1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,240 What's up y'all is Drusky and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,720 hilarious new basketball podcast called The due Zone with Drusky. Learn the backstories of 3 00:00:08,759 --> 00:00:12,240 your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,160 team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the Raptors 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,920 even started around the topic? Come on, Brode like I'm fifty, Taylor 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,719 Rogues, Asian Wilson, and any more. You won't want to miss this. 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,760 Listen to The due Zone with Drusky on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:33,359 wherever you listen to podcasts. This podcast episode is brought to you by Coors 9 00:00:33,439 --> 00:00:38,399 Light. These days, everything is go, go go. It's NonStop hustle 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,159 all the time. Work, friends, family, expect you to be on 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,240 twenty four to seven. Well, sometimes you just need to reach for a 12 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,320 Coors Light because it's made to chill. Corse Light is cold loggered, cold 13 00:00:49,359 --> 00:00:53,960 filtered, and cold package. It's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies. 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,600 He's literally made to chill. Corse Light is the one I choose when 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:00,399 I need to unwind. So when you want to hit reset, reach for 16 00:01:00,439 --> 00:01:04,400 the beer that's made to chill. Get Coors Light and the new Look delivered 17 00:01:04,439 --> 00:01:11,000 straight to your door with drizzly or instatcart Celebrate responsibly, Coors Brewing Company, 18 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:19,280 Golden Colorado, what is Krakalak? And hardly not Listeners. I am Dan 19 00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:23,560 Pavalley coming at you without my fantabuloust co host Adam Prommel. I am, 20 00:01:23,599 --> 00:01:29,480 however, super excited to be joined by Yasmin Duale, who covers the Toronto 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,040 Raptors and NBA at large for a couple of different places. She is the 22 00:01:34,079 --> 00:01:38,920 creator of the basketball and culture journal The Neon Playbook. Follow that on Twitter 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,560 at the Neon Playbook. She's also a co host of the Dishes and Dimes 24 00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:47,120 podcast. Follow them on Twitter at Dishes Dimes Pod. Also subscribe to their 25 00:01:47,159 --> 00:01:49,840 Patreon. It is among the best ten dollars a month I spend. She 26 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,840 also writes for Yahoo Sports Canada and The Basketball News. She's great at what 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,760 she does. Definitely make sure you're following her on Twitter at Carmelo Drama. 28 00:01:59,799 --> 00:02:05,519 That's at cr M E l O H d R A m A. We 29 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:07,680 talk about a bunch of stuff pertaining to you. Guessed it. The Toronto 30 00:02:07,759 --> 00:02:12,199 Raptors who seem to have turned a corner, and they were among the teams 31 00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:15,560 that we did not cover leading into the preseason when we did our singular team 32 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:20,240 deep dives. So we're going to start throwing covering those teams a little bit 33 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,000 more in depth over the next few weeks and months. Here we also talk 34 00:02:23,039 --> 00:02:27,800 about some teams other than the Toronto Raptors that are going to be fascinating to 35 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,080 us moving forward. We hit on the Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat, 36 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,680 the Brooklyn Nets, and the Philadelphia seventy six ers. There it's a great 37 00:02:34,719 --> 00:02:37,719 podcast. Hope you enjoy it. Before we get started, just a usual 38 00:02:37,759 --> 00:02:42,680 reminder to pretty pretty pretty please rate, review and subscribe to us wherever you're 39 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,039 getting your podcasts. If you do not use iTunes, please head over there 40 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,319 anyway, Sir Hardwin Knox, throw us that five star rating right review helps 41 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,159 us out a bunch. Definitely make sure that you are subscribed in downloading all 42 00:02:53,159 --> 00:02:57,360 our episodes on your podcast player, though you can also follow us on Twitter 43 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,199 at Hardwood Knox and go to YouTube and grabuary YouTube channel YouTube dot com search 44 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,719 Hardwin Knox. You will come up subscribe. Now that all of that's out 45 00:03:05,759 --> 00:03:07,960 of the way. Let's get to talking some Toronto Raptors and teams that will 46 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:15,039 be fascinating to us the rest of the season with Yasmin Duali. Yasmin, 47 00:03:15,319 --> 00:03:17,360 welcome back to the Hardwin Knox Podcast. Thank you so much for jumping on 48 00:03:17,479 --> 00:03:22,439 with me today to talk some Toronto Raptors. How are you doing. I'm 49 00:03:22,439 --> 00:03:25,919 well, Thanks for having me. I'm always down to talk Raptors, which 50 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,680 is good because it sounds like you're on a little bit of a podcast marathon 51 00:03:29,759 --> 00:03:34,280 to talk about the Raptors. Need to get out of the way. They 52 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,000 are forever fascinating to me, at least because I like so many of the 53 00:03:38,039 --> 00:03:40,759 players on their team. But this season they've been probably more polarizing than people 54 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,800 expected. They struggled to start out the gate. But I guess my first 55 00:03:45,879 --> 00:03:47,800 question to you would have to be have they turned a corner? Just based 56 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:52,159 off you know, they've won seven of their their last eleven. The half 57 00:03:52,199 --> 00:03:54,479 court offense has been sort of clicking during that time, the defense has been 58 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,680 good. Do you think that this stretch is a harbinger of things to come? 59 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:00,159 What are you noticing about it? Is it something that might be a 60 00:04:00,199 --> 00:04:04,000 little bit fleeting. What are kind of your thoughts on them. I think 61 00:04:04,199 --> 00:04:09,439 that you're right, they definitely have turned a bit of of a corner. 62 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,719 I think I'm not sure it's sustainable. I think that they have some real 63 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:20,680 issues down to the current roster. I feel like playing in Tampa out of 64 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:27,519 Toronto's a a bigger variable than people are crediting it. Not being able to 65 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,759 play in your your home. I think players are still living in hotels, 66 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,279 a few of them, So I feel like that's significant, not having your 67 00:04:35,319 --> 00:04:43,279 regular training facilities in your home buyer home court and everything. And I think 68 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,480 that they would be playing a little differently if they were in Canada right now. 69 00:04:46,519 --> 00:04:47,959 But so I'm not sure it's sustainable. I think that this was going 70 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:54,759 to be a tough season regardless once they had their request to play in Canada 71 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:00,639 denied by the federal government. So but yeah, there's some real issues as 72 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,079 it stands with the center rotation specifically, because outside of that, the team 73 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:11,079 is otherwise the same. So I'm not sure I buy that they've fully turned 74 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,040 a corner. But I do think that they're finding a little bit more chemistry, 75 00:05:14,079 --> 00:05:15,879 and I think that Bain's has been playing like his normal self rather than 76 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,800 being an active minus out there. The Tampa thing, I feel like is 77 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:25,720 something that should be so obvious to discuss more, but it's kind of become 78 00:05:25,759 --> 00:05:29,360 I guess, just amid this season that's just so abnormal to begin with, 79 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:31,079 it feels like it gets swept under the rug more. And even when you 80 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,920 know fans clearly shouldn't be at games, when they've mentioned like, could there 81 00:05:33,959 --> 00:05:38,759 be you know, fans at one point or more fans in Tampa Bay, 82 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,199 and it's like, well, who cares, Like the Raptors are in Tampa 83 00:05:41,199 --> 00:05:43,600 Bay, it's not Toronto. I don't know what that would do. They 84 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:46,240 had fans to start the season. I think they changed that, but when 85 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,560 they were starting the season with fans, they like, it wasn't Raptors fans 86 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,600 because all Canadians are in Canada, right, But you know, I'm sure 87 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,240 they would have made the trip if those regular border restrictions. But with the 88 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,120 way everything's set up, like you have to quarantine for two weeks if you 89 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,439 enter the country, and once you come back, you've got at quarantine another 90 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,639 two weeks. Like it's ridiculous. Yeah, And look, to be honest, 91 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:11,160 if you are going through all that the place to go is definitely not 92 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,040 the United States anyway. So, yeah, is there anything you've noticed sort 93 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,759 of about their half court offense during this stretch that encourages you because it was 94 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,639 struggling for the most part this season, which I think was predictable, but 95 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,120 it's been I looked it up on Cleaning US. It's sixth inefficiency again eleven 96 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,240 games. Eleven games, but eleven games is also more than half the season 97 00:06:30,319 --> 00:06:31,600 right now. Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't know that, but I'm 98 00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:38,279 not surprised because I just think that perhaps it was the last eleven games or 99 00:06:38,319 --> 00:06:42,000 so. His stats may not indicate it, but just beans looks better around 100 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,360 the court. I think that his screening has really helped the Raptors backcourt, 101 00:06:46,399 --> 00:06:51,920 which is pretty pretty bite sized as it stands with Fred and Kyle, so 102 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,199 having a big body Bans is one of the best screeners in the NBA at 103 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:02,240 his position, So just having him free up talented guards like Kyle and Fred, 104 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,560 I think opens up a lot for their half court offense. And also 105 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:12,360 I think the post up has been like really good for Pascal. I know 106 00:07:12,399 --> 00:07:15,480 it's something that he was struggling with last season. He got most of his 107 00:07:15,519 --> 00:07:19,279 points in transition or he was spotting up from the perimeter. But this season 108 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:25,800 I'm seeing him used in the half court far more often. If the Raptors 109 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:30,279 since an advantage at his position, they'll have him post up and draw the 110 00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:33,959 double, which he has done very well. He's really good at finding the 111 00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:41,279 most opportunistic pass, so I think that's just really helped them since he's bringing 112 00:07:41,279 --> 00:07:43,560 forth a skill set that he didn't have last season. When it came to 113 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,040 the half court, it was usually like split cut action led by Gassoul. 114 00:07:48,199 --> 00:07:55,639 He was really their half court maestro, which is surprising. But people are 115 00:07:55,639 --> 00:07:58,959 seeing how he's playing on the Lakers like he's not. He's struggling right now, 116 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,959 but they see the extra wrinkle in the offense that Gasol brings with his 117 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:11,040 bounce passes and everything has the national discourse veered too far away from reality at 118 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,720 this point. I feel right and this is me from Afar, but ignoring 119 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:16,959 it, I'm not gonna lie like I'm not up to date with it. 120 00:08:18,279 --> 00:08:26,879 I think that he will always be a bargain for the Raptors, just considering 121 00:08:26,959 --> 00:08:30,120 the pick that he was what he's turned into. I think that Pascal is 122 00:08:30,319 --> 00:08:37,039 really a viable franchise cornerstone along with another star. I think we know kind 123 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,279 of his limitations. We know how excellent he can be when he's paired and 124 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:46,279 allowed to flourish as a number two option, and there's no shame in being 125 00:08:46,039 --> 00:08:50,440 inadequate as a number one. There's only a half a handful of guys in 126 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:56,000 the NBA. But I think that coupled with the long break prior to the 127 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:01,480 Bubble season, his conditioning suffered. From what I understand, he was dealing 128 00:09:01,519 --> 00:09:05,960 with the visa issues that where he was in Canada throughout the lockdown, and 129 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:13,919 we have pretty restrict restrictions here in terms of congregating and renting spaces to exercise 130 00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:16,480 and stuff like that. It's very difficult in Canada. So I guess when 131 00:09:16,519 --> 00:09:20,960 he came back to the Bubble his conditioning was shot and it kind of led 132 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,159 to like kind of a monumental collapse against the Celtics, which came down to 133 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:30,799 one possession. Considering how poorly he played, and this season, I think 134 00:09:30,799 --> 00:09:35,840 that he's been great. I think that his three point shot has been slumping. 135 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,360 If there's anything that he could improve, it would be that I think 136 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:43,840 he would be exceeding last season's regular season numbers if his shooting comes around. 137 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,639 But yeah, I think that the discourse around him is kind of framed by 138 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:54,159 how shocking his play was in the bubble compared to how good he was in 139 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,919 the regular season, and it kind of just shows you the opposite side of 140 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,279 the coin, Like you had players putting up numbers that made no sense, 141 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,600 like Jonathan Mitchell and Jamal Murray, and then he had other players putting up 142 00:10:05,639 --> 00:10:09,799 numbers that made no sense, like Pascal Siakams. So I think he'll come 143 00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:16,799 around. I think that once they have a normalized season, hopefully next year, 144 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,639 we'll get to see him at the best of his abilities. But I 145 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:22,080 think he's, you know, doing his best with what he has at the 146 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,960 moment. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned the shooting he's at on wide 147 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,799 open threes, and that's obviously concerning, But I think he's shot well enough 148 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,360 on those for the past two seasons where you could think that there will be 149 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,879 some progression to a mean, yeah, ahead, great, Yeah, yeah, 150 00:10:37,879 --> 00:10:39,879 I was just gonna say that. Yeah, you bring up a good 151 00:10:39,919 --> 00:10:43,440 point, because it's he has, like the history of shooting well on wide 152 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:48,759 open shots, and I believe he started the season really hot from three, 153 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,639 and even in preseason he was really hot from three. So I think that 154 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:58,399 this is kind of a natural sharp aggression over the course of the last I 155 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:03,320 think dozen or so games where he's really struggled. But I wouldn't be surprised 156 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,799 if like a hot streak was coming out to normalize those numbers. But we'll 157 00:11:05,799 --> 00:11:09,720 see. And the other thing you kind of alluded to is even if it 158 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,639 and I do think there's legs to the thought that hey, maybe he can't 159 00:11:13,639 --> 00:11:18,759 be the single best player on a championship team, but he's like not really 160 00:11:18,799 --> 00:11:24,200 an insult, and so I don't necessarily understand. It feels like people looked 161 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,799 at the Celtics series last year specifically, and then maybe like the first three 162 00:11:26,879 --> 00:11:31,480 or four games of this season and then just like pass this or reversed a 163 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:33,840 verdict from before. And I don't quite get it, because he's been so 164 00:11:33,879 --> 00:11:37,799 good since then, and you know, the shooting is a concern, and 165 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,159 I think his passing is just it is a lot better this year. I 166 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:43,039 still think, just from what I've seen of him, that he could at 167 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,200 some point would be nice if there was like more directional variants on his drives, 168 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,559 but he's still just a monster on those two even if he still doesn't 169 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:54,200 have the best handle. So I'm I guess perplexed just someone like being so 170 00:11:54,240 --> 00:12:00,320 far removing the situation that the discourse still feels like he's somehow underachieving the season 171 00:12:00,399 --> 00:12:03,600 or that if he's a number two on a title contender that's somehow a failure. 172 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,559 Yeah, it's it's it's like, it's very hard for me to understand 173 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,639 it. I'm just I'm not gonna bother trying. I think that the best 174 00:12:11,639 --> 00:12:16,039 way the Raptors can respond to him, just to be would be to simply 175 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:22,720 build another championship caliber team so people can be reminded of how talented he can 176 00:12:22,759 --> 00:12:28,039 be when he's in his optimized role, when he's maximized. So, I 177 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,960 you know, it's a wait in sea scenario. And honestly, like the 178 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,000 only response to any critique is like they want a championship with him as the 179 00:12:37,039 --> 00:12:41,679 second score. You know, so we've seen him succeed in his best position, 180 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,879 so you know that's the That's the only way you can look at it. 181 00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:52,480 Can you explain the brilliance of Fred van Fleet when it doesn't feel that 182 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,399 like he's when you watch him that he's like actually changed that much as a 183 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,000 player aside, I guess from he's I only looked up a couple of day 184 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,679 so he's bombing like eight threes from twenty five plus feet this year, and 185 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:09,080 like that's the most noticeable difference in his game that I can find. Yeah, 186 00:13:09,279 --> 00:13:15,919 the thing is with Fred, I think that he's made the same amount 187 00:13:15,919 --> 00:13:20,600 of crazy strides as the outcome, but it hasn't been as like exponential on 188 00:13:20,639 --> 00:13:24,279 a season to season basis, so people hadn't noticed it. So I kind 189 00:13:24,279 --> 00:13:30,120 of got caught up in that shadow. But he has really really improved his 190 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:35,399 game. I think that he has. He's easily like any Raptors fan would 191 00:13:35,399 --> 00:13:39,759 agree with with this, that he is probably like the most polished player on 192 00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:43,799 the team. I feel like Larry's more cerebral, so a lot of his 193 00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:48,639 skill sets aren't really like, oh, he has like the best handle or 194 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,320 he is, you know, the best shooter. It's a little more of 195 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,519 a gray area that he covers on the court, which is why he's so 196 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,799 effective on advanced that's specifically. But with Fred, I think that he's he 197 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:07,639 has a ridiculously tight handle. He is not turnover prone. He is more 198 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,240 of a scorer. He's not really a pure point guard, but he has 199 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:16,559 kind of masked a lot of his deficiencies as a point guard this season. 200 00:14:16,639 --> 00:14:18,639 In particular, like he used to have an issue where he would just dribble 201 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:24,240 up clock, but that has happened so rarely this year. He's making point 202 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:30,279 guard like reads and he's also improved as that score that he probably truly is. 203 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,639 I feel like it. We always joke that if Fred was like six 204 00:14:33,799 --> 00:14:37,159 three or six four, he'd be a shooting guard. So he's not. 205 00:14:37,279 --> 00:14:41,399 He's not a classic point guard. He'symore like in the Kyrie ILK rather than 206 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:48,039 Chris Paul Ilk, so it would that's definitely what changed for him. I 207 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:56,360 think that he's just become a smarter player, and he's realizing how he's taking 208 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,720 the one skill that he truly has over a lot of the NBA, which 209 00:14:58,759 --> 00:15:03,360 is his shooting ability, and just you know, maximizing it. And it's 210 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,679 really really fun to see. And I was a little bit surprised because I 211 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,639 don't know that he's definitely not the most trustworthy finisher when he is attaching, 212 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:15,440 but he is shooting a career high from two point range. It's only forty 213 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,240 six one percent, but I didn't realize it was a it was a career 214 00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:20,039 high, career high. And there's something about even though he's not maybe the 215 00:15:20,039 --> 00:15:24,360 best creator with the ball in his hands, there is just watching him like 216 00:15:24,559 --> 00:15:30,120 you trust him with the ball like and so I guess there's something intangible there. 217 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:31,279 But it is just interesting that it feels like I guess, as you 218 00:15:31,279 --> 00:15:35,879 point out, it's more incremental improvement from him. It's just he's so he 219 00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:39,279 probably should be an All Star of the season, and it just doesn't feel 220 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:45,399 like his game is exploded in any one area. Yeah, and with this 221 00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:48,879 finishing, like I even wrote about it where I was just saying that if 222 00:15:48,879 --> 00:15:52,399 he just takes more mid range shots, we already know that he has, 223 00:15:52,879 --> 00:15:54,639 you know, excellent mechanics. If he just takes more mid range shots, 224 00:15:54,919 --> 00:16:00,440 it'll force defenders to stop roaming at the rim, because before I think shot 225 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,600 profile is just threes and finishing right at the rim. So when you fill 226 00:16:04,639 --> 00:16:08,240 in that gray area on the court, it kind of forces defenders to get 227 00:16:08,279 --> 00:16:12,000 closer to you, which would give him the you know, the upper hand, 228 00:16:12,039 --> 00:16:15,480 getting a step on them. Since he's not crazy athletic, he can't 229 00:16:15,559 --> 00:16:18,440 always get that space required. He'll get blocked at the rim a lot. 230 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:23,240 But when he takes those mid range shots, kind of like what twenties I 231 00:16:23,279 --> 00:16:29,120 want to say, twenty fifteen or twenty sixteen Lowry realized was if he starts 232 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,600 utilizing that mid range area, it will just kind of give him the upper 233 00:16:32,639 --> 00:16:36,600 hand. So I think that's what we're noticing. It seems that he's probably 234 00:16:36,679 --> 00:16:40,440 shooting like over sixty percent from the mid range right now. It's been ridiculous. 235 00:16:41,679 --> 00:16:45,480 You mentioned Kyle Lowry before that he kind of covers this. I guess 236 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,759 a measurable gray area was the best way to put it. Is he like 237 00:16:48,039 --> 00:16:52,360 just watching him this season and on all the different iterations of kind of the 238 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,840 raptors that he's been on and how he fits it seems so seamlessly in basically 239 00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,879 any version that they're trying out there. Is he the most scalable star in 240 00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:03,480 the NBA, and like more so to the point of I think a lot 241 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,039 of people think, oh, Stephen Curry is basically the most scalable star in 242 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:10,319 the NBA, But you still kind of have to change the way that others 243 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,720 will play around Stephen curry to optimize him or cater to his startom, which 244 00:17:14,759 --> 00:17:18,200 is totally fine. I feel like Kyle Lowry just takes on whatever identity that 245 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,319 you need him to be. Yeah, yeah, he just I feel like 246 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,200 he has enough of every skill set to kind of just seamlessly feel fit in 247 00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:33,519 anywhere. I feel like Kauai was similar where you could just kind of plug 248 00:17:33,559 --> 00:17:37,279 him into this Raptors team and he was able to become what they needed, 249 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,640 which was kind of a little different from what he was on the Spurs. 250 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,519 So I feel like Kyle's the same way. He's great off ball, he's 251 00:17:45,599 --> 00:17:49,200 great on ball. He can finish, he can shoot, he can kind 252 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,759 of do a little bit of everything. He's a great playmaker. He has 253 00:17:52,079 --> 00:17:56,680 instant chemistry with big men, and yeah, I feel like that would fit 254 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,240 on every squad. It's actually what makes the office he's in coming up more 255 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:06,519 the most interesting, which is yeah, I mean because he's, yeah, 256 00:18:06,839 --> 00:18:08,279 he's gonna be older. In a free agent I still think he'll just be 257 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,119 like it's the higher I mean, he's probably highly sought after on the trade 258 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,680 market right now, So yeah, it's the player you want on your team. 259 00:18:15,799 --> 00:18:19,000 Nobody builds five G like, Verizon builds five G because we're the engineers 260 00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:22,359 who built the most reliable network in America. And the more you do with 261 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,200 five G, the more building it right matters, the more your network matters, 262 00:18:26,519 --> 00:18:32,319 the more Verizon engineers going the extra mile matters. It's us pushing us. 263 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:37,720 It's Verizon versus Verizon five G built right from America's most reliable network, 264 00:18:37,079 --> 00:18:41,000 most reliable based on rankings from Metrics second half twenty twenty US report of three 265 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:48,200 Mobile Networks. Results may vary. Award is not an endorsement. What happened 266 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,400 with Chris Brouche that he went from clearly the MVP favorite too but that maybe 267 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,599 a most of the prow player favorite. And now he's you know, his 268 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:57,599 minutes are down, he's he's not shooting as well, Like, have you 269 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:02,039 noticed anything there? What what's going on there? Do you have any gauge 270 00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:07,440 on what his actual value is to this team. I think that his shooting 271 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,240 has improved drastically, which I think was the biggest change. He's really good, 272 00:19:12,279 --> 00:19:17,319 He's really improved as a roller, Like he's incredibly good as a roller, 273 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,559 but he's not the best when it comes to like you know that pass 274 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,720 that short role pass, he won't always make the right weed, he'll hesitate 275 00:19:22,759 --> 00:19:27,279 for a split second, which will kind of deconstruct the play, and I 276 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,559 also think a huge issue. Not a huge issue, but the reason for 277 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:37,839 his The most recent decline was the improvement of Aaron Banes, which probably shrank 278 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:45,400 Chris's minutes, and the Raptors often opting to play Stanley at the five sometimes 279 00:19:45,799 --> 00:19:51,759 kind of messes with things. But because of the fact that Bouchet is undersized, 280 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:56,319 he will oftentimes only match with bench bigs because that's usually where he could 281 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:02,720 find the advantage, and that just kind of limits the rap There's versatility, 282 00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:06,839 especially when the opposing big men are talented. So if you're dealing with some 283 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,200 teams, that five position isn't an emphasis at all. But for other teams, 284 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,160 they have a Vusovich, they have an Embat, they have a Brook 285 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,359 Lopez, you know. So when that happens, which I think has happened 286 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,359 over the course of the last several games, dealing with you know, bem 287 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,079 or something at that position, it's created an issue for Chris where I think 288 00:20:27,079 --> 00:20:30,599 it's affected as minutes, so I think it is most effective. He's probably 289 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:36,759 matching up against the team with the weaker big rotation, like perhaps the Celtics 290 00:20:36,839 --> 00:20:41,119 or the Nets are where he could find advantageous situations, but he hasn't had 291 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:45,400 that lately, and so do you think that kind of inherently caps his ceiling 292 00:20:45,519 --> 00:20:48,920 or his value to the delly. Yeah, and he's on the older side. 293 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,400 He started playing basketball super late. I think he was even later than 294 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,119 Siakam probably, I think he was nineteen or something when he started playing organized 295 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:02,079 basketball. But you know, again he's undrafted, but he's become like a 296 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,359 viable rotation player, which is in of a selfless success story. Yeah. 297 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:11,680 I mean everyone wants or teams want, the shot blocking big who also spaces 298 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:12,759 the floor, and that's what it does. And as you mentioned, he 299 00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:15,599 he feels like he's moving really well off the ball this year, even independent 300 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,759 of like you know, actual screens, like if he's just trying to cut 301 00:21:18,759 --> 00:21:22,319 baseline or something. So, but I looked up, you know, when 302 00:21:22,319 --> 00:21:26,720 he plays with Siakam, like the Raptors just can't grab defensive rebounds either. 303 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,559 Yeah, those tend to be I think the games where Siakam grabs like fifteen 304 00:21:30,559 --> 00:21:36,480 boards or something, because Chris just gets blown away by box outs. Like 305 00:21:36,519 --> 00:21:41,279 he literally looks like just kind of a leaf floating because of the wind or 306 00:21:41,279 --> 00:21:45,799 something. He gets tossed aside really easily with box House, which forces Pascal 307 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:52,559 to grab most of the rebounds, and then uh, Adobe has been absolute 308 00:21:52,599 --> 00:21:56,599 lately. I think he's I haven't even checked what the injury was. I 309 00:21:56,599 --> 00:22:00,279 thought they were arresting him or something, but he's been out lately, which 310 00:22:00,519 --> 00:22:06,519 reduces the rebounding even more in those cases, Like for the Raptors, whenever 311 00:22:06,599 --> 00:22:11,880 they'd go smaller when they had Kauai Kawai would have to make up for that 312 00:22:11,519 --> 00:22:15,240 dip and rebounding. So the Raptors forwards with Og and Siakam kind of have 313 00:22:15,319 --> 00:22:19,720 to pick up the slack whenever Chris is on the court. Is that why 314 00:22:19,759 --> 00:22:23,759 we don't see more Siakam kind of as the loan big then, I mean, 315 00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:26,640 I know an Anobi isn't available right now, and I think it was 316 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,799 a left calf injury if I'm not mistaken that he's been out with for over 317 00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:33,200 a week now, I think, But ye season, I was just looking 318 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,440 at like just surprised that they haven't gone to Siakam at the five more or 319 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,960 even when at Anobi's healthy is there like and I'm sure this has been talked 320 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,920 about it, but like, what is that? There's definitely a reason for 321 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:51,799 it. Pascal Ken play the five, but the thing is he actually plays 322 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:53,920 better when he's moved down a position, Like when he's at the three, 323 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,319 he's even more effective than if he was moved up to the five. And 324 00:23:00,039 --> 00:23:06,279 for the Raptors, Og is absolutely like their best small ball big he is 325 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,759 he can stretch the floor. He's an excellent defender of big men. I 326 00:23:11,799 --> 00:23:17,680 think the only big men that I haven't seen him effectively stop was Indeed, 327 00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:25,400 who's just offensively like a monster, but he's successfully slowed down Yo Kitch Jannis 328 00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:29,759 like he's a He has like a stronger base and balance I think than Pascal, 329 00:23:29,799 --> 00:23:33,680 who tends to be more fluid. He's I think that Pascal is better 330 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,759 at defending point guards than Og, so i'd see he can seamlessly transitioned between 331 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:44,559 you know, guarding Kemba and then Jalen and then Tatum on one play, 332 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,920 which we saw frequently through that playoff series, Whereas I feel like Og can 333 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,640 move up from the three to the four to the five in terms of defense 334 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:59,759 and the Raptors. They they absolutely emphasize on defense prior to any you know, 335 00:23:59,799 --> 00:24:03,039 offensive play. So to Nick Nurse, I think his first state of 336 00:24:03,079 --> 00:24:06,480 mind is okay, who defends this position better? And it's hands down Og. 337 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,200 As we already mentioned, OG's been out, But would have been your 338 00:24:10,279 --> 00:24:11,960 impressions of year four? And the one thing I'll preface it with is, 339 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,640 I kind of I think I asked you about this when you were on over 340 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,400 the I don't even know if it was the off season or the unscheduled off 341 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,960 season during the pandemic, whatever it was, but whether they might give him 342 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,559 a chance to like explore more self creation in this game. And I feel 343 00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:29,839 like there was that matchup with the Pacers where it felt like he really did 344 00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:32,640 that, But I also feel like that really hasn't been a focus for him 345 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:38,480 this season. M I feel like OG kind of for me, like, 346 00:24:38,519 --> 00:24:44,480 I think that his ceiling is I think that he can perhaps become kind of 347 00:24:44,519 --> 00:24:48,200 a jack of all trades, kind of three and D guy. That's I 348 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,359 think his ceiling. But I couldn't totally be wrong. He's only twenty three 349 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,880 years old, so it's hard to say, but I think that this season 350 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:02,559 I've noticed that there are allowing him to post up far more often. That's 351 00:25:02,559 --> 00:25:06,000 something that would come out maybe in pre season last year, but it's something 352 00:25:06,039 --> 00:25:10,640 that he does regularly a couple of times every single game. He's kind of 353 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,359 perfected the three and D role. So I think that they're perhaps allowing him 354 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,720 to kind of dipotot into other, you know, forms of offense. But 355 00:25:18,759 --> 00:25:23,400 I think that they're easing him into it because you know, when of playerst 356 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,480 this age, you could totally over expose them and they become overwhelmed and they 357 00:25:26,559 --> 00:25:32,880 kind of just stopped doing everything well. So I think that the they're trying 358 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,200 to kind of allow him to fill this role that he's comfortable in that he's 359 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:41,359 kind of nailed for the past three seasons, and then allowing him to attempt 360 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,440 other things. And yeah, he's definitely attempting far more self creation than he 361 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:51,240 ever has. It's not going to be a lot in comparison to you know, 362 00:25:51,319 --> 00:25:56,440 Pascal or Kyle, but it's definitely Farmer has gone beyond just catch and 363 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,480 shoot threes for him. Yeah, I was I was just kind of hoping 364 00:25:59,519 --> 00:26:00,920 they would try more of it, and there's probably you know, you mentioned 365 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,960 his strength before that. I don't think there was a better example of you 366 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,720 know, him going against Sabonis on the block against the Pacers and in the 367 00:26:08,039 --> 00:26:11,720 game that they want against Indiana, and like Sabonis just couldn't even keep him 368 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:18,279 there. He's not slight exactly, Yeah, he could. He just kind 369 00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:22,440 of effectively removed Sabonis out of that game in that matchup, and that's what 370 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,880 exactly what I mean. Like his just his strength against big men is outrageous. 371 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,480 So, you know, I think that his I think that the offense 372 00:26:30,519 --> 00:26:36,599 will come along for him. He's already shown him like a capacity for gaining 373 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,319 skills that he doesn't otherwise have. He wasn't a shooter in college, and 374 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:45,759 he's become an excellent catch and shooter. So it'll just be it'll be interesting 375 00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:48,240 to see him kind of just like one thing that I love about mckill bridges 376 00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:52,240 is how he can kind of do a little bit of everything. So it'll 377 00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:56,039 be really cool to see if he can not only expand his offensive skill sets 378 00:26:56,079 --> 00:27:00,839 as a scorer, but also as a distributor, you know, besides interior 379 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,480 passing. I want to see him, you know, try other things out 380 00:27:04,519 --> 00:27:07,680 of the pick and roll at whatnot. Yeah, if he develops like the 381 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,440 type and he's better at other stuff than Michael Bridges, but if he develops 382 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,039 the type of like passing on the move when he's attacking downhill that Michael Bridges 383 00:27:15,079 --> 00:27:18,759 can do, that's kind of game over for everybody else. And I still 384 00:27:18,799 --> 00:27:21,200 he could be the player that he is right now. And you mentioned the 385 00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:25,319 shooting. It is kind of just ridiculous that he's shooting forty three point three 386 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:26,920 percent from three on almost six at tenths per game. And I don't even 387 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,160 know if that gets talked about enough. But that extension he signed, I 388 00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:33,519 was four years and seventy two million dollars. I was flabbergasted that he's been 389 00:27:33,599 --> 00:27:40,839 that cheap. I was shocked. Yeah, I had them paying Fred Benvley 390 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,079 and Og more money than the ended up doing. So both were secured on 391 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,480 pretty excellent contracts. And to have Og during his you know, as he 392 00:27:49,599 --> 00:27:52,960 enters his prime for the next four years, that's just a really really solid 393 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,559 signing. Yeah, And I do think it'll get driven home how much of 394 00:27:56,559 --> 00:27:59,799 a bargain he was when we see either what Michael Bridges gets in his extension 395 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:02,759 or if he gets to restricted free agency in twenty twenty two, we'll be 396 00:28:02,799 --> 00:28:04,000 able to look at me like, wow, the Raptors really correct. That'll 397 00:28:04,039 --> 00:28:11,640 be very interesting there the so some small sample question here, who do you 398 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,960 Whose performance do you view as you know, more impresses you or just more 399 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:26,440 meaningful to this team, Stanley Johnson or Utah wants An Nabby. I think 400 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:29,720 both have been really really awesome to see. On one hand, you have 401 00:28:29,759 --> 00:28:33,519 Styley Johnson, who's like this lottery pick who's just you know, been thriving 402 00:28:33,519 --> 00:28:37,359 in his super limited role on the Raptors right now, and he seems, 403 00:28:37,759 --> 00:28:41,559 you know, happy with it. Is just showing like a lot of humility 404 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,000 to reduce, you know, to go from this superstar from high school and 405 00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:52,400 college to kind of just swallowing his pride and trying to improve within the offense 406 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,880 that he's been that he's in right now. So on one hand, that's 407 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,559 really great to see, and I think that he perhaps has the higher ceiling 408 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,480 just based on his skills as a ball handler and passer versus Uta Watanabi. 409 00:29:04,599 --> 00:29:08,680 And then on one hand, I think with Utah it's been more impressive because 410 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,559 I had literally no expectations after they signed him. I wasn't really familiar with 411 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,559 him. I know that he didn't get much playing time on the Grizzlies, 412 00:29:15,559 --> 00:29:22,119 so but then he just ended up being like I think the best way to 413 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,160 describe it is kind of Covington esque in the sense where he's nailing his threes, 414 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,920 he's an excellent defender, and he's also just making like every right read. 415 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,599 He just has like this feel for the game you can't really teach. 416 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,559 He's always in the right spot for rebounds, he's always in the right spot 417 00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:42,359 for deflections and seals and you know, just things that you can't really teach. 418 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,720 And he always seems to be a part of every comeback, you know, 419 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,400 or every run. He just seems to be in the middle of it. 420 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,799 And those are like my favorite kinds of players. I think that every 421 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,799 you know, decent team needs a couple of those guys. You know, 422 00:29:56,839 --> 00:30:00,200 the Raptors, you know, their championship t is in every position. Was 423 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,319 that kind of guy, you know, so you can't They're just kind of 424 00:30:03,319 --> 00:30:08,920 an invaluable role player position. So I think that Utah has been the more 425 00:30:10,039 --> 00:30:17,359 impressive played the season, but the most impressive pressive player this season for them. 426 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,680 End of bench wise but Stanley, like, that's you know, it's 427 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,799 no small fee for him to start to put things together and figure it out, 428 00:30:23,839 --> 00:30:29,279 because you know, it wasn't looking so good for him over the course 429 00:30:29,319 --> 00:30:32,839 of the last season. I was shocked he wasn't getting getting any playing time. 430 00:30:32,839 --> 00:30:37,000 But it seems that they've been just putting him in the lab and working 431 00:30:37,039 --> 00:30:40,920 on having him reduce his bad habits and everything. Yeah, I didn't nick 432 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,799 Nurse like not by name, but basically call him out once last year all 433 00:30:44,839 --> 00:30:48,119 the time. And so he's done, like his usage rate is sub like 434 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,480 eight or sub nine, whatever it is, and so he's doing everything without 435 00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:53,960 looking for a shot. He probably still turns the ball over too much. 436 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,720 But he's been a revelation, I think to me just because of what I 437 00:30:56,799 --> 00:31:00,400 knew about him already, and this just feels like a pretty big departure from 438 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:07,119 that. But I had zero, sub zero knowledge of of who who you 439 00:31:07,319 --> 00:31:10,039 that was and what he could do on the court, and so seeing a 440 00:31:10,039 --> 00:31:12,440 few games that he's played, and it feels like he plays bigger than he 441 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:17,240 actually is while still moving like someone who's six nine when he's defending off the 442 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,160 balls verticality around the rim, so he is, Like, I don't know 443 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,920 if it ends up being more meaningful. I think someone like Stanley Johnson, 444 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,640 what he technically brings is maybe what teams might want a little bit more. 445 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,839 But just because again I don't know what you're anyone's expectations could have been for 446 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,039 him this season, he's just been an absolute shock. Yeah, I wouldn't 447 00:31:36,079 --> 00:31:38,880 be surprised if the Raptors, you know, gave him a position on the 448 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,599 roster. Beyond I think he's a two way right now. I wouldn't be 449 00:31:42,599 --> 00:31:51,400 surprised if they boost Utah just to retain him, you know. So looking 450 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,400 more big picture with this team, is the absence of that player who can 451 00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:00,799 put you know, consistent, more effective half court pressure on the rims still 452 00:32:00,839 --> 00:32:04,480 like their biggest missing piece or is there something else that you look at them 453 00:32:04,519 --> 00:32:10,319 and say that they need. I think that they've kind of mended their issues 454 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,480 with getting to the rim. That was a problem, I feel like for 455 00:32:13,559 --> 00:32:15,799 the first several games, but then you know, they've started to play more 456 00:32:15,839 --> 00:32:22,319 aggressively lately. I feel like they you know, match the opposition's rim paint 457 00:32:22,359 --> 00:32:29,400 attempts pretty frequently nowadays. But to me, like the missing the ideal piece 458 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,160 to this team that I think would take it from being like just you know, 459 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,160 middle of the pack, the low middle of the pack, to being 460 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:40,079 a contender. It's just having that versatile wing score alongside Siakam with average too 461 00:32:40,079 --> 00:32:45,880 above average playmaking abilities. You know, there's a few players I feel that 462 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:51,359 kind of spot in the NBA. I think that Victor Oladipo would be a 463 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:58,839 really good get for them, even potentially like a I'm not really sure which 464 00:32:58,839 --> 00:33:01,039 player would fill this role, but a big man that can do something similar 465 00:33:01,559 --> 00:33:07,440 like with the average to above average playmaking ability, defensive, defensively tough. 466 00:33:07,119 --> 00:33:09,720 You know. I think those those two spots are the weakest for them. 467 00:33:09,759 --> 00:33:15,039 They need something to fill out that forward spot, like another scoring wing, 468 00:33:15,119 --> 00:33:17,799 and then they or if they can't get that, they just need another punch 469 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:22,119 from the five spots. So we'll see how it pans out. I think 470 00:33:22,119 --> 00:33:25,359 when you watch them enough times, you see where they're where, what they're 471 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,880 missing, and you'd often find that, oh, this is a team that 472 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:35,160 can use like a another punch, like a Clay Thompson or something. You 473 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,039 know what they mean. And it's funny because I was watching the Warriors the 474 00:33:37,039 --> 00:33:39,720 other night and I'm like, Wow, the Warriors need like another wing score 475 00:33:39,799 --> 00:33:45,160 and they're golden and I kind of just forgot that Clay is injured right now. 476 00:33:45,119 --> 00:33:49,680 So that's how I feel with the watching Toronto, I'm just like, 477 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,440 oh, they need like they need this spot filled out. And you know, 478 00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:54,839 on the bright side, they have like their core locked up. They 479 00:33:54,839 --> 00:34:01,839 have the Siakam locked up. They have fred Og you know, locked up 480 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:07,319 at their position, so they have the chips required to you know, make 481 00:34:07,359 --> 00:34:10,760 any traces. They have the chips required to you know, do what they 482 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,840 need to do. And you know, I think it was yesterday that that 483 00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:21,840 that they secured Bobby Webster, which was like a huge question mark GM of 484 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,800 the Raptors. So they have one half of you know, that front office 485 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:30,760 duo between Bobby Webster and Massia Gerry locked up. So if they lock up 486 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:32,960 Massia Gerry, anything is possible. In my opinion, I will say, 487 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:38,400 I don't know that any team's front office situation is more like tantalizing to people 488 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:42,559 who root for other teams or just covered the league in general than Toronto's because 489 00:34:42,559 --> 00:34:45,440 it feels like every time, like Messia Jerry's contract situation is an issue from 490 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:50,159 the moment he signs every single deality signs like everyone's waiting for it to expire 491 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,559 or the clock has always taken. Oh. Absolutely, yeah, he's like, 492 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:58,599 uh, you know, sought after free agent for his for front office 493 00:34:58,599 --> 00:35:00,320 positions, like if he's like every day there's an article about how he may 494 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:07,239 not stay or how you know this organization is looking to lure him. But 495 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,880 in my opinion, if he ends up leaving the Raptors, which is very 496 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:14,239 well and within the realm of possibility, it would end up being for an 497 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:19,239 opportunity outside of the NBA or outside of basketball, perhaps in another league, 498 00:35:19,559 --> 00:35:22,639 perhaps in another country. Like I don't see him just leaving to go to 499 00:35:22,679 --> 00:35:27,480 another NBA team. That wouldn't make much sense to me. He's definitely not 500 00:35:27,519 --> 00:35:30,679 going to Washington if he does, at least not the team no man Biden 501 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:36,639 won he might want, like he might be interested, like someone brought up 502 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:40,920 like it's not looking like if the election season doesn't look too good for Justin 503 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:45,440 Trudeau, he might dip. I didn't even think of that. So the 504 00:35:45,599 --> 00:35:50,360 whole dual roles in the Wizard's front office and then the actual White House that 505 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,760 would be that'd be interesting. So what is this team? So I guess 506 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:59,519 this is twofold one. The Kyle Lowry vultures continue to circle, and I 507 00:35:59,559 --> 00:36:01,480 find it funny. We're not funny. I find it odd that he's viewed 508 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,840 as like such a common trade target when I don't know that. You know, 509 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,519 there's the sentimental stuff where Kyle Lowry's the best raptor en franchise history, 510 00:36:08,559 --> 00:36:12,440 He's want a title with them. He is their culture, it feels like. 511 00:36:12,599 --> 00:36:14,519 But they're also just not bad enough to be like, well, we'll 512 00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:19,559 entertain Kyle Lowey trade offers, and I've seen just the discrepancy and the like 513 00:36:19,599 --> 00:36:22,239 the value of hypothetical package. Thestead have been picture, don't I think the 514 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,880 variance there is huge. But my actual question would be, like, what 515 00:36:25,039 --> 00:36:29,920 is more likely for this team insofar as they would do anything major this year? 516 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,239 Is it that maybe they do something where they pivot more towards the big 517 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:36,199 picture and they do deal Kyle Lowry? Or is it they go I don't 518 00:36:36,199 --> 00:36:37,320 want to say all in, but you know, maybe they go after a 519 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:42,079 Victor Oladipo. Where So what's more likely? Like which side of the spectrum 520 00:36:42,079 --> 00:36:44,119 do you think they would fall on? If they were to make a major 521 00:36:44,159 --> 00:36:50,400 type move like that. Honestly, I don't I can't say anything definitively because 522 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:55,800 I feel like strategically would totally make sense to trade Kyle and without risking him 523 00:36:55,880 --> 00:37:00,000 leaving for nothing. If they don't deal him, I think that is clear 524 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,800 You're the intent is to extend him and perhaps have him, you know, 525 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,719 go for another run with the core and add another piece that's missing to the 526 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:16,320 team and just kind of go into you know, that Raptors tradition of just 527 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:21,920 kind of being among the top of the conference and seeing how things go in 528 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,760 the playoffs, you know, just nailing the regular season and then waiting just 529 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:31,880 kind of waiting in the in the waiting for in the background, for opportunity 530 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:37,599 to pounce. So I can't really get a read on the situation. It 531 00:37:37,679 --> 00:37:42,320 seems that Massi is you know, the biggest Kyle Lowry fan, Like he 532 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,519 talks about him being a Hall of Famer, how he wishes he could play 533 00:37:45,559 --> 00:37:47,920 for ten more years and all that, and you know, he seems to 534 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:53,440 have a hold on the coaching staff and on the front office. Like I 535 00:37:53,440 --> 00:38:00,320 feel like Kyle has a foot in everything for the organization. He's contact did 536 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,039 for decisions, he represents the team and meetings of everything. So perhaps he 537 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,360 enjoys that kind of role that he holds on the organization. And if he 538 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:13,679 doesn't, you know, if they don't insult him with an extension offer, 539 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,079 he'll He's totally fine with his position. He's fine with, you know, 540 00:38:16,119 --> 00:38:21,159 handing the keys to Fred van Vleied and perhaps taking a more background role, 541 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:23,480 as you know, perhaps it's a two year deal or a three year deal 542 00:38:23,559 --> 00:38:27,760 or something that allows him to kind of fade to the background, you know, 543 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:34,239 with dignity on a singular team that he's been holding the rain the rains 544 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:37,519 for the past decade or so, So that would make sense to me. 545 00:38:37,559 --> 00:38:42,320 But it's hard to get a read on the situation because if he perhaps just 546 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,480 wants to win another ring, you know, I'm positive there's a spot for 547 00:38:45,559 --> 00:38:50,519 him on the Philadelphia seventy six ers. I note that he has a relationship 548 00:38:50,559 --> 00:38:53,039 with Maury and that's his hometown and he's friends with him beat, so I 549 00:38:53,079 --> 00:38:58,679 wouldn't be surprised if he facilitated a trade there, or if they were able 550 00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,079 to lure him in free agent. See, I wouldn't be shocked and the 551 00:39:01,159 --> 00:39:06,599 Raptors themselves, and just independent of Massis future. They're just in this interesting 552 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,960 approaching another interesting offseason because you know they were build as one of the Janis 553 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:15,639 destinations and not only off the board, but basically every single star player that 554 00:39:15,679 --> 00:39:17,159 was going to enter twenty twenty one free agencies off the board, and so 555 00:39:17,199 --> 00:39:23,159 they'll still have cap space to work, right, And it's like, that'd 556 00:39:23,199 --> 00:39:25,960 be really funny. I would like, like hilarious, that would be the 557 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,039 most hilarious. What does that say about Paul George as a teammate though? 558 00:39:30,039 --> 00:39:37,159 If that happens, So they're like kind of don't there's no like next obvious 559 00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:39,559 move for them. And so do you do you like view them as a 560 00:39:39,559 --> 00:39:43,800 team that would be bold enough still to maybe go after Bradley Beal should he 561 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,480 become available, or do you think this is going to be something where they're 562 00:39:45,519 --> 00:39:52,000 more likely to try and organically build themselves up from within. I don't know 563 00:39:52,119 --> 00:39:57,400 if I see them trying to build organically because the issue with winning for so 564 00:39:57,519 --> 00:40:00,400 many years is that they haven't really brought in any lottery picks them too the 565 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:05,559 fold of their roster, so they kind of just have a bunch of guys 566 00:40:05,559 --> 00:40:08,920 who have exceeded expectations, with you know, Fred being undrafted and you know 567 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:14,039 Siaka being the twenty seventh pick and Og being I don't know, the twenty 568 00:40:14,039 --> 00:40:16,519 third pick or something. It's just a bunch of guys who just exceeded expectations 569 00:40:16,519 --> 00:40:22,440 and just have incredible work ethics. So and another thing is that their core 570 00:40:22,559 --> 00:40:25,320 is on the older side. So you know, I think Siakam's like twenty 571 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:30,519 six now and OG's twenty three, and Fred is same ags Siako. So 572 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:36,880 I think that they they'd want to be in a situation where they're prepping for 573 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:42,199 another run, or they have a perhaps like a a two year plan or 574 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,360 two year window where they're looking to optimize the prime years of their core. 575 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:50,199 So I don't see them trying to go into like a rebuild. A lot 576 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:53,679 of people are suggesting that they trade, they look to trade Og, that 577 00:40:53,679 --> 00:40:57,880 they look to trade Pascal and stuff, and I just don't see how that 578 00:40:58,119 --> 00:41:01,920 benefits them. Masside doesn't seem to be a rebuilt sort of guide. It's 579 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:06,880 not something that he's ever attempted in his tenure here. So you know, 580 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,719 I'm not going to put anything out of I'm not going to throw any options 581 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:15,400 out the window. I wouldn't be surprised with any approach but that they take. 582 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:19,760 But you're right there in like a crossroads situation with a lot of decisions 583 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:23,000 to make, and I'm just glad they secured Bobby Webster because it makes that 584 00:41:23,119 --> 00:41:28,159 process a little more a little less than anxiety inducing. Yeah, I mean, 585 00:41:28,159 --> 00:41:30,840 making any big trade unless you are planning to reset and moving Siakam kind 586 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:36,440 of feels like counterintuitive. I guess maybe if you were into like the James 587 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,840 Harden scenarios, But it's with OG is the one that I think you look 588 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,320 at like they would have to give up a blue chip asset and any big 589 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,639 deal that they make. And so it's if you went after a Bradley Beal 590 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,880 or I don't even know what the next superstars that might request a trade, 591 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,840 you're probably guaranteed to lose him and you have to figure out whether that's worth 592 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:57,079 it because he is like your actual younger cornerstone piece. Yeah, yeah, 593 00:41:57,159 --> 00:42:00,920 yeah, I can That's the thing, Like I can see, you know, 594 00:42:00,039 --> 00:42:06,639 between the two, Like I feel like OG's skill set, despite being 595 00:42:06,679 --> 00:42:12,280 so vital for the team and their system, is probably more replaceable than Siakam, 596 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,880 who's a bit of a rare kind of player in terms of just be 597 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:21,960 having a six nine six ten do that can dribble and who can play make 598 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,000 to a degree and who can get to the rim and everything. Like, 599 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:30,320 I feel like that's probably tougher to replace for them than moving on OG and 600 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:34,360 perhaps replacing him with the player that's may be older that can do the same 601 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,039 thing. But yeah, we'll see, like they that's the thing, they 602 00:42:37,119 --> 00:42:44,320 do have options. I think part of me wants to see them stay, 603 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,000 like make almost zero changes. Maybe if there's a small on over with the 604 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,440 deadline where if you can get an old Depoe it doesn't cost you OG. 605 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:52,960 I won't even like, it doesn't cost you lowry, doesn't cost you OG. 606 00:42:53,079 --> 00:42:55,360 Like if you're able to take that type of flyer, that would me. 607 00:42:57,400 --> 00:42:59,960 I mean, I'm like so detached to Norman Powell, I don't know 608 00:43:00,119 --> 00:43:01,599 about you, Like he's just someone who doesn't move the needle for me at 609 00:43:01,639 --> 00:43:07,599 all. No, he's yeah, he's a he's not as skilled as Derosen 610 00:43:07,639 --> 00:43:10,039 but he's the same kind of I wouldn't say to rosen Now. I think 611 00:43:10,039 --> 00:43:15,119 de rosen Now is net positive on the floor in comparison to past years. 612 00:43:15,519 --> 00:43:17,440 But norm is the same in a sense where he kind of like ends up 613 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,280 being a zero on the floor, but he takes up usage, which is 614 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:24,639 like underrated skill. You kind of need someone who will take the ball and 615 00:43:24,679 --> 00:43:28,440 do something with it, Like he may give up the same amount of points 616 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,199 he gives you on the offensive end. But and he's not even like a 617 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:36,199 terrible defender. It's just that he's so bad off ball despite being decent on 618 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,199 ball. So you know if he But the thing is, he can get 619 00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:44,360 buckets, like he can score twenty for several games in a row. So 620 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,599 they would need him to boost his value and perhaps even extend him and do 621 00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:52,119 some sort of sign and trade situation with assets if they were going to go 622 00:43:52,199 --> 00:43:55,719 for an Ola depot. Oh, I was about to If they give Norman 623 00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,880 Powell a new contract and keep him, I'll be terrified for that would be 624 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:07,639 scary. Is there anything I didn't ask that you wanted to cover about this 625 00:44:07,639 --> 00:44:14,280 team? No, I think we talked about everything possible twenty or so games 626 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:16,639 in that you can analyze from twenty or so games in. Yeah, they're 627 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,239 they're just one of the teams that I'm gonna be fascinating watched moving forward, 628 00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,079 And like I said, I would like them to keep the crux of the 629 00:44:22,079 --> 00:44:24,199 core together because I still feel like there's something there in the East where they 630 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:29,039 and this year in general is just so you know, should basketball even being 631 00:44:29,079 --> 00:44:30,920 played is like one of the questions we have to ask or just under all 632 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,079 the circumstances, I guess anyone could, anything could happen. There's that element 633 00:44:35,119 --> 00:44:37,920 there. But looking at the Eastern Conference power structure amid all these circumstances, 634 00:44:38,079 --> 00:44:43,440 it still feels like there's like an opening there for another team to get in 635 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,239 their Aside from I think Philly and maybe Milwaukee have been the most convincing teams 636 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:51,880 and neither of them feel unbeatable. So yeah, they seem like the most 637 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:57,239 consistent. I wouldn't say they're the most convincing, Like I feel like they 638 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:05,280 have an established system and they have like some sort of continuity continuity. Their 639 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:09,920 best players have remained on the team for you know, several years now. 640 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:14,719 So I feel like those team, those two teams are just feeling really confident 641 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,440 and in rhythm right now. But yeah, there's it does it doesn't feel 642 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:22,599 as clear cut as the Western Conference, Like I feel like in the West 643 00:45:22,719 --> 00:45:24,360 is kind of like, oh, hopefully this is the year that we get 644 00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:29,840 our LA versus LA Conference finals. Yeah, and I know the Western Conference 645 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:30,800 is worse, but I still would just not want to be a part of 646 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:36,639 that middle class. It feels just so hopelessly exactly. Yeah, like the 647 00:45:36,679 --> 00:45:38,960 East is stronger, but like at what cost? You know? And yeah, 648 00:45:39,119 --> 00:45:44,960 it's it's it's it's it's a it's it's funny how the tables have turned. 649 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:49,079 The last question I have for you is is there any couple of teams 650 00:45:49,079 --> 00:45:52,840 that you're going to be, aside from Toronto, particularly fascinated to watch as 651 00:45:53,039 --> 00:45:58,280 as we move through the rest of the season. Uh, Brooklyn, definitely. 652 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,960 Brooklyn is just I think fascinating, Like to be a Brooklyn beat writer 653 00:46:04,079 --> 00:46:07,039 right now. It's probably like fun as hell to have three superstars on one 654 00:46:07,079 --> 00:46:12,880 team who you know, every night is like a highlight reel of you know, 655 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:17,559 excellent basketball or just like I feel like highlightworthy mixtape basketball, which seems 656 00:46:17,559 --> 00:46:22,880 really fun. So I'm definitely going to be watching a lot of Nets games. 657 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:27,320 I think there's Nets Raptors tonight. I'm going to be watching a lot 658 00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:30,599 of seventy Sixers games. I always watched the Sixers. They're kind of like 659 00:46:30,639 --> 00:46:36,559 my surrogate team aside from the Raptors, and Yeah, I think those are 660 00:46:36,559 --> 00:46:39,239 the two teams i'd definitely be watching. Yeah, Brooklyn, it's going to 661 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:44,840 be entertaining for obvious reasons. I'm interested to see, like people definitely overhyped 662 00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:46,400 how the offense was going to work. If the answer is it's going to 663 00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:50,360 work, it is working, and it's going to be terrifying that. There's 664 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:52,960 real questions on defense though with that team where it's like, oh, is 665 00:46:52,039 --> 00:46:55,519 Kevin Durant their second best defender now behind Bruce Brown, that might be a 666 00:46:55,519 --> 00:46:59,920 problem. I've bought you know. You said that maybe Philly and Milwaukee have 667 00:47:00,159 --> 00:47:02,079 been convincing. I'd agree with you. On Milwaukee. That's definitely the wrong 668 00:47:02,119 --> 00:47:06,519 word to describe them. For some reason, I'm like, I'll buy all 669 00:47:06,559 --> 00:47:08,119 the Sixers stock. They're a team that I just fully trust now and that's 670 00:47:08,159 --> 00:47:14,480 probably wildly dangerous and reckless of me. The other team that I'm I'm sort 671 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:16,559 of intrigued by because I think that they might have a lower floor than people 672 00:47:17,039 --> 00:47:22,000 were talked about before the season is just Dallas where oh yeah, it's yeah, 673 00:47:22,039 --> 00:47:25,199 I mean there's the criticism of Luca. I do think it's fair to 674 00:47:25,239 --> 00:47:28,760 be like, hey, if you're gonna take this many difficult three pointers at 675 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:30,079 some point, you need to make more than thirty percent of them. That's 676 00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:34,920 a real issue. But the bigger conversation is and maybe it's about is he 677 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:37,840 a terrible human being as well, but we have to have a real conversation 678 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:42,039 about what Christops porzinkis is on the basketball court at some point and whether he's 679 00:47:42,079 --> 00:47:45,559 a viable number two and if he's not, and I know he's only you 680 00:47:45,559 --> 00:47:47,239 know, played like five games or whatever it's been since coming back from his 681 00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:52,000 injury, but that team is like, I don't I wouldn't expect them to 682 00:47:52,039 --> 00:47:54,199 remain in the lottery territory all season, but it feels like there might be 683 00:47:54,239 --> 00:47:58,840 a lower floor there than people expected, unless they make some type of a 684 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:01,079 move at the trade deadline. Yeah. Yeah, for me, Like, 685 00:48:01,119 --> 00:48:06,960 I've never been high on Chris Stops, I think that, like it sounds 686 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:09,280 crazy, but I think that his just his height and his play style is 687 00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:14,159 going to leave him injury prone his whole career. I feel like, you 688 00:48:14,159 --> 00:48:20,039 know, just being a huge guy that requires like you know, jab stepping 689 00:48:20,079 --> 00:48:22,360 and all of these things, Like I'm not sure how sustainable that is for 690 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:28,360 him just being so huge, you know what I mean. So I've always 691 00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:30,679 had I've always been reluctant to be like, oh, this is a guy 692 00:48:30,679 --> 00:48:34,800 I'm going to turn into like a franchise cornerstone or something or and I think 693 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:38,639 that his reliance on jump shooting, despite like his physical attributes is also kind 694 00:48:38,639 --> 00:48:45,280 of suss. So you know, like I'm not sure how it's gonna turn 695 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:49,280 out for them. But they're also another team that was supposed to be like 696 00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,920 you know, potential Yannis suit or dark Horse Janna Suit or fuelil so to 697 00:48:54,039 --> 00:48:58,360 see you have the heat too, who also don't look so great like Yannis 698 00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:01,239 really messed up. I would like to think that Jannis did that on purpose, 699 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:05,559 by the way that he was like, let free agency play out and 700 00:49:05,559 --> 00:49:07,480 then I'm going to sign, so that all these teams are left bag holding 701 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:09,960 all their caps. But he's for next year. Feels really about it. 702 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:14,199 He should have waited like till twenty twenty one, like to truly like to 703 00:49:14,519 --> 00:49:17,840 that during this off season to sign anything. I floated that too, I 704 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:21,039 had someone who covers the Bucks on in the off season. I said, 705 00:49:21,079 --> 00:49:22,880 what if you honest just did this, because then he ruins two seasons for 706 00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:28,360 these teams. And their response was, I just don't think that he wants 707 00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:30,159 to go through the drama of not being signed for this year. And I 708 00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:32,519 was like, that's the reason that he actually gave, and I believed him 709 00:49:32,519 --> 00:49:35,599 when he said that. Yeah, I mean, it has to be exhausting, 710 00:49:35,639 --> 00:49:38,519 but at the same time, like you could have put Toronto's, Miami's 711 00:49:38,599 --> 00:49:42,519 Dallas is how many other teams futures on hold for like two more years is 712 00:49:42,559 --> 00:49:45,599 just incredible, And yeah, Miami, I don't know what to make of 713 00:49:45,639 --> 00:49:49,280 them. They've been so banged up that I kind of give them the benefit 714 00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:51,280 of the doubt, and maybe I should be doing that with Dallas. But 715 00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:53,360 I kind of agree with all the things you said on Chris stops whereas I 716 00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:57,320 might trust his outside shooting more than you do, but I don't like he's 717 00:49:57,360 --> 00:49:59,960 not someone who's just gonna go out there and get his own shot. I'm 718 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,159 not even talking about his post ups, where he's probably been better there this 719 00:50:02,239 --> 00:50:06,719 year than in seasons past. But for someone built like him, he should 720 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:09,239 be able to do more face up stuff and attacking, and just the sheer 721 00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:13,559 injuries that piled up, mostly on the left side of his body. To 722 00:50:13,639 --> 00:50:16,800 this point. He's built like a like a spaghetti noodle, like the structural 723 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:22,079 stability of a of a cooked spaghetti noodle. So again, I don't want 724 00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:22,920 to say I'm so low on the matters, but I don't think it was. 725 00:50:23,039 --> 00:50:25,599 Everyone just assumed, like, oh, and probably including myself, that 726 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:30,320 you have Luca, you punched your ticket to fifty wins. Yeah, and 727 00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:32,320 another year with all of these role players and you know, we know how 728 00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:36,760 much chemistry. But you know, I have never thought about this, but 729 00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:40,480 we know last season where they had the most efficient offense in NBA history. 730 00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:47,119 What if this season is just kind of like a sharp regression that lighter year, 731 00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:52,679 that would be really unfortunate, But you know, we'll see how it 732 00:50:52,719 --> 00:50:54,880 pends out. I assumed as well, that you know, another year with 733 00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:59,000 all of these role players and stuff would end up, you know, resulting 734 00:50:59,039 --> 00:51:02,840 in better chemistry and Luca would be kind of unlocked with another season of experience, 735 00:51:04,079 --> 00:51:07,400 but we'll see. Yeah, so that they're the team areem And then, 736 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:09,079 like you said, Brooklyn and Philly are both teams to watch. Yasmin, 737 00:51:09,199 --> 00:51:13,119 thank you so much for coming on and giving me so much of your 738 00:51:13,119 --> 00:51:15,760 time. This is a great conversation. And if you guys are not following 739 00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:21,000 her on Twitter, remedy that immediately. You can find her at Carmelo H 740 00:51:21,199 --> 00:51:24,519 Drama where Carmelo Drama just said, but cr M E l O H d 741 00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:30,719 R A M A fantastic writer, fantastic podcaster, fantastic Twitter followers, So 742 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:32,639 so go hit her handle. Yasmin, thanks so much again, And I 743 00:51:32,639 --> 00:51:36,159 think you know at this point I would be pestering you down the line, 744 00:51:37,559 --> 00:51:46,119 No problem, have a good one. Nobody builds five G like Verizon builds 745 00:51:46,159 --> 00:51:51,320 five G because we're the engineers who built the most reliable network in America. 746 00:51:51,480 --> 00:51:53,599 And the more you do with five G, the more building it right matters, 747 00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:58,719 the more your network matters, the more Verizon engineers going the extra mile 748 00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:04,760 matters, thus pushing us. It's Verizon versus variety. Five get built Right 749 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:08,599 from America's most reliable network. Most reliable based on rankings from Metrics second half 750 00:52:08,599 --> 00:52:13,440 twenty twenty US report of three Mobile Network's results may vary. Award ISIGN and endorsement,