Speaker 1: What is up, Fellasiko's I am Dan Valley coming at
you with mister Moore Jensen of the NBA podcast, fame
of Yahoo Sports, fame of HBO match name.
Speaker 2: And of course only fans celebrity.
Speaker 1: We are gathered around the Hardwood Knocks NBA campfire today
to say we don't care.
Speaker 2: About Lebron James watch four point zero.
Speaker 1: We don't care about waiting for Jailen Duran to sign
wherever he's gonna sign, which will probably be Detroit if
not a sign and trade for another team. We're gonna
go through the lay of the land post free agency craze.
I think we've borrowing any surprise trades. We've exited the
transaction tumult portion of the NBA offseason. So we're gonna
take stock of every team doing the Eastern Conference today,
we'll do the Western Conference I think is scheduled for
as of right now.
Speaker 2: We're gonna do it on Friday.
Speaker 1: So you'll be listening to it shortly after that. But
we're gonna begin with the East before we get started,
just alternating teams more.
Speaker 2: How are you doing, I'm doing well.
Speaker 3: It is It's not quite like Las Vegas temperatures over here,
but it is, uh, it is warm. So I am
looking forward to just getting this pod out of the
way because I'm in my office and it's like I'm
swimming pool ITTs already, which I know you appreciate.
Speaker 1: That is one hot as hell, yeah, and two a
little hurtful that you're just looking to get this pot
out of the way.
Speaker 2: I thought that you look so looked forward so much
to record.
Speaker 3: I do that. Look, I can. I'm a complex human being.
I can have very I have a lot of it.
Speaker 1: You can't contain multitudes, all right, And you're binary black
or white, all right, So.
Speaker 2: Let's get started.
Speaker 1: You are the guests, though, is there anything that you
really quickly that you consider when you're doing this? Like
I tried to wait, we kind of don't know what's
going to happen here or whatever, but I'm still I'm
looking at the depth charts. How I think these teams
are going to play considering what happened last year, And
I'm just like, no, I think this team still needs this.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, positional need is really what I come down
to to. Like, there's a few there are there are
a few teams where I'm like does this team have
enough toughness? Like there are some components where I I
don't look at positional need, but that's like eighty percent
of it for me, Like where can this team struggle?
Like where where can this team have issues? And if
I can just jump right in, then I'm just gonna
start with the Atlanta Hawks and.
Speaker 1: We are not going alphabetically. But no, no, that is just
I'm dedicated.
Speaker 3: I am, I actually am. Because here's the thing I love.
I love the Aaron Wickins acquisition. I love it. It's
strengthened their whole wing rotation. But the thing is the
ring rotation is weird because we just don't know if
Sagary Rishche can ever become that quality piece that they
need him to be. Corey Kisbert is fine, but you
know he's he's a backup, Like no, no, no, no, I'm
not not crabbing on Corey Kisbert that this man can
finish at the RAM and he can shoot threes, like
I'm in on Corey Kisburg, but not as a starter.
So I just question their overall wink depth, like can
they somehow finagle this because I'm assuming Jalen Johnson's gonna
play primarily before that, at least to me, seems to
be the most obvious position for him. It just it
feels like there's a move to be had at some
point before at the end of the summer here for them.
Speaker 1: I would be with you that move might be a
Johnathan can make a sign and trade to the Lakers
for some reason.
Speaker 2: I don't really know what Los Angeles is thinking.
Speaker 1: Still, they are an interesting team because I would agree
with what you said. I also have half court shot
creation listed for them, and I think you could probably also
make a case like do they need a bigger earlier center.
Their defensive rebounding got better later last year, but it
did fall off in the playoffs. I know they didn't
have Jock Landale, does Henry Vasar contribute there at all?
But last year they were in the twenty fifth percentile
of half court offense with CJ. McCollum on the court
and no Jalen Johnson, thirty third percentile overall about either
of those guys, And then if you just look at
when Jalen Johnson's on the floor without Trey Young, you know,
so post like when Trey Young's injured, and then after
they traded him. They're about a league average team or
close to it in the half court. I don't know
if Nikkeil, Alexander Walker, Jalen Johnson and CJ. McCollum are enough.
And I think that puts a big burden, maybe a
big burden. How much is Kingston Fleming is gonna play?
And then to your point, you're not getting any of
that stuff out of your wings right now.
Speaker 2: I mean, Dyson.
Speaker 1: Daniels can do it a little bit, but because of
his limitations, you want to see more as a play finisher,
the guy that's maybe setting the screens. So yeah, they're
a very talented team, but it does feel that would
be the appeal. By the way, I know a lot
of Hawks hans are annoyed they they're not bringing back Kuminga.
Doesn't look like they're open to it, but as of
right now, doesn't look like they will.
Speaker 2: I know that that is.
Speaker 1: Maybe one of the reasons to be frustrated is you
don't trust him to be consistent or set up teammates.
But he is someone who can and rate his own
shot in the half court for sure.
Speaker 3: Right, So yeah, that is that is the need for
for the Hawks.
Speaker 1: If you're ask me, I'm gonna go to where do
I want to go to? Let's go to Cleveland. Lebron
hasn't decided yet. I believe that Cleveland is the favorite
to land him as of right now. Get Lebron, don't
get Lebron. This team needs wing defense, or even just
true wings. They lost Dean Wade. He has his offensive problems.
We saw it in the playoffs without question, but he
guarded wings fifty two percent of the time on defense
last year while just routinely taking on the toughest assignments.
Right Without him there, it's Jallen Tyson and then Dennis
Shrewder can do some of the point of attack stuff,
but it's like that's kind of it, and you have
to chess piece your players around when you're looking at
Donovan Mitchell, James Harden specifically to insulate them. I think
you could put anybody in front of Evan Mobley and
Jared Allen and they would still figure out a way
to be a good defensive team in those minutes.
Speaker 2: But if you're gonna add Lebron, or even if you don't.
Speaker 1: You get to the playoffs and they need another like
they need another wing guy and so I'm curious with
them specifically, they have about thirty eight million dollars in
room beneath the second apron without James Harden on the books.
Can they stay under the second apron so that they
can aggregate salaries as part of a trade. Can they
even they do have a first round pick to trade.
So when you look at the salary of a Max Struce,
if you have Sam Merril on this team, how important
do you view Max Strew So let's saying he's not important?
Or can you use Denis Shreuder's salary and just get
an upgrade in there? And I also just wonder do
you think they're offensively talented enough to say we don't
have to care about the offense of the wing that
is coming in, or do you need more? You know,
like you can't just go after Herb Jones, or you
can't go after lou Dort and Rope in a third team.
You need someone maybe like a Derek Jones junior or
who has more upside another name. I've listened to them.
I don't know what it costs to get him out
of Washington now. But Palla Kolbali defensively would make a
lot of sense, yeah, for this team and a trade
that I would throw to you. Can you do something
like Jared Allen and then it's I think it would
have to be like Max Strus for Trey Murphy, Herb
Jones and Eves Meaci And maybe you're throwing the Cavs
first round pick there or is that not enough if
you're in New Orleans. Jared Allen's clearly the centerpiece coming
in there.
Speaker 3: That that's a big one. You just threw at me
right there. Uh, that would be interesting. That would shore
up there, They're wing dept immediately Like that would look
in both the three and the four slot for a
long time actually, and it allows Mopley. Yeah, okay, I
like it. That's not bad, Like you get more symmetry
in there, because like, what if we base it off
the current iteration? Do we trust the Jared Allen Eman
Moopley combination? Do we trust it? Or where are we
on this?
Speaker 1: I trust it in the regular season for sure, But
I think you might need the blend of or you
either need a better blend of physicality when it comes
to the playoffs, or you need to have a more
liable wing who can like like for the playoffs that
there's not as much on them defensively, but it also regardless,
I think you're still looking at can Evan Mobley do more?
Especially if Lebron doesn't come to the team, did he
diversify his offense even more? I don't know if I'm
the Pelicans, if I would do that trade I threw out,
But I do believe that the Herb Jones contract, while
it's fine, probably doesn't look as good as it did
this time last year. And so I was curious if
for them Jared Allen the first and then like, look,
the team they have right now needs Max Strus, Like
you just need a ton of shooting on the Pelicans.
Speaker 2: So that was one that I had thought of.
Speaker 3: So basically, the first two teams that we've gone through
have had needs on the wing, all right, sensing a theme,
I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to be a rebel. I mean,
there needs that bleed into the perimeter for me. But
I don't have a wing listed for every team.
Speaker 3: Some of them, for sure, no, no, but but quite
a few actually, So this isn't necessarily wing specific. I'm
gonna go Detroit now and it's gonna be yeah, Like obviously,
we just so many open ended questions at this point, right,
like Jalen Durham, we don't know what's gonna happen there,
but it felt like they made moves to do something
else as well. And look, they have also Thompson as
their their primary wing. He is unquestionably a and the
lead defender. I think there is some offensive upside in
terms of his playmaking, his athleticism, his his you know,
downhill ability. I think he's underrated as a bowl handler.
That said you need wing offense, you need something offensively
from the wing as well. I'm not going wing specific
on Detroit, but it is a position of need offensively
speaking overall, I'm just looking at this roster and I'm
just going scoring, like more scoring please, uh.
Speaker 1: What I'm interested in because I would agree with I
think your underlying sentiment here because I just have more
offensive creation for them in general, because what you did
is you got rid of So what I think is
what they're doing and I kind of see the vision.
I'm assuming John Durham comes back, and like you said,
they did make moves, which feels as if there's a
preamble to other moves. But assuming Durham comes back by
getting John Collins, by getting Isaiah Joe, keeping Duncan Robinson
again the Saws. Now it feels like maybe they're saying, hey,
can we get more out of Asar Thompson and Donnis
Jenkins with more floor spacing? And so I dug into
the numbers a little bit, and this is still in need.
I want to make it clear that the Pistons were
in the sixteenth percentile of half court shot creation among
players who aren't Kke Cunningham.
Speaker 2: That is, that is awful.
Speaker 1: But when Asar and Jenkins shared the court without k
the Pistons were in the seventy seven percent title of
half court offense. Last year, those lineup shot forty point
eight percent on threes. The one caveat I will say,
as of right now, I think this team will still
miss to Bias Harris because John Collins isn't much of
a shot creator. If you remove Tobias Harris from those
of Sar Jenkins lineups, I just said, the offensive efficiency
plummets to the thirty second percentile. But Asar Thompson could
get better. When you say you need offense out of
the wing spot, I absolutely agree with you and for
him it's all right if you give him more spacing,
can he improve as a finisher because just with his
his handle, his IQ and the nuclear athleticism, he should
just be finishing better at the rim than he has
right so far?
Speaker 2: Overall?
Speaker 1: Does more spacing help that? Can you just bank on
Jenkins getting better? I'm not super excited about Detroit's offseason,
but the more I look at their roster, and if
you are willing to bake in the idea of two
of the you know, Jenkins and or Thompson getting better,
which is hardly outside the realm of possibility. I understand
what they're trying to do. But we have Slamm o'clock
in the chat saying best target for Detroit Trey, Cason Wallace,
Peyton Watson, Kevin Durant, Trey Murphy is how many? How
many teams? Is Trey Murphy the top target for Detroit
should be one of them?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, all of them.
Speaker 1: Peyton Watson and Cason Wallas aren't good enough shooters or
creators for me to view them as a primary. Kevin
Durant would be super interesting if the Rockets were looking
to cut the cord. So I think Detroit still needs
to get better from the offensive creation.
Speaker 2: I'm with you on in that sense. For sure.
Speaker 1: Do you trust Asara Thompson to get better offensively at all?
Speaker 2: You didn't?
Speaker 3: I do, but but I mean in terms of like
the most crucial areas such as shooting. I yeah, that's yeah,
that's just rough. It's rough for me to sit here
and go Yeah. I trust also Thompson as a shooter,
like not really, So we'll see what happens. Like I
will say, one guy who we should probably devote more
energy on in terms of like the Pistons context, is
year three of Ron Holland has to go a lot better.
I think, I think there's something there. I think defensively
he's interesting, but I need to see him become more
of an offensive, elite inclined player because that was also
his m O at G League IIG nine as a
player overall was he was someone who could go get
you scoring. He was someone who could go get you
three free FROs, and we haven't seen that at the
NBA level at all. And shooting wise, he's been dreadful.
So needs to see something pop for for Ron Holland
for sure.
Speaker 1: Honestly, he's someone on if you're married to Sara Thompson.
I'm looking to trade Ron holland I just don't see
the long term fit with him. And again we're assuming
during his back Even if he's not, those two could
be an awkward fit. What is up, fellasick gos You
listening to this episode right now thinking wow, would be
so cool if there were no ads on it.
Speaker 4: We have the power to make this the last ad
you ever hear. And that's not a threat, it's more
of a promise. The best way to support the podcast
is to join our Patreon, which you can do at
patreon dot com. Slash Hardwood Knocks NBA tons of perks there.
In addition to the promise of and not threat. I
can't emphasize that enough of no more ads, which is
a huge bonus. We're going to do a couple of
Patreon subscriber only pods every month. You get access to
our discord. You just get to be a bigger part
of this community. You get our sincerest appreciation, which really
can you put a price on it? If you want
to support the pod, that is the best way to
do it. Thank you again as always for listening and
for watching.
Speaker 2: And now back to the show. My pick.
Speaker 1: Now right, let's see, let's go to my Toronto Raptors. Oh,
they got some guy named Kawi Leonard. We don't know
about his extension yet, but we assume he's going to
design one they need.
Speaker 3: I'm going to go the Raptures or a company that
the Raptors associate themselves with. Wait.
Speaker 1: Did you see Kyle Lowry's speech, his retirement speech.
Speaker 3: No, I didn't.
Speaker 1: I don't think he did it intentionally based I watched
the like the full clip and just the way he sound,
it didn't sound like he did this intentionally.
Speaker 2: But Kawhi Leonard was there.
Speaker 1: He was talking about the Kawhi Leonard acquisition and he said,
you know you aspire to win a championship after you
make that move. And I because it's Kyle Lowry, you
never know, right, But it didn't sound like he did
it on purpose. I thought it was incredible. It was
an incredible moment.
Speaker 3: Though, that's fantastic, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1: There are It's uncomfortable because I'm so high on this team.
I think you could go three different ways here. You
could go with big Man Insurance behind Yaka Pertle. You
could go with more guard creation or you could go
with shooting. I'm gonna go with shooting because I think
Kawhi is just a huge upgrade as a creator from
Brandon Ingram. Look at like how many pull up threes
he made last year, and then I'm just because I
think that their best closing lineup is gonna be Kawhi,
Scottie Barnes and calaminary Boyles in the front court. I'm
not gonna waste too much energy on Oh, they need
like another big man in here. So I think it
just needs to be Now if they can get a
stretch five, that'd be super interesting for this team. I
think it just needs to be shooting. You look at this,
even with the improvement that you're going to get from Leonard,
who took a lot more threes last year, Scotty's teammates
forty six percentile and three point shot making last season,
thirty first and three point attempt rate and twenty fourth
in pull up three point efficiency. Again, Kawhi takes care
of some of that manuel quickly. He's he helps there too,
but he was already there last season. Are we relying
more on Jamison Battle to play a bunch of minutes here?
Do we think can Jamal shed improve as a shooter?
This team has a chance to be nasty defensively, but
they still need and they don't have a ton of
stuff left to trade now or a ton of financial
flexibility for that matter. But even going out there and
getting someone like Ashai mia Kaya Luk might help them.
Speaker 2: Like that's the type of I just don't.
Speaker 1: Between Kawhi and like their best shooters are who Kawhi
Emmanuel Quickly and Jamison battle And if you like, if
you trust Jakobe Walter, you throw him in there.
Speaker 2: Don't think that's enough.
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't. I don't trust to Kobe Walter.
Yet I think their upside. I'm not out of him
as a prospect whatsoever, but I'm not at that point
where I'm putting my eggs in the Jacoby Walter can
shoot basket whatsoever.
Speaker 1: And even I feel as if he's a solid three
and D option, but the three is always going to
be Is he taking enough on a permanent basis? So yeah,
But I will say what made me think about going
with something like maybe just focusing on the center spot
is because I really do think, with all due respect
to brandon Ingram, that Kawhi is such an upgrade for
this team. This isn't perfect, Like the Raptors did have
a top ten half court offense last year, but Kawhi
had a sixty two point six true shooting percentage with
the Clippers when he played against top ten defenses last year,
and you're throwing that in for brandon Ingram is just
a massive upgrade.
Speaker 2: I'm interested to see.
Speaker 1: And I do think they're kind of obligated too, so
it's not spicy take. I think they will do something
in the middle of the season to address.
Speaker 3: This, Yes, but like largely we agree it's it's a
shooting related issue. I think a lot of this also
changes if Colin Murray Boyles comes back with a reliable
three point shot, Like he only made seventeen threes his
first year, so that he would have to make a
pretty percentage.
Speaker 2: Wasn't bad on those though, right, No, thirty.
Speaker 3: Four it's fine, Yeah, but like it's just so low
volume that we can sit here and talk about, like,
can we put any stock into fifty overall attempts from three?
I don't know, but I just I don't hate his release.
I don't hate like his shot selection. I think He's
like pretty smart about understanding when does when do I
have time to take this shot? When am I under
pressure enough to have to seek out alternative reaction patterns.
I kind of trust him to just make the right decision.
So if you can lean into him as more of
a shooter, if you can get there, that would be
a huge help.
Speaker 1: And it does it make you feel better that he
shot so well on arc threes in comparison to corner threes,
because then maybe it's okay, can you screen for Scottie
and you can pop or you could just hit some
trail threes insition, he.
Speaker 3: Hit seventeen threes all year. I'm not couldn't suck into
any of it. Well, what about the free throws?
Speaker 1: So he's at sixty five percent from the line, that's
not necessarily a good right again, low volume under two.
Speaker 3: A ten yeah, every yeah, See that's the thing. He
he was primarily just a two point conversion player, so
something has to take up somewhere else offensively for him.
Speaker 1: That or you just bank on Scotty Barnes turning into
a good pull up three point shooter or a good
stand still three point shooter. Is that still there's always
there's flickers and flashes of Oh, Scotty Barnes is drilling
like a trillion percent of his mid range jumpers.
Speaker 2: You never know.
Speaker 3: I I mean, look, he'd be lovely, but I mean
he hit forty percent threes year. I just don't think
we've seen enough from him in that department for me
to trust it. But if it suddenly comes around, sure.
Speaker 1: I mean, I clearly don't trust that I have shooting
listed as the need. I clearly trust exactly. Then let's
just stick with that, because I think we're very much
in agreement on this. Uh your pick, Oh, it's me hmm,
all right, Uh Pacers, Let's go Pacers.
Speaker 2: Can you can? I just preface this.
Speaker 1: With I looked at this team, yeah, and it took
me way longer to come up with a need than
I was thinking, because it's not like I'm ready to
pick them to win the East, but I'm looking at
the talent they have, and if Johnny Fervey is gonna
be healthy, I might be ready to say some pretty
reckless things about why aren't we talking about the Indiana
Pacers leading In the next day. They feel like they
might be one of the most complete teams in the
Eastern Conference.
Speaker 3: Right, which is why I'm gonna bush a bubble just
a little bit, because I also have shooting here. I
guesse I, look, they're they're an okay is shooting team,
especially if halibert And is back and fully healthy. But
there are certain areas where I'm less optimistic, like Supbat
shakam h front line, Like Siam isn't a knockdown three
point shooter. We know Sue isn't much of a shooter,
Like he can take the mid range pop, which is good,
but like the long ball not really, so like how
do you bridge that? C. C. McConnell's still on the roster,
He's not much of a shooter. Jeris Walker was still
like it's up and now. I don't think it's very
much the Jacoby Walter situation with Jeris Walker, like we
might believe in him, but at the same time we
might not. It depends on the week we're kind of in.
So to me, I think shooting is definitely one thing.
I like the Kelli Ouper acquisition. I thought that was
severely underrated, especially I would like eight was.
Speaker 2: It even made you think?
Speaker 1: Because I was kind of wondering, Look, he played some center,
but like he got a lot of wings last year.
And so if you don't have Johnny Furphy in the rotation,
the fact of Kelly Uber who guarded a metric ton
of wings yep last year, and just he fits. You
need him to get off the ball quicker or to
pass at like at all whatsoever. But he fits like
the way he can move off the ball or get out.
He does fit. Let him and Obi topping on the
court at the same time. The pacers might just be
a blur in transition at that point.
Speaker 3: So but yeah, so I'm sticking with my three point
shooting accuracy skepticism at this point. That is my biggest
question or biggest need for them at this current stage,
because if they can get a couple more guys in
who can spread the floor, things could be really fun.
Speaker 1: That's interesting, And I think you're right in the sense
that they don't have aside from Tyre's haliburt, and you
don't look at anyone on this team and say they're
ultra high volume for three maybe relative to their position,
like a Jay Huff permanent relative to his position. Sure,
had I ended up settling on I was trying to
decide between they either need another guard creator just how
much like TJ McConnell, how much gas does he have
left in the tank. And he's also comes with his
own you know you mentioned shooting. That's not someone who's
gonna be hitting a ton of threes that you have
Quenton Jackson, Haliburton's coming back, you have Andrew Nemhard, But.
Speaker 2: It feels like they need a Maybe it doesn't need.
Speaker 1: To be a guard, but maybe another ball handler on
this team that's not Pascal siakam Or. I didn't like
waving Micah Potter to sign Larry Nance Junior. The theory
of Larry Nance Junior is great, but he's older, doesn't
really play. Michael Potter shot well from three last year,
which gets into your you know, Zubats isn't gonna take
those threes, so they have both him and Huff coming
off the bench. I think they could stand to maybe
upgrade the reserve big rotation. But I did have a
trade for them, and it was curious. There's a challenge
trade of who says no, Jim A Hawkes Oh, Jim
Hawks for Jaris Walker and Ben Sheppard.
Speaker 3: Who says no, oh, that's good.
Speaker 2: Hawk has checks the ball, not the shoot it to
be clear, that's it.
Speaker 3: I think I think Milwaukee says noted that because Hack
has just had that good of a year and Walker
had what was just the second half of the year,
that was okay for him.
Speaker 2: Sheppard just had the extra year of cost control, which
is why.
Speaker 3: And and Shephard was okay. I actually thought he'd play
better given that he was given a real chance at minutes. Defensively,
I think he's really good. I thought he'd up the
offensive volume a little bit because frankly, I trusted his
shot release. I trusted him as an offensive player. But
for some reason, he seemed passive, not that engaged. I
felt like, so maybe it's just because he's young. There's
time yet, like if we're getting a version of Ben
Sheppard that's more aggressive, then not willing to relinquish HAIMI
hawkis for those two. But right now I have the
known commodity of hok Kiss, which I think is a
little bit more important. That's fair.
Speaker 1: Do you think if that deal, say that deal has
to go through, am I a first round pick short
or is it we're talking second round?
Speaker 3: Second round? The conversation, because we saw what seconds could
give you. This summer, Like, I'm not trying to downplay that,
like so many guys would just move for nothing, so
it will see.
Speaker 1: Let so my turn, Let's go to Boston. I did
find it funny that, regardless of what you think of
the uh Jalen Brown trade, the fact that Brad Stevens
kind of lamented the lack of rim pressure on this
team at the end of the year and then went
out and traded the guy who's best suited to providing
rim pressure is problematic. The Celtics were when you start
to dig into the numbers from last year, they were
twenty ninth in shot attempts at the rim and the
half court per one hundred possessions, and they were fourteenth
out of sixteenth during the playoffs. Jalen Brown led the
team in honessis did rim attempts per one hundred possessions
at eight point four to eight. Next up with Jason
Tatum at five point three. You're replacing Jalen Brown with
Paul George, who averaged two point seven unassisted roem attemps
per one hundred possessions last year. What comes along with
that room pressure too? Are they going to be able
to get to the foul line enough that already wasn't
necessarily a strength with Jason Tatum and Brown, and now
you're removing Brown, who led the team in free throw
attempts per seventy five possessions last year. He didn't necessarily
have this profound impact on the team's overall three. Like
when you start to really dig into the advanced metrics,
that's where their John Brown discussion gets so fascinating. George
just isn't going to get to the foul line at
the same rate. And I do think you're losing something
when you look at Jalen Brown's performance against top five
defenses last year, fifty six true shooting against top ten defenses.
If you broaden that up, fifty six true shooting again,
not incredibly high, but at least it's that league averages
baseline against these elite defenses.
Speaker 2: Paul George was in the fifth threes in both of
those filters.
Speaker 1: So if I'm Boston, you have Mitchell Robinson now on
the offensive glass, which will matter for sure, and he's
gotten better at throwing the ball out for three pointers,
which fits Missoula ball, as does the offensive rebounding. I
don't know where this team is going to generate rim
pressure from though in transition. Yeah, sure they could do
it in the half court, though I don't like who's
best suited to do that for them? Right, it's probably
Jason Tatum. I don't think that's probably yeah, yes, okay,
so after Jason Tatum, is it? I guess it's Derek White.
Is that the the answer?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, probably right, Peyton Pritcher're gonna pinch No. I
it's the fact that we.
Speaker 1: Even have Jalen brunts in two point zero. So all right,
oh god, that was the sake my biggest need for
these guys. And I don't mean to troll them, because
this is just the reality of the situation.
Speaker 3: Center. Look, we can't sit here and act as though
Mitchell Robinson can be penciled in for sixty plus games
every single year. He just oh yeah, why not, Dan?
Why not? So so like, great, okay, they got him
in there. Look, I'm crossing everything I have here that
I am that he's healthy and that it'll be fine.
But history kind of suggests otherwise, which means that Cata
once again could be in a role where he will
have to overextend himself or it'll have to go back,
you will have to go back to the Luca garsa
wacken it. So I'm just a little bit worried about
the quality and depth at center.
Speaker 2: I think that's fair and I it's a fair quite.
Speaker 1: The Knicks cheaping out after winning a title, not going
to the second apron, I think is bullshit. With that
being said, when you dig into the Mitchell Robinson contract,
a two plus one, so three guaranteed years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, even if the Knicks were willing.
Speaker 1: To go into the second at that's a conversation I'm
having as a front office as the weather we're matching
that deal.
Speaker 2: So that's in support of your point.
Speaker 1: I think they probably will cobble together enough from the
center position because Garza was pretty good for them last year.
Could they go out and to your point or not,
to the team that they're building, do you go like,
could you get a Kyle Philipowski just to add more
stretch because right now, Mitchell Robinson and Kada aren't gonna
add a ton of stretch for you.
Speaker 3: Garza might that's such a good player to bring up
Kyle Philipowski. I think he's such a Boston guy.
Speaker 1: Could he play center though? Because he can't he's not
doesn't play like he feels like against Robinson he probably could,
and the rest probably a little bit. So that's I
think they'll just get enough at the center spot that
I would view rim pressures because even if you look
at their centers, like Mitchell Robinson just doesn't have a
ton of offensive value in general general.
Speaker 2: Kada is more versatile on that end, but he's not.
Speaker 1: Like, so even at the center spot, you're not looking
at them and saying, well, we have someone who could
generate a ton of rim pressure outside of whether they're
in transition or getting offensive rebounds or have a wide
open lane of the bet like, do you have a
decision maker at the center of the floor who could
like make the three two or three dribble decision that
might be lacking at the center spot.
Speaker 2: I think rim pressure is probably the bigger issue for
this team.
Speaker 1: And I also, just as I said top, I think
it's hilarious that they they publicly pinpointed it as the
biggest issue and then proceeded to make it worse over
the offseason.
Speaker 3: Yep, So was that a question? Can we move on?
Speaker 2: What you can answer it? If you think it was
a question.
Speaker 3: I don't think it was. I agree.
Speaker 1: Oh, a regulator says Chris Kana actually get twelve minutes
a game two?
Speaker 2: So raw though that that would be the other.
Speaker 1: Thing that I didn't get YOUO, Gonzales might we didn't
mention his name. That might be someone or maybe a
bayl or shireman Jordan Walsh too. Uh, that is that's fair,
that's a really good I didn't give enough. I wouldn't
bet on CC doing it, but right Loganzales or Jordan Waller. Yeah,
I still think you made you made the rim pressure
issue worse though, right, just by getting rid of John Brown.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I have the Miami heat here.
Speaker 1: Oh, just the most anti climactic, the honest destination of
all time. Congratulations on leaving Milwaukee to not contend for
a title, honest, great, great work.
Speaker 3: So so guards, no, just guards. Dabian Mitchell and Tim
Hardaway Junior are going to play a billion minutes this
year unless something happens like okay, Pela Larson too. But yeah,
respective Throne, Yeah, you're gonna need something else here, like
I don't know who that is, but there is some
huge lack of playmaking from the guard spot.
Speaker 1: Well do you you want a stat that should terrify
the Miami and their fans. Yes, here are the three
players who led them in half court creation last season,
Jim hawkez Tyler Hero and Norman Powell. Oh god, how
many of those guys are still on the team. Yeah,
you got Giannis to be fair.
Speaker 3: True, but.
Speaker 1: At what like you don't even have you can't even
look at say, well, maybe Yakaonas is going to provide
us with that outlet. Oh he's gone too, he's also
Oh okay, Pelee Larson, we really need you to kind
of him and Davion Mitchell are just way too critical
to the Heat's offensive structure right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look in regards to Pella Larson, you can
never trust a suite to do anything. So that's just
that's where we are.
Speaker 1: I don't know how they are. They are from a
need perspective. Could you argue that they are the team
that needs Lebron the most?
Speaker 3: If everyone has to mention, See, that's the thing, because look,
Lebron's going to be forty two. Can you imagine getting
him and installing him as the starting point guard? That
is just that's too tall task for someone at that age.
Like I just don't know where to place him.
Speaker 1: They're absolutely well, I think if you start Andrew Wiggins,
bam Oudebaio, Jannis Lebron, and Davion Mitchell, you're fine. Lebron
is your point guard but doesn't have to play point
guard on defense.
Speaker 3: Yeah okay, so you kind of switched the roles, all right,
Yeah maybe, and then you have wigs guarding like two's
yeah okay, I can. I can sort of see it,
like you definitely need something. You need creation at some
level that isn't Janie and and Bam because like Bam
is okay, Giannis is better, but like none of those
guys are like true elite playmakers. So and Mitchell I
felt like even though he was averaging what like seven
assists last year, it felt as though so many of
those assists were just like him passing the ball along
the baseline, and like they were not advanced playmaking, right,
Like he's fine, I'm not trying to rag on him,
but like it was simple assists. They were just simple.
So I'm just gonna need something else from the card spot.
Speaker 1: I don't how do they get it? So they have
ten million dollars in room beneath the first apron, right, now,
which they cannot go over. It's but they don't have
a like you have to turn Yovich and or Bobby
Portis into something, right.
Speaker 3: I thought they'd pivot off Portois, but I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe I just I don't even know who is, Like
what does that put you, like in the market for
could you get both? Like could you put those two
together and get Jalen Green?
Speaker 3: Hmmm? Yeah, But does Jalen Green solve anything?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: No, I mean at this point, I feel like you're
kind of praying for a zach Lavine buy out or something.
I mean, DeMar Rosen's floating around out there on the
market as we're talking.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, let's let's add tomorrow to it. Seemed that
like doesn't really have a whole lot of floor spacing
as is.
Speaker 1: Okay, could you talk the Kings into that, dude? I mean,
I don't even know what the heat's second round pick
situation is. But like, does Yovich and seconds get you
Malik Monk from Sacramento?
Speaker 2: Probably not.
Speaker 3: Even that would be a little bit underwhelming.
Speaker 2: I mean relative to the roster, I think that's a
whole run.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's yeah, you're right, you're right, But like, yeah,
so Miami. I think Miami have like quite a few questions.
Speaker 1: Can you get Scoot Henderson for free? Now that John
Moran's in Portland? Like what's going on?
Speaker 3: God? Yeah, that's look that Actually that's a good point.
Like maybe if you want to point guard, go fish
in Portland, Like there are a lot of guys there.
There's Drew, there's Scoot, there's Dame, there's job Like.
Speaker 2: Whoever Fish in Portland got Mabe? That was good.
Speaker 1: I wish they don't even have enough to like Cam
Spencer or Tie Jerome would make a lot of sense
on this team. They're gonna end up getting D'Angel Russell
off a bio market probably, isn't that?
Speaker 3: Oh poor Miami fans.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they would have man and for me, Simon's for
the deal he signed would have made even with Tim
Hardway Junior would have made a lot of sense in
Miami too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. I was very, very uh surprised that
he didn't sign. There are they the how low are you?
They can't like there's no Yovich Bobby Ports for Josh Giddy?
Speaker 1: Would you want that in woul actually make a lot
of sense. I just don't know why Chicago would do it.
Speaker 3: Oh, that would actually be pretty interesting, wouldn't it not
for Chicago.
Speaker 1: Yo, which is four years left on a deal where
he wasn't really a rotation.
Speaker 2: Player last year.
Speaker 1: Regulator says Brandon Williams. At the minimum, he'd be interesting.
But are we just gonna have no shooting on the
heat at that point? Just Tim Hardaway Junior and hopes
and dreams and that's it right?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Oh and Jovic floor space or baby in theory.
Speaker 3: In theory, no, we'll see. And by the way, even
if they did get giddy like not a natural scorer
either or sorry that netial shooter either also fair.
Speaker 1: I think just with the level of like spray out
he get from Giannis would probably be line. But yeah, yeah,
that is the need like that that you could talk
yourself into overall depth for this team.
Speaker 2: But it's Miami just needs guard creations so so badly.
It is my turn. Who haven't we done yet? Uh?
Speaker 5: Let's see here, Yeah, well duh, let's go to uh,
let's go to Philly, all right? They I they need shooting, right,
especially because they got Anthony Simons, which I thought was good. Uh,
And then I think, so what I do think is
overblown is the one ball argument with Jallen Brown, Tyres
max ebjs Coleman, Joel Embiid. We saw Joel Embiid scale
back his on ball action share last year. He only
used twenty five point four percent of the team's on
ball offensive possessions when he was on the court, But
Tyrese Maxy was at fifty one point three in Jaale
Brown is at forty seven point seven. I think ideally
you want Tyres Maxi to not have to be on
the ball that often, and so he addresses some of
the off ball shooting concerns. And we've seen Jalen Brown
be on the ball much less as recently as the
season before. Last season he used thirty seven point two
percent of Boston's on ball possessions.
Speaker 2: So I'm not worried about the distribution.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about, Okay, where is the gravity or the
knockdown shooting coming from. You do have Simons, you have
Maxi vj. Edgecomb just isn't like he could be there,
but he's not there yet. Jalen Brown's in the thirtieth
percentile of catch and shoot three point efficiency last year.
Two of their top four players in off ball gravity
last season are just gone, and so it's all right,
Simon's will help you. Do we need the Baron Filon
to play minutes in Philly? And that's probably not ideal
if you because it's not even just the shooting. Do
you need more of a ball handling option off the bat,
which I think Simon's addresses enough of that, but he's
not a born playmaker. He's a better passer than a
Colin Sexton. But so I think that's what this team needs.
A shooting and maybe like a different, a more seasoned
guard creation coming off the bench. But for me, it's
just if you're gonna have Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and
or another bit like it's Joelle just a big man,
Jaylen Brown a big man. And then how do you
feel about Tyre Spaxy's not afraid to take three pointers?
How do you feel about him though? As a knockdown shooter.
It's really just Maxi and Simon's on this roster as
knockdown spacers.
Speaker 3: YEP, I don't disagree, And I will one up here
and say power forward. It's a need for me. They
just they don't really have a good four if they
get Trenton Watford back. I think that helps, but like
is it enough? That's the question? Right, Like, then you're
you're pivoting between Dominic Barlow and and Trenton Watford. We
saw that last year some Jabbari Walker like sprinkled in
here and there. I guess it's fine, or unless we
were just kind of putting Dean Wade into that spot.
Maybe we are. It just feels like they need a
better four, someone who's a little bit more connective.
Speaker 1: Do you So you don't think between Dean Wade and
Jayn Brown they just have it have it covered.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I would like someone because I would say,
like someone with a little bit more size at least
if Brown is going to play some of those minutes
because we again, we just don't know with embiid right,
Like we don't know if he's going to go down,
how long he's gonna stay healthy. So like, if you're
putting a lot of onus on Dominic Barlow, for example,
in Dean Wade and Aerial hook Porty to just do
big man stuff assuming EMBID isn't available, I feel as
though that could be pretty taxing. So I would like
to see someone in there who's like a bigger four,
who has perhaps a little bit of center position center experience,
or who just has a skill set that could be interesting.
Speaker 2: But lebron j do it for you?
Speaker 1: He would, yes, all right, Bold, Bold, there's not Slim
Pickens on the fore market in free agency. Yeah, Keishaw
Johnson would be interesting, but he's a little bit on
the smaller side. He does play a lot of four
before what you're talking about. He's a little on the
smaller side. Yeah, uh no, keep Kamingo away from this team.
Shire Williams doesn't do it not. Bogie Flyer might be interesting,
but he's probably better at guarding down. Yeah, And I mean,
like they don't have you still like the Paul George
John Brown trade, didn't trade their salary structure.
Speaker 2: They're so top heavy as to where.
Speaker 1: Until the like the trade deadline, will they'll have a
couple of like middle and Dean Wade and every assignmons.
They just don't have these salaries to move. So I
think that the team we're looking at now is kind
of just the team that they're going to go into
the season with too. So I guess we'll get an
answer as to what is the bigger need.
Speaker 2: Yeah, uh, can you.
Speaker 1: Just tell her everyone who's watching listening where they can
find you and all the work.
Speaker 3: That Yes, yes, you can find a work all read. Yeah,
who's sports? And you can listen to the NBA podcast
and if you understand Danish, you can listen to Busser
Beater or catch from calling games at HBO Max h.
Speaker 1: And because I'm just so bad at promoing this, do
not forget to subscribe to our Patreon if you want
all this content ad free, as well as some of
bonus extra bonus episodes every month and just a bunch
of other goodies.
Speaker 2: Discord access as well.
Speaker 1: Patreon dot com, Slash Harber Knox NBA and come back
tentatively Google Live Friday at four pm Eastern to do
the Western Conference version of this.
Speaker 2: Hopefully nothing comes up, although with the Kauhi trade being rescinded,
more than I might need to have a discussion like
with what that's gonna look like? That only give backs
to Clippers.
Speaker 1: Right now though, so until next time, And as always,
we needed the shout out to the one, the only,
the indelible. His trade for him has never ever been rescinded.
Mister Frank Dila Tina