1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,120 What's up, y'all is Drewski and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,679 a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Due Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories 3 00:00:08,679 --> 00:00:11,839 of your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a 4 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:14,720 favorite team? Wasn't the Raptors at the time? Or no, was the 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,160 Raptors even started on the top? Come on, bro, I had that 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,559 tell you like I'm fifty, Taylor Rogues, Asian Wilson, and many more. 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,359 You won't want to miss this. Listen to The Due Zone with Drewski 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:32,359 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi. 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,200 Blue Wire listeners, I'm Greg Olsen. I'm excited to partner with Blue Wire 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,000 to bring you te one, a podcast where I interview the tight ends who 11 00:00:40,039 --> 00:00:45,920 have revolutionized the position. Listen in as I have raw, in depth conversations 12 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,280 with the all time greats like Shannon Sharp, Tony Gonzalez, Travis Kelsey, 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,240 and George Kittle. We'll explore how the tight end position has changed over the 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,280 last sixty years and what it takes to be the very best. Subscribe to 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,280 te one from Blue Wire Student dos today so you're ready for the August premiere. 16 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,000 Hello, Hardwood Knocks fans, This is Adam frommel here with my co 17 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,599 host Dan FAVALLEI. We have a special episode today about the all NBA teams. 18 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,519 We're going over our first team, our second team, our third team, 19 00:01:26,519 --> 00:01:32,560 and because we're apparently overachievers who both somehow did this without consulting each other, 20 00:01:32,599 --> 00:01:36,120 we also have a fourth team for you if anyone from the NBA is 21 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,959 listening. We don't have official votes. We would love to, but these 22 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,480 are unofficial. And this whole episode is brought to you by our sponsors deal 23 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,000 Dash and bet Online dot Ag. You'll be hearing from them with some promo 24 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,760 codes in a minute. But before we get there, Dan, how's it 25 00:01:49,799 --> 00:01:53,079 going today? So refreshing to be asked how I'm doing on a podcast that 26 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,640 I co host. That's all that's so, I'm doing amazing. Everyone always 27 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,040 asked me when I'm a guest, But it's refreshing. Is now beyond on 28 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,239 the receiving end of that question, how are you doing? I'm doing well. 29 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,840 It's just nice to know that everyone cares right or at least you at 30 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,439 least, and even if it's superficial. Yeah, I like it. It's 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,919 it's more folk care. But you know, I'm excited to talk about all 32 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,439 of NBA teams though, and basketball is back and it seems to be I'm 33 00:02:17,479 --> 00:02:20,840 you know, I'm like kind of a pessimist by trade with this stuff, 34 00:02:20,879 --> 00:02:24,159 and so I'm I'm like cautiously optimistic now that the NBA like might be okay. 35 00:02:24,159 --> 00:02:29,400 And we've already talked about how there are more moralistic things that go into 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:30,599 this too, where even if it can work, should they even be trying 37 00:02:30,599 --> 00:02:35,400 to do it? But it's I will say one, just objectively, I'm 38 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,400 happy that basket like basketball has been fun to watch since it's been back. 39 00:02:38,439 --> 00:02:43,560 And two, I'm obviously happy regardless of the other issues, that the Disney 40 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,560 campus at least seems to be doing well so far. Yeah, and it's 41 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,479 nice to see the NBA take it seriously enough that, you know, Kylo 42 00:02:50,599 --> 00:02:53,080 Quinn missed a test, he's not allowed to play. It'd be great if 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,000 all the players did the same. Looking at you, Terrence Davis, probably 44 00:02:55,039 --> 00:03:00,000 stop putting holes in your mask. God, But it is it is good 45 00:03:00,159 --> 00:03:04,280 that for the most part, everyone seems to be taking it seriously and the 46 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,240 NBA is doing a good job. It's still it's still a little bit disconcerting 47 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:15,319 that we're watching all these resources be allocated and the focus beyond basketball, even 48 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:20,319 with the social justice focus as well. But if they're going to do it, 49 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,120 which they are, we have to be pleased that they're doing a good 50 00:03:23,199 --> 00:03:24,039 job with it. That's the way to look at it. If they're going 51 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,639 to do it anyway, at least it seems like they found the way to 52 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:30,919 do it. And hey, it's at least proved to be. EON's more 53 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:36,039 effective than whatever the hell baseball is doing right now. Absolutely, and we've 54 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,599 had so many close fun games. I was I've been shocked by the quality 55 00:03:39,639 --> 00:03:44,759 of play right off the bat, Like you can definitely see that that some 56 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,680 players came more prepared than others. I think the best example was the first 57 00:03:49,719 --> 00:03:53,439 game of the restart where JJ Reddick, like the veteran consummate professional that he 58 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:58,680 is, he looked damn good, just showing new pieces of his game, 59 00:03:58,759 --> 00:04:02,120 showing the same old piece that have made him such a successful role player throughout 60 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:08,199 his career. But like it, the quality in general has surpassed my expectations. 61 00:04:08,599 --> 00:04:11,439 I'm with you, even some of the uglier stuff like Clippers Lakers, 62 00:04:11,599 --> 00:04:14,360 like that wasn't the prettiest basketball, but it was just so much fun. 63 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,879 Maybe I was just went without basketball competitive basketball for too long, but seeing 64 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:23,720 Lebron really try guarding Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, that was spectacular. Kyle 65 00:04:23,759 --> 00:04:26,759 Kuzman was hitting threes all of a sudden, like it was just and it 66 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,680 was a close game, Like he said, that's been the biggest thing. 67 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,839 I was going to wait until after the All NBA teams to ask you, 68 00:04:30,879 --> 00:04:35,839 this is there like any player or team thus far, given we're so early 69 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,319 into the bubble or campus mesh hat, whatever you want to call it, 70 00:04:39,399 --> 00:04:43,399 that's just floored you with how things have undergone, whether it's bad or good. 71 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,480 Yeah, I think the Phoenix Suns are a good basketball team, and 72 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,720 it's been a while since we've been able to say that. But Devin Booker 73 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,839 is incredible. DeAndre Aiden looks to keep making strides on both ends of the 74 00:04:55,879 --> 00:05:00,639 floor. Ricky Rubio ended the pre hiatus portion of the season season on this 75 00:05:00,759 --> 00:05:04,399 absolute tear. He's continued to play effectively. They have depth, they have 76 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,839 top level talents, and I don't think that they're going to make any noise 77 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:15,079 this season aside from proving their competitiveness and earning respect from other teams they're playing 78 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,079 against, But watch out for them next year. Yeah. I was actually 79 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:23,439 gonna cite Michael Bridges, who's been like my Sirens song for quite some time. 80 00:05:23,439 --> 00:05:26,000 And I know Suns fans are quick to point out that they've been in 81 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,439 on him for a while, so congratulates them. But he's going to be 82 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,959 ridiculously good if he becomes like the offensive constant that he's kind of been since 83 00:05:32,319 --> 00:05:35,720 in the past play stopped, but just the past few months that ends up 84 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:41,800 being huge. Just playmaking off like on his drives is really just subtly great. 85 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,360 And if you have that three player base with Booker, Eton and Bridges, 86 00:05:46,399 --> 00:05:49,399 you're in good shape. Cam Johnson is good too. You have Ricky 87 00:05:49,439 --> 00:05:55,120 Rubio there. I think they're like a power like a perfect fitting power forward 88 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,680 away from being a consensus playoff team. Would be the way imagine if they 89 00:05:59,759 --> 00:06:01,839 still had TJ. Warren, who they just gave away. I mean, 90 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,120 we're still complimenting the Suns, but they do deserve criticism for that because t 91 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,480 J. Warren has probably the single most impressive performance of the bubble experience so 92 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,639 far with his fifty three spot. And I think it's like a disservice to 93 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,079 him when people are including him in that Tony Delk Corey Brewer conversation as the 94 00:06:18,079 --> 00:06:24,600 most unlikely fifty P scorers because he has been such an effective scorer and has 95 00:06:24,959 --> 00:06:29,519 been improving and this wasn't like some totally out of nowhere performance based on what 96 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,879 we'd seen earlier this season. Yeah, TJ. Warren's always been kind of 97 00:06:32,519 --> 00:06:38,079 a bucket with smoking face emoji. The one thing I'll say, in sort 98 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,160 of the Sun's defense, look they needed to get They never should have just 99 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,560 gotten cash considerations for TJ. Warren. But he also would have never been 100 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,399 this good defensively in Phoenix, because Indiana just turns whatever they get in terms 101 00:06:48,399 --> 00:06:51,120 of wings just into good defenders. And I also don't think he was the 102 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:56,480 best fit for this roster specifically because Kelly Uber Junior was already there at that 103 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,360 point they were planning on. Part of the reason that they moved Warren was 104 00:06:59,399 --> 00:07:01,639 that they could afford with Rubio and and Kelley Bridge Junior, so they needed 105 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,399 to get more. But I don't think that we can act like they missed 106 00:07:04,439 --> 00:07:08,680 out on this like talent who would have pushed them over the top, which 107 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,959 is how it was being framed. After a fifty three spot, I will 108 00:07:10,959 --> 00:07:15,079 also have gotten the touches either next to Aiden and Rubio and Booker, and 109 00:07:15,079 --> 00:07:16,439 he is one of the guys that like kind of in the vein of Marcus 110 00:07:16,439 --> 00:07:20,199 Morris where they can hit their catch and shoot threes or jumpers because India doesn't 111 00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:25,360 take enough catch and shoot threes if they're also getting the required number of touches 112 00:07:25,399 --> 00:07:29,680 because they're so much more comfortable on ball, and Indiana afforded him that opportunity 113 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,040 in away that Phoenix this season would not have the other thing. I'll say 114 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,279 it is way, way, way way worse to only receive cash considerations for 115 00:07:36,279 --> 00:07:43,680 your G League team. Yes, that was also not the greatest move and 116 00:07:44,079 --> 00:07:47,279 just kind of representative of the franchise in general under server. And that's why 117 00:07:47,319 --> 00:07:50,199 if he want to doubt whether the Suns will make the playoffs next year or 118 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,759 anytime soon, I'm willing to roll with you, not because someone in the 119 00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:57,319 G League would have helped them get there, but because that's the line of 120 00:07:57,319 --> 00:08:01,480 thinking that goes on behind the scenes. Yeah, that's totally valid. It's 121 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,160 like the polar opposite of the new like Model franchise, which is the Toronto 122 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,439 Raptors. And that's been one of my other big takeaways from the bubbles so 123 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,079 far, as like, you know, if you were doubting Toronto's legitimacy before 124 00:08:15,079 --> 00:08:18,839 that the NBA went on hiatus, shame on you. If you still are 125 00:08:20,079 --> 00:08:24,959 extra shame on you. Because this is absolutely a contending team. Nick Nurse 126 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,120 is a very deserving Coach of the Year candidate, even if he's not going 127 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,919 to get the award. The team has depth. Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam 128 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,080 are incredible. Everyone on that team plays defense, and we're going to talk 129 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,799 more about them on the All NBA Teams. I'm sure I'm with you too 130 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,240 this podcast. We can be proud to say it feels like they've been in 131 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,559 on the Toronto Raptors appropriately, But I'm actually amazed. I must have followed 132 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:50,799 the right people on Twitter, because I'm not. I wasn't seeing all the 133 00:08:50,879 --> 00:08:54,000 anti Raptors takes in the first place, and now all the people are coming 134 00:08:54,039 --> 00:08:54,840 out saying, oh, you slept on the Raptors. I'm like, I 135 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,480 didn't see anyone sleeping on them in my timeline, but maybe I follow too 136 00:08:58,519 --> 00:09:01,960 many people on rap or Twitter, which whatever that ends up working out. 137 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,080 So yeah, they're Look, they're the biggest threat in the East to Milwaukee 138 00:09:07,159 --> 00:09:11,159 to me, and that was before the restart. It's not just the byproduct 139 00:09:11,159 --> 00:09:16,120 of Boston's poor game against Milwaukee since the restart itself, just the way they 140 00:09:16,159 --> 00:09:18,799 defend. My big question with them would be their half court offense is does 141 00:09:18,879 --> 00:09:22,759 Kyle Lowry put enough pressure on the rim as their primary score when things bogged 142 00:09:22,799 --> 00:09:26,639 down? And can you turn to Pascal Siakam in those situations and be confident 143 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:31,000 that he can create I would lean towards yes, and Nick Nurse does a 144 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,279 good job of kind of forcing him into those situations. But that's still the 145 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,159 question mark for them. But if they're going to be competent in the half 146 00:09:39,159 --> 00:09:41,840 court, it would it wouldn't come close to surprising me even now if they're 147 00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:45,879 not. If they're the team that comes out of the East, I feel 148 00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:48,480 like Nurse has some wrinkles he's saving for the actual playoff games too. I 149 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,720 don't know what there's are going to be, but I have confidence that they're 150 00:09:52,759 --> 00:09:56,559 coming. Is it gonna be a ginormous lineup where it's Siakam gasol Abaka and 151 00:09:56,639 --> 00:10:01,480 then maybe o G at the two, and then they can put Powell at 152 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,440 the one, or maybe I feel like Kyle Lowry by law has to be 153 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:09,559 in any Raptors lineup that matters. So if you're playing the bucks, put 154 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,200 a lot of size around the rim with guys who can still defend on the 155 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:16,480 perimeter. Hardwin knocks listeners. Have you ever heard of dealdash dot com. 156 00:10:16,519 --> 00:10:18,720 It's the best, most honest bidding site where you can win things you'd never 157 00:10:18,759 --> 00:10:22,600 expect at a price you'd never believe. 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That's deal dash dot fm 167 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:07,759 slash knocks. D e a l Dash dot Fm slash knocks my one, 168 00:11:07,919 --> 00:11:11,480 well, not one, but one of my big takeaways or something that something 169 00:11:11,519 --> 00:11:15,639 seems up with Dallas, like not in a good way. And I think 170 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,600 it was a question everyone was asking beforehand, where what's going to happen? 171 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,240 Can they win in crunch time when Luke is really their only true shot creator 172 00:11:22,879 --> 00:11:26,759 And after losing two games in crunch time and blowing to double digit leads, 173 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:33,200 that question still stands Don Chich in Sunday Night's loss to Phoenix did a great 174 00:11:33,279 --> 00:11:35,320 job of attacking the rim and crunch time in ways that he hasn't really done 175 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:43,440 earlier this season. But they still feel one substantial player short and maybe a 176 00:11:43,519 --> 00:11:46,200 little bit further away from contention than people build them for initially. If one 177 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,759 substantial player short is actually considered close, then that's fine. I'm very curious 178 00:11:50,759 --> 00:11:54,759 to see how they go about getting that guy, because they've sort of depleted 179 00:11:54,759 --> 00:11:58,759 their trade stores with the kristaps Porzingish trade their picks unless you go really distant 180 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,200 into the future, they're not that valuable because don Chache is really good. 181 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:07,480 And then their trade assets are just like actual players are. They can match 182 00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:09,919 money, but unless you're trying, like are they going to go out and 183 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,399 combine all their salaries into getting Chris Paul this summer? I mean, I 184 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:16,519 would totally do it. That would be fantastic, But I don't know what 185 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:18,000 the ceiling on a trade is, and so that sort of leaves you with, 186 00:12:18,399 --> 00:12:22,480 can we get a difference maker using the mid level exception or during that 187 00:12:22,519 --> 00:12:26,559 small window in twenty twenty one when Dontage is still on his rookie scale and 188 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,039 they'll have they can have excuse me, max cap space, are they able 189 00:12:30,039 --> 00:12:33,879 to poach someone. This actually feels like something that could be a longer term 190 00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:37,240 issue because christ Ops Zincis is really good. They won that trade. The 191 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:39,720 Knicks are a blustering, sorry excuse for an organization, not defending that in 192 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:46,080 anyway, but I don't know that what he brings is what you need as 193 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,200 a pure number two score, particularly in the half court and then especially during 194 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,799 crunch time. I kind of feel like they're going to make a surprising acquisition 195 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,399 with the mid level exception somewhere down the road, just because people are gonna 196 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,559 want to go play with Don Chichen Chris stops. But regardless, this is 197 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,720 a good problem for Dallas to have, because we're talking about how they're not 198 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:13,840 quite true contenders because they're missing a piece without really acknowledging how ridiculously far ahead 199 00:13:13,879 --> 00:13:20,679 of schedule they already are. They weren't supposed to be a playoff team going 200 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:24,720 into this twenty nineteen twenty season, much less a playoff lock in the bubble. 201 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:31,840 I mean, they're they've exceeded expectations so dramatically that we have very knowingly 202 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,320 shifted the goalposts on them. We definitely shifted the goal post. But I 203 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:41,279 just I'm I would be worried that they could get locked into similar territory just 204 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,679 because when you look at their books, they have that work. Because once 205 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,559 you max out Don Chitch and you have him and Porzingis on max is like 206 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,159 the idea of having Immen's flexibility at any point in the near future, that 207 00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:56,000 that sort of goes out the window a little bit. And so I don't 208 00:13:56,039 --> 00:14:00,720 I don't know what their path to getting the player they need would be unless 209 00:14:00,759 --> 00:14:03,159 Tim Hardaway Junior opts out this summer, which I don't expect, and then 210 00:14:03,159 --> 00:14:05,440 they can create cap space, which very few teams have, and then you 211 00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:07,840 get into conversations for anyone you want. You know, Fred van Vleet would 212 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,759 look good on this team. I don't know if he's the actual answer, 213 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:15,960 but that's the that's the question I have for them. Yeah, it's it's 214 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:20,559 a valid one. I think that it's a it's a strange situation because Rick 215 00:14:20,639 --> 00:14:28,360 Carlisle alone always guaranteed some level of competitiveness just because he could turn anyone in 216 00:14:28,399 --> 00:14:33,559 the rotation into a quality piece. And we've seen that for years and years 217 00:14:33,559 --> 00:14:37,399 and years. So we're already operating with a high floor. And then Don 218 00:14:37,519 --> 00:14:43,399 Chich expediting the growth of the franchise in some ways might almost limit the ceiling 219 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,120 a little bit, as you alluded to, because you're preventing yourself from getting 220 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,320 any more top draft picks that you might have been expected. You know, 221 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:54,080 it wouldn't surprise me if the Dallas front office going into this season was sitting 222 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,600 there thinking, like, we know, Don Chitch is going to be awesome, 223 00:14:58,159 --> 00:15:01,679 but we're probably going to get one more to draft pick before we're really 224 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:07,600 a true postseason lock, and by getting there already, it's interesting. Yeah, 225 00:15:07,639 --> 00:15:11,159 it's also fair to say, are you ready for my last takeaway? 226 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,039 That's probably a little bit spicier than it needs to be, and it's really 227 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:20,399 almost based on nothing that I've seen. I'm always ready for that. The 228 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,480 Bucks, who I would still pick to come out of the East. I 229 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,320 kind of feel like they are gonna need to trade brook Lopez after this season. 230 00:15:26,919 --> 00:15:31,919 Wow, that is very spicy. I don't if you told me that 231 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,320 he's going to start shooting better from three, and he's just been terrible on 232 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:39,720 wide open threes this year under thirty percent. Maybe I feel a little bit 233 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:48,360 better, but something's just I don't the game against the Rockets. Maybe I'm 234 00:15:48,399 --> 00:15:50,879 reading too much into I don't want to see them trying to post him up 235 00:15:50,919 --> 00:15:54,440 as much. But the other thing is I really think there it needs to 236 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:58,639 be like a Marvin Williams type player at center alongside Janni's attend to Kompo long 237 00:15:58,759 --> 00:16:04,679 term and maybe someone who and this is not as much to do with brook 238 00:16:04,679 --> 00:16:08,000 Lopez, who's not going to hold the Bucks back from being you know what, 239 00:16:08,039 --> 00:16:11,840 we need to go with Jannis at the five, like Jannis needs to 240 00:16:11,879 --> 00:16:15,399 be the five. I'm not saying start him there, but those lineups need 241 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,039 to be given more minutes so that we can create some of our own mismatches 242 00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:21,039 there. And look, if you're not gonna if he's not gonna hit his 243 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,720 threes two or you're not even gonna really ascribe real three point volume to him 244 00:16:23,759 --> 00:16:27,240 in certain games, which they haven't. Now you're dealing with Bletso wasn't in 245 00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:32,240 this game. But I'm saying, long tertain, Bletso, Brooke and Jannis, 246 00:16:32,279 --> 00:16:34,720 those are three non or i'll say below average shooters on the floor. 247 00:16:34,759 --> 00:16:40,440 Because we know Lopez and Bletso and even Jannis are willing to shoot. It's 248 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,799 a concern. And three years and thirty nine point nine million dollars, I'm 249 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,960 not sure it's the best value for him. And so if I'm the Milwaukee 250 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,600 it surely depends on how this season finishes. But if it ends in anything 251 00:16:51,639 --> 00:16:56,519 but a title, I'm looking at seeing if Lopez plus Bletso plus you're gonna 252 00:16:56,559 --> 00:16:59,799 need more salary than that, but you have some of it to offer, 253 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,840 it might be time to go swing and be like, hey, okay, 254 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:04,720 see what's it gonna take to get CP three. Maybe it takes a third 255 00:17:04,759 --> 00:17:10,000 team who would want Lopez's contract. I don't know how Lezo's contract with two 256 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,759 guarantee years left on it would be, but that's just sort of where I'm 257 00:17:12,759 --> 00:17:15,079 at With Milwaukee. I still would pick them to come out of the East, 258 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:22,319 but I almost feel like having Brook Lopez on the roster almost prevents them 259 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,799 from rolling out what would be the best late game version of themselves. And 260 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,839 maybe that's a stupid way to look at it. I have so many scattered 261 00:17:30,839 --> 00:17:33,640 thoughts right now, so I'll just try to lay them out. One is 262 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,640 that I would love to see, and I don't know what the path to 263 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,440 make this happen looks like. I would love to see Danilo Gallinari next to 264 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,240 Jannis on this team instead of Brook Lopez and really lean into Jannis at the 265 00:17:45,279 --> 00:17:48,039 five. I feel like it would be an interesting mix. You would definitely 266 00:17:48,079 --> 00:17:52,000 have that functional shooting, but yeah, I don't know how you go about 267 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,519 getting there. As for Lopez himself, I'm not as concerned as you. 268 00:17:57,319 --> 00:18:02,279 I think that he's demonstrated enough shooting ability in the past for me to kind 269 00:18:02,319 --> 00:18:07,759 of write this off as a season long weird shooting funk that is very much 270 00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:11,279 reversible because he is generating open looks, and those are open looks that he's 271 00:18:11,319 --> 00:18:15,839 hit in the past, and that's not really a skill that just plummets at 272 00:18:15,839 --> 00:18:19,279 this stage of his career, so it's not as much of a concern for 273 00:18:19,319 --> 00:18:22,680 me. I will say last year is the only season he's ever hit more 274 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:27,519 than thirty five percent of his threes since he started taking threes in twenty sixteen 275 00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:32,559 twenty seventeen on a regular basis. Thirty four point six percent, thirty four 276 00:18:32,599 --> 00:18:34,759 point five percent, thirty six point five percent last year, twenty nine point 277 00:18:34,759 --> 00:18:38,119 six percent this year, So it's a big difference. Though it's a big, 278 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,599 big difference. He's also never been like this elite shooter right right, 279 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,119 But he doesn't need to be elite. He just needs to do enough to 280 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,400 draw defenses out there. I'm also not worried about anything we see from the 281 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:53,119 Bucks during their eight game regular season restart, because they have nothing to play 282 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:59,480 for. The award races are wrapped up because the NBA decided that only the 283 00:18:59,519 --> 00:19:02,759 pre high this portion of the season was going to count for those They for 284 00:19:02,839 --> 00:19:06,319 all intense and purposes, have they actually locked. I forget they have. 285 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,039 They have not clinched yet. I don't think they haven't clinched number one, 286 00:19:10,079 --> 00:19:11,599 but like they should have, like for all intents and purposes, they have. 287 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,400 So I feel like the Lopez post ups, the lack of three is 288 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,279 from Yannis. They're just messing around and like trying to figure things out, 289 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,440 playing with intensity, but like not necessarily revealing the true hand we're going to 290 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,559 see in the playoffs. So I just I have trouble like getting any takeaways. 291 00:19:27,079 --> 00:19:30,839 It's from that team, and it's how I'll feel about the Lakers too. 292 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,640 It's maybe this point forward and again, and maybe it was just a 293 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,039 weird inkling from that Rockets game, But if you also told me that Bud 294 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,799 would be willing to close games with Jannis at the five, because I feel 295 00:19:40,799 --> 00:19:45,559 like the idea of taking brook Lopez off the floor seems ludicrous because he's borderline 296 00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:48,839 all defense this season, and so that's what I'm worried. I still think 297 00:19:48,839 --> 00:19:52,039 there might be a better version, or a more suited version in a lot 298 00:19:52,079 --> 00:19:56,160 of matchups for the Bucks to tap into and the Rockets, obviously you wouldn't 299 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,599 meet them until the finals, but even a team like the Celtics. It 300 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,799 might even be it depends on what Toronto's actually closing with, but it could 301 00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:07,359 be true versus Toronto. Maybe it could definitely be true with Miami. So 302 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,359 I that's just where I'm at. And that's not that I'm not trying to 303 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,920 denigrate for Glopez, who's had a fantastic defensive season and he's also a pretty 304 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,359 good post up score. But that's just a weird inkling I have, and 305 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,480 that I think that might be zooming too far out into the future as well. 306 00:20:22,759 --> 00:20:25,640 It could be, But come on, tell me you don't want to 307 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,680 see an Eric Bledsoe, Dante de Vincenzo, Chris Middleton, Janis and Gallo 308 00:20:29,799 --> 00:20:33,200 lineup. Gallo is just impossible to get because he's gonna be so expensive you 309 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,960 would have to trade for him. I know. It almost has to be 310 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,759 like a weird sign and trade situation. Tell me you don't want to see 311 00:20:38,799 --> 00:20:42,240 Chris Paul, Chris Middleton and Janie and then whoever they fill out. Let's 312 00:20:42,279 --> 00:20:45,359 say George Hill is in that. No, like Chris Paul, Middleton and 313 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,759 Janie that I want to see Chris Paul anywhere? Like, you don't have 314 00:20:48,799 --> 00:20:51,759 to sell me on seeing him in any lineup I did see people were saying 315 00:20:51,759 --> 00:20:53,279 that I can't wait to see Chris Paul and a contender again. I just 316 00:20:53,319 --> 00:20:57,440 want to say, news flash, that it wouldn't shock me if Oklahoma City 317 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,640 made it to the conference finals. Wow, you're gonna bet on Chris Paul 318 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:07,160 in the playoffs? Yes, He's been historically great in the playoffs and his 319 00:21:07,279 --> 00:21:11,039 teams just haven't won. So yes, I'm gonna bet on Chris Paul in 320 00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:14,960 the playoffs as you should. Speaking of elite as you brought up, though, 321 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,799 I feel like maybe it's time to get into these all NBA all NBA 322 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,680 jams. Unless you have any quick thoughts on the Jonathan Isaac turn left ACL 323 00:21:22,079 --> 00:21:26,519 just such a bummer. I mean, we saw so much growth from him 324 00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:30,200 early in the season, just becoming more than this defensive Player of the Year 325 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,720 caliber stopper. He was starting to show a lot more than just flashes on 326 00:21:34,759 --> 00:21:41,519 the offensive end. We saw it again very briefly in Disney before the ACL. 327 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,720 It's just it's a shame when any young up and coming player, especially 328 00:21:45,799 --> 00:21:51,440 one that has such an excitable game on the court, goes down like it's 329 00:21:51,519 --> 00:21:55,319 never fun to see and this now, I would probably agree with everything you 330 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,240 just said. The only one of the long term concerns I've always had with 331 00:21:57,279 --> 00:22:00,799 him is that there's just a chance where his offensive type of game doesn't even 332 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,559 really fit at the four unless you put a very specific type of five around 333 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,240 him, because he doesn't really have a floor game, and he hasn't shot 334 00:22:07,279 --> 00:22:11,200 threes well or in high volume, and so one of those things needs to 335 00:22:11,279 --> 00:22:14,839 change so that you don't need to view him as like this day fact of 336 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:19,279 five on offense. But this now jeopardizes next season for him, which in 337 00:22:19,319 --> 00:22:25,160 turn kind of complicates what the Magic are doing because they don't have the worst 338 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,640 contracts, but they're also not flexible, and it's like, what's the pathway 339 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:32,200 to get better? How much sense does it make to trade Aaron Gordon now 340 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,240 when Jonathan Isaac's not going to probably play next year. And one of the 341 00:22:36,279 --> 00:22:38,119 reasons you would trade Aaron Gordon is either one you're just out on him, 342 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,119 or two because the logjam with Isaac and Gordon and Voots just doesn't really make 343 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,839 sense. They have a lot of They've had awkward questions to answer before, 344 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,160 but now even more so, I would say, knowing that he's not going 345 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,519 to be and look, the next time he plays could be when he's on 346 00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:56,640 his next deal because he's extension eligible this summer. And so what do you 347 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:02,279 do about that? I really struggle to see a path forward for the Charlotte 348 00:23:02,279 --> 00:23:04,839 Hornets, I mean the Orlando Magic, who are just now stuck on pretty 349 00:23:04,839 --> 00:23:08,680 tread honest. Yeah, but Horns belong in that statement too, So you 350 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,319 were just right on both fronts. All NBA teams, though, Are you 351 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,880 ready? I'm as ready as I've been since the start of this one. 352 00:23:17,039 --> 00:23:21,400 I know we're originally planning on doing our Bubble conversation afterwards, but the best 353 00:23:21,519 --> 00:23:25,319 laid plans and all that, we're the worst laid plans because it is this 354 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,119 podcast. Yeah, that's fair. So we agreed to go buy position. 355 00:23:27,319 --> 00:23:32,440 We'll go positions through the three teams, since all NBA teams are still done 356 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,559 by position, and I believe we're both want we both want the NBA to 357 00:23:36,599 --> 00:23:38,559 get rid of positions on the All NBA team, like positions in general are 358 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,599 dumb. Let's just get that out of the way from the start. I 359 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,319 don't know if I'm actually allowed to say that as someone who doing NBA one 360 00:23:45,759 --> 00:23:48,599 Bleach report, I have to rank by position, but yes, get rid 361 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,119 of positions, please, positions are dumb. I'm allowed to say it. 362 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,400 Look, the ll NBA discussion could then be we did point this out, 363 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,400 But that would be a fun discussion. It would just be the best fifteen 364 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,359 players in the lead that year, and that's that's obviously debate in and of 365 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,680 itself. I think it's a more fun discussion than trying to like shoehorn worst 366 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,079 players into these spots because we have to, right, and that's nothing against 367 00:24:11,079 --> 00:24:12,960 these players, because you know, the fifteen slash twenty that we're gonna highlight 368 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,440 are all fantastic. They'd be in that conversation for those top fifteen spots. 369 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,960 But I would much rather like acknowledge how guard heavy and wing heavy the league 370 00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:26,640 is and give credit where credit is due. And look, it does hamstring 371 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,519 like the big just a little bit too, because now you only have three 372 00:24:29,559 --> 00:24:32,599 spots on the roster anyway, and in a season, if In Beid plays 373 00:24:32,599 --> 00:24:34,680 more in comm Anthony Towns plays more like, that becomes like an issue. 374 00:24:36,079 --> 00:24:40,480 But the NBA is like clearly conscious of this and trying to make some exceptions 375 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,839 by like somehow making Nikolai Yokich eligible at a forward spot, which doesn't make 376 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,000 any sense. And Lebron James is very much a positionless player, but he 377 00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:52,640 hasn't been eligible at guard in the past, and now that we're putting him 378 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,799 there as well, it's like he's not eligible to be voted in amongst guards 379 00:24:56,799 --> 00:24:59,680 for the All Star Game, but he's you could put him in for the 380 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,400 All It's just very it's all very arbitrary, very much so. And I 381 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,119 don't I don't know why they're trying to preserve positions. I don't know if 382 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:08,359 maybe and this isn't wouldn't be an insult to them, but maybe the more 383 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,119 casual fans appreciate positions. I would argue that no one who listens to this 384 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:17,319 podcast likes the positional designations just because of what this brand is. But if 385 00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:19,359 you do, that's that's fine. I'm just curious as to what the loyalty 386 00:25:19,839 --> 00:25:23,119 to the positions actually is. Well, to be clear, it's not fine, 387 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,799 get over yourselves. Okay, fair enough. If someone is listening to 388 00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:32,279 this and still is in favor of having positional designations, let us know so 389 00:25:32,319 --> 00:25:33,599 that we can we can talk you out of it. Well, I would 390 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:36,920 know. I would like to hear their argument. I'm not going to be 391 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,000 as just right to hear their argument and then we can shut it down. 392 00:25:42,279 --> 00:25:45,319 Please go to me with your cases for the positions first, and then we 393 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:51,799 will bring them to Adam together. I'll be the positional arbiter here. Sports 394 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,759 are back, and so are your chances to bet on your favorite teams and 395 00:25:55,759 --> 00:25:59,480 events. 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That's promo code blue wire bet online. 404 00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:37,440 You're online wagering experts. Okay, So on that note, do you want 405 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,400 to start with guards or centers. Can't start with fowards. I'm not allowing 406 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,200 it. I mean, I like that you're making me choose a position now 407 00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:48,319 after our last segment here, but let's start with guards. Do you want 408 00:26:48,319 --> 00:26:51,960 to roll us off with the first team because I believe we were consensus on 409 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 the first team guard. Yeah, it's it's It's pretty obvious here. I 410 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,599 mean, James Harden was the best true guard if that's even a thing in 411 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,400 the league this year, and I'm gonna have him joined by Lebron James, 412 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,000 who, as we said, is eligible at guard, leading the league and 413 00:27:06,039 --> 00:27:11,559 assists. Now, the cases here are are so incredibly obvious. They're two 414 00:27:11,599 --> 00:27:15,240 of the top three MVP candidates this season. They're both the unquestioned leader of 415 00:27:15,279 --> 00:27:21,480 their team playing at a remarkably high level. Lebron is to do everything die 416 00:27:21,519 --> 00:27:26,440 Harden is one of the absolute best offensive forces we've seen in NBA history, 417 00:27:26,759 --> 00:27:30,039 and there's absolutely no one who should challenge them for either of these spots. 418 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:36,079 Yeah, even with Harden's kind of like rut leading into the the NBA's hiatus, 419 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:37,640 it just wasn't enough to be like, hey, let's put don Jich 420 00:27:38,559 --> 00:27:42,559 over him in this case, Yeah, I don't really have anything to add, 421 00:27:42,599 --> 00:27:45,839 Like, I just feel like there's not much too at all. The 422 00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:48,319 only discussion would be like, why is Lebron at guard if he wasn't listed 423 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:51,599 there for the All Star Game? But since he's eligible at guard, Like, 424 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,440 we have to finagle these teams the best way possible, So I'll take 425 00:27:55,519 --> 00:28:00,880 us to the second team guards. I have Chris Paul and Damian Lillard as 426 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,680 do I. Look, we're consensus sharing the same brain here, I wis 427 00:28:04,799 --> 00:28:11,440 are less obo right, So I don't know if people will definitely pick Chris 428 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,480 Paul, but he should be to me consensus MBA inclusion. He is like 429 00:28:15,039 --> 00:28:18,000 one of the three highest offensive rating swings in the league. They are so 430 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:22,720 dependent on him for his offense. He's shooting a trillion percent from mid range. 431 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,839 He's made more buckets in crunch time than anyone in the NBA, where 432 00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:30,240 he's basically just slashing an absurd percentage in crunch time. I even have that 433 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,160 written down in my notes. I think he's no, I don't have it 434 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,400 written down my notes, but he's just been Oh, he's slashing fifty four, 435 00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:42,400 thirty six, ninety four in crunch time situations with an individual plus minus 436 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:47,079 rating of one O nine. The only two people higher than him are actually 437 00:28:47,079 --> 00:28:49,680 his teammates Truder and Shakilos Auxander, which shows you how ridiculous the thunder has 438 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,759 been. And then with Lillard, maybe people will penalize him for Portland's record. 439 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:56,920 I find that to be weird, just given how many injuries they dealt 440 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:03,519 with. And also Lillard has been ridunculous twenty nine points eight assists on sixty 441 00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:07,079 true true shooting in a league leading thirty six point nine minutes per game, 442 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,720 all of which our career highs. He's shooting the best that he has basically 443 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:17,680 of his career inside three feet. The fact that he's shooting almost forty percent 444 00:29:17,759 --> 00:29:22,759 from three on just a high number of really hard attempts his mind boggling. 445 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,319 More than seventy percent of his threes go unassisted. And the thing that I 446 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,960 keep pointing to is that the Blazers differential with him on the court is that 447 00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:33,680 of a playoff team, and it just plummets by almost nine points per one 448 00:29:33,759 --> 00:29:37,640 hundred possessions when he's off. That matters to me because maybe, yes, 449 00:29:37,799 --> 00:29:41,039 I do believe it's harder to do what Jannis does taking a really good team 450 00:29:41,079 --> 00:29:45,799 to greatness, but like he's also this isn't him taking a mediocre team to 451 00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:49,200 okayness. They're really bad without him on the court, and they look really 452 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,400 bad because the personnel that they've had available to this point. Both of these 453 00:29:53,440 --> 00:30:00,960 guards are the unquestioned reasons that their teams are in playoff contention. And that's 454 00:30:00,079 --> 00:30:03,920 more true for the Thunder than the Blazers at this stage of the restart. 455 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:10,519 But you know, without Chris Paul, who is playing very much like vintage 456 00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:14,680 Chris Paul, with the mid rage jumpers, with the ability to get everywhere 457 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,319 on the court and dictate offense and control where his man goes on the defensive 458 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,039 end, Without him, they are not anywhere. But in the lottery conversation, 459 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:26,400 that's especially true, as you mentioned, in those crunch time situations, 460 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,839 you know, the NBA, the standard definition is the last three minutes of 461 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,880 games separated by or the last five minutes of games separated by five or fewer 462 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,799 points either. Here, Nikola Yokich has been the best player in crunch time 463 00:30:38,839 --> 00:30:44,000 this season among high volume players who have been in that situation a lot. 464 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:48,119 So he's in the MVP discussion on the back end of the ballot, and 465 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:52,000 he absolutely belongs here. As for Lillard, just an offensive juggernaut, a 466 00:30:52,039 --> 00:30:56,359 player who continues to get better and showcase new pieces of his game every season. 467 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,240 We're seeing more deep threes this season, We're seeing them find nine line 468 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:06,720 more frequently, and he might have the highest HIE of any player this season. 469 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,119 That stretch that he had in late January and early February, the rolling 470 00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:15,680 player ratings that we use at NBA math the peak that he reached this season, 471 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,960 which looks at his ten game stretch and adjust for the difficulty of the 472 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,599 opponent, the location of the game, all of that stuff. His score 473 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,480 was thirty five point two on February first, which is one of the ten 474 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,200 highest scores in NBA history. It is easily the highest score this season. 475 00:31:33,799 --> 00:31:37,720 The only other player who has even topped thirty is James Harton Janis, for 476 00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:41,279 example, has only gotten too twenty eight point one one, donchich to twenty 477 00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:48,039 eight point seven seven. So the singular stretch that he had right around the 478 00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:52,920 All Star break before he got hurt was just so fantastic and captivating that that 479 00:31:53,039 --> 00:31:56,279 alone is going to put him in contention for these spots. Yeah, he 480 00:31:56,319 --> 00:32:00,920 was volcatic during that stretch, and so I think that this should be given 481 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:02,799 how the NBA structures his ballots, where Dontage can be a forward, you 482 00:32:02,799 --> 00:32:05,880 don't have to worry about picking one or the other. I think that this 483 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,759 should this should probably be consensus. Second team, I hope, so who 484 00:32:09,799 --> 00:32:13,400 do all? Right? So third team guards, this will be less consensus, 485 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,880 and I believe it's your turn to take us through them. Yeah. 486 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,319 I had Kyle Lowry in my first spot and Ben Simmons in the second, 487 00:32:20,319 --> 00:32:23,920 two very very different players. I'm not sure that there's really like a statistical 488 00:32:24,079 --> 00:32:29,960 objective case for Kyle Lowry because so much of what he does is the kind 489 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,640 of play that doesn't show up in the numbers. It's not represented in the 490 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,000 box score because he's taking charges, he's making the right decisions on both ends, 491 00:32:37,079 --> 00:32:40,160 he's involving his teammates, he knows how to find the hot guy. 492 00:32:42,039 --> 00:32:45,960 He has been one of the best players in the NBA for the last decade 493 00:32:45,279 --> 00:32:51,720 without people really realizing it. And I'm not sure that he's going to get 494 00:32:51,799 --> 00:32:54,920 recognized in this spot because the scoring numbers aren't there. The assistant numbers aren't 495 00:32:54,920 --> 00:33:00,240 always there, but he has been unbelievable and is even more so than Pascal 496 00:33:00,359 --> 00:33:05,240 Siakam. In my opinion, the biggest reason that the Toronto Raptors have remained 497 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,559 a championship contender is because of Kyle Lowry. As for Ben Simmons, it's 498 00:33:09,559 --> 00:33:14,880 all about the defense. He isn't going to be the defensive Player of the 499 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:20,640 Year this year, but he is probably the most versatile defender in the league. 500 00:33:20,839 --> 00:33:22,960 He's able to shut down so many different positions and give the seventy six 501 00:33:23,039 --> 00:33:28,240 ers an identity beyond just Joe l Embiad's rim protection, his playmaking, his 502 00:33:28,279 --> 00:33:30,319 ability to get to the rim even without a jumper. He's been effective on 503 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:35,799 offense, and it's just that that all around ability minus the three point shot 504 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,519 that has been so fantastic all year. Look at the thing with so mine, 505 00:33:39,519 --> 00:33:45,240 I did not have Simmons on my third team. I did consider him. 506 00:33:45,519 --> 00:33:50,920 Simmons has been his workload. I think people underestimate too. Christner Narsu 507 00:33:51,079 --> 00:33:55,240 from Nylon Calculus has this two way primary usage metric where he measures the amount 508 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,599 of time a player spends as number one option on offense and then the amount 509 00:33:59,599 --> 00:34:01,799 of time they spend guarding the number one option on defense. Ben Simon says, 510 00:34:01,799 --> 00:34:05,519 the highest two way workload in the NBA by that metrics, So he's 511 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,119 definitely a deserving choice. I have Kyle Lowry, though, and Jayson Tatum. 512 00:34:09,119 --> 00:34:12,719 I could only echo what you said about Lowry, and your last point 513 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,079 is the most salient one. He is the through line connecting every single version 514 00:34:16,079 --> 00:34:20,239 of the raptors we've seen since he's been there, of which there are many. 515 00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:23,159 It's not just going from demarterrozen to Kawai to whatever they have now, 516 00:34:23,599 --> 00:34:27,719 but just looking at the struggles they had in the postseason where they would just 517 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,079 continue to get booted by Lebron. There was a point where it looked like 518 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,440 they were going to trade Lowry himself to the Knicks. This organization has undergone 519 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,320 many changes, and I think last season obviously was the darkest because you traded 520 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:45,400 Tomar you ended up trading Jonahs Valanciunis. But that has to matter too, 521 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:46,840 And it's like you said, a statisticals case is always going to be the 522 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,920 strongest, even though advanced metrics are going to love him. That to me 523 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,960 has to carry some weight as well. But what he can do for his 524 00:34:54,039 --> 00:34:57,320 team. I mean, he will set up two to three shots on the 525 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,159 same possession for his team without even dominating the ball because he's gonna set screens 526 00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:02,880 or just his placement on the floor, is he gonna end up helping them. 527 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,960 And he really works his ass off on defense. If you want to 528 00:35:07,079 --> 00:35:09,920 argue that maybe his game is a little bit less valuable in the playoffs unless 529 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:14,599 he has someone to defer to, that might be. That's a case that 530 00:35:14,599 --> 00:35:17,039 I'm willing to listen to. But he is still He's a top twenty player 531 00:35:17,079 --> 00:35:20,880 in this league and should absolutely be in this discussion. And then I had 532 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,119 taied him for my thirteen because one he was eligible at guard, which allowed 533 00:35:23,159 --> 00:35:27,079 me to put other people in that I wanted to. His season has been 534 00:35:27,199 --> 00:35:30,199 I've mentioned this already kind of boiled down to this month long or six week 535 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:34,239 long rise, and it's just so much more than that. His escape dribble 536 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:37,119 three is one of the most dangerous weapons in the league. He's one of 537 00:35:37,119 --> 00:35:40,159 the best off ball defenders in the league as well. I know people are 538 00:35:40,159 --> 00:35:44,800 disappointed, some of them at least, that his playmaking hasn't really incurred this 539 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,159 huge uptick when they've basically doubled his pick and roll volume and really just his 540 00:35:47,199 --> 00:35:51,800 responsibility overall. It's a fair concern. You'd like to see him get to 541 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,079 that Chris Middleton type level, but he has shown a knack for throwing more 542 00:35:54,079 --> 00:35:59,400 complicated passes. I will still admit that his absence of playmaking at a higher 543 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,679 level can be a problem against certain defenses, and we've maybe already seen it 544 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:06,920 with Milwaukee. And then he's reliant on a high variant shot selection, which 545 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:08,400 is what pull up jumpers are. But he has n't putting a little bit 546 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:13,360 more pressure on the rim in recent months, maybe not since the Disney restart, 547 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,320 but before hand. And just a very good player fringe top ten this 548 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,920 season, and that's because we're factoring in injuries and things like that. So 549 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,159 just a clear if he's gonna be eligible at guard, I'm gonna pick him 550 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,719 to put him on there. He's the best player on what is one of 551 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,239 the five or six best teams in the league, and that has to count 552 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,800 for something. I'm gonna save my Jason Tatum thoughts for a little bit later 553 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,119 in this episode for reasons that will become clear. Then I didn't want to 554 00:36:37,159 --> 00:36:42,360 follow up on Lowry. Is he a Hall of Famer? That's a good 555 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,840 question. So he has six All Star appearances, He's only made one All 556 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,239 NBA team, and I don't think that's going to be a second one this 557 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:51,920 year. He made the twenty fifteen sixteen third team. He's only appeared on 558 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,039 an MVP ballot once. It was in the same season he finished tenth, 559 00:36:54,119 --> 00:37:00,800 and yet Basketball References Hall of Fame probability eighty five point seven percent. I 560 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,559 think he is. I think he is. I would say I think that 561 00:37:02,639 --> 00:37:07,119 the volume, the championship, the ability to transcend through multiple eras for the 562 00:37:07,159 --> 00:37:12,639 same franchise and become so iconic for that organization, I think he's in. 563 00:37:14,519 --> 00:37:15,760 I actually agree with you. I just didn't want to be the first one 564 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,719 to say it. I don't think I am surprised that his Hall of Fame 565 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:22,840 probability percentage is yes, I know, yeah that. I honestly expected it 566 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:27,320 to be below fifty percent when I checked, but no, eighty five point 567 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,639 seven percent. I thought it might have been like an Igodala type situation. 568 00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:32,159 I forget what his Hall of Fame probability was, but it was basically a 569 00:37:32,159 --> 00:37:35,800 coin to us. Was it not? So? I might have expected him 570 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,880 to be the same. I will say he could probably turn himself anecdotally into 571 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,880 a shoeing if he's not there already, depending on what the Raptors do in 572 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,400 this year's postseason, if they win this title, put him in now. 573 00:37:45,559 --> 00:37:51,519 Don't even wait for him first. No, it's it's interesting though. The 574 00:37:52,079 --> 00:37:57,039 Hall of Fame probability leaderboard, the players who are next to him, I'll 575 00:37:57,079 --> 00:38:00,400 just read the eighties. We have Dave Being at eighty, Anthony Vis at 576 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,039 eighty one, James Worthy at eighty two, Grant Hill eighty three, Adrian 577 00:38:04,119 --> 00:38:07,840 Danley, Jack Sikma, Jojo White than Kyle Lowry is eighty seventh all time 578 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,400 in the Hall of Fame probability in DEX, followed by Chauncey Billups and David 579 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:15,199 Buscher. Those are some good names to be along. Those are some great 580 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,960 names to be next to. Who did you? Who did you? Who 581 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,239 else did you? Unless you have anything to add on this, who did 582 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:23,159 you consider? Just like, what's your fourth team for? Just for fun? 583 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:27,840 Guards? Yeah, my fourteen and I really struggled with this one because 584 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,320 I had I had three names that I really wanted to well really four names, 585 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:36,159 but we'll get to one of them later. Bradley Beale, Trey Young, 586 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,920 and Devin Booker. I ultimately left off Booker and hated myself for doing 587 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:46,400 so, just because Beale was so explosive and Young was so deadly as a 588 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:52,480 as an assist man and a scorer on teams that didn't have the ability to 589 00:38:52,599 --> 00:38:58,920 draw defensive attention away from them. Booker has some better pieces around him. 590 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,320 You know, the Hawks would have with John Collins had he not been suspended 591 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:07,320 for what essentially amounted to half the season that the Hawks played. But because 592 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:13,559 of what they were able to do as one man juggernauts on the offensive on 593 00:39:13,599 --> 00:39:16,880 the offensive end, I wasn't ever going to consider them for one of the 594 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:22,000 actual spots on the top three teams because winning does have to matter. But 595 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,559 I wanted to give them some love there. Yeah, I think that's all 596 00:39:25,559 --> 00:39:30,119 fine. I had Russell Westbrook and Devin Booker. I wasn't really tempted to 597 00:39:30,159 --> 00:39:34,360 put either of them in over my current selections of Lowry and Tatum. The 598 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,000 harder choice would be, as you'll see later, involved Ben Simmons. But 599 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:44,400 because I decided that Ben Simmons should be eligible at forward, but Devin Booker. 600 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,519 Russell Westbrook's case is clear. He was a monster for basically more than 601 00:39:46,599 --> 00:39:50,840 half the season, and it was a little bit before the Rockets went to 602 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,480 the smaller units. I just don't I still question his ability to carry them 603 00:39:53,519 --> 00:39:57,480 without Harden. Those numbers are all over the place. They're net negative on 604 00:39:57,519 --> 00:40:00,760 the year, their net positive since January first, net negative since Clint Capella 605 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:05,039 left the rotation, which is arguably the more important sample size because that's when 606 00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:08,360 they went super duper small just two. And then the fact that this was 607 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:12,320 like a tale of two or three seasons for him, I think worked against 608 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,960 him. For Devin Booker, just the level of growth he has shown as 609 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,360 a passer and scorer is amazing. He can get buckets at every level and 610 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:24,079 he's just doing so super efficiently. He's on pace since the regular season isn't 611 00:40:24,079 --> 00:40:29,199 over to be the tenth player to clear twenty five points and five assists per 612 00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:31,679 game with a true shooting percentage better than sixty one. I know these aren't 613 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,760 perfect comparisons, and there's a level of cherry picking to them, but his 614 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,239 company is James Harden, Lebron, James Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Kevin 615 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,679 Durant, Larry Bird, Janis, Isaiah Thomas, and I bet you could 616 00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:50,079 guess the season that happened in and Damian Lillard. So he's just been fantastic, 617 00:40:50,119 --> 00:40:52,119 And so why I do think you can make a case for a Trey 618 00:40:52,159 --> 00:40:53,960 Young over him, or even a Bradley Beal over him. I felt like 619 00:40:54,039 --> 00:41:00,400 his minutes ended up meaning more than theirs, at least more so than Beals 620 00:41:00,519 --> 00:41:02,079 for sure. And maybe the fact that the Suns are in the bubble at 621 00:41:02,119 --> 00:41:07,519 all speaks to that. Yeah, I have no counter arguments to that. 622 00:41:07,599 --> 00:41:10,119 It really for me, you could have picked two of those of those three 623 00:41:10,159 --> 00:41:14,239 Beal, Young and Booker. And to any Rockets fans who are listening and 624 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,239 are firing off hate tweets to me for not mentioning Westbrook. Yet, we'll 625 00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:22,360 get there. I promise we're onto forwards. So who did you have on 626 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:28,199 your first team of forwards, which we are also in lockstep with I don't 627 00:41:28,199 --> 00:41:30,199 think we were actually then, never mind we were not. I think we 628 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:35,400 have one difference on the first team here because I had Jannas, which duh, 629 00:41:36,039 --> 00:41:38,599 he should be the consensus MVP. So that pretty much goes without saying, 630 00:41:39,119 --> 00:41:44,840 and I did not have Kawhi Leonard because I had Luca don Chich taking 631 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:50,280 that spot. What he did, as as we talked about earlier, moving 632 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:55,000 the Mavericks's time frame so far up, he struggled in crunch time, but 633 00:41:55,480 --> 00:42:00,559 there were so many games where that wasn't necessary. It didn't adder that he 634 00:42:00,639 --> 00:42:05,760 struggled in those clutch situations because he'd pushed the Mavericks so far ahead by the 635 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,400 time we even got to the fourth quarter. He is the impetus behind the 636 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:14,880 most efficient offense in NBA history. He is carrying an immense workload on the 637 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:19,800 offensive end and still managing to show some defensive improvements. He involves all of 638 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,199 his teammates. He can score from everywhere. He's very much a candidate for 639 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:29,480 Most Improved Player if you're willing to consider second year contributors. He's been absolutely 640 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:32,639 phenomenal, and he's played a little bit more than Kawhi Leonard, and the 641 00:42:32,679 --> 00:42:37,280 minutes that he's played have generally come at full bore, which I'm not sure 642 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:42,480 you can always say about Leonard Until later in this season. I thought the 643 00:42:42,599 --> 00:42:46,599 minutes so I had Kawai and Janis as my powers bots the Jannis One is 644 00:42:46,639 --> 00:42:52,719 an arguable let's just let's move on Ron good for great. Yeah, I 645 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:57,840 don't think Luca played enough minutes, like didn't play it like he was at 646 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,039 what is he at right now? Don't she sas at eighteen seventy nine for 647 00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:05,320 the season and Kauai is at seventeen oh three, So it's not a huge 648 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,440 difference, but I do think that the intensity in all of those minutes it 649 00:43:08,519 --> 00:43:12,239 is a little bit different. I feel like Leonard kind of flipped the defensive 650 00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:16,039 switch midseason though, and a half season at Leonard like really getting accurate ends 651 00:43:16,119 --> 00:43:20,840 up being a huge deal for me, And so the responsibility that he shouldered 652 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:22,480 on both sides of the ball this year because of how many pick and rolls 653 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,400 he was running for Los Angeles, particularly at the beginning of the season, 654 00:43:25,519 --> 00:43:30,400 and then of course his defensive bandwidth just ends up mattering more to me. 655 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:34,800 And then Don's crunch time struggles really waited heavily here, and I understand that 656 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:37,719 you can't penalize him for the players he has around him, but also a 657 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:42,239 shot selection in there was just a tick uncomfortable if you just look at it. 658 00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:45,280 He was getting to the taking a few of the shots in the restricted 659 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:47,920 area and settling a little too relying on those step backs and when you're not 660 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,679 hitting that, like hitting that at a thirty to thirty three percent clip is 661 00:43:51,679 --> 00:43:55,119 great in general, but that high variance when it matters most, it's unsettling. 662 00:43:55,119 --> 00:43:58,320 I'd say the same thing for James Harden. He's probably hitting them at 663 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:01,400 a higher clip. I have not checked that though, so that splicing hairs. 664 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:04,880 But that's what you need to do in these debates, right, And 665 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,360 I think Leonard is probably going to be the consensus pick here, and I 666 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:13,880 get it. I really strongly considered it. And this wasn't an attempt to 667 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:19,679 be contrarian so much as just to recognize the importance that Don Chich had on 668 00:44:19,679 --> 00:44:22,679 that team, especially because we didn't know what we were going to get out 669 00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:24,920 of Chris Stops all season. He wasn't there the whole season. He was 670 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:29,840 working his way back into form, and Don Chich alone pushed this team into 671 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:35,800 contention. Second team though I had and I had and I had Kawai, 672 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:38,039 and I think we agreed on the other one, which is Jimmy Butler. 673 00:44:38,119 --> 00:44:43,639 Right, yeah, if you you know what's funny when people say if only 674 00:44:43,639 --> 00:44:45,440 he could shoot, think about how good he can be. It's so weird 675 00:44:45,519 --> 00:44:49,559 because that's such a fundamental skill that if you don't have it, to just 676 00:44:49,599 --> 00:44:52,280 say something like that as if you're gonna get it, it's way too dismissive 677 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,559 of it. But Jimmy Butler has shown he's a better shooter in season's past, 678 00:44:55,880 --> 00:45:01,719 and yet he's shooting like zero percent on threes this year. He's the 679 00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:07,960 second worst pull up jump shooter in the league this season behind I think it 680 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,039 was it was it Aaron Gordon, That's who he was behind. He was 681 00:45:10,079 --> 00:45:15,079 the second worst among people who took at least three pull up jumpers per game 682 00:45:15,119 --> 00:45:19,360 and pull up effective field goal percentage. So that's not great for him. 683 00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,760 But his defense it was there this year, and he carried some really what 684 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:28,480 could have been stinker lineups before the trade deadline. And then the responsibility he 685 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,719 shouldering on offense career high and assists per game, putting just basically more pressure 686 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:37,079 on the rim than ever getting to the line at a ridiculously high clip, 687 00:45:37,159 --> 00:45:39,920 and the heat or just substantially better and when he's on the court, and 688 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:46,119 so it's it's weird to say, but he's had one arguably one of his 689 00:45:46,159 --> 00:45:50,480 worst shooting seasons, and yet he's still probably a fringe top ten player. 690 00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:52,880 I felt comfortable putting him here. I didn't think for a minute really of 691 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,960 putting Actually I thought for like a half minute about putting one of my third 692 00:45:55,960 --> 00:46:00,239 team forwards in front of him. But look, he shot thirty seven twenty 693 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,400 percent on two point jumpers this year two point jumpers, and he's made second 694 00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:07,679 team All NBA. That's really I don't think it's an engagement, like a 695 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,159 lock for this spot. To me right, no one expected the heat to 696 00:46:10,199 --> 00:46:14,119 be this good, and it's very much because of him. I don't want 697 00:46:14,119 --> 00:46:17,039 to say we've rushed the coronation of bam Adebaio, but I still don't completely 698 00:46:17,079 --> 00:46:21,679 trust him as a lynchpin of your defense, and he can't anchor offensive units 699 00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:23,559 on his own. In theory, yes, but he doesn't have the range 700 00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:27,199 in the half court. And I also just don't think he's ready to run 701 00:46:27,599 --> 00:46:30,360 half court sets full time. And that's not a knock, that's something that's 702 00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:32,039 like, oh, he was a backup for most of last year, and 703 00:46:32,039 --> 00:46:37,280 now we're talking about him as a top twenty five player. So this is 704 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,920 more of a compliment to Jimmy Butler, and so forty three percent of his 705 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:43,840 attempts are still just coming at the rim. That's just absolutely mind melting. 706 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:46,440 And because he's putting so much pressure on the rim and half court defenses, 707 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:51,960 you can absolutely still rely on him in crunch time. I think the best 708 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:55,159 way I can put it is about how good he's been in the non shooting 709 00:46:55,199 --> 00:47:00,280 areas, is that if he had if he had knocked down three pointers like 710 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:02,880 he did during his best seasons with the Chicago Bulls, I'm looking at like 711 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:07,519 twenty fourteen fifteen, his first All Star appearance, when he took three per 712 00:47:07,519 --> 00:47:09,519 game and made thirty seven point eight percent of them, if he was able 713 00:47:09,559 --> 00:47:15,440 to replicate that without changing any other portions of his game, I think we 714 00:47:15,519 --> 00:47:19,800 have an MVP debate. Yeah, I mean you're probably. I think he's 715 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:25,079 been that good his I think we almost take his defense for granted now, 716 00:47:25,199 --> 00:47:30,000 just because of how long he's been doing it, and maybe because his personality 717 00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:32,480 or someone likes Bolstra too right, and maybe maybe his personality is too grading 718 00:47:32,519 --> 00:47:37,079 off the courts that creates voter fatigue when there really hasn't been enough vote for 719 00:47:37,199 --> 00:47:39,480 him to be fatigued. But because you know that he was the one who 720 00:47:39,559 --> 00:47:44,880 called the snitch line on himself in Disney for working out too loudly. You 721 00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:47,239 just know that Jimmy Butler called and said, I think someone from Jimmy Butler's 722 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:51,920 room is working out way too loudly. I could just I could picture it 723 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,360 now. Yes, someone's working out too loudly. And I think I even 724 00:47:54,400 --> 00:48:00,239 feel like they have just this unparalleled commitment to winning, and it's just it's 725 00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:04,800 it's too loud. Do you think it's performative, because it definitely like it 726 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,840 marves me the wrong way. You don't, you don't, I'm okay. 727 00:48:07,039 --> 00:48:12,519 I hate the idea that like you're going to show up to a practice three 728 00:48:12,559 --> 00:48:15,079 hours early at three am and try to inspire your teammates do the same, 729 00:48:15,159 --> 00:48:20,559 Like, hey, we know how much sleep matters for athletic performance, Like 730 00:48:21,199 --> 00:48:24,639 you are not listening to medical advice here, And I wonder if like he's 731 00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:29,800 not making himself as good as he could be by trying to make himself like 732 00:48:30,199 --> 00:48:35,599 appear to have the greatest work ethic in sports history. I'll frame it this 733 00:48:35,639 --> 00:48:38,159 way. It's absolutely performative when he's talking about it. But I truly do 734 00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:44,079 believe that he considers anyone who isn't willing to work seventy five as hard as 735 00:48:44,159 --> 00:48:46,039 him as irrelevant, and that he doesnt want to be teammates with them. 736 00:48:46,039 --> 00:48:50,000 So I don't think that part of it is. I do believe he expects 737 00:48:50,039 --> 00:48:54,599 his teammates to live up to his standard, which maniacal as it may be. 738 00:48:55,360 --> 00:49:00,360 I don't think that the standard exists as as performative. I think it's 739 00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:04,960 something real. It's just the way he conveys it that's absolutely performative because he 740 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:07,559 wants people to know about it. I don't think he's doing it for the 741 00:49:07,599 --> 00:49:09,920 recognition, but because he's doing it, he wants the recognition. If that's 742 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:14,039 making that makes any sense, it does, it does, And I just 743 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:17,599 I hate those early wake up things. It's like, if it works for 744 00:49:17,639 --> 00:49:22,039 you, great, but it's not gonna work for everyone, And you might 745 00:49:22,119 --> 00:49:24,559 be holding back some of your teammates if you try to like force them to 746 00:49:24,639 --> 00:49:32,159 follow your ridiculous workout schedule. Yeah, right there, third team fowards are 747 00:49:32,199 --> 00:49:36,440 all you. We were not in lockstep. I don't think right here, 748 00:49:36,519 --> 00:49:38,800 No, we were not one of them. I had was Jason Tatum. 749 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:42,880 Who you had as a third team guard, so I did have him as 750 00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,639 a third teamer as well. For all the reasons you mentioned. The post 751 00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:50,840 All Star break explosion that we saw, it didn't come out of nowhere. 752 00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:53,519 It was building towards that all season. He's been so much more than just 753 00:49:53,599 --> 00:49:58,880 a late season breakout. He was playing at such a high two way level 754 00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:02,159 that I think we're going to hear his name mentioned in the best two way 755 00:50:02,159 --> 00:50:07,559 player discussions moving forward. He's he's just that talented on both ends, which 756 00:50:07,599 --> 00:50:09,840 is not something that I expected to be saying when he was coming out of 757 00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:14,599 Duke with a questionable shot selection, with a questionable work ethic on defense. 758 00:50:14,679 --> 00:50:19,760 But kudos to him for proving any doubts wrong on that. On that pre 759 00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:23,800 draft scouting report, I had him joined by Chris Middleton, who is probably 760 00:50:24,320 --> 00:50:30,679 moving into that Mike Conley territory where he's been called underrated so many times that 761 00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:34,400 it might not be true anymore. But he's just he's a damn good basketball 762 00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:37,840 player. And if you think the Milwaukee Bucks is ceiling is limited by their 763 00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:40,159 second fiddle to Jannis, you're wrong, because Chris Middleton is that good. 764 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:45,119 I mean, he's unquestionably been a top twenty player this year. Is he 765 00:50:45,719 --> 00:50:50,400 he is on pace to join the fifty forty ninety club. I believe. 766 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:57,280 I haven't checked since he was nine overall field goal percentage when the restart began. 767 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:00,800 I don't know if he's clear. He's at one two nine one two 768 00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:04,239 right now. Well here, so he's not quite there. But for all 769 00:51:04,239 --> 00:51:07,760 intents and purposes, he's scoring twenty one point one points per game with fifty 770 00:51:07,079 --> 00:51:13,199 ninety slash and while playing good defense, while creating his own jumpers from scratch 771 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:15,639 from all over the court, and forcing defenses to pay attention to mid range 772 00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:21,840 zones because he's effective enough there to demand it. Like he is a great 773 00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,760 basketball player who it's hard to find a flaw with. Yeah, and so 774 00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:29,440 he was one of my third team forwards. I don't understand. I actually 775 00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:31,719 still think he's underrated because I don't think people recognize that he added top ten 776 00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:37,280 to fifteen value this season among players, and his stardom is plug in play 777 00:51:37,719 --> 00:51:43,239 ninety third percentile on catch and shoot efficiency, eighty seventh percentile off the dribble. 778 00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:45,480 The Bucks were a monstrous net plus. When he played without Jannis, 779 00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:49,800 it was basically the same story last year. I'm with you on his defense. 780 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:53,159 People probably overlook it because Jannis Bletsoe and even Brook Lopez kind of have 781 00:51:53,199 --> 00:51:57,159 to do more. That's not his fault. He's still in If he's going 782 00:51:57,239 --> 00:52:00,960 to guard the third best player on the court, he still does a heck 783 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:04,320 of a job doing it. And then, just to reiterate his scoring efficiency 784 00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:08,000 as it stands, the only other player in NBA history to average more than 785 00:52:08,039 --> 00:52:14,800 twenty points while shooting well, let's say matching Middleton's efficiency on twos, threes 786 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:20,039 and free throws is Stephen Curry. His scoring is just he's not bad. 787 00:52:20,159 --> 00:52:24,320 Stephen Curry's okay, and that's just he should I think Middleton. There probably 788 00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:28,119 points to debate, but I think Middleton should be an All NBA shoe in 789 00:52:28,199 --> 00:52:30,880 this year. Whether you put him second team might be a stretch, but 790 00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:32,960 I would say third team for sure. Yeah, I think he should be 791 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:38,920 a third team lock my third team other thirteen powers, that's actually Pascal Siakam. 792 00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:45,119 And people have pointed to the drop in efficiency, and so here's how 793 00:52:45,159 --> 00:52:46,880 I countered that he was injured. At one point I think he was dealing 794 00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:50,840 with was a groin injury. I believe it was. The other thing is 795 00:52:51,159 --> 00:52:59,000 his role is so much different that skepticism. It feels like and I wrote 796 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:04,159 this, skepticist feels like pageantry. His usage rate has jumped by seven point 797 00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:08,960 seven points compared to his five point one spike last year from his season before 798 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:13,559 that. And the other thing I'll point out is where last year's change was 799 00:53:13,639 --> 00:53:17,760 more about taking on additional responsibility, this year's transition is both a matter of 800 00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:22,400 volume and transformation because he's taking different shots. They're trying to turn him into 801 00:53:22,679 --> 00:53:28,599 into more of this offensive hub, and so I think you have to expect 802 00:53:28,639 --> 00:53:31,639 his efficiency to decline. I mean, listen to this. The frequency with 803 00:53:31,679 --> 00:53:36,719 which he's finished possessions as the pick and roll ball handler has almost tripled from 804 00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:39,800 last year. The time he spends in isolation has almost doubled, and he's 805 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:45,320 gone from attempting fewer than one pull up jumper per game to five. He's 806 00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:49,079 shooting above thirty four percent on pull up three's, which is an acceptable number 807 00:53:49,119 --> 00:53:54,000 by those standards. I would say Toronto's lucky that he's averaging let's say twenty 808 00:53:54,039 --> 00:53:59,760 four twenty four points, eight rebounds, four assists, I'm rounding up here 809 00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:05,199 on average adjacent true shooting given the context of his role and how different it 810 00:54:05,280 --> 00:54:09,079 is from years past, even last season. And to me, I don't 811 00:54:09,119 --> 00:54:14,079 know if it's because Toronto's defense is so success by committee and he's maybe been 812 00:54:14,119 --> 00:54:15,920 a little bit worse there than last season because of all he's doing on the 813 00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:21,599 offensive end. He's still borderline all defense to me too, and so he 814 00:54:22,119 --> 00:54:23,679 Actually it was tough for me too. I was trying to figure out a 815 00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:27,760 way to finagle Ben Simmons in here, but I couldn't do it at the 816 00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:32,559 expense of Pascal Siakam. I'm not really sure what Pascal Siakam's role is because 817 00:54:32,559 --> 00:54:37,599 he does everything. It seems like it varies from one game to the next 818 00:54:37,119 --> 00:54:42,360 to the betterment of the Raptors. He was the most improved player in the 819 00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:46,559 NBA last year. He's still somehow in the discussion this year. He's probably 820 00:54:46,559 --> 00:54:50,039 not going to win the awarding back to back seasons, but the fact that 821 00:54:50,079 --> 00:54:54,199 he even deserves mentioned in those conversations is telling in and of its stuff. 822 00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:59,599 You know, you mentioned the numbers, you mentioned the specific roles, and 823 00:55:00,159 --> 00:55:05,559 his it's it's tough to tell whether here, Kyle Lowry is more valuable to 824 00:55:05,559 --> 00:55:08,400 the Raptors right now, and and that's another huge point in his favor. 825 00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:12,559 I had him as a fourth team forward and it was it was tough for 826 00:55:12,559 --> 00:55:15,760 me to leave him off the third Would you say, is it is this 827 00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:19,559 a cop out to say Pascal Siakam is Toronto's best player, but Kyle Lowry 828 00:55:19,639 --> 00:55:22,840 is their most important No, I agree with that. I think it was 829 00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:27,440 probably the same story last season, even with Kauai. Maybe I don't. 830 00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:29,920 Maybe he can't say that because of what he did in the finals. But 831 00:55:30,320 --> 00:55:34,519 whereas beforehand it was Kyle Lowry was better than Demartar Rosen and more important than 832 00:55:34,559 --> 00:55:37,199 Demartar Rosen, it feels like this season it's a Pascal Siakam's better in a 833 00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:42,880 vacuum, but Kyle Lowry is still more important to this team's immediacy. Well, 834 00:55:43,039 --> 00:55:45,360 I think part of the reason that they're so successful is that they don't 835 00:55:45,639 --> 00:55:52,760 get caught up in those designations either. There's there's never any hint of selfishness 836 00:55:52,039 --> 00:55:54,599 with this team. Fred van Vliet is going to take a lot of shots. 837 00:55:54,719 --> 00:55:59,119 Siakim's gonna take almost nineteen per game. Lowry is going to take almost 838 00:55:59,119 --> 00:56:04,679 fifteen per game, but it never feels like any of those key scorers, 839 00:56:05,159 --> 00:56:08,119 maybe Norman Powell occasionally is going to take shots that they shouldn't be, that 840 00:56:08,159 --> 00:56:12,679 aren't coming within the flow of the offense. And the ability to play off 841 00:56:12,719 --> 00:56:16,239 one another, the ability to complement one another, no matter what role you're 842 00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:22,480 filling, is so vital. Yeah, I'm totally with you right there on 843 00:56:22,519 --> 00:56:24,920 that one. Who is your other quote unquote fourth team forward? Yeah? 844 00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:30,400 My other fourth team forward was Russell Westbrook. Were you just assigning him the 845 00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:34,679 forward minutes when he played with Gordon and Harden at the same time. Sure, 846 00:56:35,079 --> 00:56:38,199 you know the Rockets very clearly don't subscribe to positional definitions, but their 847 00:56:38,239 --> 00:56:43,639 microball lineups after they traded Clint Capella and even before that to some extent, 848 00:56:43,719 --> 00:56:46,079 So why not let's go ahead and throw him in there as a forward, 849 00:56:46,119 --> 00:56:52,079 because he does deserve recognition for deferring to Harden earlier in the season and then 850 00:56:52,199 --> 00:56:55,400 just absolutely exploding in these microball lineups. If that's not allowed, if you 851 00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:59,440 want to reject that, I'm more than willing to put Brandon Ingram in that 852 00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:04,159 spot for how well he did carrying the Pelicans before Zion was healthy and then 853 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:07,800 his ability to adapt one Zion was back in demanding touches. But but I'm 854 00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:10,960 gonna stick with Westbrook. I'll allow it. I don't know if anyone else 855 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:17,639 will. From all zero on Twitter and I had brandon Ingram's one. I 856 00:57:17,679 --> 00:57:22,440 also people are like, let's not overthink brandon Ingram averaging like twenty five points 857 00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:25,079 and five assists on really good true shooting. Like, let's not. That's 858 00:57:25,079 --> 00:57:28,559 good. I don't care what the on a split say right now. He's 859 00:57:28,559 --> 00:57:30,199 obviously going to struggle a little bit to operate with Zion once they put a 860 00:57:30,239 --> 00:57:34,599 floor spacing five around them, which I think they absolutely need to do. 861 00:57:35,079 --> 00:57:37,559 That's partnership. I think will end up being fine. But he was really 862 00:57:37,599 --> 00:57:38,840 good. I had him, and then I shoe horned Ben Simmons into a 863 00:57:38,840 --> 00:57:42,320 forward role. I actually don't know if he was eligible for that. So 864 00:57:42,360 --> 00:57:45,079 I might be doing the same definitely should be. I might be doing the 865 00:57:45,119 --> 00:57:47,920 same Sannaigans that you are, though, but I'm not sorry. Do you 866 00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:53,000 want to speaking of Shenanigans? First team center is kind of a It's tough 867 00:57:53,239 --> 00:57:55,679 because well, it's tough, but it's also like, well, do you 868 00:57:55,719 --> 00:57:58,920 want to say it because we have the same guy. Yeah, I mean, 869 00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:01,000 we have Anthony Davis, but he played more than half of his minutes 870 00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:06,360 at power forward before the restart, and I understand that they've closed games with 871 00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:07,840 him at the five. But it's like, and it makes sense under the 872 00:58:07,880 --> 00:58:13,159 current context, because oh, if you know you're gonna have Yokich be a 873 00:58:13,239 --> 00:58:15,960 forward when he was never really a forward, then yes, Anthony Davis should 874 00:58:15,960 --> 00:58:19,360 be eligible at a position he technically did play for a good amount of time. 875 00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:22,559 But it's just another instance where like the delineation is just a little bit 876 00:58:22,559 --> 00:58:25,760 blurry. It is. I'm happy to have it though, because it made 877 00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:30,559 the rest of this exercise a lot more flexible, right right, it was 878 00:58:30,719 --> 00:58:36,280 it was tough to decide between Anthony Davis and Nikola Yokich for that first team 879 00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:38,760 spot, but one of them showed up in shape and the other didn't, 880 00:58:38,760 --> 00:58:43,880 And I think that's the difference. It is. It is Yokich was not 881 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:47,880 good at the start of the season and very quickly became good. But but 882 00:58:49,039 --> 00:58:53,679 Davis was phenomenal and didn't skip a beat joining up with Lebron James, which 883 00:58:53,760 --> 00:59:00,360 is an entirely different situation than anything that he had done to that stage of 884 00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:06,920 his career, The ability to fit in seamlessly alongside a player who as good 885 00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:10,960 as he is and as well as he understands the game isn't always the easiest 886 00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:15,760 to play alongside. He did it so well on both ends of the floor. 887 00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:21,079 We're talking about him as a primary threat to win Defensive Player of the 888 00:59:21,119 --> 00:59:24,119 Year, and deservedly so, even if he's neither of our picks, while 889 00:59:24,239 --> 00:59:29,480 also dominating on the offensive end as a three point shooter, as a as 890 00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:30,880 a creator, as a cutter, as a pick and roll threat, you 891 00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:35,960 name it, and he's able to thrive in that role. Yeah, he 892 00:59:36,039 --> 00:59:39,519 can't. He can't carry units without Lebron. That's been a struggle for him 893 00:59:39,519 --> 00:59:44,719 throughout his career to really float a lineup without another star next to him. 894 00:59:45,559 --> 00:59:47,840 But that's okay. Yeah, it's tough for him to have that type of 895 00:59:47,840 --> 00:59:51,599 influence over the offense, but I'm with you, it's okay. And also, 896 00:59:51,920 --> 00:59:52,920 while we didn't pick him for Defensive Player of the Year, I think 897 00:59:52,920 --> 00:59:57,800 people have used his on off splits to kind of discredit that case. Because 898 00:59:57,800 --> 01:00:00,320 the Lakers are allowing fewer points per one hundred sessions without him, there's a 899 01:00:00,360 --> 01:00:04,239 lot of noise there, and he had to try and carry a lot of 900 01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:08,320 lineups that included regular season Rondo in there without Lebron, which makes it tough. 901 01:00:08,800 --> 01:00:14,000 And then also there might be something too. He's not able to impact 902 01:00:14,039 --> 01:00:16,719 the defense at the same level as an embiid or go bear because he's guarding 903 01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:21,960 at every level and they're not, if that makes any sense. He guards 904 01:00:21,960 --> 01:00:25,519 isolations more frequently this season than Ben Simmons. He's fifteenth in total spot ups 905 01:00:25,519 --> 01:00:30,599 defended and fourth in three pointers contested per game. His two point nine deflections 906 01:00:30,599 --> 01:00:35,960 per thirty six minutes ranked seventh among all players six ten or taller to clear 907 01:00:36,039 --> 01:00:38,920 one thousand minutes, and he's defended more than twice as many pick and roll 908 01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:43,360 ball handlers as post ups. Some of that's positional because he has spent a 909 01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:45,199 lot of time at the four, but he's all over the place defensively, 910 01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:50,639 and that sort of ubiquity actually kind of takes away from I would argue what 911 01:00:50,679 --> 01:00:53,400 some of the numbers actually paint him as. So I think he's clearly there, 912 01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:57,280 and it was actually an easy choice for me to put him in first 913 01:00:57,280 --> 01:01:00,239 team if he was eligible at the five. Yeah, it was one of 914 01:01:00,239 --> 01:01:04,639 those that I debated for a second and then I was like, yeah, 915 01:01:04,800 --> 01:01:07,920 it's Davis. But that's not to discredit Yokich, who I believe was your 916 01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:12,920 second team center as well, not forward, the implement forward, even though 917 01:01:12,960 --> 01:01:17,679 he's eligible. I refused to do that. Had he come out of the 918 01:01:17,719 --> 01:01:22,800 gates hot, I think the first team would have been his for the taking 919 01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:29,320 because he reached that level that we expected to following his masterpiece of a playoff 920 01:01:29,360 --> 01:01:34,639 performance last season. Now, he's still averaging twenty point two points, ten 921 01:01:34,679 --> 01:01:37,440 point two rebounds, six point eight assists per game, shooting fifty two point 922 01:01:37,480 --> 01:01:43,079 seven percent from the field. He generates free throws. He doesn't necessarily hit 923 01:01:43,079 --> 01:01:45,960 his threes at a high clip, but high enough and frequently enough the defenses 924 01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:50,400 are forced to cover him out there. He is questions where he shoots like 925 01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:54,119 forty five percent from three two. Yep. He is the unquestioned lynchpin of 926 01:01:54,199 --> 01:01:59,599 the Denver offense. Everyone cuts around him, everyone takes handoffs from him. 927 01:01:59,639 --> 01:02:02,400 He makes full court passes look easy. He's the best quarterback in Denver. 928 01:02:04,840 --> 01:02:10,599 All of these things are undeniable. He remains an underrated defender. He has 929 01:02:10,679 --> 01:02:16,679 been arguably the best crunch time player in the NBA. Chris Paul is probably 930 01:02:16,719 --> 01:02:20,360 the only player who's capable of taking that crown for him. And it goes 931 01:02:20,360 --> 01:02:23,239 beyond that. No player has had more success taking shots within the final four 932 01:02:23,280 --> 01:02:28,800 seconds of the shot clock this season. He is a bailout option who somehow 933 01:02:28,840 --> 01:02:31,719 manages to get off shots from everywhere and they are high and they go through 934 01:02:31,719 --> 01:02:38,519 the net. What he's done for Denver is everything. Yeah, I mean, 935 01:02:38,840 --> 01:02:42,679 I don't I don't know what I could actually add to that. But 936 01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:45,880 from the moment he turned the corner, since December sixth, he has been 937 01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:51,159 averaging twenty two point four points seven point one assist, ten rebounds, slashing 938 01:02:51,159 --> 01:02:54,360 fifty five point six thirty five point seven eighty two point two sixty three five 939 01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:58,840 screw shooting during this stretch. That's forty six games. And like you said, 940 01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:01,360 it's a matter of like you know, those first like between fifteen and 941 01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:06,199 twenty appearances, if you if he was better during though, was the first 942 01:03:06,239 --> 01:03:10,119 team probably would have been his spot to lose where we I don't know that 943 01:03:10,119 --> 01:03:13,840 we talked about before we did we put third team center. I don't know 944 01:03:13,880 --> 01:03:16,079 that we've listed it to each other. But I think I don't remember who 945 01:03:16,079 --> 01:03:20,360 you picked. I have Rudy Gobert as my third Okay, so I think 946 01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:24,800 it's like underrated. Now, yeah, it's It's tough because he kind of 947 01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:30,039 has the same limitations as Davis where what are you? He can't influence the 948 01:03:30,079 --> 01:03:32,840 offense the same way, so he's always going to be inherently less valuable than 949 01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:37,679 certain players. But he's still a generational defender. And look, the Jazz 950 01:03:37,679 --> 01:03:42,039 have been terrible. They're better with him playing without Donovan Mitchell than Donovan Mitchell 951 01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:45,440 playing without him, and so you can read from that what you want. 952 01:03:45,719 --> 01:03:52,719 And he's look on offense, he's a devastating, dedicated rim runner, so 953 01:03:52,000 --> 01:03:55,079 he is relying on others to create his own looks, but like he can. 954 01:03:55,199 --> 01:04:00,800 Really he's going to finish well at the rim when given the opportunity out 955 01:04:00,800 --> 01:04:03,119 of the pick and roll. And just what he does defensively too, there's 956 01:04:03,320 --> 01:04:10,960 he's defended well outside the paint. It was Zach Lowe had this stat opponent's 957 01:04:11,000 --> 01:04:15,400 average and embarrassing point six eight eight points on one hundred and seventeen isolations against 958 01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:19,000 Gobert, the lowest figure in the league. Among all defenders who faced at 959 01:04:19,039 --> 01:04:23,079 least one hundred ISOs. So like, if you pull him out of the 960 01:04:23,079 --> 01:04:25,679 paint, you have won because it is going to open up lanes. But 961 01:04:25,719 --> 01:04:28,320 if your first instinct is, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna cook him off 962 01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:30,960 the dribble now instead of exploding the mismatch elsewhere, He's not gonna go down 963 01:04:31,039 --> 01:04:33,800 without a fight there, And so his defense is actually more valuable, and 964 01:04:33,840 --> 01:04:36,800 I think it gets credit for now. The final thing I'll say is it's 965 01:04:36,840 --> 01:04:41,800 not on him. Really, there was some just I feel like there was 966 01:04:41,840 --> 01:04:46,079 a stretch of like people in Utah pointed out or Utah like jazz writers for 967 01:04:46,119 --> 01:04:49,400 like a month where he just wasn't engaged on defense, wasn't getting back in 968 01:04:49,440 --> 01:04:55,800 transition with the same you know vim. But it's not on him that Utah 969 01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:59,480 is tenth and defensive efficiency, they still take a nose dive without him there 970 01:04:59,480 --> 01:05:02,960 in the seventy seventh percent tile of defensive efficiency when he's jumping center. And 971 01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:05,679 the other thing I'll say that people haven't talked about enough, and this will 972 01:05:05,679 --> 01:05:09,760 be the final thing. I say. They've veered away from defense heavily over 973 01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:13,480 the offseason by letting Ricky Rubio walk even if you thought Mike Conley was going 974 01:05:13,519 --> 01:05:15,079 to be healthy, that was a downgrade right there, And the fact that 975 01:05:15,079 --> 01:05:18,920 Mike Conley wasn't healthy hurt you even more. Trading Jay Crowder who worked as 976 01:05:18,920 --> 01:05:23,960 a small ball four for them, and bringing in boy On Badanovitch who was 977 01:05:23,960 --> 01:05:28,119 fine in Indie because it's Indie, but also just wasn't adding like a huge 978 01:05:28,199 --> 01:05:30,880 value as a defender. So if you're going from him to Jay Crowder in 979 01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:34,880 essence, like that's a drop off as well. I'm definitely not surprised by 980 01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:42,000 that Zach lowstat because anecdotally, I feel like Gobert is maybe the best I've 981 01:05:42,039 --> 01:05:46,639 ever seen at bating dribblers into blowing by him knowing that he can recover to 982 01:05:46,639 --> 01:05:51,039 block the shot. He seems to do it on purpose. There's to like 983 01:05:51,119 --> 01:05:54,960 let guys get a step on him knowing that he's quick enough to recover. 984 01:05:55,280 --> 01:06:00,280 I don't know who else I would even put in that category there, just 985 01:06:00,320 --> 01:06:01,920 like there are some players that you could see he's like more hesitant with, 986 01:06:01,960 --> 01:06:04,679 Like when it happens with Chris Paul. That's one where it seems like he's 987 01:06:04,719 --> 01:06:09,159 really indecisive, but otherwise I'm just in total agreement with you. And the 988 01:06:09,199 --> 01:06:13,840 other thing. They trust him as a rim protector so much that their defensive 989 01:06:13,840 --> 01:06:15,880 game plan and I think it was one or I think it was just one 990 01:06:15,960 --> 01:06:17,679 Houston game, it was two. We're gonna put him at the rim and 991 01:06:17,760 --> 01:06:21,360 let Westbrook just challenge him right there, because that's how confident we are. 992 01:06:23,400 --> 01:06:26,280 It doesn't matter whether it was super effective or not. The fact that they 993 01:06:26,320 --> 01:06:30,039 felt they could do it like is a testament to his rim protection, and 994 01:06:30,079 --> 01:06:33,639 that gives them ways to kind of fight sort of heavily switching, like if 995 01:06:33,679 --> 01:06:36,199 he wants to drop all the way back and let the ball handlers come at 996 01:06:36,239 --> 01:06:40,920 them, they funnel enough ball handlers his way anyway. You could watch many 997 01:06:40,960 --> 01:06:44,239 of them will triple inside just to come back out because they see him there. 998 01:06:44,880 --> 01:06:47,920 And then the final point on Gobert is his screen assists. So who 999 01:06:47,960 --> 01:06:55,519 is your fourth team center triple double have or Rudy Gobert with his green assist, 1000 01:06:56,039 --> 01:06:58,599 so the fourth team. I also don't know if we went over this 1001 01:06:58,639 --> 01:07:00,880 with each other either. It's weird that wet over every Apparently we just got 1002 01:07:00,880 --> 01:07:03,960 bored. Yeah, this was a little bit tougher for me. I considered 1003 01:07:04,000 --> 01:07:08,079 brook Lopez here. I even looked at Karl Anthony Town's a little bit, 1004 01:07:08,079 --> 01:07:10,760 but he just didn't play enough. I ended up with Joel Embiid, and 1005 01:07:10,800 --> 01:07:15,960 he probably would have beaten out Gobet for me had he just played more. 1006 01:07:15,480 --> 01:07:19,400 I know there was like his defensive consistency was maddening, but he's still if 1007 01:07:19,440 --> 01:07:23,599 you just look at the thing that still just blows my mind is when you 1008 01:07:23,639 --> 01:07:28,480 look at the rim frequency differential of opponents with him on the floor versus off, 1009 01:07:28,519 --> 01:07:31,440 it drops by eight point two percent. That's the largest drop off among 1010 01:07:31,480 --> 01:07:34,559 every single player in the league. Made him I'm three hundred fifty minutes, 1011 01:07:34,559 --> 01:07:38,320 which is nothing I filtered out. I think it was someone I can't remember 1012 01:07:38,320 --> 01:07:41,000 who it was. It was like James Johnson or somebody had logged like no 1013 01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:44,000 time at all and was number one. I'll look up who that one person 1014 01:07:44,159 --> 01:07:47,039 was. But that is absurd. Eight point two percent. That's wild. 1015 01:07:48,199 --> 01:07:50,360 Zach Lows says this all the time, so I don't want to. I 1016 01:07:50,400 --> 01:07:55,079 know people think everyone just repurposes his takes as their own, and maybe that's 1017 01:07:55,400 --> 01:07:59,159 there's level of truth for that. Good for him, it's valid, but 1018 01:08:00,000 --> 01:08:02,719 he might be the most impactful defender in the league when he's healthy and available. 1019 01:08:02,760 --> 01:08:08,719 The fact is his availability is never gonna Supersede and Anthony Davis or or 1020 01:08:08,760 --> 01:08:13,320 a Rudy Gobert. So my pick I haven't written in my notes is sorry 1021 01:08:13,400 --> 01:08:18,359 Joe L. Embiad, but availability matters Bam Autobio, I'm I'm by the 1022 01:08:18,399 --> 01:08:20,920 way, I was right about it being James Johnson. I just want to 1023 01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:26,359 throw it out there that I was glad I remember that name. I feel 1024 01:08:26,399 --> 01:08:29,279 like they've become lower on Bam than everybody else, which probably means that I'm 1025 01:08:29,279 --> 01:08:32,119 wrong. I'll just flat out say I mean, yeah, it's it's probably 1026 01:08:32,119 --> 01:08:35,640 true, but yeah, Bam was seventh and minutes played in the entire NBA 1027 01:08:35,760 --> 01:08:42,079 this season. Embiid was scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, one hundred 1028 01:08:42,119 --> 01:08:45,119 and sixtieth one thousand, three hundred and sixty three minutes played to BAM's two 1029 01:08:45,119 --> 01:08:49,159 thousand, two hundred and sixty three, which is a huge difference. Embid 1030 01:08:49,239 --> 01:08:54,199 was better in the minutes that he did play, but BAM's growth as a 1031 01:08:54,319 --> 01:08:58,640 do everything center was huge for Miami. He's probably not going to anchor a 1032 01:08:58,680 --> 01:09:00,439 defense by himself. He's probably not an anchor an offense by himself, but 1033 01:09:00,560 --> 01:09:05,680 is his ability to try to fill every exactly. His ability to fill every 1034 01:09:05,720 --> 01:09:13,039 functional element in the offense and in the defense is huge. He grew as 1035 01:09:13,079 --> 01:09:15,279 a ball handler and distributor, he grew as a shooter, he grew as 1036 01:09:15,359 --> 01:09:21,079 a perimeter defender who has incredible lateral quickness for someone his size. And it 1037 01:09:21,479 --> 01:09:28,800 really not quite as much as Butler, but it did key their expedited rise 1038 01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:31,560 up the Eastern standings. The only other player I really consider for this spot 1039 01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:36,279 was Demontes Sabonis, who, while he had a fantastic season, did not 1040 01:09:36,560 --> 01:09:40,359 belong in this conversation. No, and that's why I'm making a face at 1041 01:09:40,399 --> 01:09:42,600 you right now. But and just some people don't think I'm a Bam hater. 1042 01:09:43,439 --> 01:09:45,760 The point you made about him really just filling a box score from every 1043 01:09:45,760 --> 01:09:49,479 angle. Only six other players have averaged at least fifteen points, ten rebounds, 1044 01:09:49,479 --> 01:09:54,279 five assists once the on one block as Bam is doing now, Kareem 1045 01:09:54,439 --> 01:09:57,760 Jannis, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Webber. 1046 01:09:58,359 --> 01:10:03,079 I mean wholly surprised that there are Hakim or David Robinson seasons the Assists. 1047 01:10:03,079 --> 01:10:05,680 I'm not maybe with a kid, not so much Robinson, but the Assists 1048 01:10:05,680 --> 01:10:11,159 seem a little bit high of a benchmark for them. But so to your 1049 01:10:11,159 --> 01:10:14,640 point about embid, which I think is fair, I try in all NBA, 1050 01:10:14,720 --> 01:10:18,199 I don't really wait playing time as heavily, which is why I almost 1051 01:10:18,239 --> 01:10:21,880 put Karl Anthony Towns in this. I did not, just to be clear, 1052 01:10:21,920 --> 01:10:25,680 but it absolutely does matter. It's just not as much of a focus 1053 01:10:26,079 --> 01:10:29,520 for me. I've always kind of viewed it. I can't remember who said 1054 01:10:29,520 --> 01:10:30,640 this. I think it was like Kevin Arnovis once a couple of years ago, 1055 01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:32,640 and it stuck with me. Is that I'm more concerned about getting the 1056 01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:38,279 fifteen best players in under the criteria that I have to fit them into than 1057 01:10:38,319 --> 01:10:41,319 I am about sample size. Obviously, it needs to matter, which is 1058 01:10:41,319 --> 01:10:44,640 why I didn't pick Karl Anthony Towns. But that's the way I approached this, 1059 01:10:44,680 --> 01:10:46,279 and I'm look, bam, I having a BAIO is ridiculously good. 1060 01:10:46,960 --> 01:10:50,479 I do approach it from the perspective of who added the most value during the 1061 01:10:50,479 --> 01:10:56,520 season in question, and because of that, volume does matter pretty significantly for 1062 01:10:56,600 --> 01:10:59,960 me. I have no qualms about that. Do you have anything else to 1063 01:11:00,079 --> 01:11:03,119 offer on this discussion other than that it was it was fun to do, 1064 01:11:03,239 --> 01:11:09,159 not really, if let's recap him quick. So my first team was Lebron 1065 01:11:09,279 --> 01:11:14,960 Harden, Jannis Kawai, Anthony Davis. Mine was Lebron Harden, Jannis don 1066 01:11:15,039 --> 01:11:17,760 Chich, Anthony Davis. My second team was Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, 1067 01:11:17,840 --> 01:11:21,680 Luka don Chich, Jimmy Butler, and Nicola Yokich. Mine was Damian Lillard, 1068 01:11:21,720 --> 01:11:25,760 Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, and Nikolai Yokich. My 1069 01:11:25,840 --> 01:11:29,399 third team was Kyle Lowry, Jason Tatum, Chris Middleton, Pascal Siakam, 1070 01:11:29,479 --> 01:11:32,239 Rudy Gobert. Mine was Kyle Lowry, Ben Simmons, Chris Middleton, Jason 1071 01:11:32,239 --> 01:11:35,359 Tatum, and Rudy Gobert. The fourth team that does not exist, I 1072 01:11:35,399 --> 01:11:39,760 had Russell Westbrook, Devin Booker, Brandon Ingram, Ben Simmons, and Joel 1073 01:11:39,800 --> 01:11:44,119 Embiid. I had Bradley Beale, Trey Young with an apology to Devin Booker, 1074 01:11:44,199 --> 01:11:46,960 Pascal Siakam, Russell Westbrook was an apology to Brandon Ingram, and Bam 1075 01:11:46,960 --> 01:11:50,640 Autobio with an apology to Joel Embiid with also an apolo on the Russell Westbrook. 1076 01:11:50,680 --> 01:11:55,039 It's also apology of people who care about positional housing names. No, 1077 01:11:55,159 --> 01:11:59,560 there is no apology to them. That's regret those words in my mouth. 1078 01:12:00,800 --> 01:12:02,399 Hopefully you all enjoyed this podcast. This was fun to do. We will 1079 01:12:02,439 --> 01:12:08,239 be getting back to our decade player ranking series. We'll probably only have like 1080 01:12:08,239 --> 01:12:11,800 an episode a week on that though, since there's actually current events to be 1081 01:12:11,800 --> 01:12:15,319 moving forward with. We've already recorded the Knicks. Disregard when Adam does the 1082 01:12:15,359 --> 01:12:18,159 intro there and says it's his first intro ever back, because clearly it's not 1083 01:12:18,279 --> 01:12:24,479 anymore. Please please, please, pretty please with Sugar on top rate review 1084 01:12:24,520 --> 01:12:28,119 and subscribe to us on iTunes if you haven't already. If you're using a 1085 01:12:28,119 --> 01:12:30,600 different podcast player, make sure that you're subscribed in downloading us. Those are 1086 01:12:30,600 --> 01:12:33,840 the best ways to help us out. Also, we appreciate any shout outs 1087 01:12:33,840 --> 01:12:39,439 on Twitter retweeting our promos. Subscribe to our YouTube channel as well. YouTube 1088 01:12:39,479 --> 01:12:43,199 dot com search Hardwood Knox. Follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. Follow 1089 01:12:43,199 --> 01:12:47,640 Adam at FROMO zero nine. I'm at Damp Valley IV. Al until next 1090 01:12:47,640 --> 01:12:49,880 time, though, we leave you with the shout out to the one, 1091 01:12:50,279 --> 01:12:55,640 the only, one of the most underrated small forwards of the season, Russell 1092 01:12:55,680 --> 01:13:02,399 Westbrook, for the one standing guard, for the eagle eyed, for the 1093 01:13:02,479 --> 01:13:06,880 Knights in shining armor, and for all those who support them. We are 1094 01:13:06,960 --> 01:13:14,039 Granger, your experienced safety partner, offering supplies and solutions for every industry committed 1095 01:13:14,079 --> 01:13:18,479 to helping keep your facilities safe and your people safer. Call Clickgranger dot com, 1096 01:13:18,479 --> 01:13:23,640 slash safety, or just stop Bye. Granger for the ones who get 1097 01:13:23,640 --> 01:13:24,359 it done.