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Speaker 1: What is up, Fellasikos? I am Dan FAVALLEI coming at

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you with the start of the twenty twenty five twenty

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twenty six NBA Season look Ahead series where we speak

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to a guest who covers an expert who covers every

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single team in the NBA, and I get to ask questions,

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they get to give me answers. We all learn a ton.

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As a quick reminder, subscribe because this is a lot

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of work, whether it's on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Our guests

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put in a lot of work. I put in a

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lot of work. Grant puts in a lot of work.

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So we begin with the Houston Rockets, which means we

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get to talk with Red Nation Hoops is Salmon Ali.

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Follow him on the social machine at Salmon Ali NBA

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at SA l m A n l A l I

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NBA and it's also on the screen if you're watching

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on YouTube and go follow Red Nation Hoops. Subscribe ever

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get your podcast including YouTube. The link to his socials

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and his podcasts will be in the YouTube and podcast description. Salman,

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we spoke recently, But how the heck are you doing?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing all right, man, How are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm doing fantastic? I am. I'm a little bit upset

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because the Rockets didn't give us anything to talk about

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this offseason, so just don't like, well, where are we

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going to discuss here?

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, we could just talk about like

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Josh Kogi in depth. I guess if you want to

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do it that way, like.

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Speaker 1: Like do you think he ends up being like I

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don't know, averaging thirty five thirty seven minutes per game?

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Like where do we think that ends up?

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Speaker 2: You know, I would lean a little bit more conservatives.

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I would say on the thirty four minute you know,

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it would even go lower than low. Yeah, that's low.

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Speaker 1: I don't they don't have anyone else on this team

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who could defend, so like, who are you going to

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play other than Josh Kogy?

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Speaker 2: I mean I guess, you know, like you can use

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like I guess, like anybody, anybody from the coaching staff,

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because they have some you know, real they have some

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real guys.

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Speaker 1: Can you Dontka check himself in?

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Speaker 2: Like yeah, I mean I think I think you could try. Yeah,

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why not?

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Speaker 1: We do have to start with well, I want to

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ask you just the off season question at large, it's

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anchored by the Kevin Durant there's other things that happened.

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What did you think of their off season overall? I

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think more I think everyone agrees that the cost they

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gave up for Kevin Durant was fine, But did you

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agree that this was the time to make such a move?

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Was he the right player to capitalize on and go

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after at this time too?

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Speaker 2: That was the right price to pay for a player

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like that? And if and if that, if you're getting

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that price that player on that price, then if it

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is the right time, right And I think when you

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look at what the Rockets are financially, uh and where

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you when you look at where the Rockets are like

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talent wise, with their young core, what development stage they're at,

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it does feel like they needed just a little bit

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more on the scoring side to push them over the

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hump to get into that you know, title mix with

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the likes of the Denver Nuggets in the Oklahoma city

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is under in the Western Conference. So yeah, I think

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I gave them an a. I I really liked what

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they did. I thought they killed it. I on my

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last podcast, I said, if there's someone in the if

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any one is saying that anybody had a better off

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season in the Houston Rockets. They are talking out of

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their ass, right, Like I think I said that right Like,

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I said that verbatim, and I was like, listen, I

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think it's cute that people are saying that that Oklahoma

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City Thunder had the best off seas in the NBA

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because they re signed their guys. It's like, okay, cool, right,

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Like so they didn't mess it up, right like that,

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Like that's basically what you're giving them credit for. You

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didn't mess it up. But if you're saying someone other

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than the than the Houston Rockets had had the best

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offices in the NBA, I think you're full of it.

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I think I just think there's a there's you're you're

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you're full of it. I think that's that.

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Speaker 1: So we haven't done our grades for the offseason yet here,

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but I will say two things. One that aj Mitchell

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contract and okayc is gonna hit like cocaine. So they

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clearly had the best offseason in the league. Okay, but

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for real, I want to I just want to ask you,

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because I don't I'm not gonna get my opinion on this.

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Do you think that there's any team that you'd be

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willing to listen to and I think a lot of

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people might cite the Clippers perhaps as a team Clippers.

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Speaker 2: These are good off seasons, right Like, the Clippers had

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a good off season, the Never Nuggets had a good

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off and that's the Hawks had a good off season.

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These are all good off seasons. But none of these

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teams got better to the extent that Houston did and

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achieved the long and short term goals better than Houston did. Right,

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Like I I'm cognizant of the fact that there are

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rebuilding teams that had good off seasons for what they

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are trying to accomplish, right, But when you look at

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it's just isolated down to the contenders, right like the

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teams that actually think they have a chance. I don't

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know if there's a team that got better to the

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extent that Houston did without sacrificing a lot of their future.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think that's a big part of it is

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Orlando getting Desmond Bane home run edition. I think sure

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they gave it wasn't a steal. And I think you

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can make the case that even with Kevin Durant's age,

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even with whatever extension or his next deal ends up being,

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even if he shortens the window the price they paid

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to get him, and I've seen some of the pushback,

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not to me specifically, that I've seen is that people

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wanted to see what Jalen Green would look like after

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going through the playoffs. All due respect, he's super young.

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I think like we've just seen enough to know that,

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like he wasn't worth holding on to and passing on

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for this opportunity. That deal was not treated as a

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net positive asset. In the deal, it was not viewed

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around the league. I can say it's a net positive asset.

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And so I am with you in saying I think

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I just off rip because I haven't given a consideration.

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I would think the Houston had the best offseason real

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I mean, the Dorian Finney Smith contract is stupid. Two

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guarantee years. That is stupid, like that as stupid awesome,

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to be clear, So I would agree with you. I

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don't think there's I'm and I'm also probably not as

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high on Denver or the Clippers off seasons as most.

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I think the Clippers probably have the best case to

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get in there. But I think you're absolutely right. This

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team was the second best team in the Western Conference

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during the regular season last year. They added Kevin Durant

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without like obliterating their draft assets. And I think the

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one move that you could quibble over, and you and

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I both lamented it a little bit, was the can't

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wait more trade to Wah that dude had no path

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to be mccam whitmore that you want to see while

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he was in Houston. There was just no path when

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you look at the depth and talent on this team,

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And that's ultimately like a harbinger of like that's a

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great problem to have. Maybe it's not ideal, but that's

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an excellent problem for Houston to have to grapple with.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and like they needed to they needed to like

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finalize on who they're going to pick right to build

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the score around right, And they narrowed it down to five. Right,

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they trade aways Young and they trade away Cam right,

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and I don't know if if the if all five

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are going to stay around, right, it's.

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Speaker 1: Just funny that the number is still that high. They

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tried away Jail and Green and Camp where it's like, yea,

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they narrowed it down to.

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Speaker 2: Five, right, one from seven to five, and like the

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they but the point is like they couldn't pay these guys, right,

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They couldn't pay all these guys. We kept saying it

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for years. It's like, listen, it's great that they have

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all these guys. I understand Rockets fans are building out

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their future with all these with these seven guys. It's like, oh,

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this is going to be their team. Why why can't

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they pay all these guys. It's like, well, there are

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real restrictions here, right, Like, I don't think you're being

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realistic if you think that they can pay all these guys.

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I think Cam was one of the guys that personally

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I might have tried to keep. But if you look

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at what they did, the calculation that they made, right, Emo,

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Duka was not gonna play him next season? Okay, fair consideration.

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His value was not high to begin with. He fell

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to twenty in the draft and they could not nab

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a first round pick when they tried to trade him

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this year. Right, that's a fair consideration. His value was

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only going to go down from here, especially if he

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wasn't going to play. That's a fair consideration. They couldn't

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pay him, right, They couldn't. They couldn't. They couldn't possibly

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pay him. That's another fair consideration. And I guess the

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biggest one is Dorian Finney Smith was like someone they

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felt they had to go get right, especially for that contract.

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They felt like they had to go use their mid

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level exception and go get that guy on that contract.

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And if if the cost of Cam Whitmore is of

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the cost of getting Dorry Finishsmith on that contract, is

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having to trade away Cam Whitmore because there's not a

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role for him anymore, I think it's I think it's reasonable.

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It's a reasonable trade off. The only the only point

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where it's not a reasonable trade off is is if

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Cammore makes an All NBA team. I think if he

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makes an All Star team, I think it's fine. I think,

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I honestly think if he makes an All Star team

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next year, yes it stings. I think it's still fine.

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If he makes an All NBA team, that's that's that's

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the voter base saying he's one of the top fifteen

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players in basketball, and it's hard to stomach.

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Speaker 1: That I would agree, except this could be a James

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Harden isn't a good analog. But James Harden never would

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have been James Harden in Oklahoma City had he stayed there.

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And if Cam Witmore becomes an All NBA player. I

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don't think he hit any pathway in Houston with or

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without Dorry and Finney Smith to becoming that player, because

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there would have been other players with the ball in

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their hands first, and that's how Cam Wentmore is could

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have become an All NBA player.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think there's there's a case to be made

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that his role would have been increased if if Dorrian

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Spinny Smith wasn't here, and he could have proven himself.

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But but like I'm with you, I'm with you, like

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he probably would not have been able to show star,

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you know, potential here right. I think it would have

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been very difficult for him to break into the rotation

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on that kind of level. Uh, and the and the

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organization when you account for Emai Udoka believed in other

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guys more and I'm talking Reed Shepherd, I'm talking Jabari

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Smith Jr. I'm talking Tarr Easton, I'm talking like that,

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they just were not there. Ever there with Cam Wentmore.

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You could disagree with it, but if the organization just

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is not there, what can you really do? Right like

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that that they're making an evaluation that's not too dissimilar

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from the rest of the league. I may disagree with

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your with the organization and the rest of the league.

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Where it's kind of where I'm at, right, Like, I

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think Cam is really really good and worth investing in.

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But I don't think I never projected him to have

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all NBA level play, right, I never been p I

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never thought he was gonna get to that level. So

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if he's not going to get to that level, I

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think I think they did a reasonable thing. And if

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that's if that's your one nitpick, right, which I think

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it's most people nitpick with the Rockets off season. I

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think they had an a off season. Like I think

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the one thing I'm still waiting on, like to give

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it like an A plus, right is like Atar Eastern

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extension or a Kevin Durant extension. We need to see

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what those numbers are and we need to see if

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that happens, right to really like, you know, give this

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like a like a home run off season. In terms

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of process, like, who knows what happens in the NBA season,

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injuries happened whatever, Right, In terms of process, the Rockets

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had the best process out of any team in the NBA,

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and that that that's the case I'm making.

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Speaker 1: Also, you could make the case that Phoenix comes across

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looking worse from the camp wait more situation because they

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preferred second round compensation. Getting that was weird to me too.

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Yeah yeah, So I want to ask you about Kevin Durrant,

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one of the most scalable superstars in NBA history. Like

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we've seen him change teams enough to know this never

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spends like too much time I'm off the ball relative

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to what you might think, but a spot of frequency

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in Phoenix the past two years hit career highs each season,

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I believe. How should we expect him to be incorporated

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into the offense. How do you see the offense changing

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with him this coming year?

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Speaker 2: I kind of think the office, the offense is gonna

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look very similar to what it was last year. Uh,

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you're in terms of like the Jalen Green Green roll

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is being filled like filled by Kevin Durant, Right, They're

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just gonna make a lot more shots, right, Like they're

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gonna make a lot more shots. Offense might be a

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little bit more slow, right, but in a methodical sense,

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I don't think it's gonna be a bad kind of slow.

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That they're gonna be more deliberate, right in terms of

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what they do. I think they're gonna try to make

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it egalitarian, you just just based on how it's looked

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like last couple of years, like they've they've tried to.

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They're not they're not fans of the homogeneous offense offense,

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right that. They don't want everything to revolve around one guy.

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I use the wrong word homogeous. Homogeneous is the right word.

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They don't want it to be he occentric, all right, Like,

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from from what I can.

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Speaker 1: Tell, he's also not that player anymore, to be fair, yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well not, And what I mean is like not in

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terms of not just him. I don't think they wanted

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to be heal centered with anybody on the roster, h

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from what I can tell. So I think they're gonna

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try and do a kind of their best effectimily of

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a ball movement player movement offense with Kevin Durant kind

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of slotting in where Jalen Green was last season, and

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they're gonna try And I mean, they were twelfth in

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offense last year for playoff teams. That's pretty bad. For

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regular team that's pretty okay. So I think they're gonna

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try and get to be like a top seven offense

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and I think that they have improved shooting, they have

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improved half court decision making, and I think what strikes

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me the most is that they have reached the point

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where they are ready to put all their chips in

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in terms of like, this is the core we want

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to build an offense around, and this is the core

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we want to try and play with. And I think

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we're gonna we're gonna have to see how it develops.

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So offensively, like the this is gonna be he made

285
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Ioka's first year really like no one's really graded him

286
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on the offense until this year. We haven't really seen

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what he can do with real pieces. Like everyone's kind

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of given him slack because we understood what he was

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working with. Now it's like all right, man, Like you

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got the big coach money this year, Right now it's

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time to have a big coach offense.

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Speaker 1: There's I think I'm most excited to see, uh one,

293
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what you're right about. Their offense is just Kevin Durant.

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The way his efficiency is. Their first chance offense was

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not great last year. It was like close to the

296
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bottom ten. You just put someone in there who's probably

297
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gonna be and let's say the seventy fifth percentile of

298
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effective field goal percentage. That helps your first chance offense

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a ton. I'm also excited to see and I don't

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know if you would fall in the same wavelengths. I

301
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just hope we at an extensive look at like the

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Kevin Durant Alprin Shangun two man game, because I think

303
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that Al Prince Shangun and will get him in a

304
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minute just hasn't had a lot of space to work with,

305
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and now he's gonna see fewer double teams if teams

306
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go to double or trap Kevin Durant like him operating

307
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after setting a screen out of the short role, Like

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the things he can do on the move as a

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score as a passer are kind of terrifying. And I

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think Kevin Durant, I think there's a case maybe that

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Kevin Durrant might augment him more than anybody else on

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the team.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's true. I also think he augments

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00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,480
a man Thompson pretty well, Like you know, the guys

315
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who really like don't have a jump shot yet, like

316
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he's and are you know, very talented players, but like

317
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you know, they they don't they can't shoot, And like

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Kevin Durant is just a much more He's just a

319
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much bigger magnet than Jalen Green, right, like in terms

320
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of getting defenders to actually close out and close out

321
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hard on him, double him sometimes. Like, I think there's

322
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gonna be a much more focus on him from defenses

323
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and there was Jalen Green. I think that's gonna help

324
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everybody on the floor. I think you're right. Upper Schengun

325
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hasn't really had a floor spacer like this right in

326
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his defense, Like Fred Vanvleet's a pretty good shooter, right like,

327
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I think, sure, yeah, I think I think he's like

328
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a real deal, Like okay, like I can count on

329
00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:23,080
him a hit spot up threes. Jabari Smith is getting better.

330
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He's you know, kind of rounding into the prospect that

331
00:15:27,279 --> 00:15:29,840
Houston visionally first drafted. Means really well in the playoffs,

332
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but he shot like forty something percent on threes in

333
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the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: Him just turning into like on offense, like a floor

335
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spacing wing. It's just like that's.

336
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Speaker 2: Huge for them, sure yeah, And I but I do

337
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think they're still going to be spacing concerns because Houston

338
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,639
is leaning into double bigs again, right, But it's something

339
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that they are. They are pricing again. It's something they

340
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want to do themselves. They want Steven Adams and Alprin

341
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Chengun looks. They want Clint Cappella on the off night

342
00:16:00,679 --> 00:16:04,080
to take Steve Adams spot and and and you know,

343
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play double big. So there's still gonna be a little

344
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bit of a cramped floor for shan Gun, but definitely

345
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less so than in past seasons. And honestly, I think

346
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when you look at who is going to be like

347
00:16:17,559 --> 00:16:21,000
the biggest, the best distributor for this team, I think

348
00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:24,679
it should be they should finally give the keys to

349
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,159
al Pera and Shingun. It doesn't have to be herealiocentric,

350
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,480
but they should try and give him more of a

351
00:16:30,559 --> 00:16:33,720
featured hub look. And so we'll see if they can

352
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do that next season. Especially with Kevin Durant, I think

353
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that it looked really nice he's played. Kevin Duran's played

354
00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,080
with great passing center Zaza Pachulia was a pretty good

355
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,919
passing center into Golden State. And I mean, no no

356
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,039
offense to Zaza, but Alpern Schangun's is much better right

357
00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:49,639
at that.

358
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned Reed Shepherd before. I also kind of

359
00:16:53,919 --> 00:16:56,360
took their offseason I know they brought back Aaron Holliday

360
00:16:56,399 --> 00:16:57,960
and Fred Vanzliet is still here, but I took their

361
00:16:57,960 --> 00:16:59,879
offseason as kind of a vote of confidence in him,

362
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and I think from what we saw in summer league,

363
00:17:01,519 --> 00:17:03,840
that was the smart bet to make. What type of

364
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,279
a role do you expect him to have out of

365
00:17:06,279 --> 00:17:08,039
the gate, and like what type of I think even

366
00:17:08,279 --> 00:17:10,599
just as important as what type of latitude do you

367
00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,359
think they're going to give him to develop on a

368
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,400
team that has such lofty goals.

369
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean to start last season, he was in

370
00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,519
the rotation right like, which is crazy, Like I was

371
00:17:20,559 --> 00:17:22,799
surprised that he was in the rotation to start. Now.

372
00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,480
They eventually went away from that and went more towards

373
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,720
Aaron Holiday, but he went to the G League for

374
00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:33,440
a very small stretch and never came back because they're like, oh,

375
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,119
he's just too good for this, right, Like, we can't

376
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,880
do this right And so, yeah, he's going to be

377
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,680
their backup point guard. He's going to be one of

378
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,359
their core like eight, right like the at least they

379
00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:46,400
planned to make him one of their their featured eight.

380
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,960
So we'll see if like he is up to task

381
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,559
this season to really stay there. For the entirety of

382
00:17:55,599 --> 00:17:58,880
the season. But that's their plan, rafel Stone said at

383
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,480
a press conference. I think it'd be the last months

384
00:18:02,599 --> 00:18:04,680
that yeah, he has to be really good for us

385
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000
because we are going to be leaning on him. I

386
00:18:07,039 --> 00:18:13,160
mean after Fred van Vliet and after yeah, after Fred

387
00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,240
van Vliet and after You're a holiday. There's really not

388
00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:19,519
much point guard depth on this team, and that's by design, right,

389
00:18:19,559 --> 00:18:23,000
Like they want they want reach Eppard to be that.

390
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 1: What do you think is going to be the especially

391
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,480
when you look at the context of this team, what

392
00:18:28,519 --> 00:18:30,000
do you think is going to be the swing skill

393
00:18:30,079 --> 00:18:33,240
or contribution from him that either cements his places Okay,

394
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,000
they can use him as the backup point guard, or

395
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,319
they're even thinking about, oh do we need to increase

396
00:18:37,319 --> 00:18:39,160
his profile on this team.

397
00:18:39,599 --> 00:18:42,480
Speaker 2: Off the dribble creation. I think that that has to

398
00:18:42,519 --> 00:18:44,039
be the swing skill for him. I mean, like, we

399
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:45,680
know he's a great shooter, right, Like we know he

400
00:18:46,079 --> 00:18:48,240
should be able to provide that. But if he is

401
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,519
like a talented off the dribble creator not only for

402
00:18:54,559 --> 00:18:56,759
other players but for himself, right, if he is a

403
00:18:56,839 --> 00:18:59,960
real score off the dribble, off the bounce, they don't

404
00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,200
have much of that on the perimeter other than Van

405
00:19:02,279 --> 00:19:06,759
Vliet and Durant, right like, I think they need someone

406
00:19:06,839 --> 00:19:09,759
else to step into that, and that role is right

407
00:19:09,799 --> 00:19:11,440
there for Reid if he can take it.

408
00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:15,400
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna make you know, I'm high on

409
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:17,359
reach upard. I think he's gonna make multiple all NBA

410
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,480
teams when all said and done. I think the key

411
00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:22,559
for him all teams. I think he's gonna be a

412
00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:25,839
better defender than people think. I think that the after

413
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,759
dribble scoring is gonna be there. My questions would be

414
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,039
on this version of the rockets specifically. I think the

415
00:19:31,079 --> 00:19:33,039
passing is going to be there. I mean, I think

416
00:19:33,079 --> 00:19:34,759
in certain lineups he's just gonna have the space to

417
00:19:34,799 --> 00:19:37,680
wreak havoc and create for everybody else. My two questions

418
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,039
would kind of be is or I guess it's a

419
00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:43,279
singular question. You did mention that there still are concerns

420
00:19:43,319 --> 00:19:44,880
about the spacing, and so if you're putting him in

421
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,160
lineups that don't have one or both of Kevin Durant

422
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,960
and Fred van Fleet in there, can he do anything

423
00:19:51,079 --> 00:19:54,079
to continue putting defenses in rotation, getting his teammates open

424
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,079
or they hitting those open threes. Then maybe even in

425
00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,599
bigger part is like Kevin Durant quietly like he's just

426
00:19:59,599 --> 00:20:02,640
not drawn as many shooting fouls as he did before.

427
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,720
It's like, I'm and Thompson is such just like this

428
00:20:04,799 --> 00:20:08,359
nuclear athlete. He will draw fouls, but they need like

429
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,359
someone like his van Fleet and Durant probably aren't gonna

430
00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,039
do this, who can put real pressure on the basket

431
00:20:15,279 --> 00:20:17,839
or like operate from the outside in and get those

432
00:20:18,279 --> 00:20:21,559
like looks at the charity stripe that hasn't necessarily been

433
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,519
a strength of his or at least a isn't noted

434
00:20:24,559 --> 00:20:27,160
as one. And so I'm very curious to see if

435
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:28,960
he again. I don't know what to make of the

436
00:20:29,039 --> 00:20:30,359
rim pressure of it all when you look at the

437
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,079
space and he's gonna work in. But is he someone

438
00:20:32,079 --> 00:20:33,880
who can I don't want to see him boged down

439
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,599
the offense, But is he someone that can get them

440
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:40,640
those easier scoring opportunities by working through contact getting to

441
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:41,680
the foul line.

442
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,039
Speaker 2: In terms of who amend or.

443
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,119
Speaker 1: No, no Shepherd, I men can get to the I'm

444
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,759
and thoms can get that. But like Jalen Green was, like,

445
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:52,160
that's someone who could like they kind of going from Green,

446
00:20:52,319 --> 00:20:54,960
Kevin Durant, you lose that element a little a little

447
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:55,680
bit now.

448
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,799
Speaker 2: In terms of collapsing the defense you're asking.

449
00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,480
Speaker 1: Right and getting all the way to the basket. And

450
00:20:59,519 --> 00:21:01,759
just like because Kevin Durant doesn't get to the ram

451
00:21:01,759 --> 00:21:03,440
as much as he did, like anywhere near as much.

452
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,400
And he's just when you look at the percentage of

453
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,039
like his foul rate or shooting fouls drawn that's been

454
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:10,160
going down and look, he could still do it and

455
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,640
he makes difficult shots. I think he's a fantastic player.

456
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,200
But that's an element that I could see this offense

457
00:21:15,519 --> 00:21:18,000
missing a little bit, and I wonder if Reed Shepherd

458
00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:19,039
is able to fill it.

459
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 2: I wonder too, I mean I I think listen like

460
00:21:23,319 --> 00:21:26,039
in terms of like what he was scouted to be, Yeah,

461
00:21:26,079 --> 00:21:29,039
I think he very much what has the capability of

462
00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:31,279
being that guy? I wonder if he's strong enough now?

463
00:21:31,759 --> 00:21:35,160
I wonder if he has uh developed that handle to

464
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,880
the point where he is ready to actually like dribble

465
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,519
through traffic like that, right like that that that is

466
00:21:40,519 --> 00:21:43,079
a skill that is hard to develop. Jalen Green really

467
00:21:43,079 --> 00:21:44,960
struggled with that part. It's part of the reason that

468
00:21:45,039 --> 00:21:47,839
he never became that guy, but he you know, did

469
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:52,079
collapse defenses, right, And so I wonder if he is

470
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,680
able to get to the point as a ball handler

471
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:59,720
this season to actually do that. I suspect that that role,

472
00:21:59,799 --> 00:22:02,440
You're right, that role is gonna be there for him.

473
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,559
And when you look at how he's built out his

474
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,920
body over the summer, the Rockets certainly want him. Uh,

475
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,759
They're they're aiming for him to be a kind of

476
00:22:11,759 --> 00:22:16,279
a collapser of defenses in that second unit. I wonder if,

477
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,319
like role wise, once we get into the teeth of

478
00:22:19,319 --> 00:22:22,640
the season, like if there's gonna be if there's gonna

479
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,079
be opportunities for him to be that guy because there

480
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,519
are there are a lot of talented players on this team, right,

481
00:22:27,599 --> 00:22:30,799
Like it's it's gonna be a case of like, are

482
00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:34,400
the Rockets committed to giving usage to him? Right? And

483
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,440
I think when you look at just from a ball

484
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:41,799
handling perspective, they should aim to right because you can't

485
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,000
exhaust Van Vliet like that right.

486
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:44,680
Speaker 1: Right.

487
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:46,839
Speaker 2: As much as I like Aaron Howdy, I think air

488
00:22:46,839 --> 00:22:49,400
Haldy is pretty good. He's a good backup point guard.

489
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:51,759
I I don't want to give that to him because

490
00:22:51,799 --> 00:22:54,119
I don't think he's capable of collapsing defenses like that.

491
00:22:54,559 --> 00:22:57,599
So if we yeah, I think I think they're gonna try.

492
00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,680
They're gonna at least try to do that. He's gonna

493
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,680
He's gonn at least try to do that. He's capable.

494
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,559
I don't know, nobody really knows yet.

495
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:05,480
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be able to do it. But

496
00:23:05,519 --> 00:23:07,440
that's just something I'm kind of clocking. I meant to

497
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,160
ask you this about Kevin.

498
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 2: By the way, I just want to say this, Like,

499
00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:13,759
I know, I like kind of scoffed a little bit

500
00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:15,880
at the All NBA teams. That's not to say that

501
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,680
I'm dismissing that he can do that. It's just like, wow,

502
00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:21,400
that's that's that's early to say that now, right.

503
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:24,640
Speaker 1: It's I guess coming off the rookie season relative to

504
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:26,599
what he did in the NBA, that's probably even spicy.

505
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,319
But I've seen enough in Summer League watching some of

506
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,119
the It's I'm there if I end up dying on

507
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,000
that hill. Honestly, I've died. I've died on worse sales.

508
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,119
Speaker 2: So listen, there are a lot of people that are

509
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:38,960
really high on Reach Sheepherd, in whom the Rockets, so

510
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,839
I don't I don't think you're wrong to pick this hill.

511
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,519
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you this about Kevin Durant. I

512
00:23:43,519 --> 00:23:45,200
don't want to spend too much time because this part

513
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,240
of the podcast could become dated. Do you like read

514
00:23:48,279 --> 00:23:51,200
into anything of him not having an extension yet just

515
00:23:51,279 --> 00:23:54,759
because or do you because the difference of him waiting

516
00:23:54,799 --> 00:23:57,319
six months is like a couple million bucks, And I

517
00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,359
had kind of just operated under the assumption that he

518
00:23:59,519 --> 00:24:01,920
wasn't going to get the max and I think that's

519
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,119
obviously better for the Rockets, And the longer we go

520
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,000
without hearing extension makes me think that he's just gonna

521
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,279
get the full two year freight, which, to be clear,

522
00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:12,279
would not be the end of the world. But I

523
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,079
kind of just thought that they were gonna come out

524
00:24:14,079 --> 00:24:16,519
of this looking even better by like, oh, Kevin Durant

525
00:24:16,559 --> 00:24:18,559
took a two year, ninety five million dollar deal or

526
00:24:18,599 --> 00:24:19,200
something like that.

527
00:24:19,759 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 2: I actually it's interesting. I actually I had the exact

528
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,359
opposite opinion. I thought, OK, when he first came here,

529
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,599
he was gonna get like the two year freight, right,

530
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,400
like two or three year frate, and like the longer

531
00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:32,880
this goes on, like Okay, so there's negotiating going on, right,

532
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,720
like there has to be right, Like, that's interesting. Yeah,

533
00:24:36,759 --> 00:24:39,599
So there must be some element of this contract they

534
00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:43,960
haven't ironed out yet, and I suspect it's gonna be something.

535
00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:47,680
This might be like a mutual option type of deal, right,

536
00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:50,799
Like if I'm thinking ahead of what other teams are

537
00:24:50,799 --> 00:24:53,839
doing around the NBA, right or where they're giving you know,

538
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,720
these player options and a team option or a guarantee dates,

539
00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:59,359
like they're doing it in a way where you can

540
00:24:59,519 --> 00:25:01,799
you're giving both sides and option out the option to

541
00:25:01,839 --> 00:25:05,680
get out, right. I think there's a possibility we see that.

542
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,880
That's like, that's like optimistic. Maybe they're they're debating player

543
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,359
option versus team option. Maybe they're debating non guarantees like

544
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,680
they did with James Harden's contract in Los Angeles. Like

545
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,319
I I suspect it's something along those lines. I think

546
00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,759
the number. I don't think the number is max because

547
00:25:22,759 --> 00:25:25,119
if it was max, I feel like it's an easier

548
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,200
negotiat like those details about the non guarantees that's much

549
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,960
faster than this is taken. Right. I feel like it's

550
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:36,279
gonna be less than max and just the the verbiage

551
00:25:36,599 --> 00:25:38,519
that you're starting to that's starting to come out. I

552
00:25:38,559 --> 00:25:40,880
feel like it's I don't think it's gonna be a

553
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,880
max I suspect we're gonna see a team friendly ish deal,

554
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,640
but not maybe not a team friendly deal.

555
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,039
Speaker 1: That's it. I like that read. I'm gonna choose to, Uh,

556
00:25:51,279 --> 00:25:53,119
you've now converted me, that's what I'm gonna look. I

557
00:25:53,519 --> 00:25:55,319
almost thought, just like you know how you say, rookie

558
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,400
extensions just get done when everyone's back at training camp.

559
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,640
I just assume that siations were largely on hold until

560
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,119
like Kevin ran Is probably like jet setting all over

561
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,960
like the world at this point for brand obligations or whatever,

562
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,880
and so that they haven't really had too many extent

563
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,400
negotiations yet. But I like your read on it better.

564
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,519
So I'm gonna do just because it aligns with my

565
00:26:13,519 --> 00:26:15,920
my priors of where I was at at the trade.

566
00:26:16,519 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, like with Luca, like a lot of

567
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,119
people are watching why the Luca trade, Lucas Sais, you

568
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:22,519
didn't have it. I mean that was more of like

569
00:26:23,079 --> 00:26:25,960
I'm sure they had that extension negotiated, but they're waiting

570
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:27,759
for them.

571
00:26:27,599 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 1: To actually be legal.

572
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, So like people were wondering, like, is

573
00:26:31,519 --> 00:26:34,079
it because Luca's in Europe. It's like, no, man, he

574
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,559
doesn't have to be here for the extension to get done,

575
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,400
like he like it's twice twenty five. You think he

576
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,119
actually has to be in LA or Chicago or New York. Right, No,

577
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,680
he could be wherever the hell and signed the extension.

578
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 1: Well with with KG it could be different because they

579
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,000
haven't had like an intro presser or anything with him yet, right.

580
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's strange. I think the Rockets I don't know why,

581
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:57,279
to be honest, I don't know why the Rockets didn't

582
00:26:57,319 --> 00:26:59,079
do any sort of intro pressor but they put his

583
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:04,039
name on billboards and like they like he's they're generating

584
00:27:04,079 --> 00:27:06,160
fan excitement for him, like they're you know, the jersey

585
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,640
are selling like hotcakes, right, Like, I think it's more

586
00:27:09,759 --> 00:27:13,559
of a Okay, this is something, this is like something

587
00:27:13,599 --> 00:27:17,839
we don't want to do because of either you know,

588
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,880
Kevin Durant obligations with you know, as you said, the

589
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,200
brand stuff, or like we're so close to this season

590
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:26,960
at this point, let's just wait, let's just go in

591
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,319
and let's just wait till media day and he can

592
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:30,599
get the full presser then.

593
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: So the double big stuff is or it's like I mean,

594
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,079
depending on when you look at how some of their

595
00:27:36,079 --> 00:27:38,319
non bigs actually play, it could be like three four

596
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,039
big stuff. However you want to say it. What surprised

597
00:27:41,079 --> 00:27:44,039
you most about those kind of looks last year?

598
00:27:44,319 --> 00:27:46,319
Speaker 2: No, the fact that they did it in the first place.

599
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,039
Like it's and I don't mean that to be as

600
00:27:49,039 --> 00:27:52,799
a pejorative, like it does feel like the NBA is

601
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,680
kind of going in the opposite direction with this, with

602
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,640
this with the bigs, right like, like it I felt

603
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,680
like for a while, power forwards that can't shoot, Like, no,

604
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:03,680
we're not doing that anymore, right, it's gonna be at

605
00:28:03,759 --> 00:28:07,240
least four out And now we're getting to the point

606
00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:11,480
where like, okay, like bigs are extremely important because you

607
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,200
look at the best players in the NBA, Jannis Jokic

608
00:28:16,599 --> 00:28:20,079
embid right like, like these are Wembin Yama, right Like,

609
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:24,839
these are all massive human beings, and you need bigs

610
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,279
that can defend them. And if you don't have biggs

611
00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:29,400
that can defend them, you need multiple pigs to throw

612
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,920
at them. And some of the contenders in the Western

613
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,680
Conference are going double big. So there's also that reaction

614
00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:38,759
to the contenders, right, like, uh, you get the thunder

615
00:28:38,839 --> 00:28:42,279
with home Grin and Hardenstein, right, Like the Rockets are

616
00:28:42,319 --> 00:28:46,160
reacting almost to these other teams, right or like that

617
00:28:46,519 --> 00:28:48,519
that would be kind of my read Like they're preparing,

618
00:28:48,559 --> 00:28:51,720
they're preparing to play the other team to deepen the playoffs.

619
00:28:52,559 --> 00:28:58,039
So like in twenty eighteen when they went after PJ.

620
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,319
Tucker and Luke ba Mout, like they were preparing for

621
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,319
a specific assign They were prepared for the Warriors. Right

622
00:29:06,279 --> 00:29:09,160
this summer, it feels like they're loading up for what

623
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,720
the West looks like now in twenty twenty five. So

624
00:29:12,279 --> 00:29:14,839
I think that's what's what's surprising, the fact that they

625
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:18,640
did it now it makes more sense. It's effective for them. Sure,

626
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:24,680
it's surprising that it's working. Sure, but maybe it shouldn't

627
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,200
be because other teams are doing it as well.

628
00:29:27,279 --> 00:29:29,720
Speaker 1: Well. I think what's interesting about what they're doing is

629
00:29:29,799 --> 00:29:31,799
so it's actually two things on that is, so last

630
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,400
year they like they played three hundred and thirty possessions

631
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,920
with Adams and Shngun on the floor, and so like

632
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,319
that's more party trick volume. Then like this is going

633
00:29:41,359 --> 00:29:43,960
to be our identity and the fact that they brought

634
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,319
in Clint Coppela, I just found i'd't have a problem

635
00:29:46,359 --> 00:29:49,079
with whatever. I found it interesting that it felt like,

636
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,279
oh okay, like Jabari Smith Junior is gonna have to

637
00:29:51,519 --> 00:29:53,319
like we were talking about last year, like should he

638
00:29:53,359 --> 00:29:55,400
play more five? And now it's like, well, how much

639
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,240
three will he have to play? So I just found

640
00:29:57,279 --> 00:30:00,160
that interesting because my other point on that is a

641
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:01,880
lot of the teams you mentioned and it's not like

642
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,119
this everywhere, like Dallas is trying to do something similar

643
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,319
where both of their bigs are basically non shooters, and

644
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,079
Alprin Shang Gun has some touch, but like between him,

645
00:30:11,079 --> 00:30:13,720
Steven Adams and Clin Copela, there's not a floor spacer there.

646
00:30:13,759 --> 00:30:16,880
And like even Evan Mobley like developed more of a

647
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:21,680
three point shot last year to play along right Miles

648
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,559
Turner playing next to Giannis Attentakompo. So I find that

649
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,160
to be I don't we the numbers on to be clear,

650
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,319
the numbers if anyone hasn't looked at the line up data,

651
00:30:30,359 --> 00:30:32,640
and I'm talking about even with Ahma and Thompson on

652
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,720
the floor, they are gaga, they are insane. But I

653
00:30:36,119 --> 00:30:38,119
just found it. I find it interesting and will continue

654
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,319
to be monitoring it. Where Okay, Adams and Capella, neither

655
00:30:41,359 --> 00:30:43,839
of them are high minute bigs now, so there's still

656
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,720
gonna be time to you know, navigate these lineups in

657
00:30:46,759 --> 00:30:49,160
a different way. But I'm just I'm very interested to

658
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:50,839
see how this pans out, if they make it more

659
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,880
of a regular thing over the course of it in

660
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,400
an entire season, because yes, it is. I agree with

661
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,279
you that it is like a reaction to maybe what's

662
00:30:57,279 --> 00:30:59,680
happening around the league, but they're also kind of zagging

663
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,200
where everyone else is singing.

664
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very much stan Van Gundy. We're gonna form

665
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:09,200
a fucking wall like around the rim, right, like with

666
00:31:09,359 --> 00:31:12,559
all the lent that we have, right and we're gonna

667
00:31:12,559 --> 00:31:15,240
we're gonna crash the glass hard. And last year it

668
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,039
felt like they had to do that because they didn't

669
00:31:17,079 --> 00:31:19,599
have the level of offensive creators that they have this season,

670
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,519
But like now they don't, right like that now they

671
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,920
don't have to go hard on the offensive class anymore,

672
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,920
but they still want to because they they're like, oh,

673
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,640
I mean, the Rockets, the organization have always chased advantages

674
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,599
that the rest of the league wasn't chasing, right, like

675
00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:35,880
three point volume was something they did early, right, wings

676
00:31:36,039 --> 00:31:37,079
was something they did early.

677
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:37,359
Speaker 1: Right.

678
00:31:38,039 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 2: Now they're they're going after the offensive rebounds, which have

679
00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:43,160
always been there, right, Like it's always been there for

680
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,799
someone to take. But the rockets are like, oh, like,

681
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,200
we're gonna We're gonna be the team that takes it,

682
00:31:48,279 --> 00:31:50,519
right cause Steven Adams. It's not just that these guys

683
00:31:50,519 --> 00:31:52,759
are good rebounders, right, because there are a lot of

684
00:31:52,799 --> 00:31:57,839
good big second rebound right, these are good offensive rebounding bigs.

685
00:31:58,079 --> 00:32:02,039
In particular, Clint Cappella's also a good offensive rebounding big.

686
00:32:02,599 --> 00:32:02,799
Speaker 1: Right.

687
00:32:03,079 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 2: So these guys, these are guys who crashed the glass, right,

688
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:10,880
They're not just ending the deventsive possessions. They're going hard

689
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,960
at the at the glass Tarry Easton as well, a

690
00:32:14,079 --> 00:32:17,400
Men Thompson like like, So they're they're going after a

691
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:22,240
certain character of guys that does this. And you know,

692
00:32:22,519 --> 00:32:24,759
I think I think it's an interesting strategy. I mean,

693
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,720
it's certainly a way to make up for the fact

694
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,440
that maybe you don't have as much floor spacing, but

695
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,960
it also is a very now it is a very

696
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,119
deliberate tragedy. Whereas last year maybe by necessity, this year

697
00:32:37,119 --> 00:32:38,559
it's like, okay, by choice.

698
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,119
Speaker 1: The other thing that I'll be watching with it, And

699
00:32:41,119 --> 00:32:43,200
I'm just curious your thoughts on it is they actually did.

700
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,720
I was surprised a good job of getting out in

701
00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:47,839
transition with those double big lineups. I think a lot

702
00:32:47,839 --> 00:32:49,839
of that had to do with the personnel they could

703
00:32:49,839 --> 00:32:52,960
surround them with. They were better at forcing turnovers because

704
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,880
you could take more gambles and like they actually weren't

705
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,400
getting out and transition a ton off of the rebounds

706
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,000
because if like Steven Adams grabs a rebound on the defensive,

707
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,200
like he's maybe not gonna be a skill that getting

708
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:03,640
the ball out of his hands as quickly or down

709
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,119
the floor as another person would do. You worry about

710
00:33:07,119 --> 00:33:09,799
now putting Kevin Durant in some of those lineups at all,

711
00:33:09,839 --> 00:33:12,880
losing that aspect of the identity because Kevin Durant is

712
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,839
not like a hardwired transition type player either.

713
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly not at this stage of his career, right,

714
00:33:19,279 --> 00:33:23,119
And like I think here's my thing, and I had

715
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,519
this conversation on my last podcast. The deflections are still

716
00:33:26,559 --> 00:33:29,079
going to be there, right, like like like tar Easton,

717
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:34,240
Amen Thompson Jabbari, like these guys are so long and active,

718
00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:38,119
they are not going to stop trying to get deflections.

719
00:33:38,599 --> 00:33:43,240
So do I think the fast breaks are gonna slow down? Maybe,

720
00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:46,559
but like the transition opportunities wrong, if that makes sense,

721
00:33:46,599 --> 00:33:49,799
they may just go into a half court because you know,

722
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,799
not everybody gets back. Like, so they're still going to

723
00:33:53,079 --> 00:33:57,519
force transition, They're still going to force turnovers, but they

724
00:33:57,559 --> 00:34:01,079
may not finish the position the way that they did

725
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,079
last season. The conversion rate may be different or the

726
00:34:04,759 --> 00:34:06,119
way they convert may be different.

727
00:34:07,839 --> 00:34:09,119
Speaker 1: Next thing I want to talk about is can we

728
00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,719
go through just some of their younger players, younger on

729
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:13,320
quotes because some of them aren't super young and just

730
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:15,480
like what are you watching the most or monitoring with

731
00:34:15,519 --> 00:34:18,840
them for next year? And we will begin with you

732
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:19,960
might have heard of him everybody.

733
00:34:20,039 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 2: I'm Men Thompson, So I said this also something I

734
00:34:25,039 --> 00:34:29,320
said on my last podcast. I think for Houston to

735
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:35,159
I painted the picture right, gatorades being poured on Ema Doka.

736
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,440
Fred Avlietz on on the bench asking his fiance like, Hey,

737
00:34:38,599 --> 00:34:40,159
what fingers should I put this ring on?

738
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:40,639
Speaker 1: Right?

739
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:44,559
Speaker 2: Like? Like if that's happening right, like if the Rockets

740
00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:47,519
get to that point, if they're actually, you know, winning

741
00:34:47,559 --> 00:34:51,280
the title. What happened likely is that one of these

742
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,360
guys became an All NBA player, right, somebody else other

743
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,079
than Kevin Durant, And the two most likely candidates for

744
00:34:58,119 --> 00:35:01,039
that are a Men Thompson and al Perynching. One of

745
00:35:01,079 --> 00:35:04,159
those two still have that ability to make that lead.

746
00:35:05,119 --> 00:35:08,800
They have other opportunities to improve their game that have

747
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,599
not been explored. Shooting for both of them haven't been explored, right,

748
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,679
Being a hub hasn't been explored for either of them.

749
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:18,360
Playmaking has some explored for a Men, right, like, like

750
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,480
just having the ball in his hands and being asked

751
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,719
to create, right like, that has not been explored for him.

752
00:35:25,079 --> 00:35:29,360
So there are ways that these guys can become real guys,

753
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,079
right like championship level guys. We're just gonna have to

754
00:35:33,119 --> 00:35:37,559
see if, like if it happens for one of them,

755
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,880
and I suspect they have that kind of talent, But

756
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,199
is it gonna happen next year?

757
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:43,320
Speaker 1: Right? Like?

758
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 2: Is it gonna happen for these guys next year? And

759
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,039
if it happens next year with the Men specifically, because

760
00:35:49,039 --> 00:35:52,880
you asked me about him, listen, like he's no, there's

761
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,599
no it's not secret anyway. He's one of the best

762
00:35:54,599 --> 00:35:57,800
defensive wings in the NBA. Right, He's just he's awesome.

763
00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,719
I think the next step that everybody's looking for is, Okay,

764
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,760
put the ball in his hands. What is going to

765
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:06,400
happen there?

766
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:06,960
Speaker 1: Right?

767
00:36:07,079 --> 00:36:11,239
Speaker 2: Like, it's not like him scoring messy buckets anymore. Okay,

768
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:13,360
we know you can do that, right, we know you can.

769
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,119
You're very good at clean up. You're very good at

770
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,960
at finishing dump offs, You're very good at finishing lobs.

771
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,000
You're like, we know you can finish at the basket, right,

772
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,159
what can what do you What can you do when

773
00:36:24,199 --> 00:36:26,079
we put the ball in your hands and ask and

774
00:36:26,159 --> 00:36:28,639
ask you to do something? That's what I'm looking for

775
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,360
with them, Man, if they ask him to do that,

776
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:32,360
that's what I'm looking for.

777
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,559
Speaker 1: What do you see the I guess, like the volume

778
00:36:37,599 --> 00:36:39,480
at which they would ask him to do that. When

779
00:36:39,519 --> 00:36:41,920
you have Durant van Fleet and if the plan is

780
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:43,880
to have Reed Shepherd in there.

781
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:48,400
Speaker 2: I think Durant, you know, like when he speaks about basketball,

782
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,159
I'm not sure if he's the most articulate basketball player, right,

783
00:36:51,199 --> 00:36:54,199
Like when he talks about the game, but when he

784
00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:57,159
plays the game, I think he's smarter than a lot

785
00:36:57,159 --> 00:37:00,280
of people give him credit for. And I think like

786
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,079
a lot of the pressure that that comes from creation

787
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:05,440
actually comes from other players, right like, hey, we need

788
00:37:05,519 --> 00:37:06,920
we need to feed this guy, We need to give

789
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:08,360
this guy the ball a little bit more. I think

790
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,719
bring Kevin Durant in could actually bring pressure to give

791
00:37:12,039 --> 00:37:14,800
balls to guys that actually deserve it, right Like I

792
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,239
think having Alprin Shangoon get it get more looks, or

793
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:19,800
having a mentems to get more looks at the ball

794
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,360
in hands. I think that comes from the players more

795
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:24,800
more or less. Right there, the most talented players on

796
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,800
your team force those conversations, and I think that's kind

797
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,039
of where that emphasis, that that inclination would come from

798
00:37:32,119 --> 00:37:35,440
the players. Kevin Durant, I think Kevin Durant recognizing that

799
00:37:35,519 --> 00:37:37,719
talent when he comes in. I think that's kind of

800
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:39,320
what I would what I would look at as for

801
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:43,320
like an initiation, like and you know, the coaching staff

802
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,719
listen like it's they've done a very good job offensively.

803
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,840
I haven't seen much from their like what other than

804
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:55,159
the offensive rebounding thing, Like I want to see if

805
00:37:55,159 --> 00:37:59,079
they can start that conversation themselves but I tend to

806
00:37:59,159 --> 00:38:03,360
believe this conversation comes from the player. So yeah, I

807
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,199
mean what forced that conversation. I think Kevin Durant. I

808
00:38:07,199 --> 00:38:09,360
think Kevin Durant coming in and saying, hey, we got

809
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:10,480
to give this guy the ball more.

810
00:38:11,559 --> 00:38:13,800
Speaker 1: I that's a really good point that I thought of.

811
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:15,480
And I also think what helps I'm man is so

812
00:38:15,519 --> 00:38:18,400
many people will be focused on just like the jump

813
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,480
shot of it all. But he did shoot over fifty

814
00:38:20,519 --> 00:38:23,119
percent on floaters last year, and so if he can

815
00:38:23,159 --> 00:38:25,599
have more and we saw some like fadeaway stuff, but

816
00:38:25,599 --> 00:38:27,719
if you can just have more counters or maybe operate

817
00:38:28,199 --> 00:38:31,199
at different cadences as he's getting downhill from dead stops,

818
00:38:31,599 --> 00:38:33,840
I think like that, to me, is easier for him

819
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:35,960
to integrate than Oh, hey, can you hit like these

820
00:38:36,559 --> 00:38:39,599
long mid range jumpers or these set three pointers.

821
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 2: If I could. I there's a quality about him that

822
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:45,840
I'm gonna mention a name here.

823
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:46,199
Speaker 1: I'm not.

824
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,039
Speaker 2: Let me just be very very very clear, I am

825
00:38:49,159 --> 00:38:52,559
not at all making the comparison in terms of what

826
00:38:52,639 --> 00:38:54,960
the end product will be or I'm excited.

827
00:38:55,199 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 1: I'm officially excited.

828
00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 2: When Lebron came into the league, he was not talent

829
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,400
to shooter. Listen, listen, hear me out. Hear me out,

830
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:08,119
hear me out. It's not he was not a talented shooter, right,

831
00:39:09,159 --> 00:39:13,519
but he just made shots in that like twelve foot

832
00:39:13,599 --> 00:39:16,920
area off of instinct almost like not like when he

833
00:39:17,039 --> 00:39:21,519
wasn't trying to shoot, right, Like, just like making instinctual

834
00:39:21,559 --> 00:39:24,760
basketball plays. And a man seems to be pretty good

835
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:28,280
at making instinctual basketball plays, right with the floater, with

836
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:32,159
the bedaway mid range jumper, right, Like, it's like he

837
00:39:32,199 --> 00:39:34,800
has that kind of smart right, It's not people talk

838
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:36,800
about a men smarts in terms of, oh, he's a

839
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,960
really smart cutter, really good defender, really good you know, passer, right, Like, yeah, yeah,

840
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,199
he's all those things. But also like in terms of

841
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,400
knowing when to attack and kind of how to attack,

842
00:39:47,039 --> 00:39:49,480
Like he's pretty smart at that too, Like when he's

843
00:39:49,559 --> 00:39:55,400
rolling downhill, like Jalen would get scared right when the

844
00:39:55,559 --> 00:39:57,960
basket got walled off, right, and he would kind of

845
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:01,440
make a panic pass. A man does do that, right,

846
00:40:01,519 --> 00:40:05,039
Like a man figures it out right. He's good at

847
00:40:05,079 --> 00:40:08,840
figuring it out right. It's a very like the last

848
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,079
time the reason I mentioned Lebron is the last time.

849
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,559
The first name that comes to my mind in terms

850
00:40:14,559 --> 00:40:17,119
of like a player that would like instinctually figure it

851
00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:19,960
out even though innately, like, yeah, Lebron wasn't like a

852
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:21,880
good three point shoot coming into the NDABA, that was

853
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,920
not something we expected from him, right, but like he

854
00:40:25,079 --> 00:40:28,159
figured it out right in terms like he figured like

855
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,159
he when he would go into the when he would

856
00:40:30,159 --> 00:40:33,000
go to the basket, we knew he would make something happen,

857
00:40:33,119 --> 00:40:36,679
even if that wasn't at the basket itself. So a

858
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,599
man that that's kind of what gives me confidence that

859
00:40:40,639 --> 00:40:42,519
a man can figure it out. Is he has a

860
00:40:42,599 --> 00:40:45,519
smart about him in terms of like he very creative

861
00:40:45,559 --> 00:40:48,800
in terms of like instinctally knowing what to do, right,

862
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,760
he has a he's a basketball he's a basketball players,

863
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:56,920
basketball player, right, Like he's very very smart on the

864
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:58,119
offensive end.

865
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:00,760
Speaker 1: Where are you at? I know you kind of mentioned

866
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:02,159
this a little bit. What would you be watching for

867
00:41:02,199 --> 00:41:03,719
with Alpah and Shangun this year?

868
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,199
Speaker 2: Some some of that hub stuff. Also, like he took

869
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,280
a dip in efficiency inexplicitly last year, Like he went

870
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,599
from like a sixty percent shooting guy or like a

871
00:41:13,599 --> 00:41:15,400
fifty nine percent you shooting guy to like a fifty

872
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:19,559
four percent shooting guy. It's very random, very random. I

873
00:41:19,599 --> 00:41:22,119
think he had a season ending injury the season before.

874
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,320
If I were to guess what happened, I guess that

875
00:41:24,599 --> 00:41:27,639
was what happened. Like maybe there was the injury. I

876
00:41:27,679 --> 00:41:30,360
was slung him down. We're gonna finally find out if

877
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,880
that was an albatross season or not, right, like like

878
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,639
like the efficiency if that comes back. That's number one,

879
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:38,119
Go ahead?

880
00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:40,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh no, go ahead? No. Number two.

881
00:41:40,679 --> 00:41:43,079
Speaker 2: Number two is like will the team make him a hub?

882
00:41:44,079 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 1: Right? Like?

883
00:41:44,519 --> 00:41:45,920
Speaker 2: Will the team make him more of a hub?

884
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:47,119
Speaker 1: Will?

885
00:41:47,159 --> 00:41:50,079
Speaker 2: Will they? Will they drive offense through him? Right? Will

886
00:41:50,119 --> 00:41:52,400
they ask him to play make for others? Will they?

887
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:55,239
Will they do some of the slick cut actions if

888
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:57,360
they did in Golden State? Actually, I think the Rockets

889
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,719
are pretty well adapt adapted. They have great cutters, great

890
00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:03,239
a lot less, a lot of shooting with Kevin Durant

891
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:05,320
on the wings as well. Like, I think it's a

892
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,960
lot smart players all that stuff. Like, I think they

893
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:10,119
can do a lot of click cut stuffs that they

894
00:42:10,119 --> 00:42:13,000
didn't go in State. So I'd like to see him

895
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:13,519
do more of that.

896
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:16,760
Speaker 1: My reductive answer would be I would like to see

897
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,679
if he could become like even a the domas a

898
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:21,239
bonus level three point shooter, like get up three attempts

899
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:22,960
per game and knock them down. I think would be

900
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,440
big for the offense. But I'm actually more curious to

901
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,039
see We mentioned this a little bit with Durant. I

902
00:42:28,079 --> 00:42:30,039
just want to see what the interplay looks like between

903
00:42:30,119 --> 00:42:32,239
him and Durant, but also maybe him and Red Shepherd,

904
00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:35,400
if those two are gonna get minutes together. So that's

905
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:36,840
what I'm kind because I know you're talking about the

906
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:38,199
O and look, this is a guy who already play

907
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:39,639
makes for his teammates, so I get what you're saying

908
00:42:39,639 --> 00:42:42,440
about the hub stuff. I'm just very curious to see

909
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,920
what the type of synergy they attempt to carve out between.

910
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:48,400
I'm just most fat there's other players on the team,

911
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,760
a'm and Thompson, Fred van Fleet. Sure, I'm most fascinated

912
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:53,840
to see what the interplay looks like between him and

913
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:56,119
Read Shepherd and Kevin Durant, because they're both like they're

914
00:42:56,159 --> 00:42:58,440
the new pieces here technically, even though Shepard was there

915
00:42:58,480 --> 00:42:58,920
last year.

916
00:42:59,079 --> 00:43:01,239
Speaker 2: No, for sure, I mean, like I want to see

917
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:02,840
pick and roll with it with these guys, right, Like

918
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:06,239
I want to see more like Jay again like this.

919
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,280
I don't mean to keep rigging them up, but like

920
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:11,920
the Jay. One of the biggest frustrations about Jalen Green

921
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,920
and and Alprin Shangun working together is that they didn't

922
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:16,800
do it as often as they should have, and that

923
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,960
their games could have worked together right, like if if

924
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,960
Jalen was making shots at the level that he you know, was,

925
00:43:24,599 --> 00:43:28,440
you know, could potentially make right like, I think it

926
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:30,320
could have worked out really well. And if the team

927
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:32,920
was more deliberate about giving those guys looks like in

928
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,000
terms of pick and roll looks, I think they they

929
00:43:35,039 --> 00:43:38,559
went down like a lot last year between the two players,

930
00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:40,599
so I want to see more of that this year

931
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:44,519
between Alprin Shingun and other guys like he he is

932
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,000
good at rolling to the basket, like I think people

933
00:43:47,039 --> 00:43:48,840
don't think of him that way, but he dunks, he

934
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:52,599
finishes at the basket with both hands. He's he's creative,

935
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:55,480
crafty like all that. So he's good at finishing. I

936
00:43:55,480 --> 00:43:58,840
mean last year he wasn't good at finishing, but traditionally

937
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:01,639
he's good at finishing, right, Like, usually he is good

938
00:44:01,679 --> 00:44:03,920
at finishing at the basket, so I'd like to see

939
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:05,639
him get more picking roll looks next year. I think

940
00:44:05,639 --> 00:44:09,280
that's definitely something that would be that should be explored

941
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,400
along with the high low you know stuff obviously, but

942
00:44:13,119 --> 00:44:17,280
I think this is something that everyone's going to be

943
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,199
watching em Udoka and like what he can do as

944
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:23,119
an offensive. I think the guy who has the most

945
00:44:23,119 --> 00:44:26,440
pressure on him this season on the Rockets is actually

946
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:27,000
the head coach.

947
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:27,880
Speaker 1: Right.

948
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:30,000
Speaker 2: I think people get are gonna say, are gonna say

949
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,760
it's Reach Shepherd. I don't think it's Reach Eppid because

950
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:34,880
I don't think like even if Recheperd can't fill that

951
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:37,559
role this year, I think it's like the Rocket season

952
00:44:37,599 --> 00:44:39,840
isn't hinging on him filling that role this year, right,

953
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:41,599
they could just slot an airon holiday and be fine.

954
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:45,239
I think what the Rocket season is hinging on is

955
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:49,119
im Udoka, like his offensive chops. I think that's kind

956
00:44:49,159 --> 00:44:52,280
of what I'm looking for more than anything, the usage

957
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:53,639
of these guys in a creative way.

958
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,559
Speaker 1: And I think that's why. So if you said, if

959
00:44:56,559 --> 00:44:58,599
you said, right now, like who's the one player this

960
00:44:58,639 --> 00:45:01,400
team couldn't afford to lose out Knowing more about Yudoka's

961
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,760
offensive philosophy. You could say Kevin Durant if you really

962
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,480
want to, but the real answer is probably like they're

963
00:45:07,559 --> 00:45:11,400
less equipped to navigate a Fred van Fleet absence right now.

964
00:45:11,639 --> 00:45:13,199
Like when you look at how the structure their offense

965
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:14,559
is gonna go, you can maybe make you make the

966
00:45:14,559 --> 00:45:17,960
case for Shangun too. So yeah, I'm curious see how

967
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,159
their offensive identity is gonna change. One of the most

968
00:45:20,159 --> 00:45:23,360
fascinating players in the entire league to me is Jabari

969
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,559
Smith Junior. Though so in the context of this team,

970
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:28,880
I thought it was cool he definitely played within his

971
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,880
role more last year, but like, what are you really

972
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:34,880
locking in on with him this season? And I'm assuming

973
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:36,800
it's gonna be on the offensive end because he feels

974
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,079
like we we just know that, Like we kind of

975
00:45:39,079 --> 00:45:40,719
know what a lot of these guys are on defense

976
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:42,679
for the Rockets, and your bar Smith Junior feels like

977
00:45:42,679 --> 00:45:43,159
one of them.

978
00:45:43,559 --> 00:45:45,159
Speaker 2: I'm still interested to see if you can get to

979
00:45:45,159 --> 00:45:47,320
another level defensively, to be honest, Like, I think he's

980
00:45:47,519 --> 00:45:49,079
he's gotten to the point where we know he's gonna

981
00:45:49,079 --> 00:45:51,000
be a good defender, but how good I'd like to

982
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,800
I'd like to see there's still some stuff there, but

983
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:58,239
offensively for sure, Yeah, you're right, Like I think, I mean,

984
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:00,719
can he carry over the level of making that he

985
00:46:00,719 --> 00:46:03,360
had in the playoffs the regular season, right? Like, it

986
00:46:03,679 --> 00:46:05,960
does seem like confidence wise, he got to a point

987
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:08,159
where he's like, Okay, like I'm I'm just being asked

988
00:46:08,159 --> 00:46:10,559
to be this guy. So I'm just gonna be that guy, right,

989
00:46:10,599 --> 00:46:12,360
Like I am that guy. Right, That's where I was

990
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:15,599
rafted to be. And so if he can be like

991
00:46:15,679 --> 00:46:17,760
that dead eye shooter and they're in the regular season,

992
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:21,119
like that's a great starting point man, right, Like He's

993
00:46:21,119 --> 00:46:24,159
already a good enough shooter to still be worth playing,

994
00:46:24,519 --> 00:46:26,719
right because of what everything he does on the boards

995
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:30,719
and as a defensive player. But can he be someone

996
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:34,920
who's asked to be like a dead eye shooter. I

997
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,400
never believed in, like, you know, people made the Paul

998
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,440
George comparisons. I was never like someone that's like his

999
00:46:41,559 --> 00:46:44,519
high end like outcome. But I don't believe like that's

1000
00:46:44,519 --> 00:46:47,559
something that I should expect from him. LaMarcus is someone

1001
00:46:47,639 --> 00:46:50,320
I was like, more LaMarcus with a three point shot.

1002
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:52,760
It's like someone I compared him to a lot. And

1003
00:46:53,519 --> 00:46:58,159
LaMarcus obviously played on these really talented Portland teams where

1004
00:46:58,159 --> 00:47:01,239
he kind of didn't have to be like the fulcrum

1005
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:04,880
of the offense until like actually quite late, like like

1006
00:47:05,079 --> 00:47:08,159
into like his late twenties, right because like that's when

1007
00:47:08,199 --> 00:47:10,920
Brandon Roy was injured and then like like like the

1008
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,320
options opened up for him. And so I think, I

1009
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:16,480
think I suspect that's kind of what's gonna happen with Jabbari.

1010
00:47:16,559 --> 00:47:18,079
Like he's not gonna be asked to do those mid

1011
00:47:18,119 --> 00:47:21,400
range fadeaways. They may be there for him, but I

1012
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:23,400
don't think the Rockets are gonna ask him to do that.

1013
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:28,000
So I think later on, once the roster thins out

1014
00:47:28,039 --> 00:47:30,159
a little bit, which will it's gonna think, right now,

1015
00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:32,880
this is the deepest it's ever gonna look. Right, It's

1016
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:35,639
gonna thin out over time as financial constraints come into play,

1017
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:39,119
as they as guys get older. I think that's when

1018
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,280
you look to him as an offensive player. But right now,

1019
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,760
I'm not really interested to see like him being force

1020
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:47,000
fed looks. I don't think that's something that even he

1021
00:47:47,039 --> 00:47:48,000
wants to do right now.

1022
00:47:49,159 --> 00:47:51,800
Speaker 1: I agree with you on all those accounts. I actually

1023
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:54,199
probably have fewer questions about can he be a knock

1024
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:56,239
I just think he's going to be, especially with some

1025
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:57,840
of the looks he might get teed up with if

1026
00:47:57,840 --> 00:47:59,519
Shephard is who I think he is, and now having

1027
00:47:59,559 --> 00:48:03,519
Durant on this team, my question is does he get

1028
00:48:03,559 --> 00:48:05,719
to a point where like the handle is good enough

1029
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:07,440
to where he can attack. But I don't know he

1030
00:48:07,519 --> 00:48:10,639
was he was, don't think in eighty eighth in drives

1031
00:48:10,679 --> 00:48:11,519
per game last year.

1032
00:48:11,559 --> 00:48:13,159
Speaker 2: I don't know the hand it was that bad, Like

1033
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:14,440
I'm not gonna lie.

1034
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:17,079
Speaker 1: Like confidence then to put it on because the turnover

1035
00:48:17,159 --> 00:48:19,800
rate on drives actually wasn't too bad last year, but

1036
00:48:20,199 --> 00:48:23,480
the volume even for his offensive role to be like

1037
00:48:24,159 --> 00:48:26,239
basically like three hundredth it was like two hundred and

1038
00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:28,320
eighty eight or whatever, and drives per game like there

1039
00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:31,320
should be for someone of his caliber. Can he put

1040
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:32,760
the ball on the floor get all the way to

1041
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:35,239
the basket. That's another way that maybe the Rockets could

1042
00:48:35,239 --> 00:48:38,000
increase their their free throw attempt rate as well. I

1043
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,760
think that's actually my biggest question with him.

1044
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:44,840
Speaker 2: So like going coming into them, but he did have

1045
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:47,880
a very shaky handle. But I have seen that year

1046
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:50,719
after year improved, and last year I just thought we

1047
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,159
saw a reduction in like the usage of him as

1048
00:48:53,159 --> 00:48:56,079
a ball handler, right, And a lot of that is

1049
00:48:56,119 --> 00:48:57,960
like you know, he's he wasn't a starter anymore, right,

1050
00:48:58,039 --> 00:49:00,360
Like that's that's some of it. Like towards the season

1051
00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:02,559
he was coming off the bench. Some of that is

1052
00:49:02,599 --> 00:49:04,800
a men Thompson coming into his own. Some of that

1053
00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:07,679
is just like, listen, we want Jalen Green to be

1054
00:49:07,719 --> 00:49:09,599
more of that guy and like you don't really need

1055
00:49:09,639 --> 00:49:12,920
to be like like that was some of that. I

1056
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:14,480
think that's gonna kind of carry over a little bit

1057
00:49:14,519 --> 00:49:17,960
more next year. But to be honest, open court, like

1058
00:49:18,159 --> 00:49:20,599
I saw him go end to end right like like

1059
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:22,880
the year before last, Like I saw him do that

1060
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:27,199
and credibly like finish right, which is like, like that's

1061
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,400
a real step that like up from where he was

1062
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:33,239
coming out of college. So I'm I'm not as concerned

1063
00:49:33,239 --> 00:49:35,000
about this handle, to be honest, I think it's I

1064
00:49:35,039 --> 00:49:37,079
think he's gonna be He's never gonna have a very

1065
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,639
tight or like very crisp. He's not gonna be a

1066
00:49:40,679 --> 00:49:42,920
guard with a He's not gonna have the guard level handles.

1067
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:43,119
Speaker 1: Right.

1068
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:46,360
Speaker 2: If you're asking whether or not he'll ever have perimeter

1069
00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:49,239
level handle, I don't know. To be honest, I don't know,

1070
00:49:49,559 --> 00:49:51,880
but can he have above average big handle? Yeah, I

1071
00:49:51,880 --> 00:49:54,840
think that potential is still out there. If you're like,

1072
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:56,199
I think that potential is still.

1073
00:49:56,039 --> 00:49:58,119
Speaker 1: Out there, do you think that he can be the

1074
00:49:58,519 --> 00:50:01,039
like attacking clothes out type of because you know, first

1075
00:50:01,039 --> 00:50:02,480
of all, I mentioned the handle, but like you probably

1076
00:50:02,519 --> 00:50:04,760
don't even need a spectacular handle to do that, and

1077
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,360
like I'm probably just I still more questions about the finishing,

1078
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:09,519
especially if he's gonna get contact than you do. Like

1079
00:50:10,039 --> 00:50:12,519
I understand the context of the offense last year, but

1080
00:50:12,559 --> 00:50:15,360
like his RIM percentage dropping a little bit isn't great,

1081
00:50:15,719 --> 00:50:18,000
and I think like adding that dynamic to I mean,

1082
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,719
he could be the player he is right now, and

1083
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:22,599
that extension is still just great business by the Rockets.

1084
00:50:22,599 --> 00:50:24,280
So I want to make that clear. But I think

1085
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:27,199
that I'm with you that he doesn't need to be

1086
00:50:27,239 --> 00:50:29,119
force fed those touches. Like maybe he gets to a

1087
00:50:29,159 --> 00:50:30,559
point in a career where he can do that or

1088
00:50:30,559 --> 00:50:33,039
the Rockets need him to do that. It's not right now,

1089
00:50:33,199 --> 00:50:34,679
but I think it opens up a lot more of

1090
00:50:34,679 --> 00:50:36,840
the Rockets half court offense and then his game just

1091
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:38,840
in general. If he is someone that defenses have to

1092
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:41,519
worry about like attacking more of those closeouts, because that

1093
00:50:41,559 --> 00:50:45,159
attacking closeout rate just wasn't there last season. I think

1094
00:50:45,199 --> 00:50:46,960
it look it to me, it does go beyond the handles,

1095
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:49,440
like do you trust that guy to finish through contact

1096
00:50:49,519 --> 00:50:51,159
or to follow through on his drives all the way

1097
00:50:51,159 --> 00:50:53,599
to the basket. And I still just I don't want

1098
00:50:53,599 --> 00:50:55,480
to say distrust, It's just something I still have a

1099
00:50:55,519 --> 00:50:56,239
question about.

1100
00:50:56,599 --> 00:50:58,639
Speaker 2: I think I would suspect he's going to be more

1101
00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:01,719
of like a pull up mid range guy, like like

1102
00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:04,639
like in terms of like wonderable pull up off a closeout,

1103
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:06,519
which I think that that seems to be what he's

1104
00:51:06,559 --> 00:51:11,119
more comfortable with next year, next season, I mean in general,

1105
00:51:11,199 --> 00:51:14,800
and like next season, I think like there's the paint's

1106
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:19,039
gonna be kind of sneaky, cramped for right, like like

1107
00:51:19,119 --> 00:51:23,039
I think, like especially for someone who's still like like

1108
00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:27,000
he was never never had the strongest like finishing slash

1109
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:29,480
ball hailing ability, I don't know if he's going to

1110
00:51:29,559 --> 00:51:31,159
have the confidence to go into that kind of a

1111
00:51:31,239 --> 00:51:34,400
packed paint. And I think I think it's fine for

1112
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:37,480
him to like wait until the rosters thinned out and

1113
00:51:37,559 --> 00:51:40,440
he has more room to operate coming out, you know,

1114
00:51:40,719 --> 00:51:42,719
coming out of closeouts right, Like, which is why I

1115
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:46,360
bring up the LaMarcus Alders thing, Like LaMarcus was given

1116
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,239
those looks later on into his career, like his prime was,

1117
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,920
like what it was he twenty five when he first

1118
00:51:51,960 --> 00:51:55,719
started getting really force fed the ball, right, and like

1119
00:51:56,159 --> 00:51:58,360
that's kind of what I would see with Jabbari, Like

1120
00:51:58,599 --> 00:52:01,519
I don't I don't see at least these next couple

1121
00:52:01,559 --> 00:52:04,480
of years. Like, yeah, he may, he may get better

1122
00:52:04,519 --> 00:52:06,960
at attack and close outs. He may do more than

1123
00:52:07,039 --> 00:52:09,199
just do the pull up mid range jay. But that's

1124
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:11,000
kind of what I expect from him right now. If

1125
00:52:11,039 --> 00:52:14,360
and if he does more, okay, great, But like right now,

1126
00:52:14,679 --> 00:52:17,840
Rockets don't need it. He doesn't really want to do it.

1127
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:20,440
The paint's gonna be too crowd for him to do

1128
00:52:20,440 --> 00:52:22,159
it at a good level, So it's not gonna be

1129
00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:23,920
It's not gonna happen that much. That's what I'm trying,

1130
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:25,400
as I would guess.

1131
00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:27,719
Speaker 1: What are you looking for from Tari Easton?

1132
00:52:31,119 --> 00:52:33,440
Speaker 2: I wonder what Tarry Easton's looking for over to Tar

1133
00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:36,800
Easton because he is the most interesting Twitter follower. Did

1134
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:38,360
you see what he tweeted the other day about being

1135
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:43,760
an eighth man. No, I didn't somebody he either he

1136
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:45,920
was responding to someone saying he's not gonna be an

1137
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:48,400
eighth man next year or something, or like he thought

1138
00:52:48,559 --> 00:52:50,599
like he heard it from somewhere, but he was like

1139
00:52:50,679 --> 00:52:52,800
upset at the notion of like him being an eighth man.

1140
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:55,559
It's like, okay, okay. Tari's like like what what like

1141
00:52:55,599 --> 00:52:57,400
what's what's the what's the role for you? Like what

1142
00:52:57,480 --> 00:52:59,039
you want to be a seventh man, a sixth man,

1143
00:52:59,079 --> 00:53:01,119
like like you think you're and start next year? Like

1144
00:53:01,119 --> 00:53:03,639
like what what? What do you see for yourself? Tar Easton?

1145
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:09,159
I think what what? I what I'm looking forward for?

1146
00:53:09,639 --> 00:53:12,159
What I'm looking forward to with Tar Easton is kind

1147
00:53:12,199 --> 00:53:17,079
of more of the same, right, like more of like

1148
00:53:17,079 --> 00:53:22,079
like him being tenacious, chaotic defender. I don't think like

1149
00:53:22,159 --> 00:53:23,840
I think a lot of people look at Taria's like

1150
00:53:23,920 --> 00:53:27,920
he's an elite like discipline textbook. He's not that right

1151
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:32,599
like he's he reminds me, and you know, it's not

1152
00:53:32,639 --> 00:53:35,840
a perfect comparison, but like Robert Covington kind of vibes

1153
00:53:35,880 --> 00:53:38,960
a little bit right. I like him more as like

1154
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,360
a weak side defender, and I like him more like

1155
00:53:41,360 --> 00:53:43,719
like when I saw him on the perimeter against guys

1156
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,599
on Golden States, like okay, like I he's not equipped

1157
00:53:47,599 --> 00:53:50,119
to do this, right, like he's or like he's not

1158
00:53:50,239 --> 00:53:53,239
there yet, right, We'll see if he ever gets there yet.

1159
00:53:53,239 --> 00:53:57,800
But like you know, I think he is very He's

1160
00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:03,519
obviously very talented. He's very long and athletic and crazy

1161
00:54:03,639 --> 00:54:09,159
and like like I, I I think he's a he's

1162
00:54:09,159 --> 00:54:11,159
a he's a mystery. He's a mystery box because like

1163
00:54:11,559 --> 00:54:16,119
the analytics love Taristan, right, the of the analytics love

1164
00:54:16,599 --> 00:54:20,400
love Tarisan even coming out of college. The Rockets love

1165
00:54:20,480 --> 00:54:24,039
Tarisan like read Shepherd and Taristan like those are the

1166
00:54:24,119 --> 00:54:27,760
hills that they're willing to die on. Right. So I

1167
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:30,239
don't know what what they see for him, Like maybe

1168
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:32,840
they see more of like him becoming a guy, like

1169
00:54:33,039 --> 00:54:35,039
not not not when I mean not by a guy,

1170
00:54:35,079 --> 00:54:36,840
I mean not like a rotation level guy. I mean

1171
00:54:36,920 --> 00:54:39,840
like more than that. I don't know. I don't see

1172
00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:42,719
that for him right now. We'll just like he's a

1173
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,000
mystery box to me, Like I I guess if you

1174
00:54:45,039 --> 00:54:47,840
ask me, what am I looking forward to? More the same,

1175
00:54:48,480 --> 00:54:50,400
He's still he's gonna get a lot of not a

1176
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:54,519
lot of deflections. He's gonna be super athletic, make a

1177
00:54:54,519 --> 00:54:58,079
lot of hard dunks. Uh, he's gonna be very exciting

1178
00:54:58,119 --> 00:55:02,440
for Rockets fans. Crap stop fense to glass all that.

1179
00:55:03,639 --> 00:55:05,480
What beyond that we'll see.

1180
00:55:06,199 --> 00:55:08,239
Speaker 1: I do think that for him, and by the way,

1181
00:55:08,519 --> 00:55:10,599
you're right that he's a chaos agent what I've always

1182
00:55:10,599 --> 00:55:13,559
appreciated with him, and like sometimes there can be like

1183
00:55:13,599 --> 00:55:15,800
these stretches of being too foul happy, but like his

1184
00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:17,840
permanent foul rage would be so much higher for the

1185
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:20,920
way that he defends. Yeah, and I would Losing Dylan

1186
00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:22,400
Brooks I think is a little bit of a bummer

1187
00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:24,559
in the sense that okay, now it has to be.

1188
00:55:24,559 --> 00:55:27,079
But getting Doran Phinny Smith offsets this is you don't

1189
00:55:27,119 --> 00:55:29,119
trust Tarry Eastan. You mentioned this to be the one

1190
00:55:29,159 --> 00:55:31,559
on one guy that you like as much, and so

1191
00:55:31,639 --> 00:55:33,280
now you do have am and Thompson who could do that,

1192
00:55:33,599 --> 00:55:36,199
and you also have Dorian Phinney Smith's You've backstopped him

1193
00:55:36,360 --> 00:55:38,480
and in the dual big lineups he can take as

1194
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:41,079
many chances as he pleases. I'm just wondering if when

1195
00:55:41,119 --> 00:55:43,000
you maybe look at I think you see this more

1196
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:45,719
and maybe on offense, do you have a better chance

1197
00:55:45,719 --> 00:55:48,519
of him playing with continuing to play within himself if

1198
00:55:48,519 --> 00:55:50,679
his extension is just done and he doesn't have to

1199
00:55:50,719 --> 00:55:53,280
think about that. I feel like I'll say this about myself,

1200
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:56,639
but I think collectively we might underrate how like people

1201
00:55:56,679 --> 00:55:59,320
going into a contract year that aren't necessarily assured of

1202
00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:01,719
any certain type a payday where they're not a star,

1203
00:56:01,800 --> 00:56:04,519
they're not even like a marquee name. So if they

1204
00:56:04,519 --> 00:56:07,639
hammer out an extension with him, that almost might be better

1205
00:56:07,599 --> 00:56:09,000
than like, oh, let's see what he still has and

1206
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:10,400
we'll figure out what we'll pay him when he gets

1207
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:11,559
the restricted free agency.

1208
00:56:12,079 --> 00:56:16,000
Speaker 2: Yeah maybe, Yeah, that's that's possible. Like the contract stuff

1209
00:56:16,039 --> 00:56:18,519
may be in his head a little bit, right, and

1210
00:56:18,960 --> 00:56:22,599
I think that's possible, like that he slots in more

1211
00:56:22,639 --> 00:56:25,239
to he's more comfortable slotting into a role if he

1212
00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:31,440
gets the contract right extension this summer. But as of now,

1213
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:34,199
I mean, I can just ask you, do you think

1214
00:56:34,199 --> 00:56:37,199
there's unexplored real real estate with taries offensively, Like I

1215
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:41,400
I'm not. I'm not even saying there's not. I I

1216
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:41,960
don't know.

1217
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:47,280
Speaker 1: There might be like more, I mean, like I don't

1218
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:49,320
know what it means like to explore. I just don't

1219
00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:50,679
you're not gonna want to put the ball in his

1220
00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:53,480
hands or maybe have him work in the short role. No,

1221
00:56:53,599 --> 00:56:56,400
it's could he maybe do more driving? Would you like

1222
00:56:56,480 --> 00:56:58,559
to see him get his three point attempt rate above

1223
00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:01,599
four point seven per third thirty six minutes? Sure? But

1224
00:57:01,679 --> 00:57:04,239
like it's all play Like I don't think that Tory

1225
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:06,480
Easan's a feature, Like I don't even think he could be.

1226
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:08,599
And some of this has been born from necessity. So

1227
00:57:08,599 --> 00:57:10,079
I don't mean to like call this player out, but

1228
00:57:10,119 --> 00:57:12,960
I don't even think he could be an og Anobi

1229
00:57:13,079 --> 00:57:14,440
on ball type of level player.

1230
00:57:14,639 --> 00:57:16,639
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I was actually gonna suggest, like

1231
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:19,480
the most I ever saw for him from him was like,

1232
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,679
can he be like Jeremy Grant, right, like.

1233
00:57:22,519 --> 00:57:24,199
Speaker 1: Coming out of the draft like that that's like the

1234
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:26,320
most signing with bad teams so that he could operate

1235
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:28,679
And I saw a bunch more yeah, like like that

1236
00:57:28,679 --> 00:57:31,840
That's the most I ever saw from him offensively. I

1237
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:35,880
never saw like you know, people like people are weird, right,

1238
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:39,000
Like they see measurements and they make superficial comparisons.

1239
00:57:39,079 --> 00:57:41,320
Speaker 2: Right, Oh, he has the same size hands as Kawhi.

1240
00:57:41,639 --> 00:57:44,719
Is he gonna be like no, like stop right like that.

1241
00:57:44,719 --> 00:57:48,119
It's never been him right like even at LSU, it's

1242
00:57:48,159 --> 00:57:50,280
never been him right like that. Like, that's not that's

1243
00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:52,760
not what he That's not what he's gonna be in

1244
00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:55,280
the NBA. He's probably not gonna be that. I never

1245
00:57:55,280 --> 00:57:57,119
want to say never. It's with guys, they are young.

1246
00:57:57,159 --> 00:58:00,159
But like, he's no like I I think more or

1247
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:03,920
like Jeremy Grant, like a ceiling. But do I think

1248
00:58:03,960 --> 00:58:06,679
he's gonna reach that ceiling here in Houston? Probably not.

1249
00:58:07,119 --> 00:58:10,440
I mean I I don't know. We'll see. Like he's

1250
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:12,679
a mystery box to me. He's so he is so

1251
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:15,679
far farther down to the rotation that he thinks he

1252
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:20,760
is that I mean, like I he might be the

1253
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,920
eighth man, Like it's it's not crazy to suggest he's

1254
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:25,840
the eighth man. He why does he think? Why does

1255
00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:26,679
he think it's crazy?

1256
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:29,119
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you're right. Just we're gonna get into the

1257
00:58:29,159 --> 00:58:32,000
rotation in a second. So yeah'll wait for that very quickly.

1258
00:58:32,079 --> 00:58:34,719
What's the number that you would pounce on extending him

1259
00:58:34,760 --> 00:58:36,719
versus waiting, Like, if it's I'll throw one out there.

1260
00:58:36,719 --> 00:58:39,360
If it's twenty two million a year, Are you waiting

1261
00:58:39,440 --> 00:58:43,039
or pouncing? Was that a good number to throw out? No?

1262
00:58:43,119 --> 00:58:46,159
Speaker 2: I read no, I mean that's the I think I'd

1263
00:58:46,159 --> 00:58:49,000
probably what were the years four.

1264
00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:51,760
Speaker 1: Years, let's say four and eighty four and eighty eight.

1265
00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:55,000
Speaker 2: Four and eighty I might do. Yeah, for foreign eighty

1266
00:58:55,000 --> 00:58:57,039
I might do. But that's probably like like the top end.

1267
00:58:57,880 --> 00:59:00,800
Speaker 1: I think I would go higher if you if you

1268
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:03,039
trust that he could stay healthy. I go higher for

1269
00:59:03,079 --> 00:59:05,320
one reason. I think there would be a team if

1270
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:06,960
you needed to move that contract you're trying to make

1271
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:09,119
another trade, they would look at him as unexplored real

1272
00:59:09,199 --> 00:59:11,440
estate on the offensive end and talk themselves into being

1273
00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:15,159
to get this this B plus to a minus level

1274
00:59:15,159 --> 00:59:17,480
defender who we think can do a little bit more

1275
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:19,719
on the offensive end. And so I think as long

1276
00:59:19,719 --> 00:59:22,280
as you're at like twenty five million a year under,

1277
00:59:22,360 --> 00:59:24,440
I think that deal, as long as he stays healthy,

1278
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:26,039
would always be viewed as a net positive.

1279
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:29,679
Speaker 2: And maybe maybe the unexplored real estate is defensively right,

1280
00:59:29,719 --> 00:59:32,840
like maybe he can become like you know, you and

1281
00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:34,119
I are kind of talking about him as like the

1282
00:59:34,119 --> 00:59:37,199
same level of defender like B plus a minus level, Right,

1283
00:59:37,239 --> 00:59:42,079
maybe he becomes a A plus. Right, he hasn't. He

1284
00:59:42,159 --> 00:59:44,400
has not shown the level of discipline yet to be

1285
00:59:44,519 --> 00:59:47,079
that guy. He's again he's been more so chaos agent.

1286
00:59:47,519 --> 00:59:50,039
But like maybe that's the unexplored real estate that he

1287
00:59:50,119 --> 00:59:53,960
should aim to explore. Right, it's not I don't want

1288
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:55,719
to talk disparaging about tar Reisan. It's not like he's

1289
00:59:55,760 --> 00:59:57,480
chunking up shots or anything. Right, it's not like he's

1290
00:59:57,599 --> 00:59:59,880
right when he plays. He's not trying to be that,

1291
01:00:00,239 --> 01:00:03,039
but he's that that That tweet just stuck out to me.

1292
01:00:03,079 --> 01:00:05,320
It's like, okay, dude, like what what's going on here?

1293
01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:08,320
Like like do we need to stop and like assess

1294
01:00:08,360 --> 01:00:10,119
this really good? So this email? Duk, I need to

1295
01:00:10,119 --> 01:00:12,280
sit you down and like really talk about what this

1296
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:15,400
is next year, like because like the starting lineup is

1297
01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:17,719
the starting lineup. He's probably not gonna be it off

1298
01:00:17,760 --> 01:00:20,679
the bench. You know, he may be the sixth man, right,

1299
01:00:20,760 --> 01:00:24,719
like a fair but like saying, if you're the sixth

1300
01:00:24,800 --> 01:00:27,280
man and someone says you're the eighth man, that shouldn't

1301
01:00:27,320 --> 01:00:30,079
be like you shouldn't be like offended by it, right,

1302
01:00:30,119 --> 01:00:33,639
you shouldn't be like oh right, like like I maybe

1303
01:00:33,920 --> 01:00:34,840
like I don't know.

1304
01:00:35,679 --> 01:00:37,559
Speaker 1: No, you're right, You're right. So I want to ask

1305
01:00:37,599 --> 01:00:39,519
you this, and this actually dovetails nicely with what you

1306
01:00:39,599 --> 01:00:41,880
kind of mentioned with Tarisan. When you look at it's

1307
01:00:41,880 --> 01:00:43,840
not just about Kevin Durant. I think it's just about

1308
01:00:43,840 --> 01:00:45,599
how deep this team is in general. Do you look

1309
01:00:45,639 --> 01:00:48,360
at any one player and have a concern or worry

1310
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:51,599
about either them not fitting it as well or perhaps

1311
01:00:51,679 --> 01:00:54,960
getting lost in the shuffle relative to how deep they are.

1312
01:00:57,280 --> 01:00:59,559
Speaker 2: So Cam would have been the obvious answer before he

1313
01:00:59,599 --> 01:01:03,400
got trade, right, it would have been obviously Cam. I

1314
01:01:03,440 --> 01:01:07,599
think the obvious answer this year.

1315
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:12,360
Speaker 1: Is there an I'll throw it out. Is there a

1316
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:15,000
chance if it's if they still have to be maybe

1317
01:01:15,079 --> 01:01:18,159
hyper fo pit focused excuse me? On the offensive end?

1318
01:01:18,199 --> 01:01:20,079
Is there a chance that it's like Tari Eastent a

1319
01:01:20,119 --> 01:01:22,119
little bit to where he's never gonna vacate the rotation,

1320
01:01:22,239 --> 01:01:25,800
but if you want him playing noticeably over I don't

1321
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:28,679
know what was he at last year? He did fourteen,

1322
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,880
one hundred and twenty minutes, which was what per game

1323
01:01:31,920 --> 01:01:34,320
for him? He was a twenty four point nine. Like,

1324
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:36,920
is there a chance that those especially with Dorian Finney Smith,

1325
01:01:36,960 --> 01:01:38,719
there if he comes a little bit more of a

1326
01:01:38,719 --> 01:01:41,000
three point if he proves to be the more consistent

1327
01:01:41,039 --> 01:01:43,239
three point shooter. Does does Tari have to deal with

1328
01:01:43,320 --> 01:01:45,360
like twenty minutes a game or something like that.

1329
01:01:45,559 --> 01:01:48,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think DFS is a good like he's gonna

1330
01:01:48,280 --> 01:01:49,880
take He's gonna get into his minutes, right, And I

1331
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:52,039
also think, like, you know, there are guys who are

1332
01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:53,880
just not gonna play night tonight? Though, do we count

1333
01:01:53,920 --> 01:01:56,440
those as as Like is Jayshaun Tate lost in the no?

1334
01:01:56,760 --> 01:01:58,480
Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, shame on the rest of

1335
01:01:58,519 --> 01:02:00,320
the league for letting the Rockets cat Chashan and tape

1336
01:02:00,360 --> 01:02:04,239
back at the minimum as well, say, but Josh right, Yeah,

1337
01:02:04,360 --> 01:02:06,920
I mean yeah, like those I meant like like even

1338
01:02:07,639 --> 01:02:10,159
would be pushing it. Yeah, even just you could say

1339
01:02:10,199 --> 01:02:12,119
Clint Capella, but that would feel like a cop out too.

1340
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:15,960
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, yeah, who's gonna get lost in the rotation?

1341
01:02:16,119 --> 01:02:17,679
Speaker 1: I'm not even saying they will, is there just.

1342
01:02:18,039 --> 01:02:21,639
Speaker 2: Who has the potential to be Yeah, you're right, So

1343
01:02:21,840 --> 01:02:25,400
last year Jabbari kind of got got a little bit lost, right,

1344
01:02:26,039 --> 01:02:28,639
and that might be a good place to look. I

1345
01:02:28,679 --> 01:02:32,719
would also say there's a lot more competition at his position,

1346
01:02:33,079 --> 01:02:35,840
So if I'm tempted to say that someone gets lost

1347
01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:38,559
in the rotation. I would say it's probably one of

1348
01:02:38,599 --> 01:02:42,960
the wings, right, So it may be Jabbari or Tari, right,

1349
01:02:43,440 --> 01:02:48,679
it may be someone from the center rotation, but I

1350
01:02:48,719 --> 01:02:51,679
don't think you know Clin Cappella. As you said, we

1351
01:02:51,719 --> 01:02:54,079
can't really define that as lost in the rotation. So

1352
01:02:54,400 --> 01:02:57,679
I think it's probably more like someone from that wing

1353
01:02:57,800 --> 01:03:01,480
rotation that gets lost in rotation in the chuffle read Shepherd.

1354
01:03:01,559 --> 01:03:04,119
I just think there's gonna be such a big wanting

1355
01:03:04,159 --> 01:03:06,760
to him. I want for him to fill that role,

1356
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:08,360
So I don't think he's gonna get lost. More like

1357
01:03:08,400 --> 01:03:11,239
he may not play up to it like that, but

1358
01:03:11,239 --> 01:03:14,199
that's not lost, right, So I would say, well, I agree.

1359
01:03:14,039 --> 01:03:16,079
Speaker 1: Would he would be a fair answer because like, if

1360
01:03:16,079 --> 01:03:19,039
it doesn't, you could still have confidence in him moving forward.

1361
01:03:19,119 --> 01:03:21,039
But like they have set up this team to where

1362
01:03:21,679 --> 01:03:24,960
they think that Reed Shepherd can and will play some

1363
01:03:25,079 --> 01:03:27,639
type of prominent reserve role. And if he can, if

1364
01:03:27,679 --> 01:03:29,559
he winds up getting lost in the shuffle because either

1365
01:03:29,800 --> 01:03:32,159
he's not ready or not playing well enough, I won't

1366
01:03:32,159 --> 01:03:34,280
predict it because you know what my brand is by

1367
01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:35,960
this point, but I think he if you wanted to

1368
01:03:35,960 --> 01:03:37,360
give him as the answer, I think that that's a

1369
01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:38,679
totally reasonable answer.

1370
01:03:39,079 --> 01:03:42,639
Speaker 2: No, I think you're right, then Atari is probably a

1371
01:03:42,639 --> 01:03:45,760
good name. Though, like I think I'm I I have

1372
01:03:45,840 --> 01:03:49,239
more confidence in read being a rotation player, so I

1373
01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:53,320
would probably say like Tari, like Tatari's probably the guy

1374
01:03:53,360 --> 01:03:55,960
I would probably especially since like he hasn't got his

1375
01:03:56,039 --> 01:03:59,079
extension yet, there are more question marks about his role

1376
01:03:59,119 --> 01:04:01,800
than everybody else, Like Jabari is locked in stone for

1377
01:04:01,800 --> 01:04:05,960
five years, like the team is invested in him, right,

1378
01:04:06,079 --> 01:04:08,840
Like I I guess, I guess it's Haari, But like

1379
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:11,920
you know, I think it's gonna be hard not to

1380
01:04:12,000 --> 01:04:14,039
use him, right, It's gonna be hard not to use.

1381
01:04:14,639 --> 01:04:16,760
What he is is different than Dory Phinney Smith. He's

1382
01:04:16,880 --> 01:04:21,320
much more freakish and athletic and chaotic than Dorry Facemith,

1383
01:04:21,360 --> 01:04:24,039
and like that is something that the Rockets want to use.

1384
01:04:24,159 --> 01:04:27,320
So yeah, but if I had to pick one, if

1385
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:30,440
I can't pick the guys who you can't pick Josh,

1386
01:04:30,920 --> 01:04:34,800
Who's if I can't pick Aaron Holliday, if I can't

1387
01:04:34,840 --> 01:04:36,480
you know, if I can't pick those guys, right, then

1388
01:04:36,519 --> 01:04:39,320
I'm gonna pick someone from the rotation. I guess it

1389
01:04:39,320 --> 01:04:39,920
would be Tarry.

1390
01:04:40,800 --> 01:04:43,400
Speaker 1: Are you ready to enter the cookie cutter portion of

1391
01:04:43,480 --> 01:04:46,440
the podcast? What do you think the ten man rotation

1392
01:04:46,599 --> 01:04:48,239
ends up being doesn't have to be in order, but

1393
01:04:48,360 --> 01:04:50,320
just like the ten guys that you would have locked

1394
01:04:50,360 --> 01:04:52,639
into stone on a nightly basis.

1395
01:04:52,519 --> 01:04:54,760
Speaker 2: I think you have to include Kevin Durant there. That's

1396
01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:56,480
just me personally. Other people may not, you know.

1397
01:04:56,480 --> 01:04:58,679
Speaker 1: Well controversial. Let's spend a few minutes on packing.

1398
01:05:00,199 --> 01:05:07,880
Speaker 2: Uh no, uh, Kadie Aman Shengoon Van Vliet Jabbari. That's

1399
01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:12,679
the five I would say off the bench, Reid, Dorian, Phinney,

1400
01:05:12,719 --> 01:05:17,920
Smith Tari. Yeah. The Steven Adams, I would say, is

1401
01:05:17,920 --> 01:05:20,360
probably gonna be in their regular rocasion when he's available.

1402
01:05:21,039 --> 01:05:24,679
And that ninth guy, it's interesting, you know that.

1403
01:05:25,320 --> 01:05:25,559
Speaker 1: Hmm.

1404
01:05:27,199 --> 01:05:32,039
Speaker 2: I would guess that's probably gonna be taken by one

1405
01:05:32,119 --> 01:05:34,599
of the three. But when I say one of the three,

1406
01:05:34,679 --> 01:05:39,440
I mean a Kogi Tate or holiday like and that's

1407
01:05:39,440 --> 01:05:41,079
gonna be kind of a rotating depending on what they

1408
01:05:41,159 --> 01:05:41,679
need that night.

1409
01:05:42,440 --> 01:05:45,079
Speaker 1: So Clint Capello would be on the outskirts then.

1410
01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:48,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, But but he plays when Adams is

1411
01:05:48,840 --> 01:05:52,760
doesn't play. Yeah, I would say, yeah, yeah.

1412
01:05:51,840 --> 01:05:53,639
Speaker 1: Do you think that there's any chance that they're tempted?

1413
01:05:53,760 --> 01:05:56,440
I there's I'll say double center, Like, do you think

1414
01:05:56,440 --> 01:05:59,039
there's any chance that Steven Adams becomes a default for

1415
01:05:59,079 --> 01:06:02,880
the starting lineup? Or think it'll be Jabbari shangoun kd

1416
01:06:03,239 --> 01:06:04,480
uh he shouldn't.

1417
01:06:05,880 --> 01:06:09,480
Speaker 2: She certainly she certainly shouldn't. That's that's uh. That would

1418
01:06:09,519 --> 01:06:14,000
be crazy for him to to start. It's just my opinion.

1419
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:16,400
I think that'd be crazy. It's an interesting look great

1420
01:06:16,519 --> 01:06:18,639
like use it as a look. I don't that's not

1421
01:06:18,679 --> 01:06:22,400
the starting lineup? But yeah, no, I don't. I don't

1422
01:06:22,400 --> 01:06:23,280
think you should.

1423
01:06:24,760 --> 01:06:27,400
Speaker 1: What do you think is going to be? I know

1424
01:06:27,440 --> 01:06:29,800
this is to some extent matchup dependent, but they're most

1425
01:06:29,960 --> 01:06:32,519
used closing line up. A lot of teams with pencil

1426
01:06:32,559 --> 01:06:34,440
in they're starting five. But I've seen a lot of talk.

1427
01:06:34,719 --> 01:06:37,679
I think some people believe that dor Ephony Smith could

1428
01:06:37,679 --> 01:06:40,440
maybe wind up closing games over a Jabbari or maybe

1429
01:06:40,440 --> 01:06:42,880
you're throwing Tarisan in there. But do you or do

1430
01:06:42,920 --> 01:06:44,599
you think it will just be the starting five closing

1431
01:06:44,679 --> 01:06:45,360
most of the games.

1432
01:06:45,519 --> 01:06:48,119
Speaker 2: It feels weird to say I'm nostalgic for the days

1433
01:06:48,119 --> 01:06:50,199
where you can put in like five shooters or like

1434
01:06:50,239 --> 01:06:53,480
one non like but like it would be nice to

1435
01:06:53,519 --> 01:06:56,159
see like like like a line up with Jabbari at center,

1436
01:06:56,760 --> 01:06:59,480
uh and like and like everybody else is a wing

1437
01:06:59,639 --> 01:07:02,199
right much like. I think that would be nice. But

1438
01:07:02,719 --> 01:07:05,119
I think what we're most likely going to see is

1439
01:07:05,199 --> 01:07:07,719
Van Vleet's gonna close, Kevin Durant is gonna close. I

1440
01:07:07,719 --> 01:07:10,280
think Chev Shangun is gonna close. I think a man

1441
01:07:10,880 --> 01:07:13,480
is going to close. So really that fourth spot, like

1442
01:07:13,559 --> 01:07:18,480
Jabbari is probably someone It's probably the most likely fifth starter,

1443
01:07:18,840 --> 01:07:22,360
but you could see Tari, you could see someone else

1444
01:07:22,400 --> 01:07:24,880
in that, like Doring Finney Smith, like, I think that's

1445
01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:27,360
probably the four are locked in. I think the fifth

1446
01:07:27,400 --> 01:07:29,920
is probably more interchangeable. But I would say the starting

1447
01:07:29,920 --> 01:07:31,280
lineup is probably a closing lineup.

1448
01:07:32,280 --> 01:07:35,519
Speaker 1: Is there a weird or funky lineup that you want

1449
01:07:35,559 --> 01:07:37,119
to see? May Udoka try this wee.

1450
01:07:37,239 --> 01:07:39,599
Speaker 2: Let's go three bigs and now I'm kidding. Oh let's

1451
01:07:39,639 --> 01:07:45,440
see watch there. Yeah yeah, bring bring Londale back, let's see.

1452
01:07:45,519 --> 01:07:50,639
I would say I would say probably I would like

1453
01:07:50,719 --> 01:07:53,760
to see a lineup without Van Vliet and Shane Goon

1454
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:56,440
and like four wings and and Jabari a tenor to

1455
01:07:56,480 --> 01:07:58,400
be honest, right, like, I would like to see a

1456
01:07:58,440 --> 01:08:02,920
Jabbari at Tener lineup next season. And I guess, I

1457
01:08:02,960 --> 01:08:04,840
guess you can have vample play in that. That's fine,

1458
01:08:04,920 --> 01:08:07,400
but like I guess I would like to see a

1459
01:08:07,400 --> 01:08:12,440
lineup where it's just Jabbari at center and four wings,

1460
01:08:12,599 --> 01:08:16,279
or a lineup where it's a men at center and no,

1461
01:08:17,000 --> 01:08:18,920
I mean not a men at center. Excuse me, Shanghun

1462
01:08:19,000 --> 01:08:21,560
at center and like no, a men right, So it's

1463
01:08:21,560 --> 01:08:24,520
like all shooting right where you're not. You'd seldom get

1464
01:08:24,520 --> 01:08:26,520
that with the Rockets, there's always like two non shooters.

1465
01:08:26,640 --> 01:08:27,920
I like to see one non shooter.

1466
01:08:28,720 --> 01:08:31,800
Speaker 1: It's funny because the Rockets is weird. Old lineup would

1467
01:08:31,800 --> 01:08:34,319
probably be more like a default lineup structure for other

1468
01:08:34,359 --> 01:08:36,439
teams the way that the Rockets play now. I want

1469
01:08:36,439 --> 01:08:40,600
to see Reed Shepherd with a bunch of like they're

1470
01:08:40,640 --> 01:08:44,520
wings but they're also basically big. So give me Dfs, Jabbari,

1471
01:08:44,960 --> 01:08:47,720
Aman Thompson, and I think Easan over Kevin Durant, like,

1472
01:08:47,760 --> 01:08:49,800
let's make this weird and then let's put Read Shepherd

1473
01:08:49,840 --> 01:08:51,680
in there, and you know that he's gonna have the

1474
01:08:51,760 --> 01:08:53,840
keys to that offense, and so that's what I want

1475
01:08:53,840 --> 01:08:54,159
to say.

1476
01:08:54,600 --> 01:08:56,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, this will be interesting to see more Katie at

1477
01:08:56,800 --> 01:08:59,439
the four, right, Like, I think that that's something they

1478
01:08:59,439 --> 01:09:01,960
could do. I mean, god knows what they plan on

1479
01:09:02,039 --> 01:09:04,600
doing with with Is he gonna be a three full time?

1480
01:09:04,800 --> 01:09:08,159
Like because of the roster makeup? Is he gonna be?

1481
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:10,560
Is he gonna have an opportunity to play four? If

1482
01:09:10,600 --> 01:09:12,880
he plays four, who's playing five? Right? Like, that's gonna

1483
01:09:12,880 --> 01:09:16,399
be That's gonna be interesting to see, Like I think definitely,

1484
01:09:16,439 --> 01:09:21,600
like seeing one of the two young studs with spacing

1485
01:09:21,680 --> 01:09:24,359
is definitely or I lean that's where my heart's at, right.

1486
01:09:24,640 --> 01:09:26,600
I like to see a lineup with a men and

1487
01:09:26,680 --> 01:09:30,640
shooting or shng goon and shooting. We just seldom get it,

1488
01:09:30,840 --> 01:09:31,760
and I would like to see it.

1489
01:09:32,880 --> 01:09:35,560
Speaker 1: So in theory, the five big lineup I would call

1490
01:09:35,600 --> 01:09:42,079
it would be like without actually having centers, would be Adams, Shangon, Thompson, Eason,

1491
01:09:42,560 --> 01:09:44,720
and DFS right like, that would be the closest to

1492
01:09:44,760 --> 01:09:47,359
Oh that's a realistic just five big lineup because none

1493
01:09:47,399 --> 01:09:49,840
of DFS is the best or Easton. They're not like

1494
01:09:49,920 --> 01:09:53,680
capslock shooters and they kind of just Easan specifically can

1495
01:09:53,680 --> 01:09:56,319
defend and rebound like a big too, So maybe that's

1496
01:09:56,319 --> 01:09:58,760
four bigs plus Dorian Phiney Smith basically at that point,

1497
01:09:59,520 --> 01:10:02,640
give Thompson the keys and I like that lineup too, And.

1498
01:10:02,640 --> 01:10:04,760
Speaker 2: I don't know about you, Like, I still like I've

1499
01:10:04,840 --> 01:10:08,479
viewed DFS as kind of like a he's a better

1500
01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:13,000
defender of wings and more specifically forwards than I would

1501
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:16,760
say guards nowadays. Uh, like you know, he it's not

1502
01:10:16,880 --> 01:10:19,960
he can't guard guards, right, but like, I think I'm

1503
01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:22,920
more comfortable with him guarding bigger forwards, right, Like, I

1504
01:10:22,920 --> 01:10:25,039
think that's kind of like what I've seen him do

1505
01:10:25,239 --> 01:10:27,680
more like better over the years, and in Dallas he

1506
01:10:27,800 --> 01:10:30,239
was a very good guy who can do jack about trades.

1507
01:10:30,279 --> 01:10:31,560
I'm not sure if I want him doing all that

1508
01:10:31,640 --> 01:10:33,640
right now, right. I want to see him do more PJ.

1509
01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:35,920
Tucker type stuff now, right, Like, I think that's kind

1510
01:10:35,920 --> 01:10:38,560
of where I feel more comfortable with him. So yeah,

1511
01:10:38,600 --> 01:10:43,279
i'd say i'd say that's five big, So I would

1512
01:10:43,279 --> 01:10:45,720
say I would say that's like, yeah, personally, I would

1513
01:10:45,800 --> 01:10:46,960
label him like five bigs.

1514
01:10:47,359 --> 01:10:49,279
Speaker 1: Let's see that line up then, So before we get

1515
01:10:49,279 --> 01:10:51,720
into predictions, is there anything else that I haven't asked

1516
01:10:51,760 --> 01:10:53,680
you about or we haven't touched upon that you think

1517
01:10:53,840 --> 01:10:54,560
he's discussed.

1518
01:10:55,239 --> 01:10:57,760
Speaker 2: No, I I want to hear what. I want to

1519
01:10:57,800 --> 01:10:59,560
hear what you're gonna ask me for the predictions.

1520
01:10:59,159 --> 01:11:02,640
Speaker 1: Though, Okay, well, let's make this very straightforward. How many

1521
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:04,800
games is this team winning in the regular season and

1522
01:11:04,840 --> 01:11:07,319
where do you see them landing in the Western Conference standings?

1523
01:11:08,800 --> 01:11:13,000
Speaker 2: Fifty eight wins, it's high, it's high. I feel like

1524
01:11:13,039 --> 01:11:14,600
they're gonna I feel like they're gonna get there. Though

1525
01:11:17,199 --> 01:11:22,560
where in the Western Conference standings? I want to cheat

1526
01:11:22,600 --> 01:11:24,319
and change my answer to fifty nine wins and say

1527
01:11:24,359 --> 01:11:27,680
they're gonna be the second seed, but I'll say fifty

1528
01:11:27,680 --> 01:11:31,720
eight and third seed. But like, if.

1529
01:11:30,680 --> 01:11:32,640
Speaker 1: Fifty eight games is the third seed in the West,

1530
01:11:32,640 --> 01:11:33,479
that's insane.

1531
01:11:34,000 --> 01:11:35,439
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be a little bit more spread

1532
01:11:35,479 --> 01:11:38,800
out this year. I really do so. I would say, yeah,

1533
01:11:39,119 --> 01:11:40,199
that's why, that's where I'm well.

1534
01:11:40,159 --> 01:11:42,039
Speaker 1: You think it's gonna be spread out? I was fifty

1535
01:11:42,079 --> 01:11:43,640
eight wins? Is the third seed really.

1536
01:11:43,560 --> 01:11:47,640
Speaker 2: Well spread out between the top, Like, okay, all right, yeah,

1537
01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:50,399
I'm more saying I think I think the thunder are

1538
01:11:50,399 --> 01:11:52,039
gonna share the wealth a little bit this year with

1539
01:11:52,119 --> 01:11:53,920
the wins, I just I just think they're gonna be

1540
01:11:54,439 --> 01:11:57,359
They're gonna be like a lower sixty win team, not

1541
01:11:58,079 --> 01:12:00,159
like they're not gonna be a fifty win team. I

1542
01:12:00,159 --> 01:12:02,159
don't think. I suspect they're still getting me the sixties,

1543
01:12:02,159 --> 01:12:03,600
but I think they're gonna be like a sixty two,

1544
01:12:04,479 --> 01:12:07,000
you know, a win team. And I think that opens

1545
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:09,680
the room for like Denver and Houston to be like

1546
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:13,439
right there under tails a little bit. So I guess

1547
01:12:14,920 --> 01:12:19,199
fifty eight to sixties kind of if a range of wins,

1548
01:12:19,279 --> 01:12:23,279
fifty eight to sixty twos, would I have Houston at

1549
01:12:23,439 --> 01:12:27,119
in terms of seeding two to four? And I only

1550
01:12:27,159 --> 01:12:28,600
say four because the injuries.

1551
01:12:29,239 --> 01:12:31,760
Speaker 1: Four feels like they're floor. Because what's interesting about your wins, Soltal,

1552
01:12:31,760 --> 01:12:33,760
I haven't done mine yet, but I'm asking I'm not

1553
01:12:33,840 --> 01:12:36,359
asking you for wins before giving our guest the over

1554
01:12:36,520 --> 01:12:38,680
under they're fifty five and a half. So you did

1555
01:12:38,760 --> 01:12:40,239
go over No, I saw that.

1556
01:12:40,359 --> 01:12:43,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I thought that was low. I would jump

1557
01:12:43,119 --> 01:12:43,439
on that.

1558
01:12:43,600 --> 01:12:46,560
Speaker 1: I think what's interesting about that is there's really as

1559
01:12:46,560 --> 01:12:48,560
of right now, it depends on what Reed Shepherd looks like.

1560
01:12:48,600 --> 01:12:52,000
Shanghun looks like it feels like they can navigate an

1561
01:12:52,079 --> 01:12:55,439
injury for like twenty to thirty games to literally anyone

1562
01:12:55,520 --> 01:12:58,880
except maybe Fred van Fleet, and maybe even that's overstating

1563
01:12:58,880 --> 01:13:01,439
his importance, that that's why your win total specifically, or

1564
01:13:01,479 --> 01:13:03,600
even saying their floor is the fourth seed. I think

1565
01:13:03,640 --> 01:13:04,319
that's accurate.

1566
01:13:04,760 --> 01:13:06,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think their their depth is going to carry them.

1567
01:13:06,640 --> 01:13:08,760
That's why I have them with so many Like I think,

1568
01:13:09,359 --> 01:13:11,079
like you know, you can talk about them as a

1569
01:13:11,079 --> 01:13:12,840
playoff team or whatever, but like I think in the

1570
01:13:12,880 --> 01:13:15,239
regular season they're going to be so awesome because they

1571
01:13:15,239 --> 01:13:16,560
can just fill in gaps easy.

1572
01:13:18,079 --> 01:13:20,479
Speaker 1: Now, is there any contender you can take it whichever

1573
01:13:20,479 --> 01:13:22,720
way you want that you think they match up particularly

1574
01:13:22,760 --> 01:13:25,399
well against relative to consensus, or maybe even one that

1575
01:13:25,439 --> 01:13:27,920
you're more worried about how they match up with relative

1576
01:13:27,960 --> 01:13:29,199
to consensus.

1577
01:13:31,319 --> 01:13:34,920
Speaker 2: One that I'm I'm maybe worried about my relative to consensus,

1578
01:13:34,960 --> 01:13:40,119
I guess would be. It pains me to say it

1579
01:13:40,119 --> 01:13:42,039
because I'm not I'm really not a believer in them.

1580
01:13:42,199 --> 01:13:43,960
So it's just this just more like their match up

1581
01:13:44,000 --> 01:13:48,520
with Houston Minnesota, because I think they have a lot

1582
01:13:48,560 --> 01:13:51,399
of size. I think they like you know, they have

1583
01:13:52,079 --> 01:13:55,560
on the perimeter. The Rockets have guys, right, the Rockets

1584
01:13:55,600 --> 01:13:59,079
like Amn's going to be like their new lockdown guy, right,

1585
01:13:59,520 --> 01:14:03,319
but like they have enough to be worried about. We're like, okay,

1586
01:14:03,600 --> 01:14:05,680
Like that's that's something I would be slightly worded. I

1587
01:14:05,720 --> 01:14:08,159
still to pick Houston. To be clear, I would still

1588
01:14:08,159 --> 01:14:11,560
pick Houston against the consensus who I don't they're gonna

1589
01:14:11,560 --> 01:14:15,039
better against I mean, I mean, is a cliche to

1590
01:14:15,079 --> 01:14:16,640
just say the Thunder. I mean I think there's gonna

1591
01:14:16,680 --> 01:14:21,560
better than the better against the Thunder than people suspect.

1592
01:14:22,079 --> 01:14:24,159
Speaker 1: With you know, if the Thunder's offense can still bog

1593
01:14:24,199 --> 01:14:26,359
down at points, Yeah, that would be a that would

1594
01:14:26,439 --> 01:14:28,239
certainly be a matchup. I'm interested, I don't have a

1595
01:14:28,279 --> 01:14:30,000
strong opinion on it, to see how they match up

1596
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:33,720
with against Denver and like what is Denver when Houston

1597
01:14:33,840 --> 01:14:36,720
rolls out its staple lineups, Like what is Denver's staple

1598
01:14:36,760 --> 01:14:38,159
lineup gonna be? Is it gonna be the one we

1599
01:14:38,239 --> 01:14:40,199
just all assume, or they try and make a little

1600
01:14:40,199 --> 01:14:43,279
bit more counters Because Houston feels like the typical team

1601
01:14:43,399 --> 01:14:45,880
might be the team in the West, maybe more so

1602
01:14:45,960 --> 01:14:48,880
than anybody, including the Thunder, that would force other teams

1603
01:14:48,920 --> 01:14:52,760
to make lineup adjustments that maybe they wouldn't in other instances.

1604
01:14:52,920 --> 01:14:55,760
That might be hyperbole, but it's at least close to

1605
01:14:55,800 --> 01:14:56,239
being true.

1606
01:14:57,079 --> 01:15:00,560
Speaker 2: No, because of the it's not necessarily because they have

1607
01:15:00,600 --> 01:15:02,800
a player per se that's forcing it. It's it's the

1608
01:15:02,880 --> 01:15:06,640
roster makeup that's forcing it. Right, Like Harden forced teams

1609
01:15:06,720 --> 01:15:09,520
to like really adjust the way they guard him, and

1610
01:15:09,560 --> 01:15:13,079
like like the Utah Jazz is weird like guarding like

1611
01:15:13,119 --> 01:15:15,399
they they forced him one way and they let him

1612
01:15:15,439 --> 01:15:17,680
go like left all game. I mean they let him

1613
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:20,000
go right all game like that that was that was weird.

1614
01:15:20,039 --> 01:15:22,479
Or they defended it from behind that one time, like

1615
01:15:22,520 --> 01:15:25,760
that was strange. They don't have a player like that,

1616
01:15:25,880 --> 01:15:29,439
right that that's forcing that. But like I think because

1617
01:15:29,479 --> 01:15:33,560
they're so big and they like they have so much

1618
01:15:33,640 --> 01:15:36,840
forward depth, they may force teams to go up. Like

1619
01:15:36,880 --> 01:15:40,640
I think Golden State can't play normal go and State basketball.

1620
01:15:40,199 --> 01:15:43,239
Speaker 1: Against they're so tiny compared.

1621
01:15:44,720 --> 01:15:46,720
Speaker 2: They have to scale up as much as they can, right,

1622
01:15:46,760 --> 01:15:49,479
as much as they can other teams, I would say

1623
01:15:49,520 --> 01:15:53,319
the same thing, right, Like like teams that are smaller

1624
01:15:53,920 --> 01:15:56,479
on the smaller end, they really have to scale up.

1625
01:15:56,520 --> 01:15:58,920
And like the Spurs. I would say, is going to

1626
01:15:58,960 --> 01:16:01,479
be a team that I'm you know, I should have

1627
01:16:01,520 --> 01:16:02,960
I should have named this as a team. I'm like

1628
01:16:03,000 --> 01:16:05,159
a little worried about compared to content, Okay, I would

1629
01:16:05,159 --> 01:16:06,840
I would be worried about a matchup against the Spurs.

1630
01:16:07,760 --> 01:16:09,439
I would be I would worry about about a match

1631
01:16:09,479 --> 01:16:10,640
up against the Spurs for sure.

1632
01:16:11,039 --> 01:16:12,800
Speaker 1: I think he might be like a year or two

1633
01:16:12,800 --> 01:16:14,880
early on that I don't not worry too much.

1634
01:16:15,199 --> 01:16:19,319
Speaker 2: I think I think Wemby is like I mean, I'm

1635
01:16:19,359 --> 01:16:23,840
not breaking any news he is. I don't know how

1636
01:16:24,039 --> 01:16:25,840
how you defend that. I guess it's just like he

1637
01:16:26,399 --> 01:16:30,760
does everything everything good, everything well, and he's so big

1638
01:16:31,279 --> 01:16:33,880
and like you have to throw a double team at him.

1639
01:16:34,359 --> 01:16:37,239
Speaker 1: You do, but their spacing is still pretty shaky around

1640
01:16:37,319 --> 01:16:39,960
him unless Dylan Harper and Door Fox and or Steph

1641
01:16:40,000 --> 01:16:42,560
Castl are gonna end up being lights out. So I

1642
01:16:42,600 --> 01:16:45,279
think that gives you, as Houston specifically, a lot of options,

1643
01:16:45,359 --> 01:16:47,000
is that you could throw bodies at him and maybe

1644
01:16:47,039 --> 01:16:50,000
not worry about as many other guys punishing you. Maybe

1645
01:16:50,039 --> 01:16:52,680
I'm maybe I'm like to not remembering what the Aaron

1646
01:16:52,720 --> 01:16:55,399
Fox was like pre injury, like before he bowed out

1647
01:16:55,439 --> 01:16:56,800
last season and they didn't have a ton of time

1648
01:16:56,840 --> 01:16:59,520
working together. But the Spurs feel like a year away

1649
01:16:59,600 --> 01:17:00,600
from being a year away.

1650
01:17:00,640 --> 01:17:02,439
Speaker 2: But that's also part of it. They have so many

1651
01:17:02,520 --> 01:17:05,640
quick guards, right, and like Houston can defend probably like

1652
01:17:05,720 --> 01:17:10,680
two quick guards competently well, right like amen, And I

1653
01:17:10,680 --> 01:17:15,680
would say after that, I would probably trust DFS right

1654
01:17:15,720 --> 01:17:18,760
like as like the quick guard defender right or I

1655
01:17:18,800 --> 01:17:21,159
guess van Vliet, but like van Vleet's like I wouldn't

1656
01:17:21,159 --> 01:17:25,800
trust again. So yeah, that's that's that's what gives me

1657
01:17:26,000 --> 01:17:29,079
a lot of pauses as well, Like it's it's there's

1658
01:17:29,079 --> 01:17:31,000
a lot of when there's a lot of perimeter options,

1659
01:17:31,039 --> 01:17:32,039
I get nervous.

1660
01:17:32,520 --> 01:17:36,039
Speaker 1: Mister Salmon Ali of Red Nation Hoops, could I get

1661
01:17:36,159 --> 01:17:40,600
one non win, non seating related prediction from you about

1662
01:17:40,640 --> 01:17:41,840
this team for next season?

1663
01:17:42,279 --> 01:17:43,720
Speaker 2: They're gonna make the conference finals.

1664
01:17:46,199 --> 01:17:48,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair. I mean that's not maybe that's not

1665
01:17:48,720 --> 01:17:51,000
the expectation yet, but that's like, that's why you put

1666
01:17:51,000 --> 01:17:53,359
this team together, is to put yourself in that position.

1667
01:17:53,720 --> 01:17:55,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're gonna make the conference finals. And

1668
01:17:55,439 --> 01:18:00,800
I think I'm tempted to say somebody makes an All

1669
01:18:00,880 --> 01:18:03,520
NBA team but I'm just so scared to make that prediction.

1670
01:18:04,239 --> 01:18:07,279
So I'm gonna say conference finals because that like basically

1671
01:18:07,279 --> 01:18:09,319
implies that somebody is going to make an All NBA

1672
01:18:09,399 --> 01:18:10,319
team without saying it.

1673
01:18:11,439 --> 01:18:13,640
Speaker 1: Who do you think is the most likely candidate aside

1674
01:18:13,720 --> 01:18:15,720
from Kevin duran or do you even view him as

1675
01:18:15,720 --> 01:18:16,640
the most likely candidate?

1676
01:18:16,680 --> 01:18:19,000
Speaker 2: Well, I mean somebody else. I think he is the

1677
01:18:19,000 --> 01:18:22,359
most likely. I think somebody else makes an All NBA team. Right.

1678
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:24,399
Speaker 1: If I had to pick one, that's not going to

1679
01:18:24,439 --> 01:18:27,560
be Kevin Durant, I think it's Read Shepherd. I'm just kidding.

1680
01:18:27,560 --> 01:18:30,119
I think it's Albert Schangu. I'm just kidding. I think

1681
01:18:30,159 --> 01:18:32,720
it's not yet he's not gonna make it playing twenty

1682
01:18:32,720 --> 01:18:35,560
minutes a game or whatever. I think it's Alpern Shangun.

1683
01:18:35,600 --> 01:18:38,680
I could see people making Hi the case for Amen Thompson,

1684
01:18:38,720 --> 01:18:40,239
but I don't really know who the options would be

1685
01:18:40,319 --> 01:18:42,000
after those three if you're trying to come up with

1686
01:18:42,039 --> 01:18:42,720
anybody else.

1687
01:18:42,880 --> 01:18:45,399
Speaker 2: No, it's pretty much just a mend or upright, And

1688
01:18:45,479 --> 01:18:47,840
like I I mean, like Read, I just I need

1689
01:18:47,840 --> 01:18:49,439
to see more before I make that kind of prediction.

1690
01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:51,880
Speaker 1: But like, he's not gonna play the minutes threshold on

1691
01:18:51,960 --> 01:18:52,720
I know if he'll hit it.

1692
01:18:52,800 --> 01:18:54,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well I'm talking about long term, like I

1693
01:18:54,520 --> 01:18:55,960
want to see more if I even put that kind

1694
01:18:55,960 --> 01:18:59,000
of stealing on him, like I I I'm tempted to

1695
01:18:59,119 --> 01:19:02,000
just leave it at Like those two, it's like they

1696
01:19:02,039 --> 01:19:04,000
will make All NBA. They have the potential make all

1697
01:19:04,079 --> 01:19:07,000
NBA teams in the future, and if they're making the

1698
01:19:07,000 --> 01:19:09,039
conference finals, chances are one of them played at all

1699
01:19:09,119 --> 01:19:10,520
NBA level. Yeah.

1700
01:19:11,479 --> 01:19:14,239
Speaker 1: What's interesting is that because aman Thompson will be in

1701
01:19:14,279 --> 01:19:17,960
the all defense discussion discussion excuse me, that gives him

1702
01:19:18,000 --> 01:19:19,960
like a boost that Shang Gun won't have, And so

1703
01:19:20,119 --> 01:19:22,600
it really that conversation really could hinge on. You mentioned

1704
01:19:22,640 --> 01:19:24,039
this with some of the stuff you want to see

1705
01:19:24,039 --> 01:19:27,000
from shang Gun on offense, like what does how are

1706
01:19:27,000 --> 01:19:28,560
they going to use him on offense with this new

1707
01:19:28,560 --> 01:19:31,520
look roster, because that is gonna dictate even if look,

1708
01:19:31,560 --> 01:19:34,640
he defended incredibly well last year, that is never gonna

1709
01:19:34,640 --> 01:19:37,600
be something. It won't hurt his All NBA case, but

1710
01:19:37,680 --> 01:19:39,760
like it'll never make his All NBA case. And like

1711
01:19:39,760 --> 01:19:41,640
with aman Thompson, you have the built in argument of

1712
01:19:41,680 --> 01:19:44,079
like that's one of the ten best player defenders in basketball.

1713
01:19:44,439 --> 01:19:45,960
And so that's why I think the way that they

1714
01:19:46,000 --> 01:19:48,720
deploy Shang Gun on offense with this roster is going

1715
01:19:48,760 --> 01:19:51,479
to be like super important to that type of accolade

1716
01:19:51,479 --> 01:19:51,800
for him.

1717
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:58,479
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean I I I feel like we

1718
01:19:58,640 --> 01:20:02,399
haven't really like everyone one's initial reaction to the Kevin

1719
01:20:02,439 --> 01:20:04,239
Durant trade is like, Okay, this is the biggest threat

1720
01:20:04,279 --> 01:20:07,039
to the clones he's under. And it's like ever since then,

1721
01:20:07,640 --> 01:20:10,800
we've had like this cute stuff come in. Right, It's like, Okay,

1722
01:20:10,840 --> 01:20:13,760
it's like some like cute doubt come in for Houston

1723
01:20:14,119 --> 01:20:14,920
or cute not not.

1724
01:20:14,960 --> 01:20:18,159
Speaker 1: I wouldn't even thinking that he's like the second man, second.

1725
01:20:18,840 --> 01:20:22,359
Speaker 2: Not internal external, right, Like I'm I'm gonna sound like such.

1726
01:20:22,600 --> 01:20:25,520
I've been sounding like such a homer this offseason. I

1727
01:20:25,560 --> 01:20:27,199
got a comment on it. I'm like, yeah, you're right,

1728
01:20:27,239 --> 01:20:28,880
I do sound like that. But can't you tell me

1729
01:20:28,920 --> 01:20:29,319
I'm wrong?

1730
01:20:29,439 --> 01:20:29,600
Speaker 1: Right?

1731
01:20:29,960 --> 01:20:32,000
Speaker 2: Can you tell me I'm wrong on my optimism on

1732
01:20:32,039 --> 01:20:33,199
how good they're gonna be next year?

1733
01:20:33,279 --> 01:20:33,399
Speaker 1: Right?

1734
01:20:33,640 --> 01:20:36,840
Speaker 2: And it's like I feel like saying that they're gonna

1735
01:20:36,880 --> 01:20:38,600
make the conference finals and saying that they're gonna be

1736
01:20:38,960 --> 01:20:42,520
the biggest threat to oplos Under is a controversial take

1737
01:20:42,920 --> 01:20:45,000
from where we started the off season. Where we started

1738
01:20:45,000 --> 01:20:47,199
the off season, that was like the that would have

1739
01:20:47,239 --> 01:20:49,960
been the consensus, but as we've had time to let

1740
01:20:49,960 --> 01:20:53,439
the off season shower over us, it's like now the like,

1741
01:20:53,520 --> 01:20:55,479
I think people will probably pick the field it's like

1742
01:20:55,479 --> 01:20:56,600
the biggest threat to the Thunder.

1743
01:20:57,199 --> 01:20:59,399
Speaker 1: Statistically, that might just because there are a lot of

1744
01:20:59,399 --> 01:20:59,840
good teams.

1745
01:21:00,119 --> 01:21:02,079
Speaker 2: I mean think a team from the field, like, I

1746
01:21:02,119 --> 01:21:05,319
think more likely it's like, yeah, I.

1747
01:21:05,319 --> 01:21:09,399
Speaker 1: Mean there, I'm probably like give the slight edge to

1748
01:21:09,479 --> 01:21:12,039
the Nuggets, but that's more about having maybe watched the

1749
01:21:12,079 --> 01:21:14,359
Nuggets than look the ceiling on the Rockets. I don't

1750
01:21:14,399 --> 01:21:17,199
think anyone this shouldn't be a debate. Is winning the championship.

1751
01:21:17,640 --> 01:21:21,119
That's how good this team is. Yeah, so I don't

1752
01:21:21,159 --> 01:21:22,720
I would say on a scale of you saying they

1753
01:21:22,720 --> 01:21:24,119
were the biggest threat to the Thunder, if we were

1754
01:21:24,119 --> 01:21:28,039
doing a Spice scale, like that's maybe a five, like

1755
01:21:28,119 --> 01:21:30,159
just because if it's not them, it's it's between them

1756
01:21:30,239 --> 01:21:32,000
or the Nuggets. I guess you could feel some type

1757
01:21:32,000 --> 01:21:34,680
of way about the Clippers, right or the Timberwolves, but

1758
01:21:34,880 --> 01:21:38,000
I don't think that's super controverts. It'll be it'll be

1759
01:21:38,079 --> 01:21:40,199
controversial among a few fan bases.

1760
01:21:41,239 --> 01:21:44,199
Speaker 2: Yeah I I yeah, I. And a lot of this

1761
01:21:44,279 --> 01:21:47,119
is maybe I am listening to too many podcasts and

1762
01:21:47,159 --> 01:21:51,960
I'm hearing way too much like about like like I

1763
01:21:52,039 --> 01:21:54,119
just feel like like the energy that everyone had at

1764
01:21:54,119 --> 01:21:57,039
the Australia it feels very similar to twenty eighteen, right,

1765
01:21:57,079 --> 01:22:01,000
where like the Rockets traded for Paul it's like, Okay,

1766
01:22:01,039 --> 01:22:04,279
this is the threat to Golden State, right right, and

1767
01:22:04,319 --> 01:22:07,880
then Oklahoma City trades for Paul George. It's like, actually,

1768
01:22:07,960 --> 01:22:09,399
like this is the this is like the kind of

1769
01:22:09,399 --> 01:22:13,239
cute everyone the everyone's kind of you know surrounding Like

1770
01:22:13,279 --> 01:22:15,159
Oklahoma City is like, oh they had they actually had

1771
01:22:15,199 --> 01:22:18,039
the best offseason and they're actually the biggest threat to

1772
01:22:18,000 --> 01:22:21,199
the Golden State Warriors, And like people forgot what their

1773
01:22:21,239 --> 01:22:25,359
instinctual reaction was at the beginning of the summer, which

1774
01:22:25,399 --> 01:22:28,960
is like, yeah, it's it's the Rockets, right. So I

1775
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:31,960
feel like everyone's like as time has passed from the

1776
01:22:32,039 --> 01:22:34,960
Kevin Durant trade, like you you have.

1777
01:22:35,159 --> 01:22:36,560
Speaker 1: The problem is is that then you have time to

1778
01:22:36,640 --> 01:22:38,840
overthink it. It's like, even if I don't agree that

1779
01:22:38,840 --> 01:22:40,479
they're the biggest threat to the Thunder. If you have

1780
01:22:40,600 --> 01:22:44,199
them like fifth in the West or something like weird,

1781
01:22:44,640 --> 01:22:46,880
that's just like, Okay, you had too much time. You

1782
01:22:46,960 --> 01:22:49,600
overthought this. I if I just said, I think their

1783
01:22:49,640 --> 01:22:53,079
floor is probably three, but like their absolute floors maybe four.

1784
01:22:53,119 --> 01:22:54,800
If you want to bacon in um or something.

1785
01:22:54,840 --> 01:22:57,439
Speaker 2: I'm with you though, Yeah, yeah, like that's that's how

1786
01:22:57,479 --> 01:22:59,680
good I think that. I think. I don't think it's

1787
01:22:59,720 --> 01:23:03,600
crazy to say that Denver is the biggest thriftitor. I

1788
01:23:03,640 --> 01:23:04,560
don't think it's crazy.

1789
01:23:05,000 --> 01:23:06,880
Speaker 1: Jail pickets that good. We're high on him. What's the

1790
01:23:06,880 --> 01:23:07,520
problem with everybody?

1791
01:23:07,600 --> 01:23:11,000
Speaker 2: No, listen, I I love with the Thunder. The the

1792
01:23:11,079 --> 01:23:14,319
Nuggets did this offseason right, like like I think they are.

1793
01:23:14,359 --> 01:23:16,920
There's a tier of teams that I think aren't at

1794
01:23:16,920 --> 01:23:19,199
the same level and I have it's okay, see I

1795
01:23:19,239 --> 01:23:21,760
think Houston and Denver, right, we had this discussion, right,

1796
01:23:21,800 --> 01:23:24,560
I think Denver absolutely deserves to be in that conversation.

1797
01:23:25,319 --> 01:23:27,039
But I think a lot of people are doing that

1798
01:23:27,079 --> 01:23:29,359
in a kind of a cute story kind of way, right.

1799
01:23:29,399 --> 01:23:30,279
They're they they're.

1800
01:23:30,039 --> 01:23:32,239
Speaker 1: Doing it happy to be here type deal.

1801
01:23:32,560 --> 01:23:34,479
Speaker 2: Well not even a happy to be here type deal

1802
01:23:34,560 --> 01:23:36,479
or it's like, Okay, now now we're like, do what

1803
01:23:36,520 --> 01:23:40,159
we're doing this thing, or we pretend like the best

1804
01:23:40,199 --> 01:23:43,239
offseason wasn't the best off season, or we pretend like

1805
01:23:43,760 --> 01:23:46,079
what your instinct was at the beginning of the summer

1806
01:23:46,560 --> 01:23:48,960
is like you know what, let's let's like, let's really

1807
01:23:49,000 --> 01:23:52,439
think about it. Has Houston hasn't been there before? Kevin

1808
01:23:52,520 --> 01:23:56,960
Durant already shortens their window, he gets hurt, blah blah blah. Dude,

1809
01:23:56,960 --> 01:23:59,159
you can say these questions about every team in the NBA,

1810
01:23:59,840 --> 01:24:02,199
like what are we talking about? Like, I feel like

1811
01:24:02,199 --> 01:24:05,239
we're overthinking this. They're gonna rack up where this season wins,

1812
01:24:05,239 --> 01:24:06,840
and I think they're gonna be the biggest threat toocal

1813
01:24:06,880 --> 01:24:09,720
in the season under the Denver Nuggets have a case

1814
01:24:10,000 --> 01:24:11,920
that I will listen to as well, which is why

1815
01:24:11,920 --> 01:24:14,359
I have them the same tier when we're doing this

1816
01:24:14,439 --> 01:24:18,680
thing where we're overthinking that the Rockets. And my hope

1817
01:24:18,760 --> 01:24:23,359
is that twenty games into the season, just like twenty

1818
01:24:23,399 --> 01:24:25,479
games in the season in twenty eighteen, we were past

1819
01:24:25,560 --> 01:24:29,720
that feeling of like that cute story feeling. I hope

1820
01:24:29,720 --> 01:24:31,800
we're past that twenty games of the season when people

1821
01:24:31,800 --> 01:24:34,039
actually see what they're gonna be. I think they're gonna

1822
01:24:34,039 --> 01:24:35,520
like rail through teams.

1823
01:24:36,399 --> 01:24:39,119
Speaker 1: Mister Salman ali one, I think we should both pour

1824
01:24:39,199 --> 01:24:41,359
one out because this was under ninety minutes, which I

1825
01:24:41,359 --> 01:24:44,439
don't think we've ever done before. But more more importantly,

1826
01:24:44,520 --> 01:24:47,439
can you tell our fine listeners and subscribers where they

1827
01:24:47,439 --> 01:24:49,039
can find you and all the great work that.

1828
01:24:49,000 --> 01:24:53,319
Speaker 2: You do at somon El, the NBA, pretty much everywhere

1829
01:24:55,119 --> 01:24:58,880
on YouTube, Red Nation Hoops is the podcast, and on

1830
01:24:58,920 --> 01:24:59,960
iTunes the same thing.

1831
01:25:00,640 --> 01:25:02,840
Speaker 1: I will include the links to his social handles and

1832
01:25:03,000 --> 01:25:06,439
his YouTube channel in the podcast and YouTube descriptions, so

1833
01:25:06,479 --> 01:25:08,479
go check that out. Thank you so much for your time.

1834
01:25:08,520 --> 01:25:11,039
As always, man, this was great and as you know

1835
01:25:11,039 --> 01:25:12,439
by now, I'm going to be pest here. You have

1836
01:25:12,439 --> 01:25:13,960
to come back down the line for sure.

1837
01:25:13,960 --> 01:25:14,760
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on