What is trappl act in hardwood off fills theirs? I am damned the Valley
coming out. He was out my fantadulous cost Adam promo we needed to was
unable to make it at the semi last minute. So we're gonna do another
solo mail bag. You guys sent in a bunch of questions. Let's just
first start off really quickly with our housekeeping notes programming note. You might get
three pods from us next week, just because I have some trade deadline stuff
I'm trying to get out, and maybe Adam and I will do a second
mail bag together earlier in the week, just given the guests that I have
coming on. The schedule we have is like smack down the middle of the
week, so how to figure that out. But you'll definitely be getting at
least two And we have a fun little just trade deadline primer coming out for
every team buy, seller, hold and just going a little bit more in
detail with what they're supposed to do. Another announcement, we officially have a
discord channel. I have not been pumping the shit out of it on social
media yet to promote it, trying to figure out what it's going to be.
We set up chats for all thirty teams. We set up main rooms.
If you want to talk about trades general, there's of course a Frankie
Lakeya's server chat whatever you call it. Channel. The goal here. You
guys have been so great with sending me direct message questions, always responding to
our mail bag solicitations, just engaging with us for the most part. In
general, we would love to just let that community spill over to discord where
maybe you all can talk with each other, wrapbout hoops with each other respectfully.
Of course, the link is in the bio. Not sure if you're
just going to throw it out on social media a ton if you're you know,
need it, just you could DM me at Dan's Valley fav Ali.
For some reason, you're not able to get it from the description of this
podcast, and I'm sure we'll promote a little bit more joint. We want
people in there. We want that to be a success. There'll be other
stuff that we can do attached to it, but it is here. A
couple of people have asked about it in the past and we have made the
leap. Adam is still not joined, mostly because I did not send him
the room once it was set up, but hopefully that will you know,
pop off whatever you want to call it, and both Frow and I will
try and stay engaged with it. But also the goal there you can submit
mailbad questions too. There's a channel for that. We would love for you
guys to interact with each other, pose ideas, and just build the biggest,
best, awesomest community that we possibly can. Follow us on Twitter at
hardwoo Knox, follow us on Instagram at Hardwood Underscore Knox, follow our YouTube
channel YouTube dot com or hardwar Knox. We will come up and I already
mentioned I G so I think we're done there. We can finally can and
ball into this mailbag, have a ton of questions, going to get to
as many in under an hour as I can. We're going to begin somewhere
topical, and it has to be with the Lakers, who we really haven't
talked about as a standalone team on this podcast. When we've done the exercises
going through every team and whatever conference, we've definitely talked about them, but
for some reason they've provided a well of content. We've just decided to you
know, we're gonna talk about Denver and Utah and Charlotte because those teams are
actually good. But Tyler asked about the Lakers, and I'm gonna use this
as a segue into the Frank Vogel stuff, even though no one asked,
yes, are the two twenty two Lakers the oldest team of all time?
They are not, and that major, major, major hats appear to the
ringer Zach Pram, who looked this up before the start of the season,
He wrote, the oldest group on record is a tie at an average age
waited by minutes played of thirty two point zero between the ninety seven ninety eight
Rockets and the two thousand, two thousand and one Utah Jazz. The Lakers
average age on the roster right now is thirty one for the season. I
think that's actually higher than they started leading into season, So that's kind of
impressive when you really think about it. But so no, they are not
the oldest team in NBA history. I think one of the problems with their
team is that they have these old by NBA standard players who are shoehorned into
or one dimensional players who are all shoehorned into these outsized roles that they need
him to play and that leads us into the Frank Vogel news which there was
the report that his job is being evaluated on a day to day basis.
Fought up by the report after they lost a game that they should not have
on that was just I caught the end of it. It was just an
unmitigated disaster for them. Westbrook gets benched down the tail end of the fourth
quarter, doesn't speak to the media, doesn't even speak to the team when
he's leaving. It's noted that Vogel is going with the team on the road
trip and still this evaluation process. A lot of people thought that game was
going to cost him his job, especially it looked like he was kind of
in fuck you, I'm leaving mode or I'm not going to be here mode
at the end of the or during the postgame press conference where he was asked
about sitting Russell Westbrook and he said he was just trying to play the players
that gave him the best chance to win. There was also a note from
I think this one was ESPN Staate mcmeneman. Sources told him that the coaching
staff has been empowered by the front office to sit Russell Westbrook and play whoever
they want, and it was also a decision that the coaches staff has been
considering for weeks, and so there is a lot to unpack here. I
caught a I caught actually a lot of support on Twitter for something I wrote
about the Lakers this week. I also caught a lot of shit because I
don't need to sit here and necessarily defend the job that Frank Vogel has done.
You can question his rotations, having mellow at the five the other nights
of disaster, not being able to discern when to go big and when to
go small if you've been meeting on Lebron at the five a ton and when
you could use Dwight Howard's rebounding in the game, sticking with camp Baysmore and
DeAndre Jordan too long this season. There are issues that he's done. I
think you can say this about all the Vogel's team. They're not especially inventive
on the offensive end. That being said, I think a lot of Lebron
teams are just going to be so heliocentric anyway, I don't know what you
would expect necessarily a coach to do there. To me, this is not
about Frank Vogel. Do this bang up job and the Lakers firing him.
Anyway, this is just about the fact that this is the only move they
could make now. They don't have trade assets. They can't trade it first
till twenty twenty seven or twenty twenty eight. That could be an asset to
sort of bet against their future. But front of us is don't have the
job security necessarily to be like, hey, look at this pick six years
from now or whatever, and I'm going to be the one in charge of
making it or trading it. They can't guarantee that, and that's where that
pick loses. I think a ton of value here, but what's happening now
with the Lakers. It's also it's not on Frank Vogel. It's also not
just on Russell Westbrook. The turnovers are a problem. The shot selection is
a problem. Is the ability to making an impact off the ball is the
problem. His defense, for the most part, of a major problem for
them this season. He is this season is a symptom of the disease that
was the off season. I think that's the best way to put it.
They played their last best hand by giving up Kyle Kuzma KCP first round pick
and then by extension. You know, you could throw montras Harrold's having a
pretty good year, so you could throw him in there and saying they gave
up four assets, but he clearly wasn't fit with the Lakers. They have
three assets, consolidated it into one. And now that one asset in Russell
Westbrook, has proven to be the disastrous fit that everyone thought he was going
to be. And even if you think he's still a questionable fit or they
have ways to work it out. And again, the data with him on
the court and Lebron and then Davis at the five is good. The samples
just so small because Lebron has missed both games this season, Affy Davis is
out right now. Those things are not Frank Vogel's fault. Nor is the
fact that Russell Westbrook leads the league in trending on Twitter air balls this season,
I believe. So that's not on Vogel. The decision to trade for
Westbrook is not on Vogel. And then you also had a Lakers team that
and now'll this is basically verbatim what I wrote, But they then proceeded after
trading for Russell Westbrook, making that consolidation trade for again not a fit that
looked necessary, promising, but was questionable at best. You then proceed to
let Alex Cruizer walk in free agency because there are no federal government loan program
programs to supplement the salary and luxury tax bill for a fringe all defensive candidate
who has historically played well next to Lebron James. And now we're in this
position where you have all these older players, one dimensional players shoehorned into these
huge roles. Yes, it's good that Maligue Monk has come on, but
when you're looking at Vogels lineups and you can talk about Moligue Monk's playing time
previously, but his front court rotations all that shit, The alternatives are not
just super sexy. You know the fact that we were talking about at one
point, could Trevor Ariza really help them? And Trevor Resa has not been
good for like two or three years at this point, like that was the
state of the Lakers and the roster they built. They were just so overwhelmingly
shallow and didn't have a lot of higher upside players. And oh, one
of the higher upside players they do have, the only higher upside player that
you have as town Horton Tucker has not played well for most of this year,
has come on a little bit lately, shooting better on twos outside the
restricted area. That's a big deal if he can come along, because he
really at the age of I think what he's twenty twenty one, whatever he
is, He's probably in theory because of his middle rung salary their best trade
asset. You have Russ eighty and Lebron just making mega star money. My
guests would be none of them are going anywhere. Even the Lakers should trade
Westbrook. I just feel like that contract right now wouldn't do much for them
if they could move it. Maybe that's something where your visit over the off
season when he's an expiring deal. After those three town Horton Tucker is your
fourth highest baid player. Your fifth highest paid player is Kendrick Nunn, who's
making like five million dollars this season, and oh just suffered a setback in
his recovery from a knee injury and hasn't even played this season. Those issues,
just all of these issues are not on Frank Vogel specifically. The fact
of the matter is the Lakers just don't have anywhere else to turn other than
Frank Vogel, you're not getting ready to find Lebron because he was probably a
driving force behind the Westbrook trade. And more than that is Rob Polinka is
going to fire himself because as the person in his position, yes, you
need to listen to your superstars. But it would whether he was on board
with the Westbrook trade and this was his sort of baby, or whether it
was Lebron led. It's your job as this head of the front office,
head of this basketball the head of basketball operations for the team. Essentially,
you need to be able to kind of draw a line if there's something that,
if it doesn't work out, could prove detrimental to your team. And
that's what this was. And so knowing all of this, who aside from
literally everyone could have possibly seen this Lakers ship show coming in the regular season.
Everyone predicted that this was at least a possibility, if not predicted it
outright. And so this isn't about Russ escapegoating him, and I don't think
it's fair escape goading him. You know, look, it's probably tough.
He deserves. The other thing that I want to I don't want to be
too cranky here on this or spend way more time on this. We it's
appreciate the game of basketball. Consume it however you want, whether that's talking
about trade making, snarky jokes on Twitter, really digging into the xs and
os, whatever, However you consume this game however you like it, Just
consume it. That's that's your prerogative. We got to get past the point
where I feel like we try to paint something as a rosier picture than it
is, or we're afraid to criticize someone. There's a human element behind all
this, and I really do feel for us after being benched in the fourth
quarter. Players have egos. He is a prominent player, at least by
reputation. You have at frustrating day at work, like people react in different
ways in the moment. I don't you know, he left, didn't talk
to the team, whatever. I don't really read into that. But we
are now in like past a half decade where it's can we figure out if
Westbrook can change? And he didn't never really need it to in Oklahoma City,
but like we saw it in Houston, we saw it in Washington,
even when he's coming on strong Washington to close the year. And now I've
seen it in Los Angeles, like there doesn't seem to be a very diverse
player or someone who can handle and still be effective in a smaller role.
I would welcome to be wrong. It's okay to say that we don't need
to pretend like Russ is necessarily a victim of all this, But he also
shouldn't be the scapegoat, nor should Frank Vogel be the primary escape goat.
And I understand that's how these things work. Anyone who expects the team decide
with the coach is you know, just gravely mistaken deluded thinking that that could
happen. It also doesn't make it fair. And so the Lakers are just
this mass of mistakes, and the root cause of most of them is what
happened over the offseason. The people to hold responsible are the decision makers there,
because there are. It wasn't even just the Westbrook trade, but you
decided to get rid of three really important rotation players, Kyle Kuzma and KCP.
They were two I think they were the lakers two top players, and
told them minutes played last year. They were also there two years in total.
Three point makes you have Alex Caruso, who is so important to your
defense, and then also has played well with Lebron James, and you just
those guys are gone and you bet on talent Horton Tucker instead, Maybe that
Taylent Horton Tucker instead. Perhaps that still works out. But this everything comes
back to the decision making over the offseason, and that's what should actually be
scapegoaded. The problem is if there's no way to tangibly address that, and
the Lakers don't even have alternate moves here unless some team is really high on
that future first round picking. If you're them, you really do have to
ask yourself. It's not gonna be Miles Turner, it's not gonna be Jeremy
gran If you're giving up that pick, it's probably to get someone like Eric
Gordon. It's probably to get someone like Carris LeVert, who don't even think
helps this team. Eric Horton would I think you would definitely help this team,
by the way, Or it's probably to help get off Russell Westbrook's contract,
So you're not even looking at the prospect of pulling off a blockbuster using
that distant first round pick. That's why Vogel is here on the chopping block.
He is most guilty of not winning an unwinnable situation, and the Lakers
response is not one of a team addressing the actual issue, but one at
options. Let's move on from the Lakers. I'm so sorry for that rant
there. Connie asked, do you agree that the actual three most title worthy
teams in the East would each beat any team that comes out of the West
in the finals or are you wrong? Wiky face appreciate the way that was
raised, Connie, So, I guess this really sort of depends on who
your three most title worthy teams in the East Star. I'm assuming we default
to Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and is it Miami or Chicago? There is anyone
prepared to make a case for anybody else? Is the three most worthy teams?
I guess if the Sixers make a trade, but we'll talk about them
in a second. I'm very hot on Toronto. I don't know if I
would put them as a top three option. I do think they could give
both Milwaukee and Brooklyn problems in a playoff series, though it's a Charlotte,
Boston, no, the Knicks, fuck, no Atlanta, I'll know.
Yeah, So let's just say Miami, Brooklyn, Milwaukee Here Philly makes a
trade, will religate it. Maybe I'm wrong on the Bolls, but between
the Lonzo Ball injury, Zach Lavine injury, you don't have Patrick Williams or
you're gonna even have the incentive now to make a trade for Jeremy Granner or
Harrison Barnes. But it's it's three of those four teams. So I don't
know necessarily which ones Connie's referring to specifically, I don't know the answer by
this question is no, So I guess in your mind I would be wrong.
I am taking Phoenix to win the title. Still, they are my
pick. They also have the best record or second best record in the league.
Right now, I'm all over the place with like these teams statures because
so much has changed the season. But yeah, thirty five and nine best
record in the NBA by far, actually not even close to the moment I
forgot the Warriors have been slumping for so long. They have the best record
in the league as opponents above five hundred. Now you get into the interesting
parts where it's are you taking I'm gonna focus on Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Milwaukee,
Miami, Chicago or those four teams. Are you taking which one Which
of those four are you taking over Golden State. I think people come to
believe Golden State might be a little bit overrated. I think what really happened
is we boarded the Andrew Wiggins is an all star bandwagon way too quickly,
and maybe we should fus around with steph substitution patterns. But I'd say that's
an issue for another day. But it's actually an issue for another question.
I don't. I wouldn't. I'd pick Golden State to beat Miami. I
pick Golden State to beat Chicago. I don't know about Brooklyn or Milwaukee.
I'd picked Milwaukee to beat Golden State, probably, I don't know about Brooklyn.
There's the Kyrie Irving stuff. What is going on with Kevin Durant.
Their defense is sort of crashing down a tad. So yeah, I'm I'm
gonna say that. No. My answer to this question is no. If
you think I'm wrong, that's fine. You can feel free to lay out
your case at Damn Valley or Hey Hop in the discord Hardwood Knock Discord.
I think I called it the Hardwood Knocks Chit Chat Association or some something weird
like that. I am way overtire and recording this at three thirty in the
morning Eastern conference time, and the Discord chat was wrapped up around then too.
Let's get to but yeah, that's a that's a fun question. I
do think if you want to talk about whether the East is better than than
the West this year at the tippy top, they might be now just because
of the way Utah has been playing, but that you know, you had
Rudy Gobert was out for a bit, Donna Mitchell miss is a beat,
so you know, I would have said that Utah, Golden State, and
Phoenix, then even Memphis a little bit like give you more start, like
more more title winning cachet than let's say Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, Brooklyn
does. But no, I think the top of the East now at this
point is probably even more polarizing. So in some that's great news for the
Heat. But I don't think the three most title worthy teams in the East
or the three most title worthy teams period, mostly because I think Phoenix right
now is the most title worthy team. And if I had to pick a
second one to do it this way, I'm gonna say Milwaukee at this point,
followed by Golden State, followed by Brooklyn, followed by Miami. I
am on the verge of saying some really job. I don't know if it's
spicy or like bonkers, just a rational, rationally optimistic stuff about the heat.
I'm at that point where I might, but I probably need to wait
a little bit before I go there. Then we'll say, so what do
I have? I have? I have Phoenix, I have Milwaukee. I'm
gonna put Golden State. Then I'm gonna put Brooklyn, Miami, I put
Utah for Chicago still, and then Memphis would be after. That's like,
that's how my top eight would shake out. Top eight would shake out there
if anybody cares. TJ asked, why is no one talking about Kevin Love
for six Man of the Year. He has been spectacular this season. He
has absolutely been spectacular this season. So looking at he's been I don't want
to say basically on fire, but ever since he exited health and safety protocols
earlier this season, he has been an absolute monster for the Calves. They've
even had lineups like a lot of this was when Ricky Rubio is healthy and
so that helps you. But they've won the minutes where he and lowry marketing
play without Jared Allen, even mobiles like marketing and Kevin Love are those two
bigs that are on the court. That's a really huge deal. And I
think just this is still a really good basketball player when healthy. He's now
going allowed to go up against superstubs. But Kevin Love's past twenty five games
fifteen point nine points, six point nine rebounds, two point two assists in
a little under twenty two minutes, and he's shooting forty three point four percent
from deep on seven attempts per game. This dude just makes play. It's
just the passing, his ability to the stuff that you can actually do on
ball, and then a couple with that four spasing, which is what you
know. Cleveland's half court offense needed a ton this year. I absolutely think
he deserves to be in the discussion for six Man out of the Year.
I just think that people are probably more inclined to focus on others, really,
and there are there's no shortage of candidates here. Tyler hero is probably
the favorite to win right now. He still had a good year. He
started in ten games, so I don't know how that makes some people feel.
Montras Harrold was getting some love at a point, But we probably need
to talk about Cam Johnson really sneaking into this. You could make a case
for Garry Payton the second the litt I think he has one per se over
Kevin Love. I mean, like Pious Jones has had some really good minutes
for that. Does Alex Caruso sort of work his way into the fold or
will he end up starting too many games? We might need to like nudge
the starter minimum up there so there are no shortage of good candidates for this
award, and I think that's probably why Kevin Love is not being mentioned.
I also think it's because so much is being made of Cleveland first two bigs
and Jared Allen and Evan Mobley that Kevin Love is gonna fall by the wayside
a little bit, especially because he's not in the three big lineups as often
as Larry Marketing is, and so there would be that to consider as well.
But look, if I were doing my sixth man ballot right now,
I think Kevin Love might be too. He's in the top three for me.
I can say that pretty pretty confidently. I think TJ also asked or
no that I believe that was the last question there, Sorry, excuse me.
Paija asked what kind of stats advanced or not count more? For Defensive
Player of the Year prize? Who do you have as your most improved player?
So for Defensive Player of the Year, I think a lot of it.
The voters specifically, like you hope that they're smart enough to kind of
look at more than that. It's so hard to quantify defense, is what
I'm getting out. So you don't want them to rely necessarily just on stats.
You want to look at not even just the team performance. But Kenya
Ziero went on plays or a player's role on defense, and so I like
looking at numbers like that. If you're for more of the accessible ones,
I'll call it like I want there's rim protection if you're big, and like
that's a role that you're playing at. Rudy Gobert is great, Like how
is he defending shots at the rim? And you can trust that field goal
percentage allowed more than you can on a what is you know, Evan Mobley
allowing opponents to shoot on him from three? The other thing that I really
have valued looking at, or not really value, but I do think it's
interesting to sort of look like, Okay, how does an opponent's shot profile
change, especially if you're looking at a big when a players on the court
and Rudy Gobert or Joel Embi to be another example of this, where our
teams not only shooting worse at the rim, but are they getting there less
are they even impacting shots from float range? You can look at how much
better a team performs defensively with a player on the floor. I don't think
that's an end all, be all, but it is an interesting anecdote,
especially when that lines up with either what you're watching and some of the other
numbers you're looking at. You can look at some kinchen Sinc. Metric metrics
like if defensive points saved from NBA math dumps and threes has estimated plus minus
and separates it into offensive defense. I also think people Index has been fantastic.
They have so much granular stuff there that if you get a subscription you
can look at and I've enjoyed checking out just matchup difficulty data that they have.
How much time does you know a certain defender to spend spend guarding the
highest usage player on the other team. Some of that can be impacted by
the fact that technically, if you're a bad defender, teams are going to
attack you more. So that could be why the player you're guarding is so
high usage. But you can sort of spot, you know, fucking Kema
Walker ends up in at the top that you can sort of understand the outliers
there. They also have, like you can check out their their defensive roles.
Are they defending the point of the attack. Are they more of a
rim protector and so that's going to help you there. They have even positional
versatility. I don't think versatility has to inform effectiveness, but it can in
certain instances. And then you have to catch all matchup difficulty metrics. You
can see how a player is staring there, but there's no one I look
at a bunch of different thing. I'm sure everyone does, and there's a
lot of data out there. All of it is if it's not imperfect,
none of it is meant really meant to be just the end all be all.
My most improved player, I think it's Miles Bridges. I know he
hasn't been going scorched Earth as often since the beginning of the season, but
when you look at just the context of his role and how much more difficult
and different it can be with the on ball stuff he's doing, the positional
valuability he gives you on the defensive end, even though he's moving off the
ball. Yeah, I'd be nice of maybe he's hitting some of his easier
shots more. But that is just someone who is affecting the game positively at
almost you know, on offense, at almost every level and every mode of
operation possible. And for someone who wasn't even sort of mentioned in this Dude's
gonna get paid hanging into district of free Agency twenty twenty two conversation, like
that's just he was always a player you talked about his rock solid or you
know, somewhat valuable but not a potential it's gonna be too generous, but
like a fringe cornerstone. You know, who is the second most important player
to the Hornets long term? It might be my I think it's probably Myles
Bridges right now, depending on how you feel about a you know, like
James book Night. Just are you just assuming that because of his draft stock
or how you feel like Moreton Heyward, try vers year, YadA, YadA,
YadA. So I think it's him. John Morant deserves a lot of
consideration here because I do believe he has made the hardest leap, which is
that of us from a star to in MVP caliber all NBA calendar, however
you want to frame it. The three point shooting has been huge. I
think he's played better defensively since he's come back from that knee brain or at
least is tried harder. But the way he's you know, sort of advanced
how he can affect the game on offense and make it harder on defenses because
he's willing to shoot the three and he's hitting them at a higher clip.
But then there's also just the you know, his floater, his decision making
in general after he leaves his feet where he can make passes like that,
and even just his playmaking in general is huge. That's a huge leap,
and I don't think some I don't know how much love he'll get because I
think people already considered him because he was such an electric watch as that superstar.
But he's officially there, and you're now leading a team like the Grizzlies
into a top three or four record in the West. Desmond Baine deserves consideration,
But I think I've gone back and forth in this on this, and
I just don't think you can do it with year or two players, given
how much they're supposed to improve. Anyway, I do think it matters that
he was hyper efficient in a smaller role last year, So this is not
just someone capitalizing on opportunity or who wasn't good before and they are using him
a lot of different ways where he just wasn't really an on ball option at
all last year and now he's doing more of that stuff. Tyler Hero certainly
belongs here. Darius Garland would be a big one. Jared Allen. Maybe
I don't know that people appreciate how much Jared Allen has branched out his game
on offense and just make quicker decisions with the ball in his hands and have
more directionality. I would call it to his game where it's not just rim
running, it's not just these stop hooks, Like he can put the ball
on the floor a little bit. He's less predictable with where he's going to
finish or what he's going to do as a decision maker once the ball is
put in his hands, and so, you know, I think that people
don't really give him enough credit for that. I don't think he'll win or
I think deserves win, but you can mention him. I've seen Jordan Poole
sort of come up, and I could probably see that. The Jante Murray
is another one that I would consider. If you have any other options or
favorites, hit me, hit us up, you can let us know.
And I think my pick right now would be Miles Bridges or John Moran.
I'm not firmly set on them. I kind of want to go with John
Moran. Am I brave enough to do it? But Miles Bridges for me
right now? Karagans, what the heck is going on with the Utah Jazz.
I'm a little bit upset you use profanity there because that would be a
worthwhile reaction to what's actually going on with the Utah Jazz. It's basically almost
perfectly aligned with the start of the new year. So since January first,
the Jazz are three and seven, So it's just ten games, but they're
twentieth in net rating in twenty six and points allowed per possession twenty six and
opponent affect the field goal percentage. Yeah, Rudy gobernmith a bunch of time
during this stretch and I think we've now, you know, we should know
by this point how valuably is on defense, but it's just this constant reminder.
You've had some you know, cold shooting by the Jazz Is standards,
Boyan Vardanovitch not shooting well from three over this stretch, Donovan Mitchell not shooting
well in the games that he has played during this stretch. So that has
been for the two, but it's been more so the defense. And this
team is still struggling to keep opponents out of transition and that's been a big
heat. They are the second worst team during this stretched and opponent field percentage
allowed at the RAM. I think the context errors Rudy Gobert's absence and so
how the center rotation looked with him not there, and then also just a
frequency with which you're allowing opponents to get out in transition has been look probably
problematic for much of this year. But they're during this ten game stretch,
they're eighteenth in the frequency with which opponents are getting out in transition, and
they really suck at it off of live rebounds. And I don't know how
much of that has to do with maybe Rudy Gobert finishing so many plays on
offensive around the rim that he's not going to be the first one back,
and that's where the lack of athleticism really hurts you. And so I think
that, you know, some of the shooting stuff will normalized, and they've
still been able to complygether like a top twelve defense during this stretch. They'll
ultimately be fine, but they're so dependent on Rudy Gobert. I do believe
that this underscores how much they really need to make a move on the trade
market and what I found interesting, and so I would still lean towards can
you get a more athletic wing who cracks, if not all of your closing
lineups, at least the top eight or nine of minutes played in your playoff
rotation, sort of regardless of matchups. So it's not just a Tory Craig
game where he'll be valuable in certain instances. And I'm kind of perking up
an Indy by the way right now. It's someone who you'll actually slot into
an eight or ninth spot in your playoff rotation. I would still lean like
a Josh Richardson type. There'd be more ideal ones. Yes, Harrison Barnes,
Jeremy Grant, even Marcus Smart. I don't know if the Jazz have
the the asset equity to get those type of guys. Josh Richardson, I
think they could, and that's someone that they absolutely should look at. I
also think Marcus Smart would be if we have a question on him later.
He's not had a great year, mostly on offense though. However, I
was looking to the Dunked On pod and I think they were citing what someone
said on the utub on the Jazz Locked on Jazz pod. So I don't
mean to sort of double aggregator site here. I just don't want to act
like this is my idea. I really do try and give credit where if
I'm listening to a team podcast, which I try to do a lot,
it's a big part of covering the league or see something, you want to
credit people. So I apologize if I'm missiting that here. They but the
sentiment was that the Jazz really just need a better helper in protector so that
Rudy Gobert doesn't have to worry about what's necessarily happening around the basket all the
time because him being pulled away from the basket is not actually the problem,
and there will be in depth data that will support that. And I thought
that was an interesting way to look at it. And so if you're going
that route, is it does a Thaddy is Young help you at all in
that situation? How much does the floor shrink? Would you ever consider playing
him without or with excuse me, in tandem beside Rudy Gobert? And if
you're not, then you're committing to downsizing with Alcabreno court and that's still only
let's say we get to the playoffs. That's a ten to thirteen minutes per
game proposition. How much does that really impact you if you're not going to
play the two together? Maybe maybe it's a bunch who knows. I've given
thought. He could probably play next to Chris Bouchet, who's not you know,
he could be a little bit out of control, but he's also someone
who if you Uncle Bert to sort of camp out close to the basket,
Chris Brusche can move on the outside and he'll close out like a borderline,
you know, bad out of hell. But it's you know, it can
be effective at points. So maybe they could look at someone like that.
It's just tough because they don't they have part of the Derrick Favorite trade exception
yet left, and they do have some roster spot flexibility, but how deeper
they want to go into the tax and just who's available, because again,
while I do think that Jeremy Grant would work really well here, even at
Harrison Barnes, although if we're going to the rim, protect your stuff,
like you know, maybe you don't want Harrison Barnes as that guy. But
I just don't see them being able to call it together the offer necessary to
do anything at that level, at least to beat out other teams. We
do have something interesting on this though in a minute. So I think that's
what's wrong with the Jazz car Again, in any Jazz fans that are listening
to this, I don't I don't think they have the personnel to address what's
wrong with them on defense. But I do think what we've seen now has
been exacerbated by the initial to go bear absence, and that's just the problem
with these team wide stats, and so you need to give contest with which
players are missing. And I know who he's back now. So the Jazz
are still struggling. But I do think some of their shooters, I've gone
cold, which hasn't helped them either. And the transition thing has just been
a This has been a problem, like dating back to last year, but
like this season, is so tough to look at team wide stats and then
properly contextualize them, just because we've gone through this long ass stretch where so
many teams type players in and out of health and safety protocols, and just
rosters were changing on a nightly basis. It's important to try and distinguish what's
meaningful them what's not. But the transition thing is not. You know,
they were the team that didn't have anyone the health and safety protocols for the
longest time, and the transition stuff is still an issue. And then just
I think the lack of athleticism on the Perimer, if you want to call
it the lack of athleticism behind Rudy Gobert, should you want some help in
protection. That's a big, bigger issue for them, And I do think
they need to look at moving. You know, their offense is good enough
to really withstand almost the like moving whoever, if you want to move bowing
on Bardonovitch, Jordan Carsoner Joels, you will be fine, but I do
really think that you need to be aggressive. Here, Brett asked, when
is Ben Simmons gonna get traded? I know this is a reoccurring theme,
and we get updates from the previous updates to the updates before those that came
from another batch of updates where there were no updates whatsoever. It seems like
morea was happening this week where there was the report that the King's kind of
emerged as favorites out of the Athletic, which then proceeded to debunk his own
report by saying that wasn't true. I did listen to Darryl moorey going on
at Philadelphia radio station this past Thursday. The entire interview where the way he
made it sound, and it could be posturing, but this has been my
stance all along. I know people have been predicting of Ben Simmons trade.
I would still be a little bit surprised if he gets moved because the way
that dal Moore has always framed things he did during the radio interview is he
wants to increase his team's championship odds, and it doesn't seem that he believes
believes Trading Ben Simmons and diverting him for a collection of non stars is going
to move the needle enough around embiid and they owe it to Joel Embie's window
to get another star as part of a Ben Simmons package. In which case,
if that's really his stance, the two outcomes I see are this,
you either making a trade or de Aaron Fox is coming back, because he's
the closest thing to a star that I think has really been floated in the
Ben Simmons sweepstakes. You know, the Jaalen Browns, the Damian Lowers,
of the Bradley Beals. That's just not feasible at the moment. There's been
no concrete evidence any of them are available. Maybe that changes in the eleventh
hour. I wouldn't expect it to. If that's the type of player looking
for the off season is going to be the best time to move Ben Simmons
are the most likely time, and so that's still my expectation. I kind
of hope I'm wrong, so I don't necessarily want to talk about this all
the time. I also hope he just gets set somewhere out of the blue
too to just like a dark horse comes out. Maybe it's like this complicated
three or fourteen trade that Net's Philly a player and stuff that it wants,
so they're giving up more stuff because teams are sending each other all these players
and picks. That's how I'm rooting for this to end. I just don't
inspect it expected to end in that fashion. And the last thing I will
say on the with so many different Kings packages being floated, there was the
one where they were willing to give up Harrison, Barnes and Tyr's Halbert and
Buddy Healed effectively, and I think maybe picks were mentioned in that. I'd
be shocked if they are offering that. So I don't even want to go
into detail the one. But I found more fascinating that The Athletic reported and
then subsequently debunked Sacrament will be willing to take on Tobias Harrison to Ben Simmons
deal. So at that point you're going Dearreon Fox, Buddy Healed Harrison Barnes
for Ben Simmons and Debias Harris. I don't think that's the worst outcome in
the world for either side, because the Aaron Fox still give you that like
star type player upside, and then Buddy Healed and Harrison Bars are fantastic fits
for Philly. Harrison Bars is gonna give you more in defense than Tobias Harris.
Maybe you trust Pete Tobias Harris's ball skills more, but he's just you
know, he could benefit some quicker decision making it maybe a team that plays
faster than the Sixers do, where though, like he's not particularly explosive,
so he's sort of part of that sloth paced the way that the Sixers play
anyway for the Kings, I don't Here's more in that I'm a dearon Fox,
truth and believer, and so that's why I would view him as a
player from Philly that I would take back as the primary asset Simmons trade.
You could make the argument, though, that the four years in one hundred
and thirty four plus million left on his deal is not a net positive asset.
You can also make the case that the two years and forty plus million
left the Buddy Heals deal is also not a net positive asset, and so
I don't view that necessarily as an egregious cost because the Iron Fox is the
only player in that whole Kitten Kabudo that would be viewed as a long term
asset. Really to Or is a surefire big picture anchor long term. And
I think even when you look at this roster, I wouldn't for the Kings.
I wouldn't trade Harris. I wouldn't trade with Shawn Holmes. I wouldn't
trade Tyrese Haliburton. I'd be open to moving Fox and then deal like this,
or I just wouldn't trade him. I'm not looking to sell the Iron
Fox. So those are the three players you're keeping. It's not Healed,
it's not Barns. So by giving him up in this taking back Tobias Harris's
if you want to call it bad money, or just two years where again,
you have them with Ben Simmons, you have them with Tyrese Halibert.
Not the primary person task with creating doesn't give you a true wing defender.
But that's your problem now. Anyway, I don't hate, I don't hate
the outcome. Second, it would be justifiable. Would I do it in
a heartbeat? I probably would? Because the kids, the kid, the
kids, the Kings need to do fucking something like let's pick a direction.
You've just been in this state of useless existence for far too long now,
or you won't pick an actual angle. So I probably would do that deal,
and I just don't. I also think the benefit there where people think
the Kings are giving up a ton, I'm not. I don't think Debias
Harris is watched it. Think he could be a fine player, overpaid relative
to what he does. Sure, that's not his fault. He's on that
contract. I want all players to get paid, but it has become a
cumbersome deal relative to what he does. That being said, if taking him
on and then giving up these players spare you for him to give up a
bunch of picks and swaps, that's also a benefit to working the deal within
that context. Clayson says on the Ben Simmons front, I have a trade
idea Ben Simmons to Utah for Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson thoughts. I think
this framework is interesting in the sense that Mike Conley is still really good and
would help Philadelphia out. A ton gives you someone who can hit jumpers off
the dribble, gives you someone who can run the offense, and crunch time
gives you someone who's worse than Ben Simmons. On defense. But when you
just look at point guard defenders, especially at his size, still just one
of the non crappier ones if you want to, I wouldn't pick Mike Conley
for all defense or say that he's like this hugely positive player there. But
when you have him surrounded in lineups, if there's like a if Fible's on
the floor with him, maybe Danny Green is feeling healthy that day. You
know Joel Embiid is behind him, so he's it's worked out with Rugobert and
Utah. Maybe starting Seth and Conley in the backcourt gets a little wishy washy,
and you know, playing Conley with Jordan Clarkson could have serious issues there.
But you know how much better is done from Mitchell defensively, even than
Seth Curry. Maybe it's maybe it's appreciably. Perhaps I haven't watched enough Seth
Curry on defense. I do think he was kind of underrated in that element
during his time in Dallas and then it sort of faded a bit. It's
come to Philly. The framework makes sense. I wouldn't do this deal if
I'm Philly, though, because Mike Conley is in his age thirty four season,
I believe, and so you have to start questioning how healthy is he
going to remain, how much smaller he's gonna play at a higher level.
He can't be just the only primary asset you're getting back where to me,
you're gonna have to include at least a pick and a swap like and they're
looking at I think it's twenty twenty six is the earliest pick that they can
convey right now. So you could do a twenty twenty five swap, pending
other obligations at twenty twenty six pick, twenty twenty seven swap, and then
twenty twenty eight pick. You could structure. I'm not saying give up two
swaps and two picks, that's what you could do. I still don't think
that would be enough. You're not getting out of this deal. I don't
think it's gonna dring Mike Conley and Royce O'Neill would have to be the framework
for me. I don't think that Philly would value a Boyaan Madanovitch in this
type of a deal. You're not and if you're Philly, you're not getting
Donovan Mitchell, and you have no use for Rudy Gobert Norder I think you
would get him. I do think the Cammy idea as an interesting framework.
Now I don't like Ben Simmons and Utah specially he's exactly the type of defender
they need. But playing him next to Rudy Gobert is a lot different than
playing him next to him Bid because of the way that Imbid can still pop
out beyond the arc or has an off the dribble game, or you can
take shots from mid range. That's not Rudy Gobert's game, and Ben Simmons
then shrinks the floor a ton for you. I do think Utah would still
have the talent and Thermo Nuclear are shooting and a boyam Agdanovitch Joe ingles when
he's on Donna Mitchell when he's on to navigate it. But you are really
trusting your offense a lot there. And I would wonder how effective is Rudy
Gobert when when he said he's screams like, what if Ben Simmons is running
can pick and roll with Rudy Gobert, What does that necessarily look like?
Perhaps it looks a lot better because the Jazz can always ensure they'll have three
shooters around them when that happens, but I would be very reticent for Utah
to do. I figure it would be Mike Conley, Royce O'Neil and some
kind of combination of picks and swaps. I'll throw that back to Jazz fans
or placing a large Are you doing that? That's the cost Mike Conley,
roycel Meal and up to two picks and two swaps. I don't know if
that's too much. I don't know if that's what they'd be willing to give
up. If it's one pick and two swaps, two picks and whatever the
case. But you're not getting out of that trade without giving up first round
pate just because of Mike Conley's page, even Jacobs as what is the Hornet's
best defensive lineup? So speaking of talking about we need to properly contextualize stuff
that's going on. Don't look now, but the Hornets since December twenty third,
which is you know, excuse me, a sample size with twelve games,
have the third best defense in the league. There's been some They've had
different personnel on and off the cord, on and out of the rotation that
time. The biggest difference for them, though, is the interior presence has
been better. I think they're getting a little bit lucky in some regards,
just you know, opponents shooting sixty two point three percent of the rim is
that, you know, looking at the lineups and their center rotation, is
that something that actually lines up with the talent? I would say no,
but they're not getting lucky on opponent three point per shooting opponent three point shooting,
which would be something to considered there. They've also just done a much
better job in transition, even though they're still letting teams get out in transition.
A ton part of me thinks that there's just aberration here. But what
the biggest difference that I've noticed from them in the games that I've seen during
this stretch. They feel more likely to get a defensive rebound, which is
not a significant deal for Charlotte if you've watched them at all this season.
And so that just combined with you know, smarter rim protection. I think
you know, them dealing with some of their players being out, especially not
having LaMelo Balls passing as a crutch, influenced some of the lineups that James
Virago was playing, and you were guys who might play harder on defense a
little bit. I do think just there the general activity away from the ball
to where it doesn't think they're gonna get burned every five seconds on the next
pass by that next player has been good. Roll. The defensive rebounding sustained.
This is all to say their best defensive lineup. I want to look
at only this stretch that we've seen over the last twelve games and somebody just
the most used combinations, the two that stand out to me. And by
the way, the starting lineup they prefers twenty five just statistically has been rock
solid defensively all year round average, and that's held basically true during this stretch.
But some of the framework here that intrigues me is the I think i'd
go with the This is a smaller lineup, but it's played twenty two minutes
during this stretch of Hayward Rosier, Bridges, Cody Martin and PJ. Washington
defensive rating of sixty during their time on the floor, and they're one of
Charlotte's five most used lineups during this stretch of portent field goal percentage of sub
sub fifty or sub forty nine actually, and they're grabbing seventy four point one
percent of defensive rebounds when they're on the floor. The other one that I
think is interesting. You have Plumbly on the court with Hayward, Rosier McDaniels
and LaMelo Ball a ninety two six defensive rating, which is I don't want
to say it's more sustainable, but it's just more normal. And I think
when you look at the players that are part of this one, knowing the
way that plum Lea's minutes pan out who he plays with, and then knowing
that lament of balls this you understand the quality of competition that they're going up
against. And that group has been grabbing eighty point eight percent of their defensive
rebounds during the stretch. When you're looking to the season at large, and
you just want to going through their like most used lineups and who has the
best defensive rating, Like I said, the starting launcher, it's actually dead
average that is hysterical fiftieth percentile, and in defensive rating, the LaMelo Ball,
Heyward uber Bridges plum Lee combination is in the sixty fourth percentile defensive efficiency.
I think just of their most used combinations the season, the one that's
been most successful statistically has been LaMelo Ball, Rosy year, Jealn McDaniel's Hayward
and plumbly call, and so it's the one we just had it before.
I'm just gonna roll with that then, because I was only thinking back to
this stretch. I know Jealn McDaniel could be all over the place on certain
games, but he's proven to be valuable to this team. And I also
think we've started to see more often why the Hornets paid terriers a year,
including on offense for certain stretches. I still don't know if I agree with
the money that he got, knowing with the Caps based landscape is this summer,
but that is my answer. It's LaMelo ball Terror's year. Joe McDaniels
Gordon heard Mason Plumley. I'm sure Canada Edwards used to be the co host
of the Lockdown Horns podcast and is now a podcast cruiser at CBS Sports.
Fantastic guy who covers the NBA large but also the horse specifically. I'm sure
he would disagree with me and just have a better answer there, but that
is that is my answer. That was an indestring question. You can thank
you THHM seven eighty six as where does anthy Edwards put himself in terms of
offensive and defensive efficiency. Hopefully this question will satiate everyone who thought that we
crapped all over Anthony Edwards by not having him higher up in our top ten
players under twenty five rankings when ordering them by their career outlook. I think
I had him twelve and THROW had him ten, So I will say just
numbers aside the thing that I've enjoyed watching. I know there's been some turnover
issues at points of Anthony Edwards relative to the what his role has been and
what he's doing on offense. I don't necessarily have a problem with it.
There's just like more patients there for him, and ability to sort of manipulate
the pace of or at which he plays or at which the defense plays.
When he's in the half court, there's there's like more of a methodical surgicalness
to his game or surge account. I don't know, I don't even know
how to frame it, but that's the sense that I've gotten from watching him
this year, where it felt like he was more on this just like I
don't even know what the word like explosive, like always on mode or last
year I've been very impressed with his willingness to let plays develop or really just
develop plays with the ball in his hands himself by by being more patient he
is. When you want to look at some of the kitchen sitting metrics,
he brings forty six in offensive points added from NBA math two hundred and forty
four in defensive points saved. When you look at dumpson Three's estimated plus mind
is, he's in the ninetieth percentile on offense and sixty seventh percentile on defense,
eighty seven percentile of estimated plus minus overall, I do think the Timberwolves
are the best team in the league at forcing turnovers. Defensively, I do
think he Happy Edwards could be a part of that. I think that the
off ball activity level is can really muck up certain possessions. I don't know
where I would pay him defensively. Is he above average, average, below
average? There are games that he has where I look at him like,
this is someone who technically hit a best player in the league potential because of
what he's able to do in theory. Defensively, I just don't know if
you're if that's someone who I don't even want to call it locked in is
it going to be as effective or us biquitous enough on that end. I
think what's also interesting from we've seen as efficiency sort of climb on twos is
finishing around the rim, getting the besket a little bit less, but it's
right where the finishing was last season. What I think has been huge to
the Timberwolves would be nice if that off the dribble three he takes a bunch
would come along. But you got to give him credit for really just black
like torching the net on his shoot looks, which I think is made the
Wolves offense one. They don't have guys who can get three is on a
consistent basis. He is part of that appoints, but I do think it's
alleviated some of the pressure on the Wolves with how he would fit off the
ball. He's posting an effective field goal percentage of sixty four on catch and
shoot opportunities of the one hundred and eight players who are taking it more than
three point five spot up looks per game. He ranks ninth in effective field
goal percentage behind Tyler Hero is the one directly in front of him, and
he's right ahead of Norman Powell. That's growth for him there, and I
think it makes him I don't know if I want to call it more plug
and play, but more scalable. And so there are more player types that
you could put around him, There are more ways that you could sort of
build out your team because of this improvement from him. Just a fantastic player.
Like I said, he is great, and I would not not that
I want. Well, maybe I wouldn't want to fast forward two or three
years from not just because of this pandemic ridden world we live in. But
who knows whether anything will be better. I'm anxious to see where he'll be
in the league, league's individual pecking leader over the next couple of years.
Bulls fans Statistically speaking, how good is iotau mode? Defensively? Again,
defensive metrics here and need to come with a grain of salt, but I
am here to please. He's three three, three hundred and thirty third in
defensive points saved. That's he's sixty seventh though out of one hundred and eighteen
first year players in mbamath database. That's firmly in the middle. He's in
the forty fifth percentile estimated plus minus defensive metrics. What I will say and
so This is where beeball index come comes at handy and I think could really
help you back up what you're seeing on the eye test. I would describe
his defensive energy as just frenetic or controlled chaos, because it's just like always
on and looks out of control, but there's a composure there and there's a
rhyme or reason of what what he's doing. It's like if it's like,
I don't know he's looking on hingeness to the way he's playing, but it's
so deliberate and composed it works, and so you can I watched that and
I just see his ability to sort of fight through guys or cover just all
these sort of point of attack weapons or just wings slash guards. So I
checked some stuff at people and next mostly lines up. There were a few
things that I was surprised by that he was worse at or better at than
I would have expected, but mostly lined up with what I saw. And
so I'll frame it this way. The value he adds as an on ball
defender and then a ball then defending ball handlers against the screen, there are
only nine players or eight other players who are matching the value he adds again
as an on ball defender overall, and then when defending a ball handler against
the screen, they're only eight other players who have the same or better matchup
difficulty level while adding as much value as an on ball defender or again when
defending a ball handler on screens. Those eight players are I wounded that though
Isaaca Coro, Latif thigh Ball, George Hill, Damian Mitchell, Mike Comedy,
Drew Holiday, and Fred Van Fleet for vent fleeping the Monster this year.
By the way, we've definitely mentioned on this podcast before, Iowa is
also easily the second youngest player in the league to add as much value as
an on ball defender and ball handler against screens in as much playing time as
he's had on the court. Isaaco Coro, who I mentioned in this is
the the only other player who's younger and doing that. So he has been
a net positive again just as a general on ball defender, and when you're
looking at him having to defend against the screen when he's on the ball handler
prayer B ball index and his matchup difficulty is in the seventy sixth percentile.
And so those players that I just mentioned are the only other players who match
all those those vitals of his in as much playing time, so I would
assume O good, and I wonder if that changes the way the Bulls are
thinking at the trade deadline, By the way, is the only thing I'll
say. I do think the injury Alonzo ball stuff coming on with zac Calaheen,
maybe that shifts they're thinking a little bit. There's still just ultra win
now, so maybe it doesn't. I'm not saying you move Io, but
does he make you feel a little bit better about potentially moving Patrick Williams.
I think the scope of Williams's role when you're looking at him on offense probably
not gonna put the same type of rim pressure on defense. Is that Dzuma
will but could have more ball skills. I still don't know that it makes
you feel a lot more confident. That being said, I'm just wondering if
that impacts they're thinking at all. And so you could say, well,
if we knew Patrick Williams, we're getting Jeremy Grant or Harrison Barnes right now,
you still have Dsum who's just like this guy who can guard one through
three. Anyway, Jake asked, could you tell me what's up with Steph?
He really isn't in his shooting slump anymore, but he's barely touching the
balls. He's just letting the team sort of gel together since Clay is back
and Drey is out for now. I pose this question to a number of
people, to two people, I should say, and they gave me some
version of the same answer, And then Tommy Gunn tweeted steph news substitution pattern
makes it so he has to play thirty nine minutes in any close game.
It also gives GSW less frequent blowouts because he's not demolishing teams at the end
of the first and third quarters like he used to to stretch the lead.
Stop this ship. It isn't working. So the wars have basically rested Steph
and every quarter of this season is what they've done so that he've been play
in it rather than him playing, you know, like the entire third quarter
as he used to. And so when you look at his effective field percentage
in the fourth this year, it's at fifty four. Last year is at
sixty three point two, so you're looking at a nine point two point swing
in the wrong direction. He's also averaging eight point four minutes in the fourth
for the first time. That's his highest I should say since twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen. That seems to be the general idea of this pattern. But
I also just wonder because it's coming later and after he has played a little
bit in the third, it's easier to shoulder the heavier workload in the third
when you're coming off of Okay, you had a break in the second,
it was also a halftime. Now you're coming out setting the world on fire,
and as Tommy pointed out, extending leads in the third, and it
seemed like it maybe could work at the beginning of the season. It's not
working now. I don't know that's at the root of what's going on.
When you look at his touches, there's not like this overwhelming difference. I
do think there's an element of him probably trying to get a feeling out process
with you know, he's really trying to get the ball to Lay Thompson.
That points since since Clay has come back, there's been the Andrew Wiggins experience
for both better and worse this season, and there's always been the propensity to
sort of have Steph move off the ball because of the poll that he has
and the danger that he poses in that role. So there have been games
records this season where it does feel like he's gone way too long without touching
the ball, or should we say dominating it. I also think that the
Warrior's offense in general is a problem because you do you have enough knockdown shooters
around him? Do you have enough secondary creators? And the answer is no,
regards of what you think about Andrew Wiggins joined poll, the answer is
just no, even when you think about lay Thompson, and so that just
makes it easier for defenses to make concessions. And it's always not always made
it easier, but like the way you're able to attack him off the ball,
if you're not as worried about the teammates actually have the ball in their
hands that is going to her Steff. That's sort of where I'm at with
this. I don't know if the substitution pattern changes anything specific tically. I
do think that there will be more stretches where he's allowed to dominate. When
you look at that substitution substitution pattern, and my gut would say it just
makes more sense to have him play the entire third quarter rest at the beginning
of the fourth so that he's fresh, rather than trying to play him even
more in the in the fourth quarter. At this point, the dude is
in his middle, you know, thirties. It's it's at least worth considering
and tinkering with from from here on. Would would be my gut to say
Ooper. Next question asked realistic trade targets for the Mavericks, including or not
including KP. If you're going to trade Chris stops Porzingis, who has played,
who's had some real moments over the past, real good moments over the
past few weeks, I think it needs to be for like a huge swing,
and I just don't know who that type of player is that would be
worth doing it for. Would you do it for I don't even know,
like a Gordon Hayward swap. If Chris stops Porzingis, If that's something Charlotte
was interested in, I still think d Alice would probably be looking even a
cut above him. Is it a degen Day Murray trade to he qualifies that,
why would the Spurgeon and trade. Remember it's that sort of type player.
Not giving him up for Miles Turner, You're not giving him up for
Jeremy Grant like those types of players, and those are the types of deals,
those that I think you're most That's the ceiling, I should say,
not most like me on the MAVs, because they just don't have the the
asset juice to get into the discussions for the highest end of players. They
can't come Bay a first round pick until twenty twenty five. Right now,
Jalen bruns is playing fantastic, but he's also a free agent this season.
I think they'll be teams that value his bird rights because maybe they don't have
cap space, or even if you do have cap space, his cap hold
is so damn low that you could just carry it, have a crap ton
of cap space, spend it, and then go back over the cap and
pay him. There's aren't a lot of great there. There are no great
teams that have cap space this summer. I think Memphis is the only like,
actually good team that's laid to have cap space. And Memphis doesn't need
Gallen Brunson at least doesn't need to pay Jalen Brunson, so that would be
something to considered that makes it tough. I do wonder if Dallas, who
was cited as a favorite in a report that I would call bunk. I
don't like to, you know, shit on people's reportings. I understand it's
a it's a hard job, but there's also just stuff like come on,
no, they're not because and then Dwight Powell was mentioned as like one of
the primary gobacks in the deal. I do wonder if Miles Turner's injury makes
him more gettable for Dallas the seasons. Is it? He seems so un
likely to move some bonus. I almost like the Pacers are now just gonna
hold on to both of them, trying and flip Miles Turner over the off
season where his value will either be higher because he'll came back and played well
or about net neutral, but by dangling a first or maybe the Pacers want
Brunson. I still wouldn't. I don't know I would give well, I
shouldn't say that. I'd probably about Brunson for Turner. I'm not gonna lie
as part of like the package there, even though that really does hurt your
shock creation pecking order. Still, I think Jeremy Grant would be the ceiling
on it. It's Jeremy Grant and Miles Turners a ceiling for the target,
both of whom I wouldn't mind, by the way in Dallas noways feel like
the best type of players they might be able to get, and you need
Detroit to like John Brunson. They are going to have cap space, so
they could just pay him. Like I said before, though cap hold is
so low that you could carry him, spend your cap space elsewhere, get
a lot better, and then go back and pay him all going over the
cap. Is Detroit at a point in this development where it should be thinking
like that. Probably not. I would be very tantalized by a jail and
Brunson Kike cunning him pairing though as your primary ball here. So if they
like him and you're willing to include another first round pick, or maybe it's
a swap, could there be a deal to be made there some other Those
are not the only targets I have. I wanted to go off some of
the beaten paths, but I do have to recycle some of the greatest hits.
I think Eric Gordon would be a great fit for this team. He
is rim pressure in addition to being able to hit super deep threes, and
that's a player type the Mavericks could really need because It's like what the best
version of Tim Hardaway Junior could be, except his game is stalled out before
the rim more than that. And I think when you look at Dallas,
who by way fourth and points allowed per possession where it's sixth, right,
they're the top seven points allowed per possession this season, that is Wow.
They've gotten a little bit lucky. Opponents are shooting thirty two point four percent
on above the break threes. I don't think that's something that holds for them
at the moment. Still, they've done a relatively good job of how they've
structured their defensive shot profile. When you really look at it, their seventh
in location affective field goal percentage, which, for anyone who doesn't know,
if this team allowed the league average field goal percentage from each location, what
would their opponents affective field goal percentage be. They rank seventh in expected and
they are in actuality tenth, so it sort of lines up perfectly there.
And they've done a better job of limiting the volume at the rim than I
thought they were going to. And they really do seem to focus on getting
guys out of those above the break threes and forcing them into maybe you know,
I do think the way that they defend sometimes would leave them susceptible to
give up more corner three. Is that being said? I think it also
helps them force Coke's opponents into more mid range jump shots. I think there's
a lot of teams that's really going to help you. I digress there.
But Gordon, I think, is someone you can acquire. He's expensive,
but he's gettable for that reason, I don't I wouldn't give up John Bruntson
for him, but I give up my twenty twenty five first. I plan
to him to get off some bad money in that deal. Are they willing
to do it for seconds or swaps or is there something else that could happen
there? I don't know, but that's someone I'd be looking at. I
already mentioned Moles Turner, Jeremy Grant. I think this is another recycled name,
but Cares Lavert quietly been on a tear and I think, look he
ranks. This is perpy Bell Index. He's in the ninety six percentile of
overall shot creation and the seventy four percent tile of pull up three point shot
making, the ladder of which has been fueled by his play over the past
twenty games. Or so where he's been magnificent hitting his catch and shoot threes
at above a forty percent clip during that stretch too. That's someone who I
think could help them as a ton. Does he help them more than Eric
Gordon? I don't know. I think the ceiling on him helping them as
high than Eric Gordon because Eg's not going to be someone you trust to necessarily
slow down and run, pick and roll. Eg's also just come for your
fit alongside Luca. So those are my two favorite ones so far that we've
seen. Jordan Clarkson is someone I would keep an eye on. He gives
you real shot creation, even though it's not always great shot creation. He
can make stuff happens when he attacks inside the arc. We'll settle for some
threes, not putting a ton of pressure on the rim or getting into the
foul line, but can still juice up your secondary offense, which if you
want to play Brunson and Luca together, like you sort of need that guy
who maybe you stagger with them, and Clarkson would help them there, would
Utah have interest? You know, we're talking about a trade target for them
to maybe have, Like can you play next to Regal Bear? Or beef
up their center rotation or help their secondary rim protection depending on the opponent of
are they willing to build something around Max and Cleba? There can you withstand
giving up Dory and Phinney Smith in this deal? Of those are things that
they could look at. I love the idea of a Derek White with this
team, someone who could defend also give you some creation. He's gotten better
as sort of a shot creator this season. If for a really slow,
slow start, not sharp, excuse me. Norman Powell would be another guy.
I don't think you probably have the whole the assets necessary to get him,
assuming Portland would even move him. He's on the smaller end, but
he gives you some pure rim pressure, not and the floor spacing. It's
kind of like a I don't want to say, a younger version of Eric
Gordon, but like they would address a lot of the same issues where neither
one of them you would trust necessarily slow down and run the offense. But
if you just need them to create their own shot with either a burst of
speed or from a standstill and trying to attack the rim, they can do
that, or they can camp out from beyond the arc. And I do
think Powell would bring some prenetic energy after you know, miss shots from opponents,
whether he grabs a rebound or he's just willing to run the floor there
if Dallas lets him. And he's just sort of a little bit more plug
and play than Carouse Albert to me too. And then Kyle Arrison would be
sneaky. Just what do the Grizzlies want for him? Because he's going to
enter free agency. His role has been marginalized a little bit with this team
being so well and having other players to soak up minutes at the three and
the four. Could Dallas get him? And I'm not giving up a first
round pick for him. I'm not giving up Jolen Brunson for him. And
he's also not this lockdown defender doesn't necessarily improve your floors basing or rim pressure.
But he's like good with the ball in his hands where he can just
get to his spots, set up plays and make good decisions for others.
And that just might be someone the Mavericks could use. And you know,
the pace at which they play for sometimes anyway is perfectly suited for Kyle Anderson.
I just don't know. They have some pretty easy salary get to match.
Would you give up Maxi Kleiba for Kyle Anderson who works in Memphis?
I don't. I don't know that I give up Dorian Finnie Smith. I
probably wouldn't. Yeah, that would be another name I think my favorite ones
on this list. Let me give you my top three trade targets for the
Mavericks, and I think some of them are going to be Gray's hits Derek
White, Harris Lavert, and Eric Gordon, with Kyle Anderson pushing a very
I try to balance the realism here with the higher end outcomes. So by
juggling those two factors, I'm gonna say Kristavert, Eric Gordon, and Kyle
Anderson, just because I don't think the Spurs make a big mid season trade
along those lines. But Derek White would be in there too. So my
top four I lied. If anything, I gave you extra work there.
This one is a very easy question because I can just look it up.
Michael asked what teams have the top net rating in the league this season,
So there's the caveat that these team wide stats are just so skewed based off
the availability of players. I do think when you look at the top five,
though, it lines up. Phoenix is first, Utah's second, Golden
State is third, Miami is fourth, Milwaukee is fifth, and we'll go
seventy. Cleveland is sixth, and memphisis seventh, and I just wanted to
mention those two teams just obliterated expectations this season been absolutely absurd. I did
want to look at who had the biggest difference between net ratings and wins versus
losses, but I had looked at it earlier this season and looked at it
again and just the changes that I saw, and believe that was too influenced
by single game implosions or just like that revolving door of availability from before Christmas
through the start of the new year. So I decided to just look at
which seems to the highest net rating and wins to go off this question.
I hope maybe you're interested in this. Michael, Utah's first. San Antonio
is second, Minnesota is third, Milwaukee is fourth, Dallas is fifth,
Golden State is sixth, and Memphis is seventh. So Golden State, Memphis,
and Utah, there's some real consistency there just because their net ratings are
They're in the top seven of both net ratings and wins and the net ratings
overall always good to look at that. I do think this one's tough because
you have games, like you know, think about Okay, SE's being skewed
by that Memphis loss. It deserves to be, but one game can one
blow out can impact those a lot, and then also the revolving door of
availability for a lot of these teams. I really do think harsh is divide
if anyone cares and you want to look at which teams have the worst net
ratings this season, I have a pretty I have a pretty good idea that
if I gave you guys, just any random persons listening to his podcast,
I give you seven guesses. You probably guess the bottom five teams in net
rating, but they are Orlando at thirty, Detroit at twenty nine, Houston
at twenty eight, Okay, see at twenty seven, New Orleans at twenty
six. I will say Pelican has been playing better over the past few weeks,
and there they've been fun to watch. Here's hoping's Eon comes back soon.
Last few questions. We're getting through this, probably not under an hour,
but this will be the last question from Alex will get We have two
others that I'd like to tackle with Adams, so we'll save him for next
time. Alex asked, are the Celtics better off without Marcus Smart? My
answer is no, But even when you look at there just on off swings
this year, they're better on both offense and defense statistically with him. He
still is hugely impactful on the defensive end, but I think he's ere replaceable
to them at this point. No, because of his limitations on offense,
I do sometimes feel like he's a miscast. They do need him to run
more pick and rolls than I think he should. Even I've kind of been
impressed with I went back and watched some of his turnovers, like off of
assists and assists this year. I've been impressed with a lot of the passes
that he has made. But he's averaging point six two points per possession as
a pick and roll ball handler. That is not good, and it's down
from point nine last year. His turnover percentage on pick and rolls is I
would call it detrimental. He is turning the ball over on twenty two point
five percent of his pick and roll possessions. Among eighty eight players who have
run at least one hundred or finished one hundred pick and roll possessions this year
as the ninth highest turnover percentage in the league, just ahead of Russell Westbrook,
who is the tenth highest. So that's not a place you want to
be. And I think because of how gummy Boston's half court offense can be
at points, there's also the fact that teammates have missed a lot of quality
shots and they're not necessarily always off Marcus mark passes, but that would be
something to consider here. I will say his own shooting being on it.
I know people have thought he's not a great shooter to begin with. It's
on the climb from last season. He's been fairly reliable the past two seasons.
There are one hundred and seventy six players who have attempted more than fifty
off the dribble jumpers this season. Marcus Smart's effective field goal percentage allopping twenty
five point four ranks one hundred and seventy six out of one hundred and seventy
six players. This is a problem. I would consider moving him if if
I were with him, I'd be looking at selling if I were the Celtics,
not just to duct the tax, but we have Jayson Tatum and Jalen
Brad How can we shake this up around the margins. I don't know that's
smart to be the first one I'm looking to move there. There's Dennis Shrewder.
Obviously, there's report that they were looking at me Val Horford. It's
been rock solid for them this season. I just think they probably prefer not
to have to pay him on like fourteen point five million to go away or
keep him at his full number next year. Josh Richardsons someone I would look
to move, just because can you give me Smith more minutes? Or do
you like lankforters? There's just something to sort of change the wing rotation.
Get someone who's either going to help you as a floor general, help you
put more pressure on the rim. I don't I don't know, just be
Josher's has been one of their better shooters this year, so I don't know
if they're afford to move him, but they do need shooting in general,
which Josh Richardson provides. They also need someone who puts pressure on the basket
with the ball in his hands, and just an overall form in general,
which Josh Richardson is not. I would also argue Marcus Smart is not filling
either of those three boxes right now, and can you look to either re
cool players, a better fit or just assets that help you make the next
move later. If it's picks in prospects, I would love to see Marcus
Smart in Utah. I think that would be a general like a destination for
him. I don't know, like if Joe Angles and a future pick and
swap and Jared Butler, does that get it done. The Celtics could probably
use Jordan Clarkson along the same trade work. I don't know if they would
use the two years left on his deals an asset or not. And he
doesn't help with their rim pressure issue in Atlanta. Would be a fun destination
for him. Just imagine him and Trey Young playing together, and do you
worry about him during the minutes where Clinkoppela is on the floor. Perhaps,
but that's maybe something they could make work. There are a lot of teams
that could use a Marcus Smart and maybe his shooting would come up in a
better situation I think is shooting this is more of an admiration than the past
two years, is how I would frame it with him. When you're looking
at that efficiency that will do it for me. I hope you enjoyed this
mail bag. Continue to send us questions on the discord. The link is
in the podcast description, or you can DM me at Dampa Valley at A
V A l E. Looking forward to talk to with you guys. I'm
there. Please join it you can. I haven't open right now, so
invite people to join it as well. I want to see if you can
really build up the community there first, just by word of mouth, before
we promote it from our own Twitter accounts where we have like a you know,
just between MBA math and Hardwarknocks. We have like ninety thousand people who
follow those accounts, mostly NBA MAATH I know. Shout out to Frow for
building it up. Follow us on Twitter at Hardwa Knox. Follow me on
Twitter as I mentioned at Damp Valley FA v al E. Follow Adam at
FROMO zero nine f R O M A L. Follow us on Instagram at
Harvard Underscore Knox, and follow us on YouTube YouTube dot com start Hardwar Knox.
We will come up and again can't stress this enough. Join discord.
Let's see if you have recommendations for it. If you want to get conversations
started. If you have any questions about it, just ask me that the
link is in the pocrypt podcast description, and I really hope that we'll be
seeing you there. Maybe we can even run just mailbag style conversations where if
I can't get to questions or we'll just hold certain sessions there. We could
sync it up with Twitch or other streaming places, and maybe we could watch
as a community and watch games together. We can watch back Moore movies together,
if there's any movies you want to nominate. Not trying to commit you
to events that you want have time for. My overarching message sphere is to
close this out shout out Frankie Lakina, who really, really, really,
I imagine proudly most likely I'm not so sure actually, but let's just say
he does want you to join. That will not just get it