in the playoffs

541
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:58,679
is better? I would answer this
question with maybe this is when we get

542
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,440
the answer. It's going to be
based off who goes further in the playoffs.

543
00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:06,360
Look at who these two teams are
playing. Losing to the Lakers is

544
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,960
a lot different than beating the Grizzlies. If that's the scenario, that that's

545
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:13,400
the most likely scenario, is what
I would say. Also, just don't

546
00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:16,960
judge an individual off a team's success, right, which is and it works

547
00:37:17,039 --> 00:37:21,599
both ways. It goes back to
the Stephen Curry MVP to eight. I'm

548
00:37:21,639 --> 00:37:24,039
not going to penalize him for what
happens during the minutes that he's off the

549
00:37:24,119 --> 00:37:29,719
floor. He has no control over
those those unless he's just in foul trouble

550
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,840
all the time. But I'm also
not going to reward him completely, or

551
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:37,480
rather, I'm not going to detract
from the case of Jannis or Yokich just

552
00:37:37,599 --> 00:37:40,719
because their teams are better built around
him. Is it Yokich's fault that he's

553
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:49,159
not starting from a lower rock bottom
than Stephen Curry? I think basketball kind

554
00:37:49,199 --> 00:37:53,280
of naturally obfuscates this conversation a bit
because the game is so fluid. So

555
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:59,239
the example I like to use is
in baseball with Mike Trout. If you're

556
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:05,360
diminishing Mike Trout's accomplishments because the Los
Angeles Angels are a cursed and incompetent organization

557
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:07,880
that cannot make it to the playoffs, Mike Trout has nothing to do with

558
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,719
that. He's doing absolutely everything that
he can do in the field, on

559
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,079
the base paths when it's his turn
to bat, but his teammates are not

560
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:19,440
doing enough to get them into the
playoffs? Sorry, Like, what can

561
00:38:19,519 --> 00:38:22,639
he do to control that? And
I think it's similar, It just feels

562
00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:28,440
a little different in basketball because it's
more of a sport where the teammates are

563
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,800
working together fluently. I will say
I think Donovan Mitchell has bridged the gap

564
00:38:34,079 --> 00:38:38,000
this year, but that this wasn't
necessarily a clear debate before. If you

565
00:38:38,119 --> 00:38:42,960
just look at luck adjusted RPM over
the last three years, Devin Booker ranked

566
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:49,760
seventy eighth overall, eleventh in offense
in offensive rapm Mitchell ranked one hundred and

567
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,119
thirty fifth and then sixtieth on offense
over the past three years. This season

568
00:38:53,599 --> 00:38:58,400
again the gap has closed. Oh
wait, I'm sorry those were This year

569
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:04,440
stats, Booker is eleventh on luck
adjusted offensive RPM compared to Mitchell, who

570
00:39:04,519 --> 00:39:08,039
is sixtieth. For three years,
his overall rank is one forty five and

571
00:39:08,119 --> 00:39:13,360
luck adjusted RPM. This is Booker
and tenth on offense. Mitchell is one

572
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,440
hundred and twenty fourth on offense and
then four hundred and eighth overall. Been

573
00:39:16,519 --> 00:39:21,360
the better pull up shooter this season, but only by a hair. Booker's

574
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:24,159
been having a down year there forty
eight point eight affective field goal percentage on

575
00:39:24,199 --> 00:39:29,440
pull up jumpers. Donov Mitchell is
forty nine point eight. When you look

576
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,599
at Donovan Mitchell has fewer turnovers this
year, he's assisting on more of his

577
00:39:32,639 --> 00:39:36,559
team's buckets. A lot of that
does have to do with CP three coming

578
00:39:36,599 --> 00:39:40,719
into Phoenix. With Booker in general, he is the player that is better

579
00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:46,679
equipped to lead a team or lineups
on his own. And we've seen that

580
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,840
far out in Utah, where when
Donov Mitchell's on the floor, they are

581
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:54,320
winning those minutes and the offensive rating
is through the roof, but they're only

582
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:59,800
a plus one per one hundred possessions
it's on the court. Without Chris Paul,

583
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:05,559
the Suns have outscored opponents by plus
six point six points per one hundred

584
00:40:05,559 --> 00:40:08,800
possessions. I think it's close,
and I caught a lot of shit when

585
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:14,119
I said Booker was better than than
Mitchell when we had this debate previously.

586
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:16,159
It's close, and you could probably
pick either player. But I do think

587
00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:21,320
this is a season in which Gonvan
Mitchell needed to bridge a gap because it

588
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,599
existed, and that gap probably no
longer exists. If I may zoom out

589
00:40:25,639 --> 00:40:30,480
a little bit to focus on the
forest rather than the trees. These are

590
00:40:30,639 --> 00:40:35,199
both twenty four year old basketball players. We're not going to have an answer

591
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,119
for who has the better career,
who has the higher peak, or whatever

592
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:42,440
for a while longer. It is
likely to go through some ebbs and flows

593
00:40:42,639 --> 00:40:47,199
in both cases. That is not
hot tachy enough. That was vanilla.

594
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:54,519
It was plain. I despised it. Thank you, You're welcome. So

595
00:40:54,599 --> 00:41:00,079
we have two Warriors questions, which
is fitting because their season ended dramatically and

596
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:06,960
disappointingly, though I am still excited
to apply offs at lost run Ton nine

597
00:41:07,039 --> 00:41:10,760
four five acts. How do you
expect Klay Thompson's return to go after missing

598
00:41:12,199 --> 00:41:15,840
two entire seasons, and it's it
is two entire seasons, but he last

599
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,800
played basketball in June fourteenth, twenty
nineteen. By the time he comes back

600
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,440
in when do we think the first
game is going to be played next season?

601
00:41:22,519 --> 00:41:25,119
Probably in November, right, they're
not starting in October. I think

602
00:41:25,119 --> 00:41:30,400
they'll start in October and so end
of October, though, So let's just

603
00:41:30,639 --> 00:41:34,199
get you know, that's another four
months on top of the two. That's

604
00:41:34,199 --> 00:41:37,840
like twenty eight months closer to two
years and a half of not playing basketball.

605
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:42,840
He tore his left and then he
tore he had the ruptured right achilles.

606
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,280
What are your expectations for him leading
into next season at him, look,

607
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:51,679
I'd be lying if I said that
I wasn't expecting a slightly diminished version

608
00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:55,400
of Klay Thompson. It's really hard
to recover from an achilles injury, much

609
00:41:55,519 --> 00:42:00,559
less to do so with that amount
of time off and to get back in

610
00:42:00,599 --> 00:42:05,199
the swing of things. Achilles injuries
affect your explosiveness. They affect your change

611
00:42:05,239 --> 00:42:10,719
of direction ability. We've seen Kevin
Durant overcome it because he's Kevin freaking Durant

612
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:15,480
and he can shoot over anyone.
And he's just so ridiculously smooth and athletic.

613
00:42:15,599 --> 00:42:21,840
Regardless, Clay Thompson's game is very
much predicated on the ability to zoom

614
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:27,239
around the perimeter and find those marginally
open spots where he can launch those catching

615
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,960
fire threes. He's always going to
have that shooting ability, and it might

616
00:42:30,079 --> 00:42:35,440
even be better from all the time
that he's had to practice stand still shooting,

617
00:42:35,559 --> 00:42:37,119
because what else has he been able
to do for the last twenty eight

618
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:43,679
months or however long that timeframe has
been to this point. He's always going

619
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:45,719
to have that ridiculously quick release.
One of the things that makes him so

620
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:51,719
impressive is the ability to catch the
ball while moving into his release, rather

621
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:55,079
than needing to gather and then fire, which just gives him that split second

622
00:42:55,119 --> 00:43:00,000
advantage regardless of where the defense is, but locating to those spots. Being

623
00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:05,960
able to play lockdown perimeter defense against
a wide variety of matchups that requires lateral

624
00:43:06,039 --> 00:43:08,920
quickness and the ability to switch on
to these quick guards and take the matchups

625
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:13,320
that they don't want Stephen Curry having
to face. I don't think that those

626
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,400
are going to be there to the
same extent, So I think we're looking

627
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:21,320
at more of a spot up weapon, kind of in like that Joe Harris

628
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:27,519
mold than the all around weapon that
he had become before these injuries. Can

629
00:43:27,599 --> 00:43:31,440
you hear me now? I can
hear you now? Awesome? I wrote

630
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:36,280
down basically the same exact notes.
It does help that even when you date

631
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,159
back to the pre KD era Warriors, eighty plus percent of has made baskets

632
00:43:40,199 --> 00:43:44,440
were coming off assists. But you
outline the context of so many of those

633
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:50,519
baskets. When you're talking about him
relocating for threes making cuts, those might

634
00:43:50,639 --> 00:43:53,000
be more difficult for him to complete. Now, how fast is he going

635
00:43:53,039 --> 00:43:55,440
to be able to run on offense? He did always kind of have an

636
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:59,599
intriguing post games, so maybe you
could milk that more. His shooting will

637
00:43:59,599 --> 00:44:02,440
sustain. On top of those concerns
though, looking at how his points are

638
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,800
going to come even when he's off
the ball, how many minutes do you

639
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:08,639
play him? Is he ever going
to be a thirty minute ever? Again,

640
00:44:09,119 --> 00:44:10,880
I don't want to rule you're shaking
her head. No, I don't

641
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,960
want to rule it out, but
yeah, I would be shocked if next

642
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:15,360
season, you know, where are
they going to start him off at?

643
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:19,320
There's no way he starts off the
year at just twenty five minutes per game,

644
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:23,000
right, Probably not, And let's
not forget that he'll be thirty two

645
00:44:23,079 --> 00:44:27,880
next February. We're not talking about
a twenty six year old recovering from these

646
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:32,280
injuries anymore. And beyond that,
like every every thirty year old has varying

647
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:37,039
amounts of mileage. How many thirty
year olds have played checking notes here,

648
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:43,800
have played I'm on the wrong table
on the basketball reference page, have played

649
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:47,559
four thousand, five hundred and seventy
playoff mats. Like he's racked up a

650
00:44:47,679 --> 00:44:52,039
lot of mileage because of how deep
the Warriors have gone year in and year

651
00:44:52,079 --> 00:45:00,079
out while he's been healthy. And
that's why I think that you can't just

652
00:45:00,159 --> 00:45:02,480
assume the Warriors they get this year's
pick, maybe they get mini's pick.

653
00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:07,320
James Wiseman comes back to the resigned
Uber. Do they not think you can

654
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,639
keep this together, add your picks
and be a contender just because Klay Thompson

655
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:15,400
is coming back. I think you
can be better. There's probably a path

656
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:17,880
to being a fifty win team there. But if you want to be anything

657
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:22,880
more and maximize steps prom you need
another star. So you need one of

658
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,360
those picks to pop or you need
to move them, which leads me to

659
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:32,199
the next two warrior, the first
of which is is from at Jim jen

660
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:37,760
h three one eight. Is Jordan
Pool a solid A solid a player for

661
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:42,079
offense as he is for defense?
Maybe is Jordan Pool a solid player on

662
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:47,559
offense end defense? Let's read the
question that way. I think he can

663
00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:52,159
be. I'm not sure that the
consistency is there on the defensive end in

664
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:58,559
particular, Yet he seems to have
some good instincts, seems to have good

665
00:45:58,639 --> 00:46:02,119
hands, the ability to stay between
his man in the basket. I don't

666
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:08,719
see the possession ending plays yet.
I don't think that he is translating that

667
00:46:09,079 --> 00:46:16,079
positioning, no how and understanding of
this scheme into highly impactful plays. Yet.

668
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:20,800
Yeah, I think he improved a
lot on defense this year, though

669
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:22,880
we saw it a lot off the
ball. He's also for someone his size,

670
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:27,480
like he will block a shot from
behind or at least contest shots around

671
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:30,800
the basket. You need his offense
to come together more. Shot better from

672
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:35,119
three this year over thirty five percent, and we saw hints towards the end

673
00:46:35,119 --> 00:46:37,079
of the season he could do some
of this stuff off the dribble over seventy

674
00:46:37,119 --> 00:46:40,000
four percent inside three feet to bat
the basket. They need all that,

675
00:46:40,199 --> 00:46:44,679
but you already mentioned at the top
of this team to just be more consistent

676
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:46,760
all around. I don't know if
he can be that player without more really

677
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:51,280
good players around him, which leads
me my next question. This one comes

678
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:57,920
from at Dan for Valley. Would
you do James Wiseman the Minnesota pick,

679
00:46:58,199 --> 00:47:04,199
whether it's this year or two and
twenty two and the Warriors two thousand and

680
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,280
twenty two first round pick for Shay
gild just Alexander who says no to that.

681
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:15,719
I'm not sure either side says no
to that one. The Thunder would

682
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:19,719
be more like I think the Thunder
are more likely to say no. I

683
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,320
would do that in a heartbeat if
I were. The Warriors might be even

684
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,400
more inclined to say that he has
a better that he's better on defense right

685
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,119
now, maybe more maybe more consistent
is probably a fair word there. Noah

686
00:47:30,159 --> 00:47:35,000
said to my trade Sam Presty might
say no. I agree that the Thunder

687
00:47:35,039 --> 00:47:37,079
are most likely to say no.
Interesting, they don't need more picks they

688
00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:43,719
could use in theory. Sure,
yeah, I depending on how you feel

689
00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:47,199
about Moses Brown, they could use
the big of the future and Wiseman and

690
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,840
this is this is going to be
a higher end to pick unless you think

691
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:52,840
that if the pick doesn't convey for
Minnesota this year and then you think they're

692
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:57,559
gonna be really good next year.
That's where it gets dicey. What is

693
00:47:57,639 --> 00:48:04,800
interesting for the Thunder though Shay Gillers
Sander is extension eligible. I imagine Moses

694
00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:09,119
Brown is better than James Wiseman easily. Noah says this season probably, but

695
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:15,880
long term, I think I think
Wiseman would be more likely than Moses to

696
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:22,000
lead them to the Promised Land.
Oh god, all right, moving on

697
00:48:22,199 --> 00:48:24,840
from that, if you're the Thunder, are you at the point in your

698
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:30,000
rebuild where you want to already to
invest max money and someone not that Shay

699
00:48:30,039 --> 00:48:32,159
isn't worth it. But as soon
as you give out that first max contract

700
00:48:32,639 --> 00:48:38,199
and imply something timeline, I think
you do still just because you have so

701
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:42,840
many assets in the war chest that
we've said before, as soon as a

702
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:46,079
star becomes available, the Thunder are
going to be a primary player for him,

703
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:52,760
regardless of who it is, because
they don't have any established pieces except

704
00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:58,320
for Shay, Gilis, Alexander who
can fill either guard slot. So whoever

705
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,519
that star is, they're the organization
that can throw eight hundred and forty three

706
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:08,119
first round draft picks happen. Does
the Wiseman plus Minis pick plus a Golden

707
00:49:08,199 --> 00:49:13,559
State pick in twenty twenty two or
even this year's Minnesota's doesn't convey it makes

708
00:49:13,599 --> 00:49:16,519
more sense to give them your lottery
pick this year, unless it's number one

709
00:49:16,599 --> 00:49:21,440
or something ridiculous, and then Minis
next year. But does Wiseman plus those

710
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:28,440
two picks at least get Oklahoma City
thinking? Probably just because those picks are

711
00:49:28,599 --> 00:49:32,400
strong enough and because Wiseman is an
intriguing enough prospect to spite the struggles during

712
00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:36,960
this rookie season. I don't I
still don't think they would do it,

713
00:49:37,119 --> 00:49:40,000
but I think they would think long
and hard about it. I'm probably with

714
00:49:40,159 --> 00:49:43,800
you, but Shay would be.
I was just trying to find like an

715
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:46,840
offbeat star for the Warriors to chase. That's not Bradley Beal or Zachodine or

716
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:51,679
Karl Anthony Towns. Let's wrap up
with some quick ones here, or what

717
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:57,599
should be quick ones at Kiroroto Leo
acts, who's the player with the best

718
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:01,320
offensive reading in the NBA and the
worst. I don't like citing individual offensive

719
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:05,760
and defensive ratings, so I did
a pseudo answer here and Adam, do

720
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:10,800
you know which site has offensive points
added? I think that's NBA math,

721
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:15,119
right, yes, correct. Yokis
led the league and offensive points added during

722
00:50:15,159 --> 00:50:20,239
the regular season this year with four
hundred and sixty three point zero four in

723
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:24,159
last place five hundred and forty if
Isaac okorro at minus one hundred and eighty

724
00:50:24,199 --> 00:50:29,360
five. Just not to be biased, I did look at luck adjusted offensive

725
00:50:30,199 --> 00:50:35,199
RPM. Yokich was also first in
that at two point nine three in last

726
00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:37,840
and this was five hundred and thirty
four NBA shot charts dot Com, which

727
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:43,239
is where I got get my ra
APM stuff from tail. Maladone was five

728
00:50:43,360 --> 00:50:45,480
hundred and thirty fourth at minus two
point seven one. There's nothing really to

729
00:50:45,559 --> 00:50:49,960
debate there. I guess the maladone
one surprises me a little bit. Not

730
00:50:50,079 --> 00:50:52,800
so much a Cooro, but maladone
for sure. I think the only thing

731
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:58,519
I really have to add on the
offensive points added stat is that because that's

732
00:50:58,599 --> 00:51:05,559
looking at relative to an average player, it doesn't always have the worst offensive

733
00:51:05,599 --> 00:51:07,840
players at the bottom so much as
the least effective who play the most minutes,

734
00:51:08,559 --> 00:51:15,400
because the worst offensive players don't play
enough minutes to deviate far from zero.

735
00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:19,239
So really, the worst offensive players
in the NBA are going to have

736
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:24,679
like the single digit negative scores.
I did that. Another really quick one.

737
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:29,280
Well, let's make these our last
two. This one comes from at

738
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:34,840
hold Games. What are tables on
off ratings? Again, just relay here

739
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:38,719
for this season, the Sixers were
one point six points per one hundred possessions

740
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:45,159
worse on offense when he played,
and they were point nine points prone hundred

741
00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:50,239
possessions worse on defense when he played. I think the both of those numbers

742
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:54,360
are explainable. Where because he's not
a high volume shooter on offense and doesn't

743
00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:00,719
do anything else outside of take those
threes, that his fensive upside is going

744
00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:04,480
to be limited there. He found
himself in a lot of venture heavy units,

745
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:07,320
and I would probably guess I did
not look this up, but he

746
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:10,280
played a lot of minutes, more
so than some of the starters did without

747
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:14,960
Joel Embiid, and lifting up some
of those lineups is going to be difficult.

748
00:52:15,079 --> 00:52:19,079
As we saw in their Game one
victory against Washington, Joel Embid was

749
00:52:19,079 --> 00:52:22,119
in foul trouble got slammed when they
had their bench heavy units in there.

750
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:27,400
I also, this is the thing
with guys who are so disruptive on defense,

751
00:52:27,639 --> 00:52:30,159
especially when they're on the ball.
Is it easier to neutralize them by

752
00:52:30,199 --> 00:52:32,679
taking them out of the action.
He doesn't feel like someone you could do

753
00:52:32,760 --> 00:52:37,679
that with. But that would just
be some of my off the cuff explainers

754
00:52:37,719 --> 00:52:42,599
of why are the Sixers statistically worse
on defense? It's the Avery Bradley argument

755
00:52:42,639 --> 00:52:45,280
all over again, basically. But
have you heard that this Matisse Tabel guys

756
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:50,880
get at blocking jumpers? Because I've
heard that. I've the only player who

757
00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:52,960
actually blocks jumpers is Chris Bouche,
So no, I did not know that,

758
00:52:53,199 --> 00:53:00,079
sir. Let's make this Our last
question comes from Raoul Clement d with

759
00:53:00,199 --> 00:53:04,239
me this one shout out to anyone
whoever DM's questions. What do the Grizzlies

760
00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:07,400
need to do to take the next
step? Is it just a matter of

761
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:10,320
experience and health? Should they make
a trade? I know Adam loves Dylan

762
00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:14,480
Brooks, but last I looked the
on off splits and VPM view him as

763
00:53:14,559 --> 00:53:17,519
their worst rotation player out of Justice
Winslow. Is there a wing score they

764
00:53:17,519 --> 00:53:21,679
could trade for is an upgrade there. I feel like Zach Levine would be

765
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:24,360
perfect, but he's not available any
realistic options. That was a hell of

766
00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:28,239
a question, by the way it
was. I feel like Zach Levine is

767
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:31,079
a good answer for a lot of
teams, for a guy who could potentially

768
00:53:31,119 --> 00:53:35,559
take them to that proverbial next level
because he's such a good from a scratch

769
00:53:35,639 --> 00:53:37,960
scorer who still manages to involve his
teammates, and a lot of these more

770
00:53:38,079 --> 00:53:43,599
mediocre teams need that offensive firepower.
But that said, like, I'm just

771
00:53:43,639 --> 00:53:46,039
gonna stick with my old answer here, which is I don't want to see

772
00:53:46,119 --> 00:53:51,360
Memphis deviate from this core because I
think the functional pieces are already in place

773
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:54,440
across the board. John Morant is
capable of making that leap. Jonna's Valon

774
00:53:54,880 --> 00:54:00,920
Junus is just incredibly impactful and an
all around great player. Jaron Jackson Jr.

775
00:54:00,920 --> 00:54:04,000
If he's available, can bring this
team to that next level. You

776
00:54:04,079 --> 00:54:07,519
have the role players, and Desmond
Bane and Xavier Tillman, who's already had

777
00:54:07,559 --> 00:54:13,079
a marquee game in a postseason environment. Now, there are so many good

778
00:54:13,119 --> 00:54:16,599
pieces on this Memphis depth chart that
I don't really see the need to go

779
00:54:17,119 --> 00:54:22,280
chasing external help. Yeah, they
could definitely go more mid end because they

780
00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:25,480
do need they need more of a
long term wing. It's not it doesn't

781
00:54:25,519 --> 00:54:29,719
look like it's Winslow, not even
in their rotation right now. Did not

782
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:32,159
play in that game Golden State,
and I don't believe he's injured again.

783
00:54:32,239 --> 00:54:37,960
That's probably something I should have checked. Even Brandon Clark got a DMP coach's

784
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:40,840
decision in that one. What I
will say, and you could go more

785
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:43,719
mid end. I don't have names
off the top of my head, but

786
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:45,239
like a you know, Will Barton
would be great for this team if he's

787
00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:49,880
healthy. Upside of his contract,
they won't have The Grizzlies only have cap

788
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:54,840
space on very specific scenarios. Karen
Jackson Junior stuff could be mildly concerning only

789
00:54:54,920 --> 00:54:59,400
play fifteen minutes in that Golden State
game. I know he's still ramping up

790
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:00,920
after that injury, missed most of
the year, so I don't want to

791
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:06,400
downplay that. But his defense has
not necessarily been as advertised. The movement

792
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:08,559
and mobility can be there, but
you look at the rebounding. The fouling

793
00:55:08,679 --> 00:55:13,559
is an actual problem. Not physical
enough in general, whether he's on the

794
00:55:13,599 --> 00:55:16,320
perimeter or around the basket, if
you wanted to, because you have Joanna

795
00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:21,800
valent Trunis, because you have Xavier
Tillman, because you have Brandon Clark,

796
00:55:22,119 --> 00:55:25,280
if I'm assuming you still believe in
him, you could dangle Jarren Jackson Junior

797
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:29,199
and see if that gets you in
a certain sweepstakes. Now, what I

798
00:55:29,280 --> 00:55:31,159
will say is, and it would
be the same thing with Oklahoma City and

799
00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:35,360
call their assets. You need to
pick a player that you know wants to

800
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:37,239
be there, whether it's or you
need to go to someone who's on a

801
00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:40,480
rookie scale deal who you know will
resign with you and restricted free agency.

802
00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:45,599
That this would be a great shake
Gilji Alexander destination, even though maybe him

803
00:55:45,599 --> 00:55:49,880
and John Wrent aren't a perfect fit. If Dylan Brooks isn't there, it

804
00:55:50,039 --> 00:55:53,280
gets a lot easier. But if
you want, I think they could.

805
00:55:53,320 --> 00:55:58,880
You could in theory use Jarren Jackson
Junior or not obliterate necessarily what you have

806
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:01,199
Bill because now in Church for sure. The other thing though, is like

807
00:56:01,440 --> 00:56:06,519
the war chest has more than players
in it from Memphis as well, Like

808
00:56:06,639 --> 00:56:09,800
they're still owed a first round pick
from the Utah Jazz that will not convey

809
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:14,039
this year, but is only protected
for the top six spots in twenty twenty

810
00:56:14,039 --> 00:56:16,880
two. They're still owed a first
rounder in twenty twenty four from Golden State

811
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:21,360
that's protected for the top four selections. Who knows what that team is going

812
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:23,599
to look like a couple of years
in the future. It's unprotected too,

813
00:56:23,760 --> 00:56:28,360
right, it's only protected for the
top four, it's only protected for the

814
00:56:28,559 --> 00:56:31,639
top pick in twenty twenty five.
It is entirely unprotected in twenty twenty six.

815
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:37,599
Then the second round obligations they have
cancel each other out, the incoming

816
00:56:37,639 --> 00:56:42,000
and outgoing. So this is a
team with just a plethora of intriguing young

817
00:56:42,119 --> 00:56:46,119
players, with depth at every single
position, with multiple incoming first rounders,

818
00:56:47,039 --> 00:56:51,000
could very well go out and acquire
a star. I just don't know that

819
00:56:51,079 --> 00:56:53,199
it needs to, but I agree, like, if if the Timberwolves,

820
00:56:53,559 --> 00:56:59,840
like make Karl Anthony Town's available,
then yeah, dangle Jaren Jackson Junior and

821
00:57:00,639 --> 00:57:04,440
maybe that twenty twenty four Golden State
pick and whatever else it takes, and

822
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:07,320
see what you can do with Townsend, Jonas valentcot Us on the court together.

823
00:57:07,599 --> 00:57:12,880
Even if that's a deviation from the
typical NBA stylings right now, but

824
00:57:13,320 --> 00:57:15,719
go get that top end talent and
then make it work. See, I'd

825
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:21,679
be against that because I'd be worried
about that player leaving. If he's I

826
00:57:21,719 --> 00:57:23,920
would want him signing a new carrent
like a John Collins. What if you

827
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:29,320
like him next to Valentchot is better
than I'm operating under the assumption that right

828
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:34,199
I'm operating under the assumption that that
would be part and parcel here. If

829
00:57:34,239 --> 00:57:36,840
you still believe in Jaren Jackson Jr. Which I do. I want to

830
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:38,079
want, especially on offense, I
want to make that clear he's going.

831
00:57:38,119 --> 00:57:40,760
I think he'll be fine next season. On offense, that's nothing to worry

832
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:45,559
about. More mid end like a
Harrison Barnes from Sacramento, where you don't

833
00:57:45,559 --> 00:57:49,000
have to give up core pieces to
get him. I guess the salary match

834
00:57:49,039 --> 00:57:52,800
and gets tough. If Boston were
just looking to get off the money seek

835
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:55,719
Kemba Walker destination, I don't think
that makes their backcourt small. But if

836
00:57:55,719 --> 00:57:59,760
you wanted to roll the dice on
Kemba, aren't giving up any core assets

837
00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:01,639
to get them the money, then
there's difficult. You don't like it,

838
00:58:01,840 --> 00:58:07,519
but the focus should be on more
of a wing player anyway, but like

839
00:58:07,599 --> 00:58:13,719
a Harrison Harrison Barnes makes them exponentially
better with in fury not knifing into sets.

840
00:58:14,159 --> 00:58:16,920
Do you have anything else that you
want to hit? Not particularly,

841
00:58:17,559 --> 00:58:22,119
I think we covered a lot here
we did. Apologies to everyone who's questions.

842
00:58:22,159 --> 00:58:27,920
We did not get to thank you
everyone for sticking with us in locker

843
00:58:28,000 --> 00:58:32,519
room, especially with whatever technical difficulties
that I was having earlier. Until next

844
00:58:32,559 --> 00:58:37,559
time. We'll leave with the shout
out to the one the only way better

845
00:58:37,679 --> 00:58:43,320
than apparently Center in Oklahoma City.
They're Center of the future. Apparently,

846
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:54,639
according to Noah Otage. Moses Brown, Sugar, Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran,

847
00:58:55,119 --> 00:59:00,719
Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas
Hearns legends whose four way rivalry define

848
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:06,400
one of the greatest errors in boxing
history, relive their decade of dominance in

849
00:59:06,440 --> 00:59:10,199
the new Showtime Sports documentary The Kings, a four part series premiering Sunday,

850
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:13,119
June sixth, only on Showtime