1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:09,480 What is krak alacking Hardwood Knox listeners. I am Damp Valley coming at you 2 00:00:09,519 --> 00:00:15,080 without my fantabulous co host Adam Problemo this time, have a solo mail bag 3 00:00:15,119 --> 00:00:18,719 for you on this Friday, mostly because we're not supposed to have a podcast 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,760 at all this week. I am, as we mentioned on the Hardwood Knox 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,679 account at Hardwooknox will follow us. I am in health and safety protocols. 6 00:00:27,079 --> 00:00:33,119 I tested positive for COVID on Wednesday morning after a very very very rough tuesday. 7 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,000 I'm doing well for anyone who cares, and there were people who shouted 8 00:00:37,039 --> 00:00:40,280 me out so or wished me well, so I appreciate that. I cannot 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,399 sleep though on this It's very early Friday morning now, like five something. 10 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,439 Couldn't fall asleep, so figured why not get to the mail bag that we 11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,679 sent out sent out the solicitation for earlier in the week. I'm kind of 12 00:00:52,679 --> 00:00:55,280 anchy, very fatigued. You're gonna try and get through as many questions as 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,079 possible, so let's not waste any more time on that. I just felt 14 00:00:58,119 --> 00:01:02,039 weird not having a podcast for an entire, like full on work week. 15 00:01:02,079 --> 00:01:03,840 I don't think that's ever happened over the past half decade or anything, and 16 00:01:03,879 --> 00:01:10,599 it will not happen under our watch to start twenty twenty two apparently before we 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,719 get started, though, just reminder to please rate, review, and subscribe 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:17,439 to us wherever you get your podcasts. Spotify has a rating system now, 19 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:19,200 whether you use iTunes or not. As long as you have access to it, 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,359 we have to you go there. Throw us a five stor rating, 21 00:01:22,359 --> 00:01:23,879 writer or review. Those help us out a ton. Even if you have 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,040 advice, suggestions, criticism. Someone asks us to shorten our intros, we 23 00:01:29,079 --> 00:01:32,560 are going to focus on that moving forward this podcast maybe notwithstanding, although I'll 24 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,439 try and keep it sub two point five minutes. That helps us out a 25 00:01:36,439 --> 00:01:40,000 ton, though. Retweet our promos. Tell your friends, family members, 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,000 random people that you work with, or on social media. Anyone who you 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,319 know enjoys basketball. Tell them you know of a sub mediocre NBA podcast that 28 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,079 tries to have some fun while being semi serious but not really serious at all, 29 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,359 because basketball and hoops in general at large or just awesome and fun and 30 00:01:56,519 --> 00:01:59,799 entertaining and don't always need to be taken seriously, although sometimes they do. 31 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,040 Anyway, I digress. Remember to follow us on Twitters. I mentioned at 32 00:02:02,079 --> 00:02:06,200 Hardware Knox follow our YouTube channel, we have like eight hundred subscribers. Now 33 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:07,759 we'd like to get that to a thousands. So YouTube dot com or Hardwin 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,919 Knox we will come up. We were on Instagram at Hardwood Underscore Knox. 35 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,039 With all that out of the way, let's dive head first into this now 36 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,599 bag. We'll begin with the NBA Chicken frequent question asker. They ask how 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,120 much longer until Portland makes a decision regarding blowing it up or making a major 38 00:02:25,159 --> 00:02:30,759 move this trade deadline next season? Outside of CJ for Ben Simmons, I'm 39 00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,479 not sure what other move makes sense. I would say we've been here before, 40 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,199 but they've they're nearly at the bottom of the West now, Yeah, 41 00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:42,120 they're in this weird situation. I think with Portland specifically, Neil Shay before 42 00:02:42,159 --> 00:02:46,000 he was fired, deserved a ton of criticism, even though they experienced some 43 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,199 success under his tenure on the basketball court specifically, anyway, I think I 44 00:02:51,319 --> 00:02:54,319 liked a lot of his moves that he made on their own. Norm Powell 45 00:02:54,479 --> 00:02:58,439 for Gary French Jr. I feel like that ended up being a win win 46 00:02:58,479 --> 00:03:00,639 for both teams. To be honest with you. I liked Lardy dances, 47 00:03:00,719 --> 00:03:04,280 junior trade, I liked Robert Covington trade at the time, but they never 48 00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:07,800 really went for it. It was always sort of these not moves on the 49 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,439 margins, but these like half significant moves where if there were stars that came 50 00:03:12,439 --> 00:03:15,159 out of the market, you never saw them go all in, maybe because 51 00:03:15,159 --> 00:03:17,120 they were too market aware of selfware, knowing that they weren't going to keep 52 00:03:17,159 --> 00:03:20,840 these guys if it was a Kawhi Leonard, if it was a Paul George, 53 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,479 if it was if it was a Jimmy Butler, but knowing how good 54 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,199 Dame has been for quite some time, they really did fail to kind of 55 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,919 make that all and move whatever it was, And a lot of people point 56 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:32,199 to a wing, but it might have been a different type of big other 57 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:37,039 than use of nurkics. At some point, it became pretty clear early on 58 00:03:37,159 --> 00:03:39,479 that you were going to be capped without the infusion of another player. When 59 00:03:39,479 --> 00:03:45,120 looking at a CJ. McCollum or Damien and Damian Lillard backcourt, I'm not 60 00:03:45,759 --> 00:03:47,199 I'm not even sure that you needed to break it up, but it's probably 61 00:03:47,199 --> 00:03:52,919 something that needed to be explored more seriously before now this season specifically, I 62 00:03:52,919 --> 00:03:58,319 would be mildly to moderately shocked if they move a CJ. McCollum. They're 63 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:00,840 not moving Dame. Let's just let's get beyond if they move a Norman Powell 64 00:04:00,919 --> 00:04:04,759 or CJ. McCollum. Part of that is I don't know how much influence 65 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,960 or authority Joe Cronin has an interm GM, even though he's been with the 66 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,759 organization for a while, will probably be in the running, we assume, 67 00:04:11,879 --> 00:04:15,399 for that top job this offseason. I'm just not sure if they're going to 68 00:04:15,439 --> 00:04:20,720 give him the license to make such a wholesale decision when you are so far 69 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:27,319 out of the Western Conference contention picture right now. Chauncey Phillips has talked about 70 00:04:27,319 --> 00:04:30,279 maybe shutting Dame down for an extensive period of time so we can heal up 71 00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:34,920 from that abdominal injury that has apparently bothered him for years at this point. 72 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,639 If you're going that route, I think what you're probably going to see them 73 00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:41,920 do is hold serve and maybe look at shopping. There soon to be free 74 00:04:41,959 --> 00:04:45,079 agents. I'd be a little bit surprised if Anthony Simons was among them. 75 00:04:45,079 --> 00:04:46,399 He's having a great year, and I don't know that they need to fear 76 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,920 his restricted free agency. Necessarily they have the leverage to match, and I 77 00:04:50,439 --> 00:04:54,519 just I look at the cap space landscape and the teams that are slated to 78 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,079 have the most I don't know that any of them are going to go give 79 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,319 Simons this huge offer. If you don't want to pay him, there probably 80 00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:02,399 signed in trade scenarios that will be open to you, and it'll be easier 81 00:05:02,439 --> 00:05:08,720 to capitalize on his departure when he's a larger outgoing salary. That leaves Nurkics 82 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:14,480 and Robert Covington to me as the most likely players to be moved. I 83 00:05:14,519 --> 00:05:16,319 don't know what you can get for Nurkics. The big man market is so 84 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,439 saturated. Even though there are some teams like A you know everyone's gonna mention 85 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,959 Charlotte that could use a center. I don't know that he necessarily He definitely 86 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,199 doesn't fit in Charlotte. To me, is just someone who isn't necessarily going 87 00:05:27,199 --> 00:05:29,560 to run the floor with them, And I don't know that he improves their 88 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,639 defense at all, even if they are playing drop coverage. But he is. 89 00:05:31,879 --> 00:05:33,720 He is a good player, can make a lot of passes in the 90 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,439 short role from a stand still. He's improved his finishing around the rim. 91 00:05:36,439 --> 00:05:40,279 He has those little flip shots, and again, I think he can work 92 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,480 better than a lot of other bigs if you're gonna put him into drop the 93 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:46,360 Portland has just tried to be a lot more aggressive in the pick and roll 94 00:05:46,439 --> 00:05:48,279 this year, which has kind of hurt him. Roco. We've seen his 95 00:05:48,319 --> 00:05:54,480 shooting really regress this season. Maybe he picks it up on a better team. 96 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,639 He's played a little bit better since he was demoted from the starting five. 97 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,120 I still think he can bring you some solid team defense, and he 98 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,600 fits the three indeed concept, which teams are naturally going to want a trade 99 00:06:04,639 --> 00:06:08,720 that I had proposed, or that I just file the bats, but we're 100 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,959 talking about it before it's even live. But you know, peak behind the 101 00:06:11,959 --> 00:06:15,560 curtain there, and I wrote it while having COVID's Maybe this is a COVID 102 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,079 brain here. But if it's basically a Robert Covington for Nerland's Noel swap, 103 00:06:18,319 --> 00:06:23,279 maybe New York has a send and protected second top forty four protected second to 104 00:06:23,319 --> 00:06:26,120 Portland to get that done. What that move does is it gets Portland out 105 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,120 of the tax for this year, and then it sort of gives them this 106 00:06:29,519 --> 00:06:31,600 cheap big who they can use in more aggressive pick and roll schemes, at 107 00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:35,800 least relative to nurkicch and Nerlands. Nowell is a pretty good rim protector. 108 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,319 Will give you at least more of a rim running threat than I guess Nurkics 109 00:06:40,439 --> 00:06:42,680 is, but not really Nurks is going to do more stuff in that situation. 110 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,480 He's clearly more limited an offense, is the point. But he's under 111 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,319 contract for nine point two nine point three million next season. That's some insurance 112 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,639 against Nurkics leaving if you don't want to pay him big money. It's just 113 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,920 cheap enough to where, okay, we have this rotation big if he's a 114 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,759 backup, we're not paying him that much money to the point that we mind 115 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,639 having him be a second stringer. Maybe he's even starting for you, But 116 00:07:00,639 --> 00:07:04,360 that's someone who gives you twenty to twenty five minutes per game. And again, 117 00:07:04,399 --> 00:07:08,160 I think Portland, knowing this season is about to be punted on. 118 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,800 It seems like you want to get out of the tax, and a team 119 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,399 like the Knicks really just needs more two way wingish players because there's RJ. 120 00:07:15,519 --> 00:07:19,199 Barrett for them, and that's really it unless you consider Quentin Grymes a huge 121 00:07:19,199 --> 00:07:24,560 part of their immediate outlook this season. Covington could come in, come off 122 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,199 the bench, probably get some real minutes for them. I don't think he 123 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,759 fixes their defense, but I think he opens up different lineup combinations. If 124 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:31,920 Neurlyn Soell is not there, you have Mitchell Robinson, you have todaj Gibson, 125 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,279 maybe the Nicks and more Wi Way to play Julius Randolds center with real 126 00:07:34,319 --> 00:07:38,439 Coo at the four. Maybe they're just more willing to explore the Obi top 127 00:07:38,439 --> 00:07:42,199 and Julius Randall front courts there. But that type of a move, Larry 128 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,319 Nitch Jr's someone I thought about. I think a team like Charlotte, maybe 129 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,439 they would come in with an offer of Kelly Bridge Jr. Kai Jones and 130 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,480 a second for Larry Nance Jr. I would give up that much for Larry 131 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,319 Nance fom the Horne. It's just to be clear, I think Ubrey is 132 00:07:55,319 --> 00:07:58,199 not going to factor into their long term future. If they want to keep 133 00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:01,639 Miles Bridges, PJ. Washington and Gordon hay Word together, they're already paying 134 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,720 Terry Rozier would raise on this sort of placeholder deal has only part of his 135 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,199 salary next season guaranteed. He's had a pretty good year shooting his cool, 136 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,800 but he gives you some just defensive options up the positional spectrum that you know 137 00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:18,240 Portland could use. And looking at Rocco probably leaving this summer, having the 138 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,759 ability to keep Kelly brid Junior for I think it's twelve point six million would 139 00:08:20,759 --> 00:08:24,160 be his full guaranteed salary next year. That's something that could interest them. 140 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,839 But I don't know why you move Nance because he is also insurance against Nurkics 141 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,879 leaving, just to have that real big on the roster if you don't want 142 00:08:31,959 --> 00:08:33,120 him playing the five all the time. But I would love to see Nance 143 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,080 in Charlotte. So if you're really going to lean into sort of seller's mode, 144 00:08:37,399 --> 00:08:43,080 you know, moving Larry Nance Junior is definitely a smaller scale undertaking compared 145 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,720 to a CJ. Mccollumn or Norman Powell or Damian Lillard, just one relative 146 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,600 to what Dame means to the franchise, But just looking at the magnitude of 147 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,759 the contracts of a Norman Powell, CJ. McCullum and Dame deal. The 148 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:56,759 other thing I'll say about the Blazers, and I just it would probably take 149 00:08:58,519 --> 00:09:01,399 in about face on Philly's art. They seem to want someone who qualifies as 150 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,639 at least a fringe. All staring to Ben Simmons trade, I still think 151 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,480 if you build out a package around Larry Nance, Norman Powell picks and swaps 152 00:09:09,519 --> 00:09:13,159 for Ben Simmons, if I'm feeling I'm thinking about that, because that's still 153 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,159 ingredients for another trade down the line, and then Norman Powell helps you out 154 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,799 a ton immediately. And I know that you've had some success with Andre Drummond 155 00:09:20,799 --> 00:09:24,559 this season, with George Yangett points, but Lader next year you would be 156 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,200 a hell of sort of a big death coming off the bench. You could 157 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,759 try playing him with Joel Embiid. Even though I wouldn't necessarily suggest it in 158 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:37,240 high volume, I would just given where Ben Simmons's value seems to be. 159 00:09:37,399 --> 00:09:41,279 Unless there's just a trade that we don't know about out there, Powell Nance 160 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,159 plus picks and swaps, I think that could, you know, I don't 161 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:46,519 think it does. It definitely helps the Sixers, but I think that's a 162 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,519 longer term haul that you can justify if they're them where it's Hey, maybe 163 00:09:52,519 --> 00:09:56,200 we keep these players and they help him beat immediately, but also between Powell 164 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,679 and Nance and then again picks and swaps, you should be able to go 165 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,159 out build a different package, should have Star become available, because we don't 166 00:10:03,159 --> 00:10:07,639 even know how interested Portland will be in Zimmons if Dame ever becomes available, 167 00:10:07,759 --> 00:10:11,080 if it's this offseason, did over Washington and Bill where that would probably be 168 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,879 assigned in trade scenario this summer unless he's opt again. How much do they 169 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:18,480 actually want to start rebuilding around Ben Simmons if they're moving Bradley Beal Just something 170 00:10:18,519 --> 00:10:22,200 to consider there. I do expect Portland to do something at the trade deadline 171 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,759 because if everyone to shut down Dame, this season is over, and I 172 00:10:24,759 --> 00:10:28,519 would think Roco and Nurkish will be heavily involved in trade rumors and I would 173 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,000 bet money on one of them probably being moved. And I don't think a 174 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,519 Nance trade is out of the question. I just don't know that you really 175 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,480 need to make that call if you're not doing anything with the rest of your 176 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:46,120 roster outside of Roco and Nurkish. There, let's go to Johnny. He 177 00:10:46,159 --> 00:10:50,919 asked, who has statistically been the best second round pick this season. It's 178 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:52,360 if you want to go by total points at it, which is NBA Mats 179 00:10:52,399 --> 00:10:58,519 homestat. There's Joe Weezcamp of the San Antonio Spurs. Let's sort of filter 180 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,320 the minutes out there and say these I need to have at least played like 181 00:11:01,399 --> 00:11:03,519 forty minutes this season, fifty minutes whatever. In that case, it'll be 182 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,679 Charles Bassy in Philadelphia. I do think the best second round pick this year 183 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,919 has been Herb Jones. I believe he leads all second round picks and value 184 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,240 over replacement player. The job he's done on defense in New Orleans is just 185 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:22,320 outstanding, and he's shouldering a heavy role. This data comes per b Ball 186 00:11:22,399 --> 00:11:26,279 Index, but among the five hundred and seventy six players that have locked court 187 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,159 time and made it to their database, Herbert Jones, Herb Jones is eighth 188 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:37,799 in matchup difficulty. That is for a rookie, that's absurd. So that's 189 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,200 a great fine for New Orleans right there. If he's going to shoot threes 190 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:46,200 at a league average clip, or just give them just maybe some downhill hill 191 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,399 juice or something sort of like a big role, a big man's type role. 192 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,440 Offensively, that's a real rotation player, and it's a great fine because 193 00:11:54,519 --> 00:11:58,960 Naji Marshall has just fallen off a cliff compared to last season, and Trey 194 00:11:58,039 --> 00:12:01,279 Murphy the third has just not been as big a part of the rotation as 195 00:12:01,279 --> 00:12:05,240 we expected, has not played or succeeded as immediately as a lot of people 196 00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:11,039 initially projected in the NBA. So Herb Jones ends up being an absolutely huge 197 00:12:11,039 --> 00:12:13,519 fine for New Orleans, who, by the way, I've been playing better 198 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,799 of late. And if Zion ever does come back, who knows, maybe 199 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:18,120 they can make a push of some sort. But I would be interested to 200 00:12:18,159 --> 00:12:22,600 see just I want Zone to come back, to see the different lineup permutations 201 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,360 that they build having Jonah found tunis there, but also the Herb Jones option. 202 00:12:26,399 --> 00:12:31,039 They can play a lot of just wonky position list basketball. But yeah, 203 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,279 for me, the best second round pick has been Herb Jones, and 204 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,120 I think statistically for the most part you could support it. But again, 205 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:41,559 TPA among second round picks who've actually kind of played at least a certain amount 206 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,919 of minutes. Again, forty Charles Bassi gets that one. There are I'm 207 00:12:46,919 --> 00:12:50,559 gonna loop these three questions together because they have to do with the MVP race. 208 00:12:50,879 --> 00:12:54,159 We'll start with Ian he asked, why do people not see Yokich's dominance 209 00:12:54,159 --> 00:12:58,879 as a clear number one case for MVP. I think so for starters. 210 00:12:58,879 --> 00:13:03,080 I don't know that there's a clear, clear number one right now. I 211 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,000 think Yokich and Steph are kind of neck and neck for that one in two 212 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,679 spot, and I think about Jana Slot. There's also Katie. There are 213 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,200 people make a case for Damar. I'll get to my top of my ballot 214 00:13:13,279 --> 00:13:16,440 quickly because that's another question that we have, so I'll get there soon. 215 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:22,360 But I do believe that Yokis does get undersold as an MVP. We saw 216 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,279 it last year when I think that he became the clear MVP, you know, 217 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,159 midway definitely by the three quarter marks through the season, when you kind 218 00:13:30,159 --> 00:13:33,120 of looked at and saw the time that and be missed that Lebron had missed. 219 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,200 There was really I guess between him and Janice would have been like the 220 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,279 bigger decision to make, insofar as you even had to make one. I 221 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:45,000 honestly, I don't know that there's a real answer other than how many people 222 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,399 are watching the Nuggets. And I hate to play that card because if you're 223 00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:50,039 a casual MBA fan, you're a casual MBA fan, Yoki should be among 224 00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:54,919 the primary mega star draws there. But I understand if there are people that 225 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,840 just aren't watching the Nuggets a ton. That being said, the people who 226 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,080 have votes, you hope that they are at least paying attention enough to the 227 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,840 Nuggets to understand the magnitude of what Yokis is doing. It also could be 228 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,440 because the Nuggets just aren't that elite team this year, since you are missing 229 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:15,200 Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray right now. I do think that does elevate 230 00:14:15,399 --> 00:14:18,759 his case. When you look at everyone who has played at least one hundred 231 00:14:18,759 --> 00:14:24,759 and ten minutes this season, yokeets leads the league in net rating swing the 232 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,639 Nuggets are. They're getting out scored by minus fifteen point two points per one 233 00:14:28,679 --> 00:14:33,080 hundred possessions when he's off the court. They're aout scoring opponents by plus eight 234 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,879 point eight points per one hundred possessions when he's on the court, And so 235 00:14:35,919 --> 00:14:39,240 that's nearly a twenty four point or exactly a twenty four point net rating swing, 236 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,279 And those numbers can be misleading, especially when the team is good. 237 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,759 It could be him just elevating this really good product we've seen it with other 238 00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:50,240 MVPs in the past. That's not necessarily something to denigrate him with, but 239 00:14:50,519 --> 00:14:54,879 I think this sort of speaks more so to how in dispense beliefs the Nuggets 240 00:14:54,919 --> 00:14:58,399 because they're dogshit when he's not on the court. That being said, Stephen 241 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:03,519 Curry is top five in net rating swing among this criteria as well. He's 242 00:15:03,559 --> 00:15:07,000 doing it on a team that's better when he's off the floor relative to how 243 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:11,360 the Nuggets are without Yokich. There is something to be said about uplifting a 244 00:15:11,399 --> 00:15:16,000 better team by a similar margin as opposed to taking a team that would be 245 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,000 barebones or just really crappy without you and bringing it to a semi good, 246 00:15:20,039 --> 00:15:24,679 borderline great level. I don't this doesn't have to be the end allpo I 247 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,120 don't know how you'd necessarily distinguished between these two factors, but it makes it 248 00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:31,320 really tough for Yokich. Advanced metrics are still going to love him. When 249 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:37,360 you look at regularize adjusted plus minus the single year stuff can be noisy, 250 00:15:37,399 --> 00:15:39,519 but no matter how you slice it, whether it's luck adjusted or just the 251 00:15:39,559 --> 00:15:43,720 regular ra APM, he ranks in the top five of both. He is 252 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:48,879 I think fourth in regular RAPM and then luck adjusted RPM he is second in 253 00:15:48,919 --> 00:15:54,440 the league and so he has the clout to win MVP. I just do 254 00:15:54,519 --> 00:15:58,120 think that step is a viable candidate as someone who you put him on the 255 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,799 floor, and I don't even know that you could say is about Yokis just 256 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,840 by having him step on the floor, even if he doesn't have the ball, 257 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,600 by virtue of him being there, by virtue of the concept of Steph 258 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,519 and Curry existing to the defense, he makes everyone around him better, where 259 00:16:11,559 --> 00:16:15,000 I do think that Yokis needs the ball to have that level of an impact, 260 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,399 which isn't really an argument against him, to be clear, And I 261 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,080 will get to who my MVP pick is in the second next question comes from 262 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,120 diagon Alley says, do you believe Steph Curry should win the MVP award? 263 00:16:26,879 --> 00:16:30,279 What are you looking for from the Warriors the rest of the season? Can 264 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,559 they win at all? And then Delano banton Stan asked, who's your MVP? 265 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,919 So my MVP right now is Nicole Yoki. I don't know if I'm 266 00:16:36,919 --> 00:16:40,200 waiting the lack of help that he's had too much, because I don't think 267 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,039 Steph should be penalised for having Draymond Green, for having this version of Andrew 268 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,759 Wiggins, for getting a Gary Payton, the second breakout for the Warriors, 269 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,440 hitting on the margins with the Otto Porter junior signing and minutes from Namania be 270 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,639 Elites, and even just getting flashes of Jonathan commingto this season, the Warriors 271 00:16:55,679 --> 00:16:57,240 have been for the most part, the best, no worse than the second 272 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:02,799 best team in the league this season. And I think that Steph is to 273 00:17:02,879 --> 00:17:04,759 me still the single most valuable offensive player in the league, and that includes 274 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:10,000 Yoki. Yokich wins it out for me because I do think he's more valuable 275 00:17:10,039 --> 00:17:12,839 to the Nuggets even at full strength, than maybe Steph would be to the 276 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:17,039 Warriors at full strength, because you have Clay, you have Draymond. Maybe 277 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:18,960 Steph wins it out when they're at full strength by a little bit, because 278 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,480 if you take him off the Warriors at full strength, you know, let's 279 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,599 take Yokich off the full strength Nuggets. Let's take Steph off the full strength 280 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,920 Warriors. Which one of those teams is more likely to be a playoff team. 281 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,000 I think it's probably the Nuggets. Maybe that speaks to the faith I 282 00:17:33,039 --> 00:17:37,000 have in Jamal Murray, but We've seen what can happen with Draymond when his 283 00:17:37,039 --> 00:17:41,559 minutes are untethered from Steph or he's not playing with this team that with a 284 00:17:41,599 --> 00:17:45,720 team that just has a ton of offensive depth, his game can can really 285 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,200 suffer. Where I think Yokich wins it for me this season, at least 286 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,160 you can look at the body of work how he's uplifted a team that really 287 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,200 has just been beset by injuries. Forget the league's health and safety protocols, 288 00:17:56,279 --> 00:18:00,000 They've just been beset by injuries at the top more than other squads. Because 289 00:18:00,039 --> 00:18:03,680 Michael Porter Junior Jamal Murray are supposed to be I would say two of their 290 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,359 three most important players, But depending on how you feel about Aaron Gordon, 291 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,720 let's say two of their foremost important players. That's not a Jamal Murray shot. 292 00:18:08,759 --> 00:18:12,119 That would be a Michael Porter junior shot. If anything. Yogis is 293 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,000 also just more important to the way that the Denver Nuggets operate on defense. 294 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,240 Steph Is doesn't need to be hidden all the time on defense for the Warriors, 295 00:18:18,279 --> 00:18:22,200 but they're not going to put him in these super difficult matchups. They 296 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,279 have players that allow them to work around that. Where he's not going to 297 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:29,240 be the player and guarding point of attack NonStop. That's not his fault. 298 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,039 Again, I think his value on offense speaks for herself and what he does 299 00:18:32,079 --> 00:18:33,920 on defense. He's not going to hurt you, and that bears out in 300 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:38,640 the on off splits. Don't cite individual defensive raiding, please, We've seen 301 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,559 it cited as a reason for why Steff is this two way player this season. 302 00:18:41,559 --> 00:18:47,000 I beg you to just don't do that, but Yokich is He's gonna 303 00:18:47,079 --> 00:18:49,720 just assume more difficult assignments when the Nuggets want to go aggressive in pick and 304 00:18:49,799 --> 00:18:52,279 roll, which is I think I was looking at a chart of the most 305 00:18:52,319 --> 00:18:56,359 aggressive pick and roll coverages, not the top and leave, but I think 306 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,359 it's fairly often he's going to be a part of that. And I don't 307 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,440 think that he's a great defender. I think he hovers somewhere between, you 308 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,519 know, on any given nights, slightly made on his best nights, he's 309 00:19:04,519 --> 00:19:07,960 slightly above average. On his worst nights, he can be detrimental. But 310 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,880 he's probably hovering around closer to average or slightly above average for most of this 311 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,759 season. I just think knowing that and then the workload he needs to shoulder 312 00:19:15,799 --> 00:19:19,519 on offense. It's similar to the argument we would have made for Johannis ATTENDACOOPO 313 00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:22,880 in the past. I don't think Yokich is having anywhere near the same impact 314 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,440 as Jannis on defense in those years. Jannis could be a defensive Player of 315 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,400 the Year candidate this season. That's just my logic as of right now. 316 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,000 But I really can't decide between Stephan Yokich. This is written in pencil or 317 00:19:34,039 --> 00:19:38,400 written in sad subject to change whatever I wouldn't whoever you pick, I'm not 318 00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:42,319 arguing. I think other people that deserve consideration here. Jannis would be third 319 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,839 for me. Kd is four. I think the Rosen is fifth. But 320 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,680 there's also names like John Morant, Donovan Mitchel, Rudy Gobert, even Fred 321 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,759 van Fleet. Guys, take a look at Fred van Fleet's mvpks. They're 322 00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:57,480 just this season. He's been spectacular this year. Those are names that's bring 323 00:19:57,559 --> 00:20:00,440 to mind. People are gonna eventually make a for Lebron James if the Lakers 324 00:20:00,519 --> 00:20:04,799 continue to play better. I don't know that he's in my top seven right 325 00:20:04,799 --> 00:20:07,240 now. He's definitely not in my top five. But those are people that 326 00:20:07,279 --> 00:20:11,359 could deserve some consideration on the back of the ballot. That's a look. 327 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:17,559 The MVP people complain about talking about it this early. It's a fluid discussion 328 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:19,240 in certain seasons. This isn't just one of those years where it was, 329 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,920 you know, set in Stone after game twelve or whatever. This is a 330 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,519 real debate between Stephan, Yokich and I don't think either of them or I 331 00:20:27,519 --> 00:20:33,079 don't think they collectively have run away with the award to the extent that you 332 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,000 can say, oh, Yannis or KD doesn't deserve it. And there will 333 00:20:36,039 --> 00:20:38,480 be the Bulls finished with the best record in the East and Themar's playing like 334 00:20:38,519 --> 00:20:42,160 this, there will be some people that throw him up there too. So 335 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:48,119 those are pretty solidly my top five, but I could see some of that 336 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,359 changing. I think I think in the end my top three you're gonna end 337 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,279 up being Yoki, Stephan, Yannis. I don't know if it'll be in 338 00:20:53,319 --> 00:20:57,000 that order, but I do think those just looking at I know Jannis hasn't 339 00:20:57,039 --> 00:21:00,720 played as much as Katie this year, but something catastrophic, I think those 340 00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:03,799 are gonna wind up being the top three. Again, I don't think this 341 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:10,079 is like etched in Marble let's move on to something else. This question comes 342 00:21:10,079 --> 00:21:14,160 from Sam. Will Lamello be an All Star this year? That's an interesting 343 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,359 question. A huge part of it is dependent on you know, he's not 344 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:22,200 going to be a starter. I think those that's I think Trey Young is 345 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:23,519 gonna get a starting spot in these This is the best way to do it. 346 00:21:23,559 --> 00:21:27,640 And look, let's also just be clear, LaMelo Ball does have an 347 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,480 All Star case. He is this season. He's averaging nineteen point three points 348 00:21:32,519 --> 00:21:34,400 per game, seven point eight assists, even one point seven steals. I 349 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,960 don't think he's a good defender yet. He probably needs to get stronger before 350 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,480 he's an asset. But he's saying thirty eight point four percent of his three's 351 00:21:41,839 --> 00:21:45,720 on a higher volume per thirty six minutes. There two points forty five point 352 00:21:45,759 --> 00:21:48,519 five percent down from last year. But he takes some difficult twos when you're 353 00:21:48,519 --> 00:21:52,640 just looking at the some of the floaters and even the difficult finishes. If 354 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,880 he gets stronger, I think that is clip around the rim will improve. 355 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,720 He's up this three throw percentage doesn't get to the rim, he doesn't get 356 00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:02,599 to the eaves. A lot of Tony He's actually getting there less than last 357 00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:04,240 season, but he's shoting eighty seven point six percent from the foul line. 358 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:11,960 This guy is a transcendent playmaker, and Charlotte's offense is like almost net neutral 359 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,240 with him on the court. I think he improves it by one and a 360 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,680 half points per one hundred possessions. But he's just very much the identity that 361 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,160 they assume when they're on the court, and he is that important and that 362 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,000 good. So he absolutely belonged to the discussion. Let's talk about who makes 363 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,279 it. The starters are gonna be Trey Young, and then if it's me 364 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,839 personally, Demard Rozen should be a forward and should make it as in the 365 00:22:32,839 --> 00:22:36,000 front court, sorry, and should make it as a front court starter. 366 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,519 And then I would put Zach Lavine as the other starter. That being said, 367 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,640 I do think people are gonna end up shoehorning De Rosen into the guard 368 00:22:44,039 --> 00:22:48,079 spots. And I think even the last voting showed that. Again COVID brains, 369 00:22:48,079 --> 00:22:51,680 I didn't look at. I think the most recent ballots, let's just 370 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,319 Trey Young and Zach Lavine or locks. For me, I think the other 371 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,480 back court lock is Fred van Fleet. In my eyes, Jimmy Butler is 372 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,079 gonna end up getting in as a backcourt. So that's four right there. 373 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:04,720 If you end up throwing TOMRDA Rosen in, there is a fifth. I 374 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:10,960 would argue, even though there's the wild card spots in play, you're guaranteed 375 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:17,279 maybe six at most guard spots. And then it probably comes down between LaMelo 376 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:22,920 Ball, Kyle Lowry, Darius Garland. I don't know if I'm forgetting anybody 377 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,839 else here of those three. Do I think that LaMelo deserves it? That's 378 00:23:29,839 --> 00:23:33,759 an interesting one, and this is something I promise I gave a thought before 379 00:23:33,759 --> 00:23:40,960 even you know, segueing into this podcast. I think I would give it 380 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:45,960 to LaMelo. Do I think now that he's going to be an All Star? 381 00:23:45,039 --> 00:23:48,960 I'd probably say no, just because it will come down to the coaches 382 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,759 picking him, and I think they're probably more likely to go with a Kyle 383 00:23:52,799 --> 00:23:56,640 Lowry or Drew Holiday if it comes between my him and a Darius Garland decision. 384 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:03,920 Just I do think coach's favor experience instan maybe they give it him. 385 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,720 I honestly, I honestly don't know. I would pick him among the group 386 00:24:07,759 --> 00:24:11,039 that we sort of just listed, maybe just barely. I do think Drew's 387 00:24:11,079 --> 00:24:15,440 case is going to be stronger than not. I ultimately don't think he'll get 388 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,640 it, and I hope he does because this game is so well suited for 389 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:18,839 the Austar game. I think a lot of it also just hinges on what 390 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,400 is Damar going to enter ass and we'll kind of just have to go from 391 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,480 there. But that's a great valid question. I'm gonna say he should be 392 00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:32,400 in the All Star Game and predict that he's not, and I'll probably flip 393 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,160 flop on that, like eight or nine more times, reefs, will any 394 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,519 star currently in the league wins six or more rings? Look, Lebron has 395 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,440 four, and so I think he's the one that you have to say is 396 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,720 most likely to get it. Here's and might I would just lean towards nope, 397 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,039 because it feels like, can I imagine Lebron in his age thirty seventh 398 00:24:52,039 --> 00:24:55,920 season going to win another two titles from here? Probably not. What is 399 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,160 interesting is if the question was who's more likely to win six titles before where 400 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,440 they retire, is its Steph or Lebron? And it comes down to how 401 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,799 confident you are that Lebron is on a team for the next few years. 402 00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:11,160 Maybe he has, Maybe Steph has two or three seasons more than Lebron to 403 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:15,839 sort of make up the one ring gap that separates them. Do you trust 404 00:25:15,839 --> 00:25:18,640 the war Let's say, if it's Stephen's a life long Warrior, do you 405 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,880 trust them to sort of bridge into the future when he's maybe not your number 406 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,440 one option or not your best player, to assemble the title team around him? 407 00:25:26,519 --> 00:25:30,160 Or do you do you trust the Lakers or to build that type of 408 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:33,000 team around Lebron or do you trust him to go out and find that team 409 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,160 that will That is a tougher one for me. I might mean just because 410 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,480 the way the Warriors are sitting right now, Like if they hit on James, 411 00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:44,960 Wiseman, Cominga and Moody, No, Like what if Comingas just just 412 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,279 turned What if one of those guys is a transcended superstars most likely and May's 413 00:25:48,319 --> 00:25:51,440 going to be comingo or maybe they're able to flip those guys for someone who's 414 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,200 just younger to keep the window open. Is forever the second best player on 415 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,359 that team is Draymond and Clay Age, and you're still relying on Steph. 416 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,000 But I might be more tempted to say that Steph is more likely to win 417 00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:06,079 six rings than lebron Is, but he already has four, so it's it's 418 00:26:06,079 --> 00:26:10,440 a matter of getting to two two more. I don't know who I would 419 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,319 pick to win more than six, or even else to get to six right 420 00:26:14,319 --> 00:26:18,279 now, because you just look at the league and there's no just runaway freight 421 00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:21,480 train in existence. Even when you sort of look at some of the younger 422 00:26:21,519 --> 00:26:23,279 guys who project as the you know, the face of the league, the 423 00:26:23,279 --> 00:26:26,799 Bucks, it's not necessarily set up. And I'm not saying Jannis is young, 424 00:26:26,839 --> 00:26:29,359 but it's not necessarily set up for them to run the tables. In 425 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,160 the East. Lugdanchich is one of the most promising young players, and the 426 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,279 Maverick clearly are not set up to just win titles earlier than not in his 427 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,440 career. He may have to wait another half decade or so before he gets 428 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:44,039 that legitimate opportunity. Trey Young, the table, the stage is clearly not 429 00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:48,319 set in Atlanta for him to go bonkers and win rings. Same with Jason 430 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,079 Tatum or Jalen Brown wherever you want. In Boston. I mean, we're 431 00:26:51,079 --> 00:26:53,160 dealing with all these got Lamello and Charlotte. If you want to go to 432 00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:56,680 these like newbies Jaw and even Memphis, who Yeah, they've done a great 433 00:26:56,759 --> 00:27:00,079 job building around him, but it's hard to spot aside from a step or 434 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,640 Lebron type of case. And I guess, look, if you're gonna say 435 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,799 Steph, technically it could be Clay and Draymond getting to six as well. 436 00:27:07,799 --> 00:27:12,559 But aside from the Warriors core or Lebron, I don't necessarily know who else 437 00:27:12,559 --> 00:27:15,839 you would pick for six. If anyone else has an answer and justification, 438 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,960 you can get at me on Twitter at Dan for Valley Melverk asked which rookie 439 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:25,480 do you think most deserves to be getting more minutes? I still think the 440 00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:29,680 answer is Alprune Shang Gun, and before his ankle injury and the techneames leading 441 00:27:29,759 --> 00:27:30,960 up to it, he was playing twenty one point nine minutes per game. 442 00:27:32,279 --> 00:27:34,200 That's not enough. I know you have Christian Wood and Daniel Tys that that 443 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,359 really shouldn't stop you even a little bit. I don't know, you know, 444 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,680 I guess you can understand. Maybe I don't understand why Tye is there, 445 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,920 but you don't really need to justify playing Tights more than thirteen fifteen minutes 446 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,440 a game, even with his salary at this point, and I think you 447 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:55,200 can also play Shane Good a lot with Tye more so offensively that excuse me, 448 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,200 you could play Shane Goud with either one of the Biggs where was I 449 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,880 don't necessarily love the tights would fit and the stats are gonna share that out, 450 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,319 So yeah, it's still Shane Goo for me. They also have Usman 451 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:07,240 Gruba on that team, which he's played one hundred minutes total this season across 452 00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:11,799 fourteen appearances we record this podcast, I get the sentiment of they just don't 453 00:28:11,799 --> 00:28:14,599 think he's ready, and he's spent some time in the G League, but 454 00:28:15,039 --> 00:28:18,359 you're bad, Like just cut him loose, like, let's see more Usman 455 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,200 Gruba. I know that trial by fire isn't necessarily a way to guarantee development, 456 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:26,079 but I do think those reps are important, and they do, in 457 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,079 my eyes, have the roster to where he should be getting more run as 458 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,200 someone who can log minutes to be four, maybe even as a as a 459 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,519 small ball type type five, and just let him explore what is his defensive 460 00:28:37,519 --> 00:28:40,200 We're stillity going to bring you and try to figure out how you can and 461 00:28:40,559 --> 00:28:44,519 plan to use him on the offensive end. Two more guys that's bring to 462 00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:47,480 mind. I think Quentin Grimes in New York, just in the flashes that 463 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,759 he's shown of the defensive hustle, they need a He is a smaller wing, 464 00:28:49,799 --> 00:28:52,599 but they need a wing of that ilk unless they're gonna trade for one, 465 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,279 and I would this would be against everything san Antonio always does. But 466 00:28:56,359 --> 00:29:00,680 can we cut Josh Primo loose in the He just has a lot of wiggle 467 00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:03,799 on offense and I really want to see him get more on ball reps and 468 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,559 more just NBA reps in general. I will say I didn't consider guys that 469 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,759 you can't really pick where there's not a clear path to their playing time, 470 00:29:11,799 --> 00:29:15,279 Like Quentin Grimes can bounce someone in New York shortation and it shouldn't be a 471 00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:21,559 big deal. But you look at say James book Knight in Charlotte, you 472 00:29:21,599 --> 00:29:25,000 can't just you know, who are you playing him over in Charlotte And don't 473 00:29:25,039 --> 00:29:27,480 say a big you want you want to play him over Mason Plumber Like that's 474 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,480 not really gonna work. You would have to think trade people out of their 475 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,720 spots because he there's just actual people in front of him that are that are 476 00:29:34,759 --> 00:29:37,839 more effective than he would be. Even if you're not happy with the way 477 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,000 Charlotte is performing on a night tonight basis, But yeah, those are the 478 00:29:42,039 --> 00:29:45,680 ones that stand out. I still think it's Shane whod Is the most egregious 479 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,880 one I would like to see. Grimes might be tough, but like the 480 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,160 Knicks are just such a roller coaster ride on a night tonight bassis like bucket, 481 00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:55,000 Like, let's see more Grimes. But I do think the Spurs could. 482 00:29:55,039 --> 00:29:57,680 Even though they have a ton of perimeter players, they have effectively, 483 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:04,119 you know, put Jock Jack Landell appoints in front of Thaddeus Young for stretch 484 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,839 of the season, like we can put we can afford to see Josh Primo 485 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,920 a little bit more. Paolo asked, this is a longer one. Call 486 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,160 me a reactionarybod. I just watched r J Barrett score sixteen points in nine 487 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,640 minutes. The only person that could stop him with Julius Randall and his zaiso 488 00:30:18,759 --> 00:30:22,000 is what do you think happens first Randall hands the keys to r J Barrett 489 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:23,880 on offense or r J leaves New York. I'm not really suggesting that r 490 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:29,200 J is a superstar who's better than Randall. It's more so a complaint at 491 00:30:29,279 --> 00:30:33,359 Randall taking tough shots and passing mid jump instead of passing it up to RJ. 492 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,000 Okay. So we talked about I think the last podcast we released actually 493 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,440 at this point was with Andrew Claudio Nick's film School about the Knicks, and 494 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,920 we went deeper into what RJ. Barrett's role is and what it could theoretically 495 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,240 be. I am with you, Paolo that RJ. Barrett should have a 496 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,240 bigger role on offense. I don't know that it's Julius Randall's fault. To 497 00:30:52,279 --> 00:30:56,480 the extent that this is on Tom Thibodeau to establish a pecking letter on offense, 498 00:30:56,839 --> 00:31:00,240 He's decided to give Julius Randall a ton of influence on the offense. 499 00:31:00,319 --> 00:31:04,200 I think that went into their initial benching of Kemba Walker in the first place, 500 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:10,440 because Tibbs effectively decided that Randall needed to have the ball. Even more 501 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:11,880 so, if you're going to make that shift, it's going to take a 502 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:18,279 concession on Randall's part, or just a change to the excuse me still not 503 00:31:18,279 --> 00:31:22,680 feeling great, a change to the makeup of the roster. And I don't 504 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,559 know that the Knicks, this was my fear leading into the season, are 505 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,480 really built for RJ to plumb the depths of his offense. Has he necessarily 506 00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:33,839 done anything consistently enough to warrant more on ball control aside from the flashes he's 507 00:31:33,839 --> 00:31:36,799 shown in the past few games where he's really attacked the rim. In their 508 00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:40,359 game against oh Man, I can't remember who it was, but he recently 509 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,839 tied a career high for made shots inside four feet at the rim in a 510 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,240 game. So when he's aggressive like that, it's easy to really give him 511 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:48,319 the ball. And then, of course the couple of games that Julius Randall 512 00:31:48,559 --> 00:31:52,519 missed, we saw him get more control. Look, he is below the 513 00:31:52,559 --> 00:31:56,880 fortieth percent tile and isoe efficiency below the fortieth percent tile and scoring as the 514 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,279 pick and roll ball handler, he's a sub thirty five effective field goal percentage 515 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:07,000 on his pull up jumpers. I understand the reticence to give him more on 516 00:32:07,039 --> 00:32:09,960 ball control, but this is year three. It's time to sort of understand 517 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,160 more of what you have in him, or do you think he's going to 518 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:19,160 be more of just a situational offensive player who's probably gonna hurt hurt. Defense 519 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,640 is more off the catch assuming his corner three start to fall down in a 520 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,799 higher clip and then maybe he'll do some attacking. I think what the Knicks 521 00:32:25,799 --> 00:32:29,839 could do to try and to you know, see the best of both worlds 522 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:35,559 is untether his minutes to Julius Randol more often. This number includes the games 523 00:32:35,559 --> 00:32:37,200 that Julius Randol missed and RJ played, and I think it was only two 524 00:32:37,279 --> 00:32:42,000 or three games, but still that's a healthy amount. Fewer than fifteen percent 525 00:32:42,079 --> 00:32:45,119 of RJ's possessions this season have come without Randall on the floor. I think 526 00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:49,680 that number can stand to be higher. Just completely separate them and stagger their 527 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,400 minutes. See more r J plus bench units that really shouldn't hurt your rotation 528 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:59,559 at all, especially while Derrick Rose is out recovering from his latest surgery. 529 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,720 So that is something they can and should try. I don't know if they 530 00:33:01,759 --> 00:33:05,319 will. We've seen RJ be a little bit more aggressive even with Randol on 531 00:33:05,319 --> 00:33:07,839 the court in the past week or so, and I don't even know if 532 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,799 RJ will eventually be the player that can run an offense, run pick and 533 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,119 roll. You can trust as a passer, but it's really time to explore 534 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:19,559 the depths of that game. He's extension eligible this summer. You want to 535 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,279 have a better grasp of the ceiling on this player, because to me, 536 00:33:23,359 --> 00:33:27,880 he still is probably the single most important player in that building. He remains 537 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,920 that swing prospect, the one that can really change the Knicks' trajectory. We 538 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,720 kind of know what Julius Randall is at this point. We know last year 539 00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:37,960 was a flash in the pan relative to you know, second team All NBA 540 00:33:38,039 --> 00:33:43,000 status. He's probably better than he's been over all this season. But if 541 00:33:43,039 --> 00:33:46,119 he lies somewhere in between, you still need that, you know, swing 542 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:50,319 prospect, that swing piece, that player who could develop into let's say, 543 00:33:50,319 --> 00:33:52,839 at least a number two on a title team to really change your fortunes. 544 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,680 That's still r J. Barrett at this point, unless you think it's Manual 545 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:01,240 Quickly or Obi toppin a Quentin Grimes tous McBride. I still think, barring 546 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,799 a trade, it's going to it's RJ. Barrett. Gives you the best 547 00:34:04,799 --> 00:34:10,239 shot of that right now. Berb asked, who is better Joel Embiide at 548 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,880 the free throw line or Bradley Beal. It's look, when you're looking at 549 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:19,039 your frequency, there's just no competing with Joel Embiid his free throw attempt rate, 550 00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:22,840 which is the number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt is point 551 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,280 five seven seven, down from point six one zero last year. That is 552 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,960 to say it's knocked down much at all, and given them new officiating rules, 553 00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:34,000 the whistle has not changed a bunch for him, and he is shooting 554 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:37,079 on his free throw attempts eighty point nine percent, which is down from last 555 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:40,000 year, but he's still above eighty percent for his career. Bradley Beale is 556 00:34:40,039 --> 00:34:43,360 normally better at getting to the foul line, but I think the rule, 557 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:47,400 the way, or the d emphasis on certain calls from the officials that's hurt 558 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:51,639 him. His free throw a tempt rate is point two four seven. That's 559 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:55,599 down from point three three two and pales in comparison to the past few years 560 00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:00,400 of his career. He is shooting a higher clip at the fo I know 561 00:35:00,519 --> 00:35:02,480 he's at eighty three point six percent, but I think, look, if 562 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:07,360 you let's just go by straight makes per let's do it per thirty six minutes. 563 00:35:07,639 --> 00:35:10,920 Bradleybys giving you four point one free throws per thirty six minutes made Joe 564 00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:15,360 Joel the beat is giving you nine, So he's more than doubling up the 565 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,960 makes there just the volume in which he gets to the foul line, he 566 00:35:19,079 --> 00:35:23,880 is the more valuable free throw shooter Ryless, Since no one on the Jazz 567 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:28,119 not named Golbaron can stay in front of their man on dece VENs, are 568 00:35:28,119 --> 00:35:30,480 there any quick defenders that might be available to them, Ryles? Didn't you 569 00:35:30,559 --> 00:35:35,400 hear they just signed Daniel House they fix their problems? No? I think, 570 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,000 Look, they're set up to make a trade, and I wrote about 571 00:35:38,039 --> 00:35:43,119 this. I think they've shown signs that they might be willing to make a 572 00:35:43,119 --> 00:35:45,360 bigger swing. A lot of people have pointed to them hiring Danny Ainge as 573 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:50,400 evidence they might do that. He is the king of almost I don't know 574 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,639 that that in first he would make a bigger swing. But they've even run 575 00:35:52,679 --> 00:35:55,760 the ball in the post the Rudy game more often during the bench heavy units, 576 00:35:57,119 --> 00:35:59,719 and I think that just shows that maybe they're preparing for a change in 577 00:36:00,039 --> 00:36:02,559 fensive structure at points. What that means to me is are they trying to 578 00:36:02,599 --> 00:36:07,480 get by without upgrading the backup point guard spot because Trent Forrest is not the 579 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,400 answer there, or are they maybe thinking about moving a Joe Ingles on his 580 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,800 expiring deal or moving a Jordan Clarkson, who is not the best facilitator but 581 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:20,599 gives you a lot of from scratch creation by process of elimination. In the 582 00:36:20,599 --> 00:36:22,280 piece I wrote, you can check that out at bleacher report dot com just 583 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,440 search my name. It'll be one of the two or three most recent pieces 584 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:29,920 I published. I wrote about one player from every team that I think should 585 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,079 be traded this year. If I were the you know, emperor of the 586 00:36:34,079 --> 00:36:37,360 front office, whatever the titles are now. I ended up at Jordan Clarkson 587 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,000 just because I think between his age he has two years of a reasonable number 588 00:36:40,079 --> 00:36:44,719 left on his contract and just a from scratch scoring, he might be more 589 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,360 interesting. But I also recognize that Joe Ingles is expiring contract. He's been 590 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,239 all over the place this year, but he can still shoot give you secondary 591 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,079 playmaking. Maybe he's more appealing to certain teams a name that I just have 592 00:36:54,199 --> 00:36:59,280 circled for them. Some people are naming Marcus Smart or them trying to figure 593 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,880 out a way to step ladder up to a Harrison Barnes or Jeremy Grant that 594 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,199 would take the market on pretty much all three of those players in my eyes, 595 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:08,960 and imploding because the Jazz can't trade the earliest first round pick. I 596 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:13,119 believe they can trade is in twenty and twenty six, and that's assuming their 597 00:37:13,159 --> 00:37:17,440 first two obligations this season and then in twenty twenty four that those two obligations 598 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:22,039 convey I just a team. Teams are gonna be able to beat those offers. 599 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,480 Josh Richardson in Boston, they signed him to an extension, but he 600 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:30,119 could still be traded because he didn't get this this huge raise and he's quietly 601 00:37:30,159 --> 00:37:31,840 had a pretty good year shooting thirty nine plus percent from three. But he 602 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:35,400 gives you defense from the point of attack all the way up to some of 603 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,719 these bigger assignments. And so it depends on what Boston wants. Their season 604 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,360 is quickly going off the rails. If you're not going to move down round 605 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,719 and Marcus Smart though, and if you like you know you have Romeo Langford, 606 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,880 even Aaronnai Smith. I think I'm officially higher on Romeo lank for moving 607 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,719 forward in the Smith. But whatever you have minutes to sort of play around 608 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:54,960 with and Phil the wings, maybe you're willing to move with Josh Richardson for 609 00:37:55,599 --> 00:38:00,039 compensation that lowers your tax bill this year, if not get you out of 610 00:38:00,079 --> 00:38:02,599 it. Utah's not going to get them out of it entirely, but lowers 611 00:38:02,599 --> 00:38:07,920 your tax bill, maybe pick up some future assets or even just juices up 612 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:12,199 your offense. And Jordan Clarkson for Josh Richardson swap works in theory. Maybe 613 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,679 you have to send Jared Butler to Boston in that scenario, or even if 614 00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:19,280 it's a second round pick, or is it a pick swap, maybe it's 615 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,159 taking back another smaller salary to cut their tax bill in Utah has the roster 616 00:38:22,199 --> 00:38:25,000 flexibility to do that. I don't know if they'd be interested in Clarkson. 617 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:29,840 They probably need someone who's a better passer. Slash puts more pressure on the 618 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,079 rim. I do think he would help their offense. And knowing that Dennis 619 00:38:32,079 --> 00:38:36,000 Shrewder is a goner after this season, if not in the middle of this 620 00:38:36,079 --> 00:38:37,480 year, should they trade him because they'll be a non bird free agent. 621 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,960 Perhaps that makes him more appealing. They could also have interest in Joe Ingles, 622 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,480 just an expiring contract. He is, you know, probably becomes what 623 00:38:45,639 --> 00:38:50,679 they're second or third best pass around the team once he arrives there can still 624 00:38:50,679 --> 00:38:52,960 shoot. I think he's lost a few steps on defense, but they have 625 00:38:53,119 --> 00:38:59,119 the talent to sort of cover up for that Joe Ingles plus Jared Butler for 626 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:02,760 Josh richards Maybe you're probably need to take back another salary from Boston because they're 627 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:07,800 not gonna want to take on salary, and that scenario, you could you 628 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,760 expand this too. And you know, one of the trades that that I 629 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:15,239 came up with was Boston gets Joe Angeles Jared Butler, Memphis is twenty twenty 630 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:21,119 two second a twenty twenty three swap from Utah, and then Utah gets Josh 631 00:39:21,199 --> 00:39:23,920 Richardson and Dennis Shrewder. The leverage Boston has what Shruder is very minimal because 632 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:28,119 he can just leave after this season given his non bird rights. He's just 633 00:39:28,159 --> 00:39:31,119 not resigning for one hundred and twenty percent raise off his sub six million dollars 634 00:39:31,119 --> 00:39:36,320 salary. Would it take the twenty twenty six first round pick to get this 635 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:39,559 deal done instead of that swap or that Memphis twenty twenty two second. I 636 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:44,679 don't know, but I would consider it if i'm Utah. That's that's the 637 00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,679 framework if you want to swing bigger but sort of the bigger, quicker wing 638 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:52,159 to wrap this up that I think they could target. Is it Josh Richardson 639 00:39:52,199 --> 00:39:54,719 because I really think he is sort of a middle end option that could prove 640 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:59,440 gettable for them. There are other like guys that they could look at. 641 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,239 You know, how does Robert Covington come from Portland? At this point, 642 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:07,760 I just don't know that he is going to be effective enough in the in 643 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:13,480 one on one situations to do any sort of to make any sort of real 644 00:40:13,559 --> 00:40:16,159 impact or move Utah's needle on defense if that's what they're looking for, which 645 00:40:16,159 --> 00:40:19,559 is also the challenge to the Jazz here. I don't know that you should 646 00:40:19,559 --> 00:40:22,360 make a move. I've thought about Tory Craig, which yeah, he would 647 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,360 help situationally, but you want someone who you know can either can one crack 648 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:30,320 an eight or nine man rotation in the playoffs or preferably be a part of 649 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:32,159 your closing lineups. And we know that Tory Craig probably won't be a part 650 00:40:32,199 --> 00:40:36,880 of many closing lineups, would be sort of a fringe player when it comes 651 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,199 to cracking the rotation. And so I don't think they're gonna have the Jews 652 00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:44,599 to get a Marcus Smart or Jeremy Grant or Harrison Barnes. And so that's 653 00:40:44,599 --> 00:40:47,840 how Josh Diricherson feels like a not even a compromise, but someone who they 654 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:53,480 could feasibly get that drastically improves their title chances. Like if you put if 655 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:58,280 all you're giving up in terms of immediate players is Clarkson or Angles and you're 656 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,719 getting Josh Fritchinson. To me, this might not be popular with Utah fans, 657 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,639 but if that's the player that you're getting for one of those two guys, 658 00:41:04,639 --> 00:41:07,800 and there's other stuff, but it's not anyone who's mission critical to what 659 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:13,320 you're doing. Now, I think the Jazz become you know, their top 660 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,719 five title favorite right now. I would say top six the lowest they probably 661 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:20,119 entered the top three at that point. Perhaps you have Golden State and Phoenix 662 00:41:20,159 --> 00:41:22,760 I'm a walking in front of him still, but who else. I just 663 00:41:22,119 --> 00:41:25,519 forget about where they would rank on the ladder. I think getting a Josh 664 00:41:25,599 --> 00:41:30,840 Richardson exponentially improves their their overall title chances. And look for anyone who's saying 665 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:32,880 that they can move Bunyon mcdonovitch to make the bigger move. My whole thing 666 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:37,760 is you have a wing six, seven, sixty eight whatever, who is 667 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:43,960 averaging over seventeen points per game on better than sixty two shooting. Please please 668 00:41:44,039 --> 00:41:47,039 don't overthink this like you keep that guy, and I do think your offense 669 00:41:47,079 --> 00:41:52,000 is good enough in large part because of him Conley Mitchell to withstand the loss 670 00:41:52,039 --> 00:41:55,000 of an Ingles or a Jordan Clarkson. So that's where I end up with 671 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,519 on the Jazz, a promising team that feels eight Josh Richardson away from being 672 00:41:59,559 --> 00:42:02,719 a born line title favorite. I am running out of steam here, so 673 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:07,239 let's get through a couple of these last questions. Bowls Film Room asked, 674 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:12,360 would you rather have role players being incredibly specialized like a great three point shooter, 675 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:16,519 but shitty like when it comes to zone defense, or just good overall. 676 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:22,840 That's a great question. I just it depends on the level of shitty 677 00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:25,800 you're talking about everywhere else? Is this you have Steve Novak as a shooter 678 00:42:27,519 --> 00:42:30,639 and then like Steve Novak everywhere else, Because no, I'd rather have the 679 00:42:30,679 --> 00:42:35,480 overall role player. But is this a a Duncan Robinson or even a Davis 680 00:42:35,559 --> 00:42:39,199 Burton's type situation? I would probably say a Davis Bretons or Duncan Robinson, 681 00:42:39,199 --> 00:42:44,400 although Davis Preton's is not making a great case for this this season. So 682 00:42:44,639 --> 00:42:49,519 I'm gonna go with the the role player who is more specialized or great in 683 00:42:49,599 --> 00:42:52,760 one area and not so much with the others. I know some people might 684 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:55,000 say that Duncan Robinson can be okay in zone defense, give me how Miami 685 00:42:55,079 --> 00:42:59,320 rolls it out. So I'll just I'll throw out the you know, I'll 686 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,559 throw out the Thomas Burton's or you know, does Buddy Hill to even fall 687 00:43:01,599 --> 00:43:07,920 into this category is just in incandesce and shooter in basically any method imaginable. 688 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,519 But are you going to trust him to effectively create off the dribble? Are 689 00:43:10,559 --> 00:43:13,960 you going to trust him to play defense? I would still rather have that 690 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:17,000 player. I think, you know his particular price point when you're getting into 691 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,440 salaries and contracts. That's definitely important context. But just in a vacuum, 692 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:27,280 I think I would rather have the elite skill set rather than a more well 693 00:43:27,519 --> 00:43:32,519 rounded or replacement level player type skill set across a bunch of different areas. 694 00:43:32,559 --> 00:43:36,079 But that's a That was a good question, Bullshilm Room, Thank you for 695 00:43:36,159 --> 00:43:42,199 it. Smith asked which who has the worst defensive three point percentage? I 696 00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:46,039 will say this is I don't know that they're seth part. Now, the 697 00:43:46,039 --> 00:43:49,719 athletic has gone through this a lot. He calls the Jedi three point defense 698 00:43:50,079 --> 00:43:52,960 that teams. You know, historically they have not been able to actually impact 699 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:58,920 their opponents three point percentage. So the worst three point defense this year belongs 700 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:02,840 to the Orlando Magic. They're allowing thirty nine percent shooting from three. Overall, 701 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:07,239 they're dead last. Also in above the break three point shooting at thirty 702 00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:12,360 eight percent. The worst corner three point defense actually belongs to Chicago. Opponents 703 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,800 are shooting. This can't be right. This can't be right. I need 704 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:20,679 to I'm refreshing this page because this number is just absurd. Nope, Chicago 705 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,000 is allowing a post you forty nine point six percent on quarner three pointers. 706 00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:29,480 Now, you can look at the frequency of that matters. Their eighth in 707 00:44:29,559 --> 00:44:31,480 the frequency with which they allow corner three so they're not allowing the ton. 708 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:37,119 But opponents this season have shot forty nine point six percent in the corners against 709 00:44:37,159 --> 00:44:40,400 the Bill sixty one hundred and twenty one. That is astronomical. I don't 710 00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:44,480 know how much that actually matters, but yes, the worst three point defense 711 00:44:44,519 --> 00:44:46,199 in the league overall is Orlando. If we want to just look at the 712 00:44:46,199 --> 00:44:51,679 bottom five. Portland's twenty ninth, Miami's twenty eighth, Toronto's twenty seventh, 713 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,880 and Chicago is twenty six. Now, this doesn't necessarily have to infer anything 714 00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:00,719 about how good the defense is overall, because when you look at Chicago is 715 00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:06,960 a top ten defense right now. Miami is also a top ten defense right 716 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:09,480 now. So these teams that have been quote unquote bad in allowing three point 717 00:45:09,559 --> 00:45:14,079 shooting, and even Toronto, I think it's been on the defensive uptick, 718 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:17,000 have they not of late? There other twentieth defensive ficialty So you can be 719 00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:21,519 and look. Phoenix, I think allows a pretty high clip from three as 720 00:45:21,639 --> 00:45:23,119 well. If I'm not mistaken. Maybe it was just above the break. 721 00:45:24,559 --> 00:45:27,599 No, I guess I'm just maybe it was from the corners. No, 722 00:45:27,679 --> 00:45:29,880 I'm just I'm making shit up. At this point, I thought Phoenix was 723 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:31,400 low. Maybe I was just misreading. I knew I was caught off guard 724 00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:36,280 a little bit when I saw it. So yeah, and I think the 725 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:38,800 best three point defense in the league this season comes from the Clippers, the 726 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:42,760 Calves, the Warriors, the Nets, and the Mavericks. I would argue 727 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:47,519 the Nets specifically they're in for just some reversal when it comes to their defensive 728 00:45:47,559 --> 00:45:52,920 metrics. You look at they've gotten lucky with opponent shooting a ton basically from 729 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:57,159 every area on the court this year. But yeah, I don't I don't 730 00:45:57,199 --> 00:46:00,719 know how much you can watch and then look at how much these teams are 731 00:46:00,719 --> 00:46:04,760 doing to maybe prevent corner three point looks or which players are taking the attempts 732 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:08,519 from three. I think defensive shot profiles are more indicative of defensive talent rather 733 00:46:08,559 --> 00:46:13,360 than necessarily three point accuracy. If you're limiting the number of three your opponents 734 00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,840 are taking and they're turning into mid range jumpers and it's not you know, 735 00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:20,320 Kevin Durant taking these mid range jumpers all the time, I think that you 736 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:22,800 can infer more about the defense from that. But yes, those are the 737 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:28,039 worst three point defenses on the season. As I just name two questions more, 738 00:46:28,119 --> 00:46:30,280 can I get through them before I just faint? Peja asked, is 739 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:36,199 there a metric to tell if a player is impacting negatively his team's winning odds? 740 00:46:36,199 --> 00:46:38,199 While having filled the stat sheet, why do you think this metric should 741 00:46:38,199 --> 00:46:42,400 be counted? In Westbrook, Unix. That's a little fucked up. I'll 742 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:50,519 be it accurate now I don't even want to say ironically, but in Predictable 743 00:46:50,599 --> 00:46:55,159 has a stack called estimated win expected win probability added. Excuse me, it 744 00:46:55,239 --> 00:47:00,920 is the win probability added one would expect based on a player's body score stats. 745 00:47:00,599 --> 00:47:07,960 Westbrook ranks dead last in this stat if you just go with wind probability 746 00:47:07,039 --> 00:47:14,320 added where they're looking at it through the lens. When they're looking at through 747 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:19,239 the lens of wind probability added or subtracted by player due to made slash miss 748 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,480 shots, getting fouled, made slash miss free throws, and turning the ball 749 00:47:22,519 --> 00:47:27,239 over. Josh Giddy ranks dead last and Westbrook is second to last, So 750 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:32,079 he comes up theoretically as the worst or second worst or second the most or 751 00:47:32,119 --> 00:47:36,679 second most damaging high volume player. Right now, I think there's a lot 752 00:47:36,679 --> 00:47:39,519 of stuff that goes into that. Draymond Green does not rank favorably in these 753 00:47:39,599 --> 00:47:44,000 stats, did over Julius Randall, although that probably makes a lot of sense. 754 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:46,360 This season, there is a point where volume, though, can be 755 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:50,039 damaging to your team. You're gonna see a lot of rookies ranked towards the 756 00:47:50,079 --> 00:47:55,119 bottom of these metrics. But like anyone anything that's gonna say Draymond Green is 757 00:47:55,639 --> 00:47:59,440 one of the least impactful players when it comes to winning. I think it's 758 00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:02,079 probably what you're seeing on offense a little too heavily. So even if we 759 00:48:02,159 --> 00:48:06,800 view this though through an offensive prism, you know, Westbrook has been at 760 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:08,800 points fairly damaging for the Lakers, even through his higher stints. The turnovers 761 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,960 has just been an issue. There's a big deal made because he had zero 762 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,400 turnovers for the first time in like four hundred and something games. But he 763 00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,239 came on two assists though, And I don't want to drag him. I'm 764 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,760 just saying there are elements of his game that I've always been damaging and if 765 00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:24,920 you amplify them, they're gonna be even more damaging than usual. So, 766 00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:29,199 Paige, I know you were being tugget cheek here, but that was a 767 00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:32,880 real chat, real stat estimated when probability added, and Westbrook ranks dead last 768 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:38,159 in the league. And that's that per in predictable. Final question from James, 769 00:48:38,159 --> 00:48:42,239 a throwback question that has probably been asked a bunch of times moving on 770 00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:45,480 on this podcast, if the thundertraded Westbrook instead of Harden, do you think 771 00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:50,360 they would have won a championship. That's a tough question because does James Harden 772 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:54,559 becomes James Does James Harden become James Harden in Oklahoma City, even if Westbrook's 773 00:48:54,559 --> 00:48:58,599 not there, I do not know, because he was given the keys to 774 00:48:58,639 --> 00:49:01,599 the offense Houston. I think if you moved Westbrook, if that was even 775 00:49:01,599 --> 00:49:05,400 a decision, and I don't think it was a Baka versus Harden. It 776 00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:08,119 was never Russ versus hard in real time. How'd you moved Russ? It 777 00:49:08,159 --> 00:49:13,440 was probably with the intention of giving Kevin Durant and even larger on ball roll. 778 00:49:13,519 --> 00:49:15,920 I don't know if it would have allowed you to turn James Harden into 779 00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:21,480 the single highest uses player in basketball for his duration like he was in Houston. 780 00:49:21,559 --> 00:49:24,880 Now, you can say that Russ was similarly high volume and he played 781 00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:29,400 alongside KD for a number of years, but that was sort of known, 782 00:49:29,559 --> 00:49:31,480 that was his role. I don't know if Okac ever would have viewed James 783 00:49:31,559 --> 00:49:37,760 Harden in that same light, even if he made the transition to star form, 784 00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:45,960 and so I think ultimately that they that I can't view. I can't 785 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:49,199 say if you told me James Harden became James Harden that he was in Houston, 786 00:49:49,199 --> 00:49:52,119 Oklahoma City, I'd say yes, but he also had his own playoff 787 00:49:52,119 --> 00:49:55,639 foibles in Houston, so there's nothing guaranteed there, and I think we need 788 00:49:55,679 --> 00:49:59,760 to look back. Okay, see they make it to the finals in two 789 00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:02,679 thousand twelve with everybody, and then they were favorites or should have been favorites 790 00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:07,159 a number of time after that. Number of times after that, even if 791 00:50:07,159 --> 00:50:09,840 you're not factoring in that blown three to one lead against the Warriors in twenty 792 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:14,719 sixteen, there was I think two postseasons where Russ ended up getting injured. 793 00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:16,199 There was one where they had a Kevin Durant injury, then a search of 794 00:50:16,239 --> 00:50:22,360 back injury. I think the run of bad luck and wound up hurting them 795 00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:25,360 more than trading James Harden instead of Russ. And I think you could even 796 00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:30,159 make that as all my notifications are going off here, I think you could 797 00:50:30,159 --> 00:50:36,400 even make that same case when it comes to, you know, the Hard 798 00:50:36,559 --> 00:50:39,239 versus Abaca argument. Had they traded Abaca instead of James Harden and kept those 799 00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:42,840 three, we would like to say, well, does that make it more 800 00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:47,920 likely that that Kevin Durant is staying in Oklahoma City? Long term or what 801 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:53,960 if? What if? What if James Harden was James Harden Olman's And then, 802 00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:58,760 of course you might have viewed them as title favorites at that point or 803 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:00,960 assumed that they would have won title as I'm just stumbling through this because my 804 00:51:01,199 --> 00:51:05,559 text messages are blowing up for no reason. In particular, I apologize more 805 00:51:05,599 --> 00:51:07,599 of the story is. I don't think we can just say that had you 806 00:51:07,639 --> 00:51:12,039 traded Westbrook instead of James Harden, the Thunder would have won a title. 807 00:51:12,199 --> 00:51:14,639 I think the more effective argument, if you want to make it, would 808 00:51:14,639 --> 00:51:19,199 be had they kept hardened, is it less likely that Katie would have eventually 809 00:51:19,199 --> 00:51:24,079 wanted out? Would it? Would he have clashed less functionally with Russell Westbrook 810 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:30,280 with James Harden than Russell Westbrook. I think you can make that case as 811 00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:35,760 a yes. But we also don't know how much Russ really factored into Katie 812 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,719 leaving. Maybe he was still just graded about the fact they broke up those 813 00:51:38,119 --> 00:51:42,280 three in the first place, or didn't pay Harden. So I don't think 814 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:46,840 it's so this question. I really think it's it's it's a very good thought 815 00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:52,079 exercise, but I'm I don't think that trading Russ instead of Harden would have 816 00:51:52,079 --> 00:51:54,920 guaranteed the Thunder a title. What did they give them a better shot? 817 00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:59,880 At one point? I mean maybe it's just hard to envision what Harden's role 818 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,320 ever would have looked like an okay See had he stayed there, whether it 819 00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:07,960 was with both Russ and Katie or just Kad. I think the more salient 820 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:13,239 point would be, could Harden have been good enough and gotten along with Katie 821 00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:15,880 enough or not? Again, let's just say functionally, I don't even want 822 00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:20,679 to say off the court, emotionally whatever. Could he have functionally clashed less 823 00:52:21,039 --> 00:52:23,440 or been more of a seamless fit next to Durant than Russ? And if 824 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:27,719 the answer to that is yes, which I think is fine, then maybe 825 00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:31,199 it's more like that both of them stayed in okay See and you would want 826 00:52:31,199 --> 00:52:34,800 a title. You could also look at it through the lens of you know 827 00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:38,239 what happens if let's say everything unfolds as planned, but you wind up Russ 828 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:42,119 is the one that leaves. You traded Russ. Excuse me, I think 829 00:52:42,159 --> 00:52:44,840 Katie leaves anyway, but you end up getting Paul George and it's a Paul 830 00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:47,719 George James Harden pairing and James Harden does turn into James Harden at this point, 831 00:52:49,039 --> 00:52:51,719 that team probably would have given you a better shot at a title. 832 00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,199 So I don't mean to say that had they traded Russ instead of Harden, 833 00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:58,719 Okacy would have had a better shot after Kevin Durantant left. But that would 834 00:52:58,719 --> 00:53:00,679 be another part of this puzzle. I think, if you're gonna tell me, 835 00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,480 Harden, once those two guys are gone, he would have gotten at 836 00:53:04,559 --> 00:53:07,920 least the one season without KD and without Russ, and he had turned into 837 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:12,000 Harden and they go out and they trade for Paul George. Hey, maybe 838 00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:15,000 that's still a fun one. I would love to know what everybody else thinks 839 00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:16,480 about this. Again, Get at me on Twitter at damp Valley. Follow 840 00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:20,559 us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. If you've made it this far in the 841 00:53:20,559 --> 00:53:22,480 podcast, if this is your first time listening to us, whatever, consider 842 00:53:22,559 --> 00:53:25,920 throwing us the permanent subscription. Give us a rating and review on iTunes. 843 00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:30,599 It helps us out a ton. We're on YouTube Hardwood Knox, follow us 844 00:53:30,639 --> 00:53:34,320 on Instagram at Hardwood Underscore Knox, and again, most importantly, where wherever 845 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:38,079 you get your podcasts, subscribe to us. Download every episode help us get 846 00:53:38,079 --> 00:53:40,639 the word out there, tell people about it, tell people about it, 847 00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:45,679 and also share our promotions of our episodes as well. Thank you so much 848 00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:49,800 for listening, and until next time, I humbly leave you with a shout 849 00:53:49,800 --> 00:53:52,360 out to the one, the Only, Frank Nilo Kina