This one I have for you, Miroslav Shook, friend of the podcast,
who gets more wins in the next three seasons? The Knicks for the Nets?
I mean, I'm just gonna say this is also a great question because
three year time horizons are basically impossible to predict. Okay, so here's how
I'm looking at it. The Knicks next year basically bringing everybody back if you
assume Heart will return, mostly mostly everybody who matters. I also think they're
pretty likely would you agree to be a team that adds another star at something
at some point within the next three years, probably next probably really within the
next one to one and a half. So if they got that going in
their favor, they're a better team than Brooklyn. Now, their guys are
all at ages. The guys that matter are all at ages that you could
project consistency or improvement. So the only things I'm looking at for the Knicks
that I'm concerned about, or like TIBs burnout. You've got to figure out
if you're going to have a bad Julius Randall season next year after a good
one. He's been alternating. It's things like that. The Nets, though,
like I love the Bridges and Claxton Foundation. I just think you could
get a lot done with that. They're also mostly going to be intact.
The concerns for me are like, are we sure Jack Vaughan is a good
coach? We don't know yet. What are we doing with Ben Simmons because
you may have to give up assets to get rid of him. He's clearly
the worst contract on either team, because like Evan Fournier has got one more
guarant he's basically expiring next year. Fournier is even RJ Barrett might be like
a thought of his bad money, but he's so freaking young and like has
been productive before. I'm not worried about that. I do think. I
think I'm gonna go Brooklyn, and I feel bad about it. But we've
seen the Nets build from the middle before, and they're they're really starting with
like quite ahead start, and they're not incentivized to tank. That's another factor
because they owe their draft to the Rockets. So I think I just trust
and like the Claxton Bridges Foundation a lot. And I think I think because
if you if you look at just the broader track record of this team,
the Nets have kind of you know, they've built a culture with Kenny Atkinson,
and they really, you know, turned themselves into a winner deliberately.
They've drafted pretty well, They've developed players, and then they fucked it all
up by adding superstars that just it didn't work. I don't know. I
think it's the Nets because I also think they're maybe more likely to get free
agents. I don't know why I think that. I just recent history suggests
the Knicks are, you know, haven't been great at that, even though
the Brunsons I don't know. I'm talking in circles. Are you going to
take the Knicks? Because I would like to be convinced I am going to
take the Knicks. I think if only be because the Nets do have the
potential to blow it up more than the Knicks do. I guess if they
have a bad season, they could decide to pull the rip chord. But
like the Nets just traded all their star power. They I know, they
don't control their own draft moving forward, but they have enough draft picks and
then assets to acquire more draft picks, and also the track record under shore
marks of not giving a fuck about how much of their own draft that they
control where you can sort of see them, you know, if they it's
great with mcaal Bridges is doing. Would you put it past them to trade
their best player over the summer though, I mean, if I could get
four first round picks for him, I probably wouldn't depending on the first they
might be some of those Knicks first round picks which don't have great value.
And so that combined with the Knicks being more likely to go all in on
a star, I think because Brooklyn still kind of has the Basically, if
you could bolt mcal Bridges down and then trade anyone else plus the draft equity
to bring in a star, you could do that. You could go that
route. I just think the Knicks are more likely to go that route.
And I think if you we're picking the nets here, you have to a
either have confidence that they are going to go the wind Now route and trying
to acquire more window talent, or you just have to believe with every fiber
of your being that Julius Randol is gonna have it that the Knicks are going
to drop off after this. Julius Randalls is another flash in the pan.
They're still not gonna be able to figure out with RJ. Barrett Mitchell,
Robinson's going to be continuously unhappy with his offensive role and agitate to get out.
If they do trade for a star, they're gonna overpay or it's gonna
be the wrong star. You have to have that belief, and I don't
have that belief that the Knicks are going to even if they fall back off
this year, I don't think they're gonna fall back by that much. And
then just factoring in that they are the team more likely to make a win
now train than the Nets would be at this point, I think I have
to go them. If you went with the longer window, like five to
seven years, I actually think it's a harder discussion to have. I think
it's really hard either way, because if you're it, really neither of them
is gonna tank. I don't think, I mean, I'd be shocked.
I just there's no I mean, obviously the Knicks aren't. But I just
wonder, like, a, we are we under selling the Knicks, And
I'm just arguing against myself now the Knicks' ability to like organically grow, because
the Knicks have a like quickly and grimes and you know, even if they
hang on to top end and like, they have all these guys that are
at ages where you would expect improvement. Throw Barrett in there too. I
don't know if the Nets, like Pinney Smith is what he is, Royce
O'Neill is what he is, Din Witty is what he is. I think
Claxton, I don't know what claxton ceiling is based on how much better he's
gotten this year. And Bridges is just like a different player in Brooklyn now,
So I think, I don't know. I think maybe the Knicks.
If I'm if I'm not being fair to the Knicks, it's probably because I'm
undervaluing their capacity to just get better without doing anything, which is very much
on the table, because you know, some of their young guys have really
excelled in larger roles this year, and I don't feel like any of that's
fake. So yeah, I don't know. I think I'll just stick with
the Nets so that we can revisit this in either you or I can be
right in twenty twenty six. Yeah, we need to start. I should
do this right now, like a document of like debates that we can revisit
over like this question. Maybe I'll try and remember to bookmark that that we
could revisit and have conversations about make sure you mark down that I'm making this
assertion with minimal confidence. I actually just have that plugged in automatically. It's
the excels Grant, minimally confident in this on this day, ready to flip
flop on a dime. Okay, So let me get you one here,
real simple, this from splash. Why has Jason Tatum fallen out of the
MVP conversation? Simple? Uh, well, it's a short question. I
don't know if it's simple. I think it's because one, the players in
front of him are just so undeniably better in Luca in or more valuable to
their team in Yannis and Embed and then of course Yokich. I do think
when you look at just the body of responsibility that all of them carry,
Yokich is way more important to his team's offense over Donchi, and then Janice
is way more important. I would say he's either just as important or more
important to his team's offense, he's more important to their defense. And then
Ebide is both equally important on offense and then more important on defense to what
his team is doing. And I think people gravitate to those extremes. I
don't think obviously I don't think of late like the slide with the Celtics on
offense. I don't think that's helped. It feels like Jason Tatum has higher
variability in his offensive performances too, because of how much work he does from
the perimeter. I think you can say the same about Luca don Chis.
But the usage is always going to be the total usage is always going to
be there because of how centrally is the mass offense. That's not going to
impact that as much. I don't know if that's right or wrong, But
like a lot of these, I would say Inbide, Yokich and Janni's all
rank ahead of Tatum as players to me, and i'd probably throw Donts ahead
of him as well. That's going to be part of it too, And
I think his case would probably be stronger if the Celtics didn't when they were
away with the East at one point or the best record in the league.
His case probably I don't necessarily fact that in as much, but I think
that would have garnered more MVP. He won the first espn Strom v People,
I think in part because of that reason. Now the Bucks have usurped
them. The Nuggets are running away with the West. So just like there's
more of a runaway factor there where the Bucks just look they're going through that.
They're twenty two and three over their last twenty five games. Yeah,
and so I think that's just a bigger part of it than it doesn't say.
I don't know what Tatum could do more as a player other than he
needs to check the toughest defensive assignment every night, and or he needs to
lead his team as like the playmaker, not just the score. Like you
need to go him to run more of your deliberate, methodical, slowed down
offense, and like right now you're going to be more inclined to do that
with Brogden or White or Marcus Smart. And like Tatum's passing, it's it's
still really good. He needs to like level up, level up, and
I like he could continue to level up as a score. I just don't
know if that's gonna be enough to bridge the gap so long as these players
are one available and then two just as good as they are. Yeah,
I think I agree with all that. I think too like he's got to
be wondering what he's got to do, because as I was looking at all
NBA stuff, you know, just like he's he's improved his point, rebound
and assist averages in every single season of his career, including this year.
So he just keeps getting better. He's getting to the free throw line more
than ever this year, is true, shooting percentages above sixty percent for the
first time ever. Like, he just continues to improve, and yet he's
not quite on that level. I think a couple of things hurt him one
and you alluded to this, like he's like a fiftieth percentile isolation score in
terms of efficiency, so he really still is much more like is the three
falling? Is the catch and shoot three falling tonight? And that determines if
he's the best player on the floor or you know, just a very good
one, which isn't really the case for those other guys. They have other
ways to you know, dominate the game. I just think I would bet
on him to continue getting better and to continue to like hang He's only nineteen,
literally, somebody said the other day. I would just bank on him
hanging in the conversation longer, like over the next couple of years, just
because he's shown the capacity to address weaknesses, and I think the next thing
might just be, you know, scoring from a dead stop against a good
defender. I think his growth now that he's not just shoving everybody off with
his off arm on every layup attempt and getting offensive fouls, and he's actually
drawing fouls like he'd clearly addressed that weakness and he's better for it. He's
great, He's going to be all NBA First Team as far as I'm concerned.
But those other guys are just it's not his fault. Those other guys
are just you know, generational dominant, whatever superlative you want to throw.
Do you want as your next question to be tied to the NBA franchise one
or the clutch one? Which one would you prefer to lead us through?
Uh, let's do the franchise one. I think that's that's kind of a
we'll get into some more interesting conversation there. So Peto asked, this is
such a fascinating question. Would be a franchise would you choose to represent the
model of how to build a team, culture, managed finances, etc.
Well, just a few come to mind, because there's like a lot kind
of too packed into this question. I think the through lines though that connect
a lot of these teams are like you have to have just this a general
like I sorry, this isn't this kind of podcast, but like a team
first approach, like all these like totally non quantifiable like things ego lists,
and so I thought of like the twenty ten Spurs as kind of like the
model for this, where you keep most of the team together, you just
don't have a lot of bullshit you Also, this is really key to me.
You you have to be malleable. Like I think the best teams are
not the ones that say we play this way, we run the operation this
way. I think they're the ones that like and the Spurs are a good
example of, well, we have the personnel to be the lowest, most
boring, uh, shut you down on defense team. And then we're also
like a couple of years later, gonna start shooting a bunch of corner threes
because we have guys that can make them. And then we're gonna play the
beautiful game in the like mid twenty teens. And basically that is what accounts
for the length of the Spurs. You know, dynasty's not the right word,
but they're ridiculous two decade run. So something like that, I mean,
the other teams that I think of are you have to say, the
Warriors of the last ten years or so, because one because they're spending,
and we always talk about how like it's not cool that you've managed the cap
well and you ducked the tax here and you did this great you know you
you you like gamed your ten day contracts and you did all this other shit,
like just spend a bunch of money like that's that might be the most
important thing is to be willing to just spend more than other teams, because
that's how you get talent. I throw Boston in there because of their patients.
They didn't break up Tatum and Brown when it was a real thing,
like within what would you say, like the last I think among dumb masses,
it was a real thing. I don't know if it was ever act.
You consider that Kevin Durant trade so that yeah, well I just remember
it being a real like we have to talk everyone down that is saying,
oh, this court doesn't work, you have to trade one or the other.
And this is like twenty twenty one, I feel like was that was
being discussed. So and then I throw the heat and the thunder our TVD
because they quietly like out process the process sixers. We just don't know how
that's going to shake out. I think the outlooks really rosy right now,
but I think a willingness to stick to your guns of we are going to
accumulate young talent and it's going to be terrible for like three years or more.
I think that shows like real I don't know, commitment. So there's
lots of ways to do it. I don't know if you have others to
throw in there, but I think generally you've got to you've got to spend
a bunch of money, and you've got to tailor your team to talent,
and you've got to just not have guys that are not there to win.
I don't I don't know, Like that's that kind of the three tenants for
me. So your top franchises for that are Warriors, Celtics, Heat,
and Thunder TVD. And then the model for me really is the Spurs prior
to like the last five years. Yeah, especially with the whole Josh Primo
stuff this season, I don't like organizational. Yeah, that's a tough look.
So you had all my teams, I'm Maddy. You included the Thunder
because they were gonna be my top pick. I think for all that was
made about their tanking, like they're just in the playing race right now,
they have a very clear roadmap to the future. And I think the biggest
thing there we see them do some creative stuff with the cap with trades,
I mean, just getting a look at I know, Mike Muscola was good
for them, Like now they're getting look at Dario Shart, who's gonna be
freised, Like that's someone who could theoretically play with them beyond this year.
What they've done with the development of Jail and Williams, even picking up Isaiah
Joe So and then of course we know like the the bigger stories where Shay
or like look at Josh Getty's shooting. And also what I really liked that
they did last season is some people criticize them like, oh, they didn't
reach the salary cap flour. You build goodwill by paying out that money to
your own players, in my opinion, and it's like the culture thing there
just seems like if you looked at Josh Giddey and Jay and Williams interact on
Twitter this year or just Shay wasn't it. Why am I getting this backwards?
But if you've seen the picture of I think Shay was afraid of getting
the of needles and he's getting the COVID nine team backsteam. I think lou
Dort is like holding his hand or something or is it flip? Did I
get the players wrong there? I can't remember under fantasy in the crypt like
that's fucking cool, and so I don't think that team. I'm not trying
to celebrate like Sam Presty just I'm not just I mean, we can celebrate
Sam Presty for acquiring all these draft picks, but there hasn't been I think
it's tough when you're in such staunch asset collection mode to it's so easy to
not treat players or build camaraderie or build any zemblance of synergy that feels like
it could last. And the thunder of done that and so like that to
me, like they might be the most impressive team. I think everyone you
mentioned deserves to be there. I had the Heat as my second best team,
and I don't know if there are any other alternatives that's bring to mind,
because when you are when like when you were going through it, you're
trying to think of every single facet. I did think about Phoenix for a
while, like just during the James Jones Monty Williams error era. I just
don't know, how do you factor in Roberts Sarber for that? And then
the whole deandreat and stuff was weird, like especially over last off seasons.
I'm not sure they belong on that. I'll tell you the Houston Rockets certainly
do not belong on that list. But do the Bucks deserve some credit here
that they've been development, they've been IFFI on, Yeah, I will I
will credit them for. I mean, it's how do you account for And
that's really the case for a lot of these teams. How do you account
for just like well, they drafted honest and he's just like a one of
one and he sets your whole culture because he's just not about anything but winning
and works harder than everyone in the organization like that, It's had a hard
to fail. If that's your if that's like sort of your baseline. But
but I do think I will credit them for when the time came, they
traded their whole draft for Drew Holiday and and you know they they found Brook
Lopez and turned him into something totally different than what he was before. He
you know, was this version of Brook Lopez. And I mean even credit
them for like I don't know, like Middleton is just better there than he
wasn't anywhere else. Like guys do get better, they find pieces and they've
and for a like to contrast so and they're not a big market, so
to contrast them though with Okay, see, like do you I think the
size of the Oklahoma City market makes it such that they could get away with
this, you know, because if you try, if you try, if
Sam Presty took the same plan and tried to do it in la or Boston
or New York or whatever, it just it would be it just wouldn't happen.
I mean like Sam Hankey basically got run out of the Sixers because he
tried to do this in a big market and it worked. But I would
say even they didn't go as far as the thunder of gone. So I
think the market size, because you really say the process Sixers haven't gone as
far as the thunder of Gone. I think the thunder are at this for
long. I think if that would be an interesting deep dive is like how
egregious. Have both teams been in their u or efforts to lose. I
don't know. I think they're a lot closer than you tanked for they traded
Paul George. Oh wow, Paul George traded the Clippers a while ago.
But they were good in that first season. They only tanked for two years
twenty one and twenty two. I think they did it better because they basically
took Julio Okra for you know, we gotta do we should look back at
the process because I mean, we're getting off the rails here. But this
is interesting to me. The Sixers hit rate on all those high picks was
not great relative, like you know, compared to like how many they had
and how sort of badly a lot of it went. Whether it's the false
Tatum thing, whether it's Oka for honestly, whether it's Simmons like that that's
not a hill. At least Simmons and Faults were just like those were consensus
decisions, right, I mean, I don't know if you need Faults.
Wasn't consensus in the sense that you need to trade up to do it,
But like, yeah, that's interesting, Okay, yeah, we should Lewis
six Ers thunder side by side at some point the other team I was gonna
mention, I would think if Zion didn't get injured so much, the Pelicans
would be up here, because I feel like that's created a lot of reporting
around, not just like the medical staff, but also just they were there's
the weird rumors about Zion, not so much this season, but like behind
the scenes of last year. So that was another team I had thought of,
and then I had one other team I'm blanking on. Oh it wasn't
I don't have them here anymore. But based off what we had known publicly,
if we rewound the clock like two and a half weeks, the Grizzlies
would have absolutely been on. They would have. Yeah, they totally would
have. That's why which one of these is going to look the stupidest two
weeks from now that we think? That's that's the real lesson here. What
about the Calves? What do you think? I mean? I think because
they took a big swing on Mitchell and they sort of had they had the
luxury of doing that because they rebuilt a relationship with Kevin Love until the very
end too. Yeah, I think Kevin Love might just be a little prickly,
don't you I think, But like Garland wasn't hit, the Jared Allen
just yeah, we'll take Jared Allen sure, and then Evan Mobley was a
hit. I think it's a good poet. Calls are pretty solid, and
they haven't like not spent. They're like there's I mean, I guess they
get more and more expensive. We'll see like how committed they are to that.
But they haven't not spent, so that's a I guess, Yeah,
that's a good team. I didn't really consider them, you know who else
we also would have said that we wouldn't say now as Toronto. I think
Toronto might have like headed this list if we'd done this a year ago or
you know, eighteen months ago. Because they you know, they they've developed
talent. They went all in for a title and it worked like they you
know, they've checked a lot of the boxes for what you want your franchise
to do. I just think now it's like where are they, you know,
and now it's a lot bleaker than it looked. Just not Denver.
They're the they're the tax avoider though they don't spend. That's that's the m
on right now. Yeah, but they also what's the culture, like if
Bollen Thailand was going to submarine it. Yeah, I mean that's another case
where I think Yokich being so great and so like low maintenance just I mean
no, no, NBA job is easy, like but as a Mike Malone
just you know, this is only ever going to go so bad as long
as you have Yokich there as an organizing force. But yeah, I think
the spending bothers me. Maybe Utah is going to be another be one of
those teams now too, because just for their transactional you know activity, it's
like, Okay, well they pulled the plug a year early, then you
know, a year too early, then a year too late, like they
got all this. What about Washington in terms in terms of paying are they
the worst? Like for the things we think are smart to do as an
NBA franchise, Charlotte Washington, last Charlotte Houston, I think has to be.
Yeah, maybe he's just been somewhat creative with certain things. I think
Charlotte Houston Washington I'll spring to mind. Yeah, what was reporting that Lonzo
Ball may miss next season as we record this? By the way, do
you have any sub twenty five second thoughts on that it sucks. He's good.
I like, I like watching him play, and he mattered for the
Bulls pretty clearly. That's a what Jesus like, So two full years we're
talking, well two and a half, two and a half years, that's
like, that's rough. That's too bad. At that point, if they
start asking are they gonna get his money wiped off the books, I would
think there's fear apparently well, which says there are concerns about Ball the ability
to resume his career, and hopes that this surgery, which could cost Ball
another full season away, will give him a pathway to playing again. So
it sounds like there this is like, that's sad career ending. He was
really good. I'm with you, Yeah, I love that's the kind of
guy I would want. The best version of him fits literally anywhere and makes
every team better. I just like that's that that that's a shame to lose
guys like that. There aren't a lot of players like that that, you
know, the non non superstars that you would say like, I will absolutely
have him in my closing five just no matter what. That's that's tough.
Let me try and blow through this. One, just because it's an easy
question from Joe Shook as, uh, what goes into calculating true shooting percentage?
And so it's the formula for true shooting percentage is total points divided by
double your true shooting attempts, and then true shooting attempts are I say simply,
but it's not Matthew could do in your head field goal attempts plus point
plus point four four times your free throw attempts. So if you're trying to
do it by hand, it's super complicated. But that's the formula that goes
into true shooting. And like I would add too, because I pretty much
only use true shooting anymore when I talk about sky, I haven't. I
don't know when I sometimes separate like threes and twos. Yeah, as well,
we're all use effective go over something like I don't sight field goal percentage
anymore. That's not like a flex. I just don't. I don't do
it. No, you shouldn't. It's just like to me, it's it's
really just sort of like how efficiently is this guy scoring the basket ball?
Because it does factor in how many free throw attempts you get, how often
you make them, and like what you're expected return on a field goal attempt
is because it prices in the extra value of a three. It's just like
it is just a superior measure of efficiency. I think, like that's that's
just what it is, because why are we you know, though DeAndre Jordan
led the league, you know, for years and years shooting like seventy eight
percent from the field because he just caught lobs and dunked it. That's just
not the same as a guy that is making a bunch of threes and getting
to the foul in a lot. You know, it makes it, It
makes it gives you better like apples to apples kind of comparison across the player
types. I think, do you want to do the question? What's that?
Do you want to do the clutch question? Yeah? You want men
to ask it to you? Or do you want to ask a don't all
right? Ask it to me? So this is from phony soprano, who
are the best clutch time NBA players based on stats excluding points scored. I
have this information, but I wanted to just talk about clutch in general after
you hit this. So if we actually just went by like statistical categories,
like if you were just looking at who's the clutch leader an assist this year
it's Tyres Halibert. And who's a clutch leader in steals? Bam Adebayo,
who's a clutch leader in blocks, Miles Turner who's a clutch leader in free
throw attempts. I bet you you could guess. I bet you you could
name the top three if you didn't look at it already. I bet you
could guess the top three. Well, I have makes, I don't have
attempts, but like de Rosen's up there, Butler and bid Sga, those
are the top three. So but I did this like before I went and
just looked at those and if you wanted to go by, but I'll that
spoil something. So I tried to name comep with three players that I thought
fit the mold, and I came up with Evan Mobley, Cantabia's called ball
Pope, and Derek White as just like, who are these non scores in
crunch time for me that I think you're super valuable? And then I tried
to check it against plus minus and clutch win probability add it to see if
any of them sort of showed up near the top. Contabias called Pope was
eighth in clutch time plus minus. But then I was like, that probably
has more to do with Denver just being a beast a bear in yo betweening
on the floor when he is at the end of game right, And then
I looked the cav has been outscored and crunch time with Evan Mobley on the
court. But this I found interesting. Evan Mobley's eleven in in predictables clutch
win probability added, and so just as someone what you can do defensively and
just some of like the offensive moments that he's had the decision making there where
he's not going to stop the ball, he's going to keep it moving.
I feel confident in saying that at least one of the three, and then
we know what Derek White does. I would say at least one point five
of the three names I mentioned were worthy of being nominated for this award.
I like that. I like that you try to assign value to clutch because
what I was just gonna say is, like, you know, just thinking
about it this year, you know, Darren Fox is just the best clutch
player in the league in terms of his scoring and has been phenomenal and that's
great, and everybody's saying like, well, once they get to the playoffs,
there's gonna be close games, and that's gonna be really a valuable asset
because they've got the guy that has just kicked ass in the clutch all year.
And I just want to scream. I want to like climb onto the
highest roof I can find and scream that, like somebody that's been good in
the clutch up until today might be useless tomorrow. Like the clutch carryover is
just like it's just I can't trust you can't trust it. The best clutch
teams one year are just like there's no correlation to the next year. It's
all just and it's all sample size stuff. And like I do think like
someone like DeRozan, for example, does tend to reappear and clutch you know,
individual stuff, because that's the guy you throw the ball too when the
defense is set and he's getting a lot of chances to score and he's good
at it. And Fox I think has a little bit of that too.
I don't want to say that he's going to suddenly like forget how to beat
this guy and hang in the air and get fouled and finished, Like that's
real. But just like the idea that good clutch teams during the year are
somehow more dangerous in the playoffs because the games are close, is like that
that's just not there is that's not true. It's not true. I'm we
got a clutch question that I could shoot on and just say, like I
think, so what it does do? And Russell Westbrook sort of won an
MVP because he was so awesome in the clutch, But like so you it
does. It is factual that this guy was was great in the clutch and
it mattered and he won his team games like in the past. That's all.
You can't take that away. But there's no carry forward for me in
any in almost any clutch stuff that you know that I would actually trust you.
Are you of the same mind or do you think there's more there?
Sometimes I'm probably like less bullish on clutch play, not mattering than than you
are. I think to me, so I actually if you would has at
a team level, I find it less valuable than at the individual player level,
where it's like we know de Rosen Lillard at this point, like you
can go to those guys in clutch situations to create something out of nothing or
just in Those are guys who well, I guess the Rosen success is not
necessarily translated to the playoffs. But like a Damian Lillard, like I would
use what Fox has done in the clutch this year, I'd be like that
Mays confident that he can succeed in playoff basketball. Does it make me confident
that the Kings or what the Nuggets have done in the fourth quarter with their
defense this year or the clutch with their defense this year? Is it made
me confident they can be the championship favorite in the playoffs now? So I'm
more inclined to read into it on the granular level or the player level,
and I am at the team level. If that makes sense. Yeah,
I think I do agree with that. It's just the team stuff never ever
carries over. Basically, do you have time for two quick hitters? Yes?
Uh? This first The first one comes from These were on planned mail
bad questions because it came as were recording Chris is at Dan for Valley's preseason
Nuggets pick a no brainer for NBA champion? I mean, how is it
no? How is it possibly no brainer? That's that's a very bold question
to ask while they're in the middle of a four game losing. This is
I hope that came in like a week ago, goes now, and this
is going to publish after their game against the Pistons. I did say this
in the solo mail bag I did for our Discord members. If they lose
against the Pistons on Thursday, then it's are like, then it's time to
just I'll start smashing some panic buttons. But I will say I have not
changed my title pick. I've not changed my finals matchup pick either. I'm
actually feeling pretty good about the Bucks making it to the finals at this point.
And I think if we're being honest, based off everything we know and
even assuming everyone's healthy, everyone's healthy, Pelicans, Zion's back, everyone's healthy,
the Bucks are the safest championship pick, and they always should have been
the safest championship pick. Yeah, I think that's right. I would say
too, like, aren't aren't the Nuggets by virtue of they're gonna have home
court unless they really fall apart. They're pretty they're healthy, Like, aren't
they kind of the safest West representative right now? Too? Even if everybody's
looking for reasons to pick the Suns or the Warriors or whoever he nix makes
me uncomfortable. Just having Kevin Durant not gonna lie. But you don't know
if he's gonna be healthy. You don't, We don't. That's fair with
the Nuggets, though, Do you view home court advantage for them as as
much of an advantage when teams are going to be able to have that,
it's it's the altitude. We know, you taught Denver of two the highest
home court advantages, but when you're gonna have like two days a rest in
between every single game, yeah, I don't know. I would imagine someone
that has been through a playoff series there would say you do acclimate if you're
staying in town for a couple of days, and so it's not quite the
same. But you know, again, one game, if it if it
gives you a big edge in one game in a series that only is gonna
last seven at the most, that's still an advantage. I think it's gonna
matter a little bit. And the margins are awfully small in the playoffs,
So yeah, I don't know. It's so I think the Nuggets probably are
the safest pick to come out of the West, but They're definitely not a
no brainer to win the West, let alone win a title. I mean,
someone, I think, what is a percentage chance that a Western Conference
team wins the title this year? Like thirty is? I don't know,
you know, just because I think we both agreed the two best teams in
the league are in the East. Yeah, oh man, that's that's wild.
And it's just like, so you wouldn't pick Would you pick any West
team to beat a bux to the Celtics? The answers, no, no,
not right now. I mean if you told me Kevin Durant was definitely
healthy, or the Warriors won every game down the stretch and suddenly we're good.
But yeah, I can't get there. Would you take any team in
the West to beat the Sixers? Which teams would you say would beat the
Sixers? I don't know. I might take the Nuggets over the Sixers.
I mean that's close at least, right I don't like Phoenix Golden State.
Again, do I get to like set a bunch of caveats for either,
Yeah, that's what's tough, all right. So there's a case to be
made. So now we're getting into the Calves territory. Are you picking most
of the Western the teams that you envision coming out of the West, would
you pick most of them to beat the Calves? That's the cutoff, I'd
say probably. So there's a chance that the three most likely title favorites or
championship candidates are coming from the East. There's a legitimate case and looks.
I'm big on reading into single games where everyone's playing and there's the head to
head matchups. What indeed did to the Nuggets last time they payed and they're
gonna play again. I think on March twenty eight, like those games matter,
Yeah, those and the Nuggets are gonna play the box. I think
in that same stretch too, those games matter to me. I will say
the team that I can see just like, fucking all this shit up,
it's just the Clippers. I don't really know what to make of them,
but like they seem like they have the tools and Kawai as Kauai, and
they have so much depth, almost to a detriment because sometimes I feel like
Tyler doesn't know what to do with it. But it seems like it's coming
together now. I wouldn't pick them to beat any of the top three teams
in the East, but I could also you could tell me that they did,
I'd be like yeah, I'm like, yeah, I get it.
I gotta say so, I watched Clippers Warriors last night, and like Andrew
Wiggins wasn't there, so it was a lot of Dante de Vincenzo trying to
guard Kawhi Leonard. But like, I mean, Kawhi had, like for
him, a pretty pedestrian night. But that guy was just I mean,
he looked very very much like Kauhi. And if you're telling me like so,
so all that's to say that if the Clippers get in the series and
there's no more back to backs in the playoff series and you have why,
like that's real puncher's chance territory against anybody, just because he I mean,
there were several instances last night where like he just the Warriors would make a
run to try to get close, and the Warriors wanted that game, and
Kauhi was just at the second he got open for a three or got to
his pull up, it was like I didn't need to look at the rest
of the play because that's going in. Like he just he's so automatic.
I think that you're so you're dead, right, the Clippers. I wouldn't
trust him, but if you told me Kauhi was healthy, I would never
feel comfortable picking against him specifically. This last question comes from John. It
was I feel like it was tailor made for you, but comes from John.
I know it's a ways away, but where do you see the ensuing
seasons going for the Warriors after Steph's retirement. I mean, it's probably not
going to be great like it. I think I'll ruts reframe it this way
though. They haven't done anything to mortgage their future yet, and so I
think the real question here is they don't have their twenty twenty four pick whatever
they trade you wise and whatever Stolf kaminga still moody Stilpool. Do you see
them at some point before Steph retires making an all in trade that would then
substantially liquidate their future assets to where if they're going to stay good after him,
you're gonna have to hit immediately or like have someone already in place,
because you're not going to do a gap year or two. It could be
like a three four year rebuild. Two thoughts. One is I would say
that if they were inclined to make an all in, let's maximize Steph at
the end trade they would have done it by now because he's thirty five certain
thirty five earlier this week. But the competing thought with that is, I
think it's now clear that I was wrong about this, that they were correct
to not make the all in trade because I was all on board the finally
we're gonna we're going to try to win now and later because we're that like
egotistical and ambitious and we think we're exceptional, and that has not worked out.
So maybe they'll learn from that. But I also think finally that like
I just don't they're not gonna ever trade Steph. I don't think they'll ever
trade Klay Thompson Green, I think is probably the most likely of the three
to just sign elsewhere when he opts out, So they're not gonna tear it
down that way. So I don't know what you're giving up to, Like,
yeah, I don't know. I think it's gonna be it'll be bleak,
Like I don't know if it's gonna rise to the level of like the
post title spurs these this last several years where it's like we're gonna just have
DeMar Derozen and LaMarcus Aldridge and pretend like this is anything close to what it
used to be. Like that's I don't I don't know if it's gonna look
like that, but it's never pretty when when you end like a run of
however long it's gonna end up being. That's the other question. When it's
Steph gonna retire because he's I'll play right, I think I don't see why
he can't, Like we talked about this offline, I think, or maybe
last pod and we went a different way with Damian Lillard. But I'm gonna
put step on all NBA first team, like I just I think he's I
think I'm gonna do it, and I think he's gonna deserve it. So
I mean, he's got a long way to fall, if you know,
if if if you're seeing a decline coming. So I don't know. That's
I don't know when this hypothetical we're post Steph Arrow we're talking about we'll start.
But I would bet heavily against the Warriors still being good when he retires.
I think that much just would have been fat and they again they would
have to make the trade where it's the fort of the Donovant Mitchell type trade
where it's someone who is going to be incredible with Steff would be good long
after Yeah, And like like Pool, I think is pretty likely to be
traded well before that and cominga is has not proved himself to be a starter.
Moody if you're just looking for young guys to like build around, Moody
is like not in the rotation except just in rare occasions, So they don't.
I mean, and Wiseman's gone. It was because it was clear he
was never going to be that guy in Golden State, So like what who
who? Who are you building around? Like that's on the roster right now?
There just isn't that guy Patrick Baldwin Jr. Or I mean, like
is that is that where we are? I have no idea. Uh that
was the finals of Mission comes from. Uh this is not a question,
but I found it funny. I three seventh, Kevin, I don't have
a question so much as I just wanted to point out that Chris Paul and
Devin Booker are keeping the entry pass alive and Kevin Durant is going to benefit
from that. You don't need to throw a good pass to Kevin Durant,
just get it there. I mean like an entry past to Kevin Durant.
It's just like he's so much bigger than everyone else. What is it doesn't
really need to look like you're If you're growing a bounce pass to Kevin Durant,
uh in the approach, you're doing something wrong. But I will say,
Kevin Durant one point five points per possession in post ups this year,
guy's just unreal. Sixty three good good if you want to take us out
of here. Yeah, thanks for the questions. As always, everybody,
Uh, if you have not done so already, please subscribe. Follow us
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So that's good. Thanks, guys,