What's up, y'all is Drewski and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce
a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Due Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories
of your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a
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You won't want to miss this. Listen to The Due Zone with Drewski on
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hard withinox listeners, I am Dan Valley coming at you. Unfortunately without my
co host Adam Bromo. There's time who we need to cancel last minute again
because he had a second dose of the COVID shot. So we won't be
joining us today, which means that I have to go through an NBA mailbag
solo. But that's still fun. If you are listening in locker rooms,
I know people tend to not join rooms when there's only one host. Feel
to speak, ask questions in the chat. Do have a bunch of questions
tied up, also have nets Bucks on in the background if you have any
questions about that. Won't talk necessarily scores. You know, we're not going
to play by play this because it'll be super dated by the time that it
you know airs. However, we do have a ton of questions, so
let's not mince words. Let's get right into it. Gonna start with a
question from Brendan McKay and nine at Brendan McKay nine, is Rudy Gobert having
an historically good defensive season or just pretty good? I feel like it's really
difficult to measure historical defensive impacts just because we don't have the access to the
stats or I don't even know if you could adequately quantify defense anyway, even
if we had all, you know, if everyone had access to all these
stats that are behind you know, their proprietary stats basically, so that gets
difficult to look at. I do think he is the defensive player of the
year still, even as I've thought the Jazz have struggled over the past a
month or so, there's still like first in defense over the past month or
something, or second just wild and how much of an impact he can have.
Two things. If you do want to look at numbers, they have
the rim defensive impact data that goes back as far as twenty thirteen twenty fourteen.
Rudy Gobert this season is defending seven point nine attempts at the rim per
game, holding opponents to a fifty point one percent clip there. If you
use that sample size between twenty thirteen and now, only one other player has
done the same. Whereas he's averaging as many shot contests at the rim as
Rudy Gobert and then holding opponents at fifty point one shooting or lower. It's
actually this year's Miles Turner, and then Rudy Gobert himself did it last year,
and that's just it. Those are the only ones in that eight year
sample size that we're working with here. I do think it speaks to how
much of an impact he's definitely having, and also just how more common it
is, or maybe it's getting a little bit more common. We have these
higher volume and protectors and teams are really good to funnel guys towards them,
and right now I would argue that Rudy Gobert, Miles Turner, just the
two guys that you're going to do that. Also, just if you want
numbers, he is on pace to have a block percentage comfortably above seven while
logging more than two thousand minutes. That has only been done by twelve players
in NBA history thus far, Sean Bradley, Mark Eaton, Marcus Camby to
Kemby Matumbo. I feel Ratliff is on white side a new bowl. Serge
Ibaka, Alonzo Morning, David Robinson, Tree Rollins, and then Miles Turner,
not like a who's who of all these necessarily elite defenders, but some
pretty good company. The fact that's block rate is so high when that's not
even necessarily the thing that he's best at. It's deterrence more so than even
just I mean, it's probably equitable. I shouldn't put it that way,
but he just dissuades people from trying to do anything at the rim. And
that's how he That's where his value lies. Also, his value lies in
just the sheer v that the Jazz can direct so many ball handlers his way.
Let's keep this rolling. We have a bunch of questions about the Nuggets.
Most of what you're about Nicola Yokich, who I might have Yokis fatigue
on this podcast, even though he's one of my favorite basketball players to watch
at the moment. Let's start with the bigger picture one, and then we'll
loop all the Nicola Yokich ones together at nineteen thirty three was a bad year.
That is fred as how legitimate will the Nuggets be without Jamal Murray in
the playoffs? That's a really fair question. I think that they are still
going in there. They've proven they're already a great regular season team. Still,
they're nine and one. Since Jamal Murray tore has left ACL I am
of the mind that the playoffs are going to be a different animal. And
you don't have someone who can replace all of Murray's shot making from scratch creation
and then table setting for others, and then also just the two man game
with Yokich, I don't know that there's anyone else on the roster who's going
to be able to replicate that. It's sucks for them that they're also dealing
with injury Will Barden at the moment, you'd like more of a sample size
with as many of these other main guys as possible without Murray. Michael Porter
Junior, though, is making another leap having after made like two or three
of them. It feels like right before our eyes. In the ten games
since Murray went down, he's averaging twenty five point six points, shooting sixty
two point seven percent on two's fifty one point three percent on threes, just
absolutely ridiculous. Getting to the line slightly more, which I think is good
still at only three attempts per game, but that's up from two point five.
And so if he can just get to the line more, if you're
gonna have the ball on this hands more, that will help you a little
bit too. I do think if you want to still register as that foremost
title contender in the West, where you don't want to be considered the least
likely of the five main contenders in the conference to come out and get a
title, you're going to need more of Michael Porter junior self creation twenty point
four percent of his field goals made we're going unassisted before Murray's injury. That's
ticked up to twenty four point two percent in the past ten games. That's,
you know, it's noticeable. It's not insubstantial, but when things bogged
down in the playoffs in crunch time one possession game, can you go to
him? Is he going to be able to generate a shot from scratch and
hit them in those situations? I think he could. I don't know if
that don't necessarily happened this year, but he absolutely is the player prototype to
do that. What I will point out though, is Nicole Yokich has been
one of the clutches players in basketball this year in the final two minutes of
one possession games. Damar de Rosen is the only player who has made more
shots in those situations, which is, you know, pretty flipping amazing when
you really think about it. Yokich is also getting to the line of ton
in those situations. He's tied for sixth place in total three free throw attempts
during those clutch situations. Again, that's these are high leverage moments. I'm
even narrowing the crunch time criteria just one possession in the final two minute,
and so to have someone who can get to the line, who's not just
taking jumpers or posting up like he's putting the ball on the floor. And
that was the thing before Murray's injury, more of a thing now after Murray's
injury of course, So I'm not counting out the Nuggets anymore. I was
going to put them in the bottom five of those five teams. I think
they're gonna wind up being better. This might have a lot to do with
matchups too. I think they might need to be higher than that, But
as of right now, I wouldn't be prepared to put them in front of
any of the other teams, if that makes any sense. What I will
say is that they're going to be more threatening than just this. If you
thought they were going to be a first round stepping stone, if they have
to face the Lakers in that three six matchup, or if it ends up
you know they're in fourth and they're facing the Mavericks, who are in fifth
right now, they're not. This is not that's not happening. If they
face the Mavericks in round one, I would pick them to beat the Mavericks.
If they face the Clippers, I don't know, they face the Lakers,
I'm probably picking the Lakers just because of Lebron Still. To lose a
player of Murray's caliber, especially on offense, even though he's made some defensive
improvement, and still be in that discussion is absolutely massive. So let's get
to these questions about Nicole Yokich, a couple of which I laughed at dumb
Zach at Michael scarn seven seventy s. Who do we want to pretend is
the MVP over Yokis this week? Kevin Porter. I'm pretty sure he's referencing
the CP three talk that's sort of been drummed up of late. I do
find it funny that there's this and then Steph's been thrown in there, that
there are these, you know, everyone's constantly searching for that next narrative,
that next next MVP type candidate. I don't know that we're gonna be able
to throw anyone in there. The Celtics are getting kind of sort of frisky,
like, is Jason Tatum after dropping sixty you're gonna be thrown in there
saying that he needs to be top in the top five for consideration. That
seems to be you know, I don't know that it's been Stephen Curry needs
to win over Yokich, Chris Paul needs to win over Yokich. Al though
some people are making that argument because the Sons have the best record in basketball
or the second best record in basketball. I forgot Utah was had a half
a game on them at the moment. Why we want to throw different names
of the top five? I think we've exhausted the list though new names that
could come in. Julius Randall was even getting his flowers for a while,
so you know, do the Hornets going and run with LaMelo ballback? Is
he gonna be thrown in there? For some reason, have not seen a
push to get any Jazz players in there. And I think that Rudy Gobert,
there's only a five man ballot. I'll go ten deep and he will
make the top ten for me. But it's interesting that the Jazz they have
the best record in basketball. They've struggled over the past relative to them.
They're ten and seven in the last month or since April first. That's not
great for them, but that's still above five hundred and they have the best
record in basketball. There hasn't been a push to include Rudy Gobert or Donovan
Mitchell in that discussion. Maybe that heats up at some point. Donovan Mitchell
has not returned yet from that sprained ankle. Though Rudy Gobert will be the
guy that I'll identify the sun stuff is interesting. We do have a question
about Devin book, so maybe I'll just I'll save any sunstalk for that.
But if I had to guess they're Michael, I would probably say that we're
gonna it's gonna be like a Tatum or maybe a Butler, do the heat
go on some sort of run. They've been wildly disappointed. He's been quietly
just super good this year. Next question comes from Jordan's Scott at Jordan fifty
three? How are people still not understanding how historic this season? From Yo
Kitches, I would counter, are they not understanding? It seems to be
pretty commonplace to say that he's just having one of the most offensively efficient seasons
in history. I will say, when you do look at his splits from
the floor over sixty percent on two's, over forty percent on threes. There's
only ever been one player to average twenty or more points while having that efficiency
as the benchmark sixty percent inside the arc, forty percent beyond it. That
would be twenty twelve two thirteen Lebron James, which is the season that I
would probably say, for me personally, I had the most fun watching James,
and I think that was the best season of his career, so that's
certainly saying something. You look at what he's just able to do. Though,
as a passer, I do like using It's behind a pay wall from
Ben Taylor over at back Picks. I like box creation as a passing metric.
It's an estimate of open shots created for teammates per one hundred possessions.
Nicole Yokes ranks near the top of that, and so you have one of
the most valuable passers in basketball also scoring a shit ton and doing so efficiently,
shooting better than fifty three percent on two point jumpers, hitting almost fifty
percent of those wild fadeaways inside the arc he was at. This is a
couple of days old, so it could have not up, it could have
gone down. He was at forty seven point eight percent on fadeaways the last
time I checked. If it is being overlooked, it's kind of wild to
me that anyone could deny what he's doing right now. I just even looking
at his box score numbers, you could tell that he's having his historical season.
So yeah, I don't if they are overlooking it. I don't think
people are. Maybe Denver fans Field National Media is, but I don't think
people are overlooking it. We have another in our final Nicole Yokes question comes
from how did I lose it? Here? Which numbers does Yoki's lead or
is in second this season? That comes from a Duardo at E D seventeen
OLIVERA. So I took this a different direction. I don't want to look
at just points per game and rebounds and assists. He's gonna rank just super
high in all those metrics. So I wanted to just look at more of
my go to kitchen sinc ones, which the five that I've been leaning on
this year have been estimated plus minus total points added, which is done by
NBA math. As you guys may know by now at this point, also
been living by value over replacement players, one that I like to look at
for for single season. And then of course we have ESPN's plus minus and
then real adjusted plus minus from NBA shot charts. If you look at those
five, he is not surprisingly just ranks incredibly highly on all of them.
He leads in three of them, which is you know, there is some
variants in advanced kitchen sink metrics, so that is impressive to me. He
leads in estimated plus minus total points added and vorp he has broken the total
points added metric. When you just look at those graphs that come out on
NBA Math at NBA Underscore Math, for anyone who's listening there, his name
is just by four his face since that we use icons, it's just far
and away above and beyond every one else on those lists. It's absolutely absurd.
When you're looking at ESPN's real plus minus, he brings eighth. I
think that is his most least favorable positioning on this. But for real adjusted
plus minus r a ra APM. Again, this one comes from NBA shot
charts, and they do allow you to adjust for luck, which is interesting
when you're doing it for a single season. He is fifty first overall,
so that was actually the least favorable one. I do remember looking at that.
When you adjust for luc though, he's fifth, and so you take
that for what it is. But he is just he's the as someone who
had him bead over him before beads bone bruise, and then considered Yannis over
him for a little while after that point. That part might be sheepist.
I'm sheepish. I might have been overthinking it. I do think him Bead
had a legitimate case before his injury. I will stand by that, which
is why I would put him second on my ballot right now, behind Yokich.
We're at the point though, where he has run away with the award.
Just seemed like an MVP freefall. Frakis would like battle Roy out.
It's turned into a runaway result. And I think what's not being talked about
enough? And it's odd because people are somebod how he's in the best shape
of his life. He is in the best shape of his life. He's
played in every single game after going to the Western Conference Finals and then having
the shortest offseason in sports history, not as short as the Heat or Lakers
who went to the finals, but we're talking then about you know, two
or three teams that had shorter off seasons than the Nuggets this year, by
that measure, that is bonkers every single game and in the best shape of
his life. That's just a testament to the type of season he's having as
much as his actual production. That the Nuggets have climbed up the standings,
that obviously matters too. They're contending for a home court advantage spot, and
he has the storyline boost with Jamal Murray's injury keeping them afloat without him.
That's huge, So I would be he was a runaway result already. I'm
gonna be shocked to see. I don't know that he'll be unanimous, the
second unanimous MVP in Meek history, but he's gonna be. Damn you're close,
would be my guest. Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous,
Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns. Legends whose four way rivalry define one
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new Showtime Sports documentary The Kings, a four parts series premiering Sunday, June
sixth, only on Showtime. We're gonna move off some nuggets talk. Sorry
to disappoint everybody. This question was so unbelievably tough, and I'm happy that
you know it wasn't asked about the entire all NBA rosters because centers are easy.
The three centers are gonna be Gobert and Bed and Yokich. That's just
a given. But the guards are a hellscape of talent, is how I
put it on Twitter. But Jay dub nine nine one. One asked six
all NBA forwards and then your toughest cut. So my first team as Jannis,
that's a given. Lebron is going to be my other first team member.
I don't really carely missed twenty games. He's playing at such a high
level. Some people might have Kawhi here. That's fine too. Kawai's missed
a ton of time as well, but Lebron's influence over the offense it beats
out what Kawai has done for me this season. And he's again, Kawai
has been great on offense and he has his defense, even though there's sort
of a switch with him the past few years. If you want to flip
flop those two, that's fine. After those three, it gets incredibly interesting.
I didn't think i'd be here at this point. I'm the full disclosure,
and this is just someone who has watched a lot of this guy.
Julius Randall is my other second team forward right now. He's been you know,
when you're looking at just Biggs, he's seventh and this includes centers,
but he's eighth. Excuse me. A value of a replacement player leads the
Knicks in scoring an assists, playing a ton of minutes held up over this
truncated schedule. The Knicks did have a longer off season than a bunch of
teams. Still, that's impressive, and I think his availability in this case
matters, and the Knicks have obliterated expectations more than every other team. Credit
Tom Thibodeau for that as much as you need to, especially on defense.
Randall's running the Knicks offense, and while it's not this great offense, he's
hitting step back threes, throwing these wild last minute passes. Maybe some people
are gonna have one of the other two names that all or three technically that
I'll mention here. That's fine. I think Julius Randall has become all NBA
consensus. Now, Noah, Noah, you're sitting here alone with me.
I appreciate it. Everyone on the room hates the one hosts rooms. Shame
on Adam for getting his second COVID shot, right, guys, But Noah
Otage sent the gift of Randall flexing. I think he's all NBA consensus.
I would be shocked at this point if he doesn't make one of the three
teams. My third team is Jimmy Butler, who's missed time. And that's
probably why I haven't bumped him up above Julius Randall. He'd be the player
most likely to do it, just a monster on defense, and we're probably
not and it's it's not even probably and he stopped hedging here. We're not
talking enough about the season that he's having. Miami's offense is I would say,
kate cles me, kta cles me. Okay, it's it's a catastrophe.
Let me stop trying to use big sat words that I can pronounce will
I'm trying to stare at three different screens at once. It's bad. But
he's having basically a career year on offense, twenty one point six points per
game, that's the third highest of his career career, h seven point two
assists per game, shooting fifty three point seven percent on twos, which is
incredibly impressive because people know he's not shooting threes this year, only two attempts
per game, hitting them at a twenty point seven percent clip. Is he
going to shoot like eighty percent in the playoffs again or whatever it was last
year. That's a possibility, and then he leaves the league and steals.
But he's also just mind melting league competitive on the defensive end as well.
The last spot was the toughest. I think the five guys I named,
you can put them in whatever order you want. I think j Honest is
the guy that you look at and say, okay, well he has to
be on the first team. Everyone else can be fudged around a little bit.
I think you could say Lebron and then Clide. They have to be
either first or second. But this was just the spot, that second third
team spot that was most malleable for me, and I went with Jason Tatum.
He's been really good for the Celtics this year, even though they've missed
by preseason expectations. I don't think that's on him. It's what it comes
down to is you have Jayson Tatum, you have Jalen Brown, who's your
third best player On any given night. You're supposed to be able to answer
that with Kemba maybe sometimes Marcus Smart. You haven't been able to answer that
season, and Kemba's missed some time recently again, been up and down,
hasn't really been able to put together any real momentum though, was shooting under
thirty two percent on three overs past twelve games before his most recent injury.
It's it's an issue, and you have now on just in the in the
which would be the meat and potatoes, or even just the back end of
the rotation. You're relying on guys that maybe you wouldn't in an ideal season.
You'll Peyton Pritchard's been good, but is that someone that you're going to
want to play heavy minutes in the playoffs? You have Aaron Asmith who has
picked up his play a bit had it, plays some pretty good defense.
The other night. By the way, in the game I was watching,
I can't remember who they were playing, So I apologize for that. I've
reached this level of just trying to keep track of lineups and who's available and
who's not that I forget matchups and even games I've watched, which probably doesn't
bode well for the projects that I'm in the middle of working on. I
just don't, you know, and maybe haven't formula. That experiment clearly has
not gone as smoothly as they would have preferred at the at the trade deadline,
and you still make that deal, by the way, ten out of
ten times, because they picked him up for basically nothing and I don't know
that they're gonna They still have part of the traded player exception left. They
don't know who else they were going to get over before expired. That was
better. They still have a higher seiling though. The Celtics, I just
don't view what their struggles have been. The uncertainty that's not on Jayson Tatum
or Jalen Brown really. I guess you can criticize Tatum for not being more
of a natural playmaker, even though he's improved a great deal there. He
shouldn't you know who Jason Tatum is, though that can't be the expect He's
not supposed to be Nicolo. Exit's supposed to Jimmy Butler at this point when
you're looking at that passing type jump, he's been clutched for them getting to
the line a lot in the you know, I narrow the crunch time criteries.
I said before one possession games in the final two minutes, he he
has been to the line a bunch of those situations. He is tied for
third place with Devin Booker there. He is also shooting not so well from
three three of nine in those minutes, but he is also twelve of twelve
of seventeen on twos in those minutes, that's wrong. Twelve of twenty three,
twelve of twenty two, excuse me, that's that's huge as well.
What he brings to you defensively can be really disruptive. Never I shouldn't say
never, but he doesn't always defend the best guy. He can be really
really disrupt ruptive off the ball, good health defender, and he can held
his own on it. The toughest guy to leave off for me was Zion
Williamson, and I really thought about putting him on his numbers, they bend
your brain. He is on the season, he is averaging, or he's
up to twenty seven points on a true shooting of sixty five point two.
Dude gets to the basketbare than anyone else. We've seen the Zion to as
as point guard, so to speak. Experiment has worked out well for New
Orleans. I do think we've seen its limitations where it's not working for them
as well now, and that's that's not on him. You want them to
have more options. But between that sort of I don't want to say petering
out because it's still working, but between that becoming less of a novelty and
then just his defensive struggles. There's still he has a long way to go
off the ball. If you think he's fine on the ball this season,
that he's even made progress good great, But if you watch the Pelicans and
part of it just might be how they're defending. And Zach Low pointed out
they've changed parts of their schemes mid season, so that that could be confounding
him too. I give Tatum the slight edge if you want to put him
in that. Again, that's not something that I could really quibble over.
I didn't necessarily feel I need to give anyone else consideration here, and I'm
wondering if that's terrible. Kevin Durant hasn't played enough, that's just a fact.
Maybe Paul George, you could certainly consider Paul George having a having a
boss year. Playoff pe has arrived in the regular season, but he's playing
good, So I guess that means he's not playoff p Actually, that's really
it. Though. You can hit me if you think that I there's any
egregious miss this year, but I think that's pretty straightforward that it's going to
end up being between those seven guys for the spots. Unless you feel strongly
that Chris Middleton needs to be there. I don't know. Let's get to
another question. This one comes from Anthony Moore Latchy at Anthony Moore Latchie.
Well, he's actually his Twitter name is Tony at botha and then he's at
Anthony Mr Latchy. I'm gonna assume the ladder is his name. Hornets got
back both Moleigue Monk and LaMelo ball last night, with Hayward returning close to
the playoffs. What is their ceiling? That's an interesting question. I do
think a lot of it's gonna depend on how the play in tournament shakes out.
I don't know that they're gonna it's mathematically feasible for them to get one
of the top six spots. I don't see them passing the heat and then
having to beat out the Celtics. You have to beat out both those teams
basically to get a spot, or let's say two of the Hawks Celtics and
or all three of the Hawk It's just, yeah, you're not beating two
of the Hawks Celtics and Heat out. I don't think at this point in
the season, when you get to the play in tournament I don't know if
there's a team there. If I'm Charlotte and I'm at full strength, that
would scare me. I know Washington's been really good and we have a question
on them coming up in just a few minutes. I just you know Indiana
on our paper, yes, and they're getting They did have the emotional boon
that comes with playing the Thunder right now where they beat them by about one
trillion points, give or take a point or two there. Miami is certainly
the team that you would fear in the play in tournament, but there's two
spots to get there. So let's just assume that you lose that game.
If it's seven eight against Miami, are you worried about having to beat the
pacers of the Wizards. At this point, it doesn't look like it's going
to be the bulls of the Raptors. I picked the Raptors to get in
there, by the way, and then to get into the playoffs. That
prediction is aging quite poorly. I'm going to be two things I'll be watching
is what is their defense sort of look like when LaMelo Ball went into the
starting lineup, And this is not on him, I'm using this is more
of just a checkpoint for their season. When he went into the starting lineup
for Good, they I give credit to James Brego just a personnel in general,
given how small Charlotte has played this year, that they've been closer to
league average than not. Defensively, but they were thirty if an opponent effective
field goal percentage. I still think there's potential there because they can force a
fair amount of turnovers without without fouling, which is good. They were taking
care of the defensive glass. They were eighth over that time. It was
twenty one games before Lamello's injury. Once he was inserted into the starting lineup
for Good, just how what are you going with in the playoffs? Are
you gonna need to play have more big man minutes if you're if you're if
you're fully healthy, are you going to consider giving more run to I think
the three guys you look at his staples, even though you do have Malik
Monkey, do you have DeVante Graham Is, Terry Rozier, LaMelo Ball and
Gordon Hayward and you flesh out your lineups from there. The lineup I would
like to see more of. It's only played one hundred and eight possessions this
season is the LaMelo, Terry Rosier, Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, PJ.
Washington lineup. They're plus four point seven points per one hundred possessions in
that sample size. So it's so tiny, but it's encouraging one twenty seven
point and offensive rating in those minutes. They've been a disaster on defense,
but I think a lot of your small ball lineups are gonna give up a
lot there. There have been some PJ. Washington at the five lineups that
are surviving. And so it is this a situation where you just take out
Bridges and Washington the five and then you're gonna try and use Cody Martin or
something, because I don't think leak Monk isn't gonna help you. That that's
not the substitution you're making. And in this instance, but this team could
throw someone for a whirl. I don't think they have a prayer of beating
Brooklyn Philly in the first one of those two teams in the first rounds.
Is it looks like that's how one two is gonna shake out. Is it's
going to be Brooklyn or Philly. But as far as the playing goes,
let's let's say that it's just where it lies is you're gonna have Heat,
Hornets, Pacers, Wizards. I might consider picking the Hornets to come out
of there. The Pacers are worrying me more than the Wizards relative to Charlotte,
just their roster seems more. There's more depth on that roster, even
if it's not higher end depth, because the Wizards could technically have the two
best players of those teams when you're looking at Bradley Beale and Russell Westbrook at
least something to consider. But having LaMelo back is huge for Charlotte just for
what he can do to sort of delineate the offense set up guys. In
this first game back, we already saw that crazy full court pass, So
there's he adds more of an that air of unpredictability to the offense, which
I think is good, but then also helps them not just full court but
even half court. And there's you know, you probably want more out of
his off the drivel jumper than you've seen because you didn't close at thirty six
percent. I think on pull up three's this year and a shot well off
the catch. You probably just need him to be a stronger finisher, more
of a threat to score once he gets in the lane. But he just
creates so much havoc on defense. And then I thought Basketball News is nikaias
Duncan published a great piece on his return where if he can get defenders attached
debt at the hip, like he's really good at derail there their directions.
If you know, if they're trying to switch on screens, He's going to
change a ton up for the defense just by doing that, and that just
gives you someone who can should be the driving force of an offense. DeVante
Graham had a great year last year, kind of overstretched in that playmakers will
still provides the off the dribble juice, and that's where the variance is for
this team. They do have talent on this where I name those, I
do them as the three staples. Although Myles Bridges might be working his way
into that conversation with the way he's been playing. You have those three guys,
and then there's actual depth here. No, you're not as big as
you'd like. I don't know that you want Bizmacmiambo playing any sort of minutes
in the playoffs, but you do have Cody Zeller when he's healthy, is
a competent five man. You have the smaller lineups that we've already mentioned that
that you can go to. There's for you know, maybe Cody Martin kind
of shows out of points. He has his moments, Devonte grahamas I mentioned
with the with the off the dribble juice. Maybe you get some minutes from
Jalen McDaniels that are gonna be quality for you. There's there's names here that
are that are interesting for them, So I don't I'm not ready to pick
them if I if I was forced to choose, I'd probably say that they're
not going to be one of the final eight teams. I probably just can't
shake the Pacers. Or maybe I'm trying to hedge against what over the hell
Washington is doing. They've just been annihilating the rest of the league. That's
a good segue because Leo Brownstein at Brownstein Leoor asked he has two questions,
what is the Wizard's ceiling this year? Playing or playoff? And then he
asked for two is there a chance for the Calves and Kings to get out
of the least basement next year? Let's talk about the first one. We
were just on the Wizards. They have been absolutely wild. They have one
a crap Ton. They're twelve and two over their last fourteen games. They've
gotten great performances from Bradley Beale, Russell Westbrook as well. Still not the
most efficient score, but the pressure he's gonna put on the rim matters,
and defenses are reacting to that. Davis Burton shooting the hell out of ball,
Ruby Totter Moore has been really good for them. He's given them a
good defensive minutes too, and just showing a little bit more on offense.
I think what's helped them more than anything is the defense during this stretch.
Well, you know, let's look at this specifically. Since they've racked up
these victories, I think it's since April seventh, But just looking at their
last fifteen games, their ninth in offense and seventh in defense, and looking
at points allowed per possession for defense, the two things driving that I don't
know that I don't I don't know that they're unsustainable, which would be a
good thing. Opponents aren't hitting a high clip of their threes, but they
were hitting an overly high clip of their threes before that. The fact that
that's starting to normalize, that's probably fine. That just means they're probably a
better three point defense than they were credited for at the beginning of the year
when they were just absolutely atrocious. And their rim protection has gotten a lot
better. And when you look at what Daniel Gafford has done, what Robin
Lopez is able to do, even Alex Lynn has been good for them,
and you're exchanging those minutes, it's you know, Thomas Bryant is not a
good rim protector, he's been injured, but that he's not your primary room
protector now. He barely played this year. Just just so we're clear,
And like Moe Wagner, was that the who was your highest volume m protector
after Rollo, before the before Daniel Gafford came in and having Alex Lynn.
I think those are huge. I think they could be a playoff team.
They could, sir. I think anyone that's going to qualify for the Plant
Ornament could win it. In the Eastern Covers. I don't think there's gonna
be a team that sneaks in if it were the Bulls, actually no,
even if Lavigne, no, the Raptors, Bulls, Wizards, Pacers Hornet's
Heat. If you told me any combination of those two teams were in unless
it didn't include Miami, I'm going to I'm going to buy it because I
would pencil Miami in. So maybe that's the real surprise there. But I
think their ceiling is playoffs. They're not beating. I'll look at this through
the context of if they get in, they're going to play the Nets or
the Sixers. They're not putting. I don't think they put up a fight
against either of them. Ideally, you probably more I want to go with
Philly just because at this point, if the Nets are fully healthy, I
think you'd just prefer to avoid them either if you think the Sixers are the
more well balanced team, which which they are. So that's where I'm at
With the Wizards. I don't know that. I don't know that I have
a pick for the plan. It's it's Miami and TBD. For me.
I'm still trying to figure it out. But play the first round is certainly
their ceiling this year, And I will say I think their defense I don't
know that I would think it's top ten like it's been. I would say
it's more a harbinger of real than artificial. The second questionaire was is there
a chance for the Calves and Kings to get out of the league's basement next
year, both of them at the same time. Probably not. I would
be shocked looking at the Calves. First, they're going to have another lottery
pick, and then they add that to just an interesting, youthful bass and
we talked about that in our futures rankings for the NBA's worst teams on this
podcast. They have Colin Sexton. There's been a there was a report from
Joe Varden that teammates are frustrated with him not passing the ball enough. I
thought he's actually improved as a playmaker a little bit over the last year and
a half. But he's an efficient scorer when you're looking at what he shoots
on twos and threes, and he was flirting with twenty five points a game.
I think that matters. Darius Garland's gotten a lot better hitting a good
clip of his pull up three's this year. Looks like he has more control
over the offense when he gets in the lane. The game feels like it
slows down when he does that, which I translate to me and it's slowing
down for him, and he will manipulate defense is more. Isaac o'corro is
the real thing on defense, superactive. Can he find his offensive role?
That's very much TBD as well. They haven't really been super healthy. But
looking up front, you do have Kevin Love, nary n Larry Nanchu,
or Jared Allen, for whatever that's worth. I don't know how many of
those. Jared Allen will certainly be here, fantastic room protector, shown a
little bit more as a passer with Cleveland. And isn't someone do you want
to call matchup proof? No, because I think Rudy Gobert is even shown
in certain games for certain moments against certain lineups. He's not matchup proof.
You will never do that over the an entire series. I want to make
that clear, but it can be tough for the more traditionalist A pure five,
let's call it. Jared Allen No is more mobile than a lot of
his peers. There is Kevin love Stone in Cleveland next year, Like,
what is this team's path out of the basement? Doesn't include keeping Kevin love
Nary Nance Junior. I don't know Larry Nance Junior for sure, just what
he brings it at both ends. You probably need to have one of the
top three or four picks in the lottery though, where you're telling me that
this team has Kay Cunningham obviously is the big one, but did they get
Jalen Suggs. So if you add one of those top four, top three
guys, I think that's their quickest path out of the basement, and then
you probably have to keep the rest of the roster intact. I don't know
that you're getting. Maybe you can still move Love. I would say you
have to keep Larry Nance Junior if you want to be good Already. The
Kings, it's tougher just by virtue of playing in the Western Conference. They're
approaching a weird I feel like they've just been at a perpetual crossroads every single
offseason since the dawn of time. To be honest with you, the big
indicator that I'm looking for is what happens with Rashaun Holmes. They have his
early bird rights and he's a free agent. They can pay him because he's
making so little. It's it's essentially this, is he going to make around
the league average salary or are they gonna have to have cap space to resign
him if they're gonna pay him around the league average salary that's about ten million
in right now. I think he goes for substantially more than that, in
which case they need to carve out cabspase, in which case they need to
shed money. Where is that money coming from? Is it getting rid of
Buddy Healed? They just traded for delun right, so I wouldn't think it
would be him. Is it a Harrison Barnes move. It's not going to
bed Aaron Fox. Is it a Marvin Bagley salary dump? Is that something
they look at? And I have to look at their numbers. I'm not
sure Bagley alone gives them the room to just go out and Shaun Holmes.
I'm actually ninety percent sure it doesn't. Though if any Kings fans are listening,
they're of course free to correct me on that. I should have brought
up their cap sheet for myself with all this research I have, In case
anyone cares, like between probably forty three and fifty tabs open right now,
I should count them. That would be a fun live exercise. Anyway.
If you don't bring back, bring back Rashaun Holmes. I think it speaks
to more of a gradual process. I then would not predict them to come
out of the basement. I don't know that I would predict that anyway.
I think Tyrri's Aliberton is really fucking good. Tyry Talbert might be an All
Star. I want to make that everyone thinks that there's limited room for growth,
that he's more of just as an all around complimentary player. I don't
know when I see him hit step backs or kind of just butcher defenders when
he's working off the dribble, but it disarms you because it's not super explosive
when I watch him break up passing lanes. When I watch him, I
don't know if you want to call him a lockdown defender, but being able
to hold his own in a lot of one on one situations, he might
be an All Star. You're getting to let's say the d Aaron Fox level,
or maybe slightly just a tier below that, and if you're having two
top twenty five, top thirty players on your team, that's a good place
to start your rebuild. I don't know where you flesh it out from there,
though. If you don't bring her Sean Holmes back, who are you
replacing him with number one, and you can look at any of the number
of flyers that you have on the roster right now, it's on Whiteside.
Probably comes back pretty cheap for them. They're also they've also given looks to
Damien Jones, so yeah, there, I don't know what. They also
need wings regardless of what they do with the roster. Is Robert Woodard the
second the answer hasn't played a ton this year. It's not no Harkless.
You're not getting away with playing Buddy Heels the three. Terrence Davis has been
sneaky good on the court. Maybe it's not sneaking if you're watching kids games.
I think he's been pretty evident that he's good. You're not getting minutes
with him at the free Delaun Wright helps a bunch though, And that was
the trader I looked at, like, Okay, maybe they are this hurts
their ability to keep Rashwan, but maybe they're all more committed to them now
than we think. I wouldn't be opposed to see if you can trim salary
by moving Buddy Healed, because if you want to be good, you need
Harrison Barnes. He's not a true wing but he's just one of the options
that you can use to defend the three, and then he's just a solid
player all around. I also think there's a higher chance where Cleveland. I
guess you could say they're not at a point to say we need to hit
reset. But there could be more of a tear down in Sacramento over the
summer than there would be in Cleveland, just because so many of their players
are long term keepers and just important to their future at this point, even
Dylan Windler, who feels like he's been injured since the day he entered the
league. Having him Isaac oh Cora, you have Darius Garland, you have
Colin Sexton, You're gonna have this year's pick. I think Jetty Osman,
it's safe to say, is not going to be a part of the long
term plan, might be one of the He might be the single leads valuable
NBA player this season. If you're looking at players who actually get minutes,
they have Lamar Stephens and Dean Wade that they've been monitoring Jared Allen I already
mentioned, so they're kind of on their rebuilding already, and you could attach
that label to the Sacramento But they're also still they've been chasing the plan and
they have that more veteran presence, which is a weird thing to say when
Cleveland has Kevin Love on their roster. I think, though, if I
had to pick which one's more likely to be a playoff team next year,
the easy answer is Cleveland, because Noah Owners says Lamar Stevens the goat.
I think, look, that was smart for them. They've made a lot
of understated these smart moves, and I think Colin Sexton might be one of
them. I don't understand that. Hey, if he was my only point
guard, Yeah, you could moan about his passing numbers, which I still
just don't think are terrible. If they're they're set up well, and they
would be the easy answer to this question that I'm asking myself, which are
these teams has a better chance of making the playoffs? Here, I'm going
to say it, Kings. I love Rashaun Holmes and Tyris Haliburton and Darn
Fox for anyone who listens to this podcast that much, And there's like the
outline of a team ready to compete now with their top four guys in Barns
and then the three I just named. I'm not trying to dump all over
Buddy Healed. I don't know that he's that mission critical is shooting? Certainly
is I think you can try and move him. Is there a way to
get a cheaper wing out of this. I don't know how teams are going
to view the final three years of his the next three years of his deal,
or does this extension you can kick in this year. I'm always off
on a Buddy Heal's age, but that's I think that's the move. If
you can move Buddy Healed, and I might be I don't want to give
up on Marvin Bagley, but I might be ready to. And I was
a Morvin Bagley optimist. I thought he was gonna be a top one hundred
player as a sophomore. So you should just not not listen to anything I
say, clearly because I missed on on that one. Is the final three
years and roughly like sixty something million of Buddy Heal's deal. Can you get
net positive value for that? Will also trimming salary or not net positive value?
King trim salary, I'll get somebody back who plays I do not know,
but that would be the move to consider the Kings won't make the playoffs
if Luke Walton is still the coach. Noah Odit says, yeah, you're
right, that's fair. He's not. There's I'll be shocked if he still
has a job with the Kings next season. His some of his rotations just
don't make sense. The Kings are playing faster, but it still feels like
they're not playing fast enough. So yeah, those are the two things they
keep for Shawn Holmes and get rid of Luke Walton, and then I'll be
more inclined to pick the Kings to make the playoffs next season than the Cleveland
Cavaliers. Let's get to this question from Dirk. I'm sorry, Dilka Siramana,
I apologize if I butchered that. And the at is just like the
name. Since we've seen Andrew Wiggins play defense and the Warriors are forced in
defensive rating over April. Who was the worst defensive rating this season? It
was the team that we were just talking about, the Sacramento Kings. It's
by a fairly wide margin. It's by more than two points per one hundred
possessions, which this late the season is it's almost impressive. How bad that
is. I don't look at that team and think that they should be this
bad on defense necessarily. Darn Fox not a great defender, but can he's
fine. But for point guards, especially if he's not somebody you have to
move around, would be my point. Tarry's Halibert is good for a rookie.
Rashaun Holmes is not going to anchor, could be the anchor of a
top tier defense, but he's quality room protector. He can be pulled outside
the paint without getting absolutely roasted. Harrison Barnes rock solid positional defender against the
three and four. Feeling this teams to be, but they have more Harkless
now why they're they're They've had stretches where it's like, okay, earlier in
the season they were just getting they're switching for no reason and getting absolutely barbecued
in those instances. But they have the league's worth defense, which what's interesting
is Dilka mentions the Warriors there's seventh in defensive rating on the season, which
is great. And I want to be clear, I'm not a big fan
of applying lineup ratings to what that would rank across the league, and I'm
not using I'm not a big fan of cross year comparisons. When we say
Dallas had the best offensive league history last year, what was their offensive rating
relative to the league average? That's what I'd be more interested in than compare
that to other offenses relative to the league average in their seasons. So I'm
kind of being a hypocrite by using this, but just a testament to how
good offensive offenses have been this year or how poorly defenses have been. However,
you want to spend this the warriors seventh place defensive rating this year,
which is I believe it's one to eleven point two. Yeah, it's one
to eleven point two. What a right seventeenth last year. That's just food
for thought as we get into next season. Maybe it's going to be a
similar situation the next season, because I imagine that the NBA is still gonna
be trying to play catch up with itself where they're not starting directly on time,
and if they are, oh my god, another shortened offseason. Let's
hope that there aren't a ton of injuries. As the result of that.
Next question comes from sons Burner, I promised a son's question, and here
it is. Does Devin Booker's defense defensive stats reflect his on court improvements.
Again, I want to make it clear I don't place too much stock and
defensive stats, which is also a problem for me because I'm not mister X's
and Oh's guy. I can't tell you where everyone's supposed to be. I
read what I can, I watch what I can. I'm going to try
and definitely go beyond steals and blocks. The numbers, though, do not
support that. Devin Booker has been a demonstrably better defender when you're looking at
an individual level, his steel rate and block rate or slightly up. So
that's fine. When you look at RPM, that's just the defensive one I'll
go to to adjust for luck. This season, he still ranks among the
worst defenders in the league. When you look at ESPN's defensive RPM, he's
a little bit higher from the which is better than he's been in recent seasons.
He's above the way I put it, he ranks higher than Donna Mitchell
in defensive RPM. And I don't think Donovan Mitchell is a great defender either.
Those two have just been sort of thrust together so often that I'm using
that as hey, there he is. What I have noticed from watching Devin
Booker is that he feels more engaged away from the ball, and I guess
you could say even on the ball, he's always been. There have been
situations where he's defended really well on the ball for stretches. I feel like
we're seeing those more now. He is defending the number one option a little
bit more often this season than he was last season. He's not covering the
toughest matchups overall, though, I want to make that clear, but it's
actually down from last season. I'm reading that role on this from b ball
Index. He is guarding the number one option sixteen point seven percent of the
time. That's the third highest mark of his career per B ball Index.
That's not huge. They're putting him on you know that he can either chase
guys around or he's going to be on the standstill shooters. That's fine.
You have the personnel when you have Michaal Bridges, you have Chris paul Off,
so you don't have to put Devin Booker on opposing point guards. You
have Jay Crowder. They have the ability to do all this and they don't
need to try and hide put him on bigs because DeAndre Aton's on a liability.
Even having Sharis has been someone who can take on this guy's tory.
Craig too fantastic for them this year. I think the biggest difference is coming
away from the ball, on the way he's closing out contesting shots from shooters
who are firing up off the catch. That's something. The energy level feels
like it's more there. And then his steel rate I do think reflects an
uptick in activity, So that's good. But his defensive box plus minus if
you want to throw, it's right around where it was last season, so
I don't think you can look at the numbers for it. I will say
though, that the Suns are a good defensive team this year, can defend
a bunch of different ways. I don't know how much value you ascribe to
Devin Booker as the reason that's happening, but he's part of a team that
is currently fifth in points allowed per possession, and so it can't be all
bad. I'm not trying to even give him credit for it. And what
I've noticed again, it's come more so away from the ball. But if
you're having him on the court right now and the defense is substantially worse with
him on the floor plus seven point two points worse per one hundred possessions.
When you dig a little bit deeper, you know, opponents aren't shooting a
crap ton better when he's on the court. They're you know, the Suns
aren't getting worse at forcing turnovers or committing a ton more fowls when he's on
the floor. This is not something the one who's up ending your defense,
in my opinion, and a lot of those lineups, i'd probably say there
was. There was the starting lineup noise at the beginning of the year for
the Suns. Some of that has normalized is still continuing to normalize. Like
those numbers can certainly skew it when you're looking at sample sizes so small and
narrow, but he's also leaving bench units on his own, and those have
been absolutely destroying opponents. They are over plus ten points per one hundred possessions.
They're outs going to their opponents by when Devin Booker plays without without Chris
Paul. And that's why this is probably something Adam and I will talk about
maybe when we do our MVP Awards or do something to reflect the season.
And by the way, those book are lineups without Chris Paul. They're not
good on defense. That was meant to be. They have a one twenty
two point four offensive rating against a one fourteen defensive rating. That was the
point I was trying to make. But he can the fact that he can
be in control of the offense without Chris Paul on the floor. I think
it speaks that the Sons are more than Chris Paul and that we shouldn't so
readily insert Chris Paul in the MVP discussion. You want to put him top
five, I totally get it. Phoenix's supporting cast has improved a great deal
independent of adding him. I don't think they would have been this good without
Chris Paul. I want to make that clear. But I do view this
as an equitable star partnership and the MVP award. I don't know if this
is right or wrong. I am more inclined to reward Guy. I don't
want to say we were doing it alone, but there are clear demarcations between
the stars that you're selecting and then their second best player. Nicole Yokich and
jam A Murray that Jamour is great, Yo Kitchen's worlds better, Lebron James
and Anthony Davis. You can argue both of them are top seven. That's
fine. Lebron James is a lot better than Anthony Davis. This Devin Booker
Chris Paul partnership feels more like Donovan Mitchell Rudy Gobert. That might even be
a bad example, because no, I think it's Donovan Mitchells gets too much
shit there. They feel like an equal partnership. I mentioned Durrant Harden like
that. That's what I'm looking at when I see Chris Paul Devin Bookers.
They're so equal. The other thing, by the way Devin Booker draws double
teams on a higher percentage of his possessions. Chris Paul is drawing more double
teams per game, but he has the ball in his hands more when you're
looking at the raw possessions totals on the percentage of their possessions, Devin Booker
is averaging is being double team more often by that metric, and the son's
the last. This is a few games old. I would have to go
back and look at these numbers. They're averaging one point one nine points per
possession when Devin Booker is double team. That's also a nod to his shop
making first and foremost, it's a nod to how good he would be out
good of a playmaker he's become. And I don't want to use this equivalent,
but one point one nine points per possession is about the second or third
best offense in the NBA. And so the fact that he draws that bunch
attention on the ball and then what he does away from the wall a good
cutter that they've also used him more in those situations. There was this stagnancy
at the beginning of here. They weren't using him that way, and he's
had to change his role. When you're looking at the percentage of a shot
they're coming off assist he is playing off the ball more. That's an adjustment.
And so I feel like I'm not trying to downplay what Chris Paul does.
I just feel very awkward that nationally there seems to be this willingness to
dismiss so much of what Devin Booker is doing. So, yeah, that
was not the question. That the question was just about the stats for Devin
Booker. Defensively, That's where I'm out on Devin Booker. Hopefully you appreciate
those thoughts. Let's get to see if I can do a couple of quick
ones that I do not have in the document because I got through these way
quicker than I thought I would. But we have one that this is definitely
simple enough. How many three pointers has Stephen Curry made? That comes from
Nardine she who uh. Stephen Curry this season has made a total of two
hundred ninety one three pointers to lead the league. His career best is three
fifty four came in an eighty two game season in which he played only sixty
nine games. By the by the way, on the way, this career
prest is four or two a twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. I don't know
if he'll it could his full season pace. If Stephan Curry ever catch that,
that might be something to watch next year. If you were insued what
he's made for his career, he has made twenty eight twenty I shouldn't round
twenty seven hundred and eighty six three pointers for his career. I can confirm
that is a great many three pointers. I'll actually as we get to the
to the next question, I'll look up what that really ranks all time for
anyone who cares about that. But yeah, that was that was a pretty
fund question. What else do we have here? Oh, John Cusack,
We've already answered this, but just so all at which All NBA team is
Julius randall On, I think it's second, It's second or third. I
think it's second, though that is subject to change. Lasner's Sport asked which
teams don't fear the heat? And our Westbrook and CP three all MBA fuck.
I was asked about an All NBA guard question. Let's tackle the first
one, which teams don't fear the heat? If you're talking about a potential
first round matchup. I don't think Brooklyn or Philly is gonna fear the heat.
Maybe Philly more so than Brooklyn because of what Jimmy Butler gives you in
crunch time. If you're Miami that Philly wants had and does not anymore.
I don't think Brooklyn is gonna be scared them. I don't think Milwaukee's gonna
be scared. Milwaukee's probably more scared of itself to see if it's offense can
hold up in the playoffs and by the bye I think it will. Now,
if you're a fellow playing team, yes, you're scared of the heat.
Charlotte in the AANA, Washington, Chicago, Toronto. If you're one
of those teams, whoever winds up in the other three spots, You're not
gonna say this, but subconsciously you're like, okay, the heater in and
then what who's getting who else is getting in? Maybe it's Boston that's there,
by the way, so that Boston. Would you be more afraid of
Boston in the play or Miami? I feel like it might be Miami,
and I'm not even I'm assuming Victor Oladieopole doesn't play in that scenario. So
that's Boston's all over the place. That that is a That is a question.
All NBA guards are Westbrook, CP three, all MBA. I'm not
going to go through my all NBA guards because I need to finalize them,
but I can tell you right now CP three will be online. What I'm
trying to debate is do you put you know we're gonna go through this,
aren't we screw it? Let's do it? First team Steph and Luca,
don Chitzer Dame. That's what I still have to figure out. And the
second team is going to be the other one of Luca, don chrisre Dame
so Steph don Damn three locks. I'm going to have Booker or CP three
on my second team. I haven't decided which one yet, and I think
the other one's going to be on my third team. And so after that,
can Westbrook make it? When Bradby Beale is on it, you're also
going to have I'm sure people are going to vote for Donovan Mitchell it when
it comes to this exercise, I'm gonna I'm gonna say Westbrook does not make
it. I'm not trying to be one of the people that thinks he's terrible.
I do think he's outperformed my expectations this season, most of which has
happened lately. Zach Lavine's name is going to be thrown in there. Trey
Youngs might be thrown in there, but I don't know that his case is
that much stronger than Westbrooks. What's gonna be interesting is Kyrie, where if
he gets to like fifty five games or close to it, that's like enough
to play where he's been yo everyone consider not everyone. I don't want to
paint everyone with a broadbrush, but he's become sort of this meme, which
is really not fair because he said some of the delivery of what he said
has been awkward, but he said some shit that actually matters. I don't
know why I'm cussing so much on this podcast, Adam, I missue.
You keep my mouth in check, apparently. But he's averaging twenty seven points
six point three assists, shooting fifty six point two percent on two's and thirty
eight point four percent on threes. His name is one that I think is
going to be sprinkled in there. So I'm gonna say yes for CP three.
No on Westbrook because if I had to pick, I'm going to put
I'm not gonna put James Harden there, and I mentioned his name. I
think he ends up missing too much time because he's gonna be out through the
playoffs and the first eight games or whatever he played in Houston, that's like
missing another eight or nine games because of what happened. What happened there that
wasn't all NBA level play from him. But ahead of Westbrook, I probably
have Beal Still, I don't know if i'd have Donovan Mitchell. There's a
maybe there, and if I can get past the sample size, which I'm
more willing to do when we're talking about all NBA's opposed to awards. I
would have Kyrie in front of Westbrook. So the answer is a definitive no
from me on that Westbrook one. Do we have one more question? We
can get to sifting through these had a ton? Thank you all for your
questions. As usual, you can continue to send these in. You can
DM them to me like Yo, I didn't answer Noah's question, who sent
me one in d MS. Let's go to his without including franchise Cornerstone Slash
Superstars. What are the five most tradeable rosters in the NBA? This is
a good question, no or You're still in here? Are you trying to
refer to which NBA teams have the most assets to offer or which teams are
ready to make a blockbuster trade the most I can try, I might answer
this from both perspectives. There teams that are blockbuster trade ready to acquire someone,
I think, and that Will. I'm going to try and factor in
Will because the thunder absolutely belong in this discussion. I just don't think they're
going to go after that star, at least not for the next few years.
I do think Golden State is blockbuster ready. You still have James Wiseman,
you have the Wolves pick whether that's going to be outside the top three
this season or unprotected in unprotected in two thousand twenty two players only though,
So no cheating with the thunder right, But no, are you talking about
which teams have the most tradeable players that they're giving away or that they're acquiring,
or that they're giving away who and that's realistic on the trade block.
I mean Wiseman is right there. I don't know why you wouldn't take a
flyer on him if you're Golden State. This is a I'm gonna save this
question and maybe dig deeper into it. I forgot you had sent it.
I think I need to consider the context of it more of teams that just
have these players that they're just so trade ready to move. If the Warriors
and Wiseman are sort of along the lines of what you're thinking, teams that
have a player that they can use to anchor a blockbuster, there are a
couple teams in that situation. I think you start to get with New Orleans
and has Kyra Lewis Junior played well enough to be the blockbuster anchor or if
you really want to swing for the fences. Do you include brandon Ingram in
that. I'm very much in the camp of it's brandon Ingram and Zion are
your only two locks right now. To stick with this core, you'd probably
be more likely to trade Lonzo Ball on a sign and trade or just let
him walk for nothing him. I would say this is you said players only,
but it's I think this fits for both these teams. I'm gonna name
it that Minnesota pick this year. Either the Warriors get it and they need
to get Steph help yesterday, or Minnesota has it and you're still sort of
on this urgent timeline because you have Towns, you have Russell, You've paid
Molik Beasley, and the Edwards as Saulder popped, do you try and make
that next all in play, especially when you're twenty twenty two pick is going
to be unprotected. So that would be a team Miami. That's someone who
springs to mind for me. They have Tyler Hero who sheen is not completely
worn off, and so can you use him as the anchor? And you
know, I don't know who's going to become available this summer, but is
him plus stuff going to get you in a Bradley Beal discussion if he becomes
available another sneaky team. I don't know if they would have the guts to
do this, but Memphis, when you look at having those mid end contracts
that are very digestible for good players if you wanted to use as salary ballast,
I mean having Kyle Anderson, having Danthy Mountain where it's not strictly for
their salaries that you're moving them. Even Joanna's Mountain junis who's been, as
Adam mentioned in the previous podcast, probably their best player end to end this
year. Plus you have Desmond Baine, you have Brandon Clark. Xavier Tillman
is super intriguing now, plus your future first that can get you into some
pretty interesting discussions. I would think going through the rest of these teams that
might do it for me. Dallas doesn't really have the juice to do it.
Michael Porter Junior would be a no brainer here, but I think Denver
you're keeping him. Now, what is the what is the player who becomes
available this summer that wouldn't make you trade or Michael Porter Jr. If it's
Dame. Are you trading Michael Porter Junior for Dame? You wouldn't evacuting,
But you have Jamal Murray's going to come back in a year, and how
does that Murray Lillard partnership end up working out? Janice isn't gonna become available,
that would be someone to consider. Boston doesn't really fall in this category
anymore, doesn't Atlanta? Are you that intrigued by a healthy DeAndre Hunter?
If you're opposing teams, I would push back against them being included that you
haven't Yakula kung Wu, so maybe having him and DeAndre Hunter plus future picks,
but they're already sort of good that. I don't know teams are going
to value their future first and that when you're giving up a star, those
are the types of things you're going to be looking for. So that would
be that was a good question. Now I might give it more deeper thought
and re answer this once Adam's back on. If I had to pick the
team that's most likely to do it and most capable of doing it, I
do think it's the Warriors, if only because they have the biggest motivation and
they can more easily convince themselves and to giving up James Wiseman. Guys,
this was great. Thank you so much for those who hopped in and out.
Thank you for Noah who's stuck with us for the entire room. As
always, if this is your first time listening to Hardwood Knox, or even
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will come up. Until next time. I'll leave you a a shout out
to the one the only second team All NBA Inevitability, Julius Randall, Sugar
Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns.
Legends whose four way rivalry define one of the greatest errors in boxing history.
Relive their decade of dominance in the new Showtime Sports documentary The Kings, a
four parts series miring Sunday, June sixth, only on Showtime