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Speaker 1: What is up, Fellasikos. I'm Dan Favalley coming at you

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with another twenty twenty five twenty twenty six NBA season

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look ahead. We're onto the Oklahoma City Thunder. You may

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have heard of them. They just want something. I can't

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remember what it was, but I think we'll talk about it,

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which means I get the distinct pleasure to talk with

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some members of the uncontested crew. This year, we have

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Taylor Peterson making his triumphant return. I think this is

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year four. Yeah, it's awesome.

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Speaker 2: It's been a long time and the works. We're excited

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to have you back on the pod as well. Maybe

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get granted, but we always appreciate you guys having us on. Obviously.

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It's kind of crazy to think back exactly a year ago, Dan,

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when we were Jacob Niffin and I were on this podcast.

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Uh just you know, all the excitement what can be

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for the Thunder. But I don't think any of us

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thought we'd be here a year later.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought that we

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could be having But anyway, follow Taylor on the Social

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Machines at Taylor Underscore fifteen. Ian Taylor re spelled t

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A Y L. E R Underscore fifteen and making his

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Hardware Knox debut. So it's not his fault yet Taylor.

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It's like he's doing this on purpose. He knows what

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he's saying for. But we have JD Silva for the

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first time ever follow him on the socials at JD

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Silva Underscore. That's at j D s I l Va Underscore.

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Welcome JD. How heck RT? We just met for the

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fort in quotes. We did quarters remotely for the first

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time off air. You seem fantastic just because we align

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with a lot of what Chet is doing apparently. How

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are you doing, man?

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Speaker 3: Man, I'm doing great. I'm getting ramped up for this season.

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We're kind of doing a bunch of previews on our

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side in the same way to kind of get the

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get the wheels turned and get back into the swing

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of like thinking about basketball and being on here is awesome.

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I wanted to be on last year, but it's there's

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so many of us, were all.

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Speaker 1: I still haven't met all of you know? Yeah, Justine,

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I think it's just justin now though. Is that the

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only one I haven't met? Okay, that's exciting.

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Speaker 3: What our listeners don't know is that anytime we have

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an opportunity to go on and be a guest for

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a podcast, we actually fight each other. Uh Like with

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boxing gloves on, whoever wins they get to comes out.

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Speaker 1: So Jacob just has a broken jaw and like Justin's

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yeah right, yeah. I appreciate you guys scrapping and Cline

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because we had a two we obviously have a two guest.

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Max is what it was. Yes, I appreciate.

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Speaker 3: That's why Nick hasn't been on. You just loses every time.

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Speaker 1: So uh oh, And I'll just remind live because I'm

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terrible reminding people beforehand. I'm not texting during the show.

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I'm time stamping. So if you see me looking down,

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I promise I'm listening.

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Speaker 2: I'm just use it for so I feel you there.

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Speaker 1: I have to begin here, and I will start with you. Taylor,

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the Thunder, we know what they looked like on paper.

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They were I think they were a lot of people's

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titles picked last year. I don't even remember I had

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them in the finals against Boston. Was there a moment though,

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or was it before the scene, But was there a

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moment last season that you point to it? It can

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be their season debut where they just trucked Denver. But

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was there just a moment where you're like, like, no,

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this team is wow? This is it?

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Speaker 3: Like this is the team? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, actually there is for me, And it's actually more

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of a period than a moment. But I mean sure,

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like we obviously had a ton of excitement heading into

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the season. We knew that they were going to be

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in contention for the title. But it still just feels

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surreal afterwards, right, getting to experience that for the first time.

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But I think the time for me si bad. I'm

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curious your thoughts is that stress during the holidays when

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our buddy carried came down and we have to go

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to a handful of games with him, and I believe

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we saw that they beat the Knicks in that crazy

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air in Wiggans fourth quarter game.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what you're talking about.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry, sorry, you're not a fan anymore. You said,

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it's cool.

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Speaker 1: You know what, if Aaron Wiggins goes off, it's allowed.

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Speaker 2: He stayed basketball and he saved that fourth quarter. A

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couple of days later, they played the Boston Celtics at

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home and beat them on like a ABC twelve pm

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Central time game. I think during that stretch as well

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as like Minnesota, or maybe it was Denver, trying to

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remember they rid a lost some really impressive wins, went

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on a really big win streak there, and just the

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way that they were winning games in it just felt

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incredibly impressive. Like this is sustainable and we still don't

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have Chet yet, That's what we kept saying. It became

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an inside joke on the podcast or listeners. We'd say something,

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they go, but we don't even have Chet yet, you know.

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So it was that stretch for me, I think where

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I thought this really could happen.

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Speaker 1: What was it for you?

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Speaker 3: I was actually that Boston game was gonna be one,

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I pointed out, Actually I was at that game. That's

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where to close it out, Chet like block Tatum on

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one end, through it to iHeart, who threw it to

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someone else for an alley oop to like close out

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the game. And it was just like they started doing

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this thing that elite teams do where they flip a

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switch and kind of channel like what their best at,

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and for them, it's it was the defense all year.

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Usually that involved deploying Alex Caruso for his twenty insane

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minutes every game and they just it's like every team

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that wins a title needs to have some skill that

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puts them above the rest. And for the Thunder, it

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was an extra gear, extra gear of defense that just

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makes it impossible for the other team to score. And yeah,

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that period was it. And in that period, especially without

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Chet there, like when Chet got hurt, we were all like, okay,

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Chet's at that time, we were like, Chet's second best player.

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What are they gonna do? Like, are they gonna be

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fighting for a playing spot? We don't know. There's still

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the youngest team in the NBA. And then it just

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didn't matter, like it didn't really, it didn't matter, and

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they just kept winning and winning and winning, and yeah,

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it felt too good to be true the entire season,

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to be clear, until it happened, until I was at

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Game seven watching them go up to the podium, like

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it always felt too good to be true because they're

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so young and it's just such a like outlier season

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in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I had a moment for them, but

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the development was where they're just so injured and j

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Dubb is just guarding centers And there was a point

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at the time last year we talked about on this

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podcast where he among any rotation player in the league,

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like regular rotation player was like contesting the largest percentage

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of opponent shots while on the floor, and Grant and

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I were talking, and I think the question post was

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we might just be overthinking the championship race at this point.

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It was like fairly early, they were so banged up.

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It was just like this doesn't fucking matter, Like it

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just doesn't feel like it matters. So I am so

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interested to see what they do next year and what

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we're gonna get into because of just we've had the

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seven consecutive different champions and this is the age of parody,

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and they feel like they're built to just crap all

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over the Age of parody right now. But I want

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to ask you one more thing each about last year.

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I'll starry you this time, JD. What was like kind

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of the biggest takeaway lesson learn revelation or whatever it

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is about last season that still kind of sticks with you,

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aside from okay, they have the title banner.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, there's there's a basketball one and there's a personal one.

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I guess I can go. I'll go with the basketball one.

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Is that good? Regular season? Three? Point shooting does not

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mean you're gonna be a good playoff three point shooting team,

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and it's it's more about you have to be a

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good three point shooting team, and to be a certain

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you have to have certain archetypes of three point shooters

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to like be good the playoffs, and a lot of

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the thunder guys they shoot too slowly, I think, and

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that's something like they struggled from shooting from three all

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playoffs and it was like the females frustrating thing in

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the world to watch because it's like they were good

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all season. Why is this happening now? One part was

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because Jadab had a messed up wrist, which didn't know

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about it. That would have helped. But the rest of

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the guys like Isaiah Joe just vanished and it's like

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what happened to this team? So yeah, there's just there's

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development still to be had there. You have to be

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able to shoot a certain type of way. That was

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my biggest basketball takeaway personal takeaway was that playoffs, when

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you're when you're going that far in the playoffs, extremely stressful.

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I've had a I tweeted something along the lines of

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and everyone talks about like how cool it is to

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see like an all time playoff series, but no one

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talks about how it is like being in hell when

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you're a fan of that team. And that happened with

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the Denver series and the Pacers series. All of Twitter

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was like, this is an all times series. I love it.

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I can't wait to watch the next game. And I'm like, you,

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sons of bitches, live a high.

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Speaker 2: We've been away for two straight weeks.

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Speaker 1: But I apologize that your goals shoes were too tight.

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Speaker 3: I really, guys, I feel like I'm like a rich

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guy complaining about getting fined like Balmer's about to. But it's, uh,

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it's it's tough. You know, it was stressful in the moment.

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Speaker 1: Tell what about you think?

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Speaker 2: For me, the biggest takeaway from this past season, and

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even just taking into like the entire championship run from

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the full on rebuild, uh until the championship this past season,

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it's just the sustainability of sam Pressy has built. And

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when we talk about that, when we talk about it

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on our show, you talk about Presse's system or style play,

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mark day Nult's system of SiO play, you're talking about

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versatile players at each position, just like JW mentioned, being

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able to guard literal point guards all the way down

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to the center position Alex Caruso for example, defending up

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and or sorry defending yeah, defending down and guarding Yolkic

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there in that game seven like, it's players with high IQ,

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high feel for the game on the offensive side of

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the ball, positional size, and then also obviously players who

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can defend as well, like for example, we talked about

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Aaron Wiggins. There was times there, especially in the finals,

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where Mark they don't have to pull him because he

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wasn't competing defensively. And so those are kind of the

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things we look at when we're talking about the kind

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of basketball that Sam and Mark want to play, the

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kind of team they want to construct, and what players

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potentially fit that style play. Obviously Alex Crusso and I

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Heart were great fits. The players that they've brought in

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through the draft were very curious to see how they

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fit in all that, which I know we'll get into.

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But the sustainability of what they built just kind of

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you mentioned it. Could they could keep doing this for

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years to come. That's what was so impressive South the

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most of me, and.

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Speaker 1: That's you know, Taylor, you touch on. What I think

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is really interesting is because after the extensions for Chet

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and Jay Dubb, it felt like there was a lot of, oh,

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this team is going to have to break up eventually

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and there will be pieces that they have to trade off.

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But we've talked, we've poop pooed over that idea a

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lot on this podcast. But from your perspective, what is

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like the biggest misconception about the Thunder's future together.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I could dive into stats here. We've done that,

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you know, pull up the numbers. We've done all that

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on our podcast. I know you and Grant have as well,

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and I've done a really good job doing so. So

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I think just big picture for the sake of this podcast,

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it's just it's incorrect. It's not true. Now, Like I

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think there was a comparison that it was like, Okay,

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see thunderstats. It's like a status account tweet out each

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team's roster, all the championship contenders or previous championship teams,

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and it's like, yeah, they're three best players take up

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like twenty five percent of the cap. This isn't anything new.

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But what's different about this Thunder team is the young

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pieces that they've brought in already that can come in

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and contribute. Like the caseon Wallace is we talked about

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Aaron Wiggins, even if he's not quite as young. You

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have Nicola Topich coming back this season, We'll talk about

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aj Mitchell. Those are just examples as well as one

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of the biggest treasure trows and draft picks in NBA history,

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And that allows for so much flexibility. So yes, like

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on paper, in theory, it'd be perfect to just be

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able to have j dub Chett and share on yourster

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builds around them, just keep bringing in new young guys

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that are on Rooie skilled contracts and keep continuing for championships.

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But we know that's onlike as well. And so even

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then you trade away some of those young guys, bring

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in maybe another Alex Gruso or a veteran role player,

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you can still pay a guy like that because of

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the way this team's constructed and the flexibility that Sam

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has has given this team with the player options, the

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way contracts are constructed, and just how he's built for

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the future.

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Speaker 1: The other thing too, that I don't think people talk

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enough about is that if you're good enough, the second

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apron is not like it feels like it will function

256
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as a hard cap, and I won't push back against that,

257
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but like, if it's just you're in it like two

258
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out of every four or five years, like that's the

259
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goal to make sure that your first round draft pick

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isn't moved to the end of the draft.

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Speaker 2: Like, well, if you have a god, that's a great point. No,

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it's a great point. And because our guy Jacob isn't

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here and Stillbell'll let you go. But that made me

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think of what Jacob's been harping on on our podcast.

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Who cares if the Thunder's own first round pick goes

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to the end because it's probably gonna be there anyways,

267
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and they're gonna have multiple first round picks for the

268
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re seeable future, So that's not really a big deal.

269
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It just comes down to the luxury tax and owners

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want to pay that. But to your point, Dan, if

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you're only in it once or twice, you know, every

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four or five seasons, it becomes much more manageable.

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Speaker 1: JD. What did you did you have any standout surprises?

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We knew that Chet, j Dubb, We're gonna get Max's

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I guess there was some question about Chet even Sham's

276
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had trouble getting the amount straight as he always does.

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It seems like, did anything stand out to you about

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like the extensions that they got specifically, maybe you know

279
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Chet not having the language that Jay Dubb has in.

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Speaker 3: His Yeah, Presty is a guy that will take advantage

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of every little nook and cranny he possibly can within

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the CBA. And I'm not a CBA guy, like like

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Jacob and Nick are kind of who dies and Taylor

284
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do that, and I'm more of a ViBe's based analysis guy.

285
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So I've never really dug any love it.

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Speaker 1: That's sum guy. He shot four percent from threes and

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you said they're a good shooter. I'm just going off

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vibes the.

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Speaker 2: But see how fun it was watching him shoot.

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Speaker 3: But I knew I knew Presty has Pressy's always spoken

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with confidence in terms of navigating the CBA, and I

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didn't know how he was going to do it until

293
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the details came out and you saw, like we all know,

294
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there is at this point in time, there is a

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separation between how good Jadab isn't how good Chet is.

296
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And I think the way he did it was like amazing.

297
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It's like chd is only going to get only going

298
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to get the regular max, and Jadab has got the

299
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same thing with some opportunities to get higher he deserves.

300
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It sucks that the he made All NBA last season,

301
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but that doesn't count towards him getting this next one,

302
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Like he has to make All NBA again.

303
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Speaker 1: Stupid one of the stupidest rules.

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Speaker 3: Yes, but no, I figured pressy would be creative and uh,

305
00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:46,720
this is awesome. It's like, if Jadab does hit all

306
00:13:46,759 --> 00:13:50,399
of those qualifiers, great, that means he's That means he's

307
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gotten even better than he is and he's like a

308
00:13:52,519 --> 00:13:55,159
top to fifteen guy at that point. But no, it's

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it works, It'll work out everyone. Like I've had moments

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of panic with like, oh God, is this only gonna

311
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,759
last for another two years? What's gonna happen? I think

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00:14:04,799 --> 00:14:06,600
the Thunder, you know, I've I've read all the Bobby

313
00:14:06,639 --> 00:14:09,480
Marx videos, I've listened to all kinds of salary cap

314
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experts break it down, and the Thunder have a plethora

315
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of ways to navigate it. At some point, we'll have

316
00:14:14,759 --> 00:14:18,759
to say goodbye to players that that we love. That

317
00:14:18,799 --> 00:14:22,080
happens on every I get it right. That happens to

318
00:14:22,159 --> 00:14:25,279
every championship contender. That's that's that exists for a long

319
00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,559
period of time. You know, Sean Livingston didn't stay on

320
00:14:27,559 --> 00:14:30,039
the Warriors forever. It's guys like that, like you have

321
00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,679
to you have to say goodbye to so that'll be tough,

322
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but we enjoy them while they're here.

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Speaker 1: I also am surprised that when you look at how

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00:14:36,879 --> 00:14:39,639
some of these teams this summer are operating on such

325
00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:43,240
thin margins, where like trying to separate themselves from certain aprons,

326
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the fact that you don't have like player options in

327
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the jub or Chet deals. So let's just say they're

328
00:14:48,559 --> 00:14:52,279
on the flat twenty five percent max deals. You've saved yourself,

329
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Like you're paying them eleven plus million less in the

330
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final year of their contracts than you could be if

331
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they were just free agents or had been able to extend.

332
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And the other thing there is if both of them,

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which is not impossible, or else we'll sign the larger maxes.

334
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At that point, you've delayed thirty plus million dollars in

335
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expenses another year. And yes, that's just kicking the can,

336
00:15:13,679 --> 00:15:16,879
kicking camp fucking matters like margins met Like I don't

337
00:15:16,879 --> 00:15:18,600
mean to bring up the Knicks about this, but they're

338
00:15:18,639 --> 00:15:21,399
like three cents under the second apron or whatever. That's

339
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:22,879
not actually what it is. So like they're gonna have

340
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trouble filling out their roster. They can't sign two more

341
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veteran players. It's like those margins matter. And I think

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00:15:28,639 --> 00:15:31,440
it was I guess people could say, well, you know,

343
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,360
player options, they're not part of rookie extensions really anymore.

344
00:15:34,399 --> 00:15:36,759
It's like Pallo got one in Orlando. You tell me

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j Dubb wanted a player option, the thunder aren't gonna

346
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give it to him. I don't credit Sam pressI for

347
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negotiating it, but I also just look at it as

348
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a good harbinger of like the culture that they've built

349
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,279
there to where do I think Jay Dubb even tried

350
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,159
to push like he and his camp tried to push

351
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,000
her player option. Probably not like they might have. This

352
00:15:53,159 --> 00:15:55,320
just might have been presented and the compromise was we'll

353
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give you the all NBA language and you don't get

354
00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:00,360
a player option, and like that's a win win for everybody.

355
00:16:00,399 --> 00:16:02,559
But I think it's just it matters, and it's also

356
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,799
it doesn't matter just financially, just the emotional component of people.

357
00:16:06,879 --> 00:16:08,440
I think we're going to enter the error where people

358
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,840
are gonna start to get annoyed by the Thunder because

359
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:12,919
now there are title team, so those postgame interviews won't

360
00:16:12,919 --> 00:16:15,279
be as just like you know, cute Sea to people,

361
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,759
but like it matters that this team has that level

362
00:16:17,759 --> 00:16:20,559
of camaraderie from It's not just like on the corp,

363
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,679
but it seems like really from top to bottom in

364
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,000
your absolution, that's.

365
00:16:23,879 --> 00:16:25,679
Speaker 2: What you hear and have always heard ever since the

366
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,679
Thunder came to Okay see Dan, it's literally from the

367
00:16:27,679 --> 00:16:32,039
top with the Sam Presty to the janitor staff in

368
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,519
the building. And that sounds funny, but there's actual stories

369
00:16:34,519 --> 00:16:36,879
about some of that, and like Sam has his hand

370
00:16:36,919 --> 00:16:40,120
on all these things. Everything is so structured. Like even

371
00:16:40,159 --> 00:16:42,120
the way they bring in people into like their sales

372
00:16:42,159 --> 00:16:44,960
department is a very similar process to how you see

373
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,679
they treat their young players going through the NBA G

374
00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:50,080
League with OKC Blue and rising up with the Thunder,

375
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,120
getting some playing time here, getting some playing time there,

376
00:16:52,159 --> 00:16:55,080
different positions. But I think you nailed the two biggest

377
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,639
things here. One and that Sam historically has never really

378
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given out player options on rookiees engines. That includes Shay Russell, Westbrook,

379
00:17:02,159 --> 00:17:06,039
Kevin Durant. Obviously the whole James Harden situation probably led

380
00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:08,880
to some of that, you know, him being traded, lots

381
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,400
of reasons there, but historically has never given off that

382
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,680
player option. The other thing is, like you said, doesn't

383
00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,720
matter jdb Chet, they could decline that want to go

384
00:17:17,759 --> 00:17:20,160
into free agency here in another season or two or whatever,

385
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,799
or force a trade out of Okac And there's probably

386
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,359
twenty five ish she other teams that would absolutely give

387
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,039
each of them that player option, the full escalators when

388
00:17:31,039 --> 00:17:34,839
it comes to their bonuses for making the incentives, but

389
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,759
they obviously are bought in and believe in what Sam

390
00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:39,160
Pressy has built. Shay Gilds Alexander is the same way,

391
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,839
and like you said, just shows they truly built something special.

392
00:17:42,839 --> 00:17:44,880
And Okay, see, Jad.

393
00:17:44,839 --> 00:17:46,839
Speaker 1: I have an actual basketball question for you now, and

394
00:17:46,839 --> 00:17:48,279
it's the one that I think everyone wants to know.

395
00:17:48,319 --> 00:17:50,279
Why didn't the Thunder trade for you? Honest? This often?

396
00:17:50,319 --> 00:17:55,519
Speaker 3: Oh my god, they have lost Yeah people, Thunder fans

397
00:17:55,519 --> 00:17:56,559
would have been going nuts for that.

398
00:17:56,599 --> 00:18:00,319
Speaker 1: Probably Chet is still one of the most fascinating players

399
00:18:00,319 --> 00:18:02,240
in the league for me because relative to I mean,

400
00:18:02,279 --> 00:18:04,599
what now he's extended for and what we see him

401
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,279
do the sample size just like isn't huge yet. And

402
00:18:07,319 --> 00:18:10,599
then also specifically at the start of last season, he

403
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,119
looked like we were tracking towards is Chet more important

404
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:15,519
of this team than Jail when it was his Chet

405
00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:17,240
better than Jail Williams long term whatever you want to

406
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,000
frame it, which is a question I will post to

407
00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:21,880
you guys in the second, but like, what do you now?

408
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,759
I guess how what were your impressions of him like

409
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,200
at the start of last season, then based off how

410
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,920
he finished it post injury and everything, and then what

411
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,519
are you watching most closely for as he goes into

412
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,160
year quote unquote year four, but year three, whatever you

413
00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:34,720
want to say.

414
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, from from year from rookie year to sophomore year,

415
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,839
he was he was transformed. Like at the beginning of

416
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:46,160
last season, he looked much bigger but also faster. He

417
00:18:46,319 --> 00:18:48,640
was just more decisive in like every part of his game.

418
00:18:48,759 --> 00:18:52,279
Sometimes he can he has a pretty deep offensive bag

419
00:18:52,319 --> 00:18:55,119
for a guy as weirdly built as him, but that

420
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,359
that sometimes means he's just sifting through that bag for

421
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,599
too long and doesn't have like a go to move.

422
00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,880
But everything he was doing last season was just more decisive.

423
00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:07,759
He was getting up threes faster, hitting them off the

424
00:19:07,839 --> 00:19:09,839
dribble as well. All that was there. He looked like

425
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:11,759
an All Star. I was like, oh, there's a second

426
00:19:11,759 --> 00:19:13,599
All Star like it. It was just an obvious thing

427
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,880
right away. He was amazing. But a guy built like

428
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,160
Chet you have to be in he has to work

429
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,559
really hard to get to that point, and he did.

430
00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,720
But then the hip injury happened and he just like

431
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,480
mid season, you can't regain all that strength you lost

432
00:19:29,519 --> 00:19:33,400
by being on your ass for what was a two months, Taylor,

433
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,759
he couldn't walk like he could not walk for two months.

434
00:19:35,759 --> 00:19:38,000
So it's just you lose all that muscle through atrophy

435
00:19:38,559 --> 00:19:40,920
and that player wasn't there anymore. And he's gone on

436
00:19:41,079 --> 00:19:44,559
like IG Live and talked about that recently and how

437
00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:47,359
he's he's now back to the point physically he thinks

438
00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:50,359
where he was at the beginning of last year, and

439
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,200
I expect all those things to come back. He just

440
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,759
needs to not get a freak injury, like no one

441
00:19:55,799 --> 00:19:57,759
gets that injury he got last year. That's an injury

442
00:19:57,799 --> 00:20:01,880
you get from getting into a car accident like and

443
00:20:01,759 --> 00:20:05,000
then the the freak injury that derailed his what would

444
00:20:05,039 --> 00:20:07,319
have been his rookie year. That's also just an insane,

445
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,720
freak accident. So I still have hope. Some people kind

446
00:20:11,759 --> 00:20:14,680
of that don't watch chat as much, We're like, why

447
00:20:14,799 --> 00:20:16,559
is he getting the max contract? He was horrible in

448
00:20:16,599 --> 00:20:19,680
the finals, Like well, because of the player that we

449
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,839
know he can be when he is given the time

450
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:23,960
to get healthy. And he was still amazing on defense,

451
00:20:24,039 --> 00:20:30,279
even it's the offensive ceiling that that is so reliant

452
00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:34,680
upon his like physicality and being in health. Yes, that's fair.

453
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,640
Speaker 1: Also, if we've paid players based off one playoff series,

454
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:43,240
I don't know which would have made throughout Yep, Taylor,

455
00:20:43,279 --> 00:20:46,240
what's like the one I guess developmental arena that you're

456
00:20:46,279 --> 00:20:48,160
going to be tracking with him most closely? Is it

457
00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,880
just we want more three point volume? Is it like

458
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:52,680
getting to more of those pull ups just because he's

459
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,680
so tall and being able to rise and fire over

460
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:56,759
those guys? Is it something else? What are you looking for?

461
00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:58,839
Speaker 2: So I'll give you an honorable mention. I'll give you

462
00:20:58,839 --> 00:21:02,039
my answer, honorable men with three point shot, Like Silva said,

463
00:21:02,079 --> 00:21:04,319
he was off to a great start before that hip

464
00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:07,240
injury against Golden State to start the season last year

465
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,079
was hitting him at a higher clip. His shot had

466
00:21:09,079 --> 00:21:11,640
a little more arc there, his release was quicker, and

467
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,160
a lot of that was because he had his legs

468
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,160
under him. So when he came back post injury, like

469
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,799
Silva just talked, just talked about, he could just tell

470
00:21:18,839 --> 00:21:20,759
his legs were shot. He's still trying to get back

471
00:21:20,759 --> 00:21:23,119
into game shape, but also just doesn't have that strength.

472
00:21:23,319 --> 00:21:24,559
So if you look at a lot of his shot

473
00:21:24,599 --> 00:21:26,920
attempts in the finals and throw out the playoffs, a

474
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,599
lot of them were kind of like lying drives. I

475
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:31,480
think he even had like a brick. I'm trying to

476
00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,279
remember what series that was, but it was just way

477
00:21:33,279 --> 00:21:36,200
off right. So Honorable mentioned to the three point shot.

478
00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,200
But I think something that we've talked about with chet,

479
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,359
you know, Silva mentioned getting to watch him. We talked

480
00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:43,599
pre podcast, pre recording about getting to go and watch

481
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,119
him in summer league, his rookie year before that injury

482
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,000
against Lebron in the Pro Am. And one thing that

483
00:21:49,039 --> 00:21:51,240
stood out to us then that is still true today

484
00:21:51,599 --> 00:21:55,119
is he does struggle handling the ball, and that means

485
00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:59,720
getting downhill to the basket, that means distributing. But he's

486
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,160
also player, and again talk so much about press ball,

487
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,160
but the type of player you want to have the

488
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:05,759
ball in his hands, let him just rip it off

489
00:22:05,759 --> 00:22:08,240
the rim, start pushing the ball. In transition, you also

490
00:22:08,319 --> 00:22:09,720
want him attacking the rim at the top of the

491
00:22:09,759 --> 00:22:11,319
key when he gets the ball in his hands. And

492
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:13,920
so what you've seen opposing teams and coaches go to

493
00:22:14,279 --> 00:22:16,720
is putting a smaller guard defender on him that allows

494
00:22:16,759 --> 00:22:19,400
them to be able to pick his dribble right results

495
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,319
in steals and turnovers. But during that same stretch where

496
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:24,680
the three point shot also looks better, his handle was

497
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,599
as well, and the strength that he was going to

498
00:22:26,599 --> 00:22:29,880
the rim getting to the free throw line was significantly improved.

499
00:22:30,079 --> 00:22:32,759
So the hope is after this offseason of full health,

500
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,000
we'll get back to that level and be able to

501
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,720
continue to improve at it. But I think for me

502
00:22:36,759 --> 00:22:38,880
that's the next big step, and chet's a big next

503
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,359
evolution in chess offensive game.

504
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you have to be right, just because

505
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,480
like even the pump and go stuff that he would

506
00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:48,119
be able to do if the handle's better, and just

507
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,200
the chaots you don't even need a great handle part

508
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,039
of the Thunders offense because the chaos that they'll be

509
00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:54,720
able to inflict on the defenses. But I also think

510
00:22:54,799 --> 00:22:57,000
like the getting to the rim element would be great.

511
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,200
But I think he could leverage just his size and

512
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,759
like can he turn those pumping drives but like he's

513
00:23:01,799 --> 00:23:03,599
pulling up in those drives or it's like can you

514
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,279
even do like the christaps porzingis thing? Where's the stand

515
00:23:06,279 --> 00:23:07,960
still pull up catching shit? I don't need to see

516
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,400
chet on the block for thirteen fourteen possessions a game,

517
00:23:11,759 --> 00:23:13,680
But like, I think that that's something he could probably

518
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,720
lean a little bit more on. And I also wonder

519
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,920
if like those are the types of shots that maybe

520
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:20,240
would be easier on his body. Then where if you

521
00:23:20,279 --> 00:23:21,960
are going to try and drive or roll and get

522
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,319
all the way to the basket like that is going

523
00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:25,920
to extract a physical toll. And he just as Jad

524
00:23:26,039 --> 00:23:27,880
said before, he's dealing with these freak injuries. I'm just

525
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:29,400
trying to keep him out as harm's way as long

526
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,519
as possible at this point. Yeah, how worried Taylor are

527
00:23:33,559 --> 00:23:36,960
we about the JDub wrist issue? Just because it was

528
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,240
to his shooting hand, was it not?

529
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 3: It was?

530
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:44,039
Speaker 2: And so again J Dub he does these YouTube blogs

531
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,519
that him and his like kind of inner circle put out,

532
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,960
and because it was mentioned in Sam Presci's Sexy interview,

533
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,480
he went ahead and address it because he was getting

534
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:52,880
so many questions about it. He was like, I wasn't

535
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,039
gonna say anything, but here's the deal. It happened in

536
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,559
Phoenix late in the season, right before the playoffs. I

537
00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:02,799
had to start playing through it. It was brutal. I'm

538
00:24:02,799 --> 00:24:07,000
getting multiple shots each game that I can I'm you know, numbing,

539
00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:08,880
like all the different things. He's like going through different

540
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:10,640
wraps trying to find the right thing. And he said

541
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,960
basically like, thank goodness we swept Memphis because I needed

542
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,480
that extra time with the training staff to readjust and

543
00:24:17,519 --> 00:24:20,119
relearn how to shoot the basketball. He was like, instead

544
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,160
of like catch and shoot, like using your fingertips like

545
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,359
you usually do with your you know, your wrist positioned,

546
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,559
he basically had to like use his arm to position

547
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,680
his hand under the ball to be able to get

548
00:24:29,759 --> 00:24:31,279
enough arc and to be able to get a shot off.

549
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,119
Just some crazy stuff like that dribbling with one hand.

550
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,480
So it's incredible what he was able to do with

551
00:24:37,559 --> 00:24:41,400
one wrist. I'm not overly concerned though. It's an injury.

552
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,319
I think that he's already progressing through going through his rehab.

553
00:24:44,559 --> 00:24:46,400
Even saw him like post a video of him already

554
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,039
taking his his cast or his wrap off or whatever.

555
00:24:49,759 --> 00:24:51,599
It will take some time, but he's got that time.

556
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:53,480
So long as he stays healthy, I think he'll get

557
00:24:53,559 --> 00:24:56,119
right back into form. And based off what we saw

558
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,799
those last couple of rounds of the playoffs, especially the finals,

559
00:24:59,319 --> 00:25:01,000
that is scary for the rest of the league. If

560
00:25:01,039 --> 00:25:03,319
you have a Jadab two hands ready to go.

561
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,880
Speaker 1: Jad what's the next step for Jill was and also

562
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,319
is he's just gonna come back and like just be

563
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:10,920
a whiz with his left now.

564
00:25:11,319 --> 00:25:16,599
Speaker 3: I have to think that him like still being very

565
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,880
effective with only like one and a half hands has

566
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,960
to give him at least like some confidence that he

567
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,759
can score in a number of different ways. That was

568
00:25:24,839 --> 00:25:27,319
kind of my biggest thing for Jadab as a point

569
00:25:27,319 --> 00:25:30,720
of improvement, was like being a go to scorer. That is, like,

570
00:25:30,759 --> 00:25:33,079
if you're a star player, which he has become, you

571
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,720
do have to be It's like, if Sja is getting

572
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,640
triple teamed, what can you do for us in this?

573
00:25:37,759 --> 00:25:40,440
Can you manufacture a bucket out of nowhere? That's kind

574
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,839
of the stuff I still look for with him, and

575
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,440
I was looking for all last playoffs before I realized,

576
00:25:45,839 --> 00:25:48,559
oh yeah, he doesn't have one one of his hands

577
00:25:48,599 --> 00:25:52,079
his numb and not working. So it was still amazing

578
00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:53,640
what he was able to accomplish. But that would be

579
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:58,519
it for Jada. It's scoring off the dribble, taking more

580
00:25:58,559 --> 00:26:02,400
threes especially, uh, that was I was complaining all playoffs.

581
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,079
Why an't you take going more threes? Why it makes sense?

582
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:07,519
But yeah, he is. He has all the talent in

583
00:26:07,559 --> 00:26:11,680
the world to be more of like the earlier Paul

584
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,720
George shot archetype of guy of like guys jumbo wing

585
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,640
jumbo wing, like his Judy mechanics look amazing, just take

586
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,640
take more. But he is more of a power player

587
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,440
than Paul George. Ever, yeah, sure, he's more in like

588
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,119
the Jimmy Butler archetype. I think.

589
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 2: Well, and speaking of power, Silva, that's my biggest thing

590
00:26:28,759 --> 00:26:31,000
for Jadab. We taught we had the same exact conversation

591
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,319
about Shae Guilis Alexander here a couple of seasons ago

592
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,839
before the season on our show and said, for Shay

593
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,240
to reach stardom, he's going to have to find a

594
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,039
way to get to the free throw line. People are

595
00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:41,680
going to laugh at that as they're listening to this

596
00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:44,279
right now in hindsight, but that was the truth, and

597
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,400
he did that that next season and was then the

598
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,359
MVP conversation for the first time. Jadab has to be

599
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,480
able to utilize that size. He has the ball handling

600
00:26:51,559 --> 00:26:54,279
ability in comparison like Chet that we just talked about.

601
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:54,759
Speaker 3: Uh.

602
00:26:54,839 --> 00:26:57,039
Speaker 2: He obviously has the power to get downhill. He's got

603
00:26:57,079 --> 00:26:58,759
to find a way to be able to draw contact,

604
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:00,880
to get the calls and be all finish your contact

605
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:01,880
to get to his free throw line.

606
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 1: I do it just feels like if his pull up

607
00:27:05,079 --> 00:27:06,599
jumper and I think, what was he like forty eight

608
00:27:06,599 --> 00:27:08,680
percent on pull up twos last year, it feels like

609
00:27:08,759 --> 00:27:11,200
his pull up jumper could just be like a little

610
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,599
more efficient that there's just gonna be some like really

611
00:27:13,599 --> 00:27:16,079
inflammatory talk about and I mean from beyond the arc too.

612
00:27:16,079 --> 00:27:17,440
I think he was at thirty percent on pull up

613
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,839
threes last year. If that's like a number, whereas effective

614
00:27:19,839 --> 00:27:22,240
field goal percentage is like in the mid fifties or

615
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,960
higher than that, I feel like there's gonna be a

616
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,759
lot and we've already had them on this podcast because

617
00:27:26,799 --> 00:27:29,319
Grant is like in love with Jada, they might have

618
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,440
gone that they might have the same Alma Mado. Who knows,

619
00:27:31,759 --> 00:27:36,079
but that like, it feels like we're very close to Oh,

620
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,160
is Jalen Williams a top ten player type of talk?

621
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,759
If that's something that he does, which does kind of

622
00:27:42,799 --> 00:27:44,519
leave me my next question though, and I'll throw it

623
00:27:44,559 --> 00:27:47,559
to you first, Taylor, will there ever be like, is

624
00:27:47,599 --> 00:27:51,119
the debate between Chet and Jalen? Is it already over?

625
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,119
Is there room for it to continue? Is it one

626
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,240
that even thunder fans are gonna like have or is

627
00:27:55,279 --> 00:27:57,480
this what people like myself are going to talk about

628
00:27:57,519 --> 00:27:59,920
where we have that ten thousand foot view of everything.

629
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,359
Speaker 2: Well, I'll give you my pres d speak, my thunder speak,

630
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:08,039
just in case anybody's listening. They don't care internally, right,

631
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,480
Jadub and Chet, neither of them care. Shay Gillis Alexander

632
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,559
doesn't have a preference. Nobody on the roster, nobody on

633
00:28:13,559 --> 00:28:16,039
the coaching staff has a preference. It doesn't matter whoever

634
00:28:16,079 --> 00:28:18,000
has the ball they trust to make the right decisions,

635
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,359
to make the right plays on any given night. And

636
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,720
sometimes it's going to be Chet Hungren. Sometimes it's going

637
00:28:22,759 --> 00:28:25,279
to be SGA. Sometimes it's going to be jadab or

638
00:28:25,319 --> 00:28:28,640
like we saw I believe game five of the Minnesota

639
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,599
Timberwold series. Sometimes it's going to be all three internally,

640
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,799
not debate amongst Thunder fans. Yeah, I mean, there's always

641
00:28:34,839 --> 00:28:36,599
going to be some of that who do you prefer more?

642
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,880
But it's all in good fun. But as national narratives do,

643
00:28:41,039 --> 00:28:43,519
and like we know with the big outlets, media outlets,

644
00:28:44,359 --> 00:28:47,119
those conversations are always going to happen. But I will

645
00:28:47,119 --> 00:28:50,079
say this, Grant's going to love me for this. I

646
00:28:50,119 --> 00:28:52,759
am on record on the uncontested I believe two summers

647
00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:56,039
ago now saying that whenever the Thunder won their champion,

648
00:28:56,119 --> 00:28:59,359
their first championship with this era of the Thunder, Jaylen

649
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,400
Williams would shake Giles Alexander's one bee on the team

650
00:29:03,839 --> 00:29:07,359
like up there tied for best player. What I failed

651
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,519
to also predict was Gills Alexander becoming one of the

652
00:29:10,559 --> 00:29:13,920
best players in the world. So I think there's still

653
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,039
a pretty clear divide between number one and number two

654
00:29:16,039 --> 00:29:19,119
on the Thunder. But that being said, it's just incredible

655
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,079
what ch he has been able to develop into. And

656
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,359
just like you mentioned with his shooting, his shot creation

657
00:29:24,839 --> 00:29:26,680
is still whenn't surprise me if he's the second best

658
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,079
player long term for this era of the Thunder.

659
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:31,799
Speaker 1: What about you, j d Where are you out on that?

660
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,079
Speaker 3: Yeah, we talked pretty pod about how much I loved

661
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,839
Chet and that's just something so enticing about a player

662
00:29:40,119 --> 00:29:43,920
of his archetype on a seven footer that can dribble, pass, shoot,

663
00:29:44,079 --> 00:29:45,799
be one of the best defenders in the NBA. Like

664
00:29:45,839 --> 00:29:47,519
I think Chet is like a top five defender in

665
00:29:47,559 --> 00:29:51,079
the NBA, And if he could just channel the offense

666
00:29:51,759 --> 00:29:57,119
and continue to develop his slender man esque body, that's

667
00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,640
where it's like, yeah, he could be better than Jada

668
00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:03,359
is higher, but we're also seeing that the floor is lower.

669
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,480
Jada does feel like more of a sure thing at

670
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,279
this point in time. And I think your average thunderfan

671
00:30:09,359 --> 00:30:11,720
would say, yeah, Jadab's second best guy, and we hope

672
00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:14,160
Chet can stay healthy. That's kind of it's kind of

673
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,160
the thing there. But I'm still fascinated by by Chat personally.

674
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: As you should be. I would probably, uh, I wouldn't.

675
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:22,880
Probably I lean towards j Dub because I'm always going

676
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:28,480
to gravitate towards people that have more control over the offense. Yeah,

677
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,359
it's just something that I like, That's just what my

678
00:30:31,359 --> 00:30:33,240
eyes are attracted to, I guess. And then also, as

679
00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:35,880
you mentioned, the floor with Chet and the injuries like that,

680
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,599
stuff can all get kind of bizarre, and I there's

681
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,079
room for him to improve as a passer though, and

682
00:30:41,119 --> 00:30:43,920
he is I think the art Maybe the strongest argument

683
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:49,000
for him is Chet's the bigger anomaly for what he is.

684
00:30:49,039 --> 00:30:51,240
Like Jay dubb is, Okay, what he could do defensively

685
00:30:51,359 --> 00:30:53,279
is just yeah, that stands out for someone who's six

686
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,720
five sixty six whatever he is. But like Chet is

687
00:30:56,319 --> 00:30:58,640
a seven footer who in theory on offense like can

688
00:30:58,720 --> 00:30:59,799
just play like a wing.

689
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,759
Speaker 3: Or a Yeah, he's a more rare archetype of player.

690
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,119
And that's that's gonna be uh, it's that's the more

691
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,680
fascinating player. Jadab is like obviously amazing and has already

692
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,400
made an NBA team and an All Star team and

693
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,359
an All Defense team. But you have seen more Jadabs

694
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,519
throughout history than you have jets. What did you make

695
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,759
of year one of the Isaiah Hartenstein experience. I was

696
00:31:24,839 --> 00:31:32,559
so surprised, pleasantly surprised by Hartenstein. I was actually I didn't.

697
00:31:32,559 --> 00:31:34,319
I didn't watched much of him before he got there,

698
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,599
and I remember his first free throw line floater made

699
00:31:38,599 --> 00:31:40,720
me like jump. I was like, what the hell is that?

700
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:42,640
Because it was because he's a lefty and you don't

701
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,640
see many lefty big like no one else does that

702
00:31:45,799 --> 00:31:52,279
really unless you're like Jokic. He's a very strange, fascinating player.

703
00:31:52,279 --> 00:31:55,640
He's like a combination of guys that we have loved

704
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,519
throughout Thunder history. I always said he's like some combo

705
00:31:58,599 --> 00:32:01,160
of Nick Collison and Steven Adam in like a more

706
00:32:01,279 --> 00:32:05,039
modern version of that, which is amazing, Which is amazing.

707
00:32:05,079 --> 00:32:09,240
Those are two like cult heroes in Thunder fandom. And

708
00:32:09,759 --> 00:32:12,720
I wish he and Chet had more time together because

709
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,319
I think that could have been better. They really only

710
00:32:15,359 --> 00:32:18,480
played How many games did they play together? Taylor twenty? Yeah?

711
00:32:18,599 --> 00:32:21,599
Speaker 1: Was it that I was about to say, because I

712
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,119
was one of my questions is I was like, so

713
00:32:23,119 --> 00:32:25,920
we're gonna get a chance, assuming they're healthy together this year, Well,

714
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:27,720
we get a chance to see more interplay. I'm a

715
00:32:27,759 --> 00:32:29,680
sucker to sucker for big to big passing.

716
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 2: It's absolutely the two off each other. I mean, we

717
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,720
saw it start to flourish there in the playoffs as

718
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,480
they got a little more comfortable with some of those

719
00:32:37,599 --> 00:32:39,880
big to big lobs which are just so fun. You

720
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:41,960
throw the ball down to iHeart and like the high

721
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,279
post of the free throw line, you got check hunting

722
00:32:44,319 --> 00:32:46,920
back door. He throws a lob up between two defenders

723
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,680
for an ali up, Like, it doesn't get more pretty

724
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:48,960
than that.

725
00:32:50,359 --> 00:32:51,599
Speaker 1: Do you think that's gonna become more of a ste

726
00:32:51,799 --> 00:32:54,319
Like even during the non Shay minutes is just where

727
00:32:54,319 --> 00:32:56,519
people were getting a lot of the stuff wrong, Like

728
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:58,559
they took on early season, it felt like the Thunder

729
00:32:58,559 --> 00:33:01,319
were struggling. They were so short handed without Hay on

730
00:33:01,319 --> 00:33:03,359
the floor offensively, but as the season went on, like

731
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,359
those numbers were progressively improved. And that's like, I don't

732
00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:09,359
know how much they want to play Chet and Isaiah

733
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,519
Harnt signed together when Shay's off the floor, but that

734
00:33:11,559 --> 00:33:13,319
feels like one of the valves they could have. You

735
00:33:13,319 --> 00:33:15,640
don't think you have anyone other than Jadub on the

736
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,680
roster who could help you shoulder some of the scoring

737
00:33:17,759 --> 00:33:18,799
an offensive generation.

738
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,839
Speaker 2: No, absolutely, I do think we will definitely see more

739
00:33:21,839 --> 00:33:24,880
of that. It's kind of funny we like had the

740
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,079
big debate after, you know, heading into the season about

741
00:33:27,079 --> 00:33:29,799
this time last year, where because they did bring in

742
00:33:29,799 --> 00:33:31,400
iHeart and they did bring in Cruso, it was like,

743
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,559
what's the starting five going to be? We all took

744
00:33:33,599 --> 00:33:35,839
guesses and we were all wrong. And not only that,

745
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,279
we talked so much about how Mark Dagano always has

746
00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:40,480
his starting five. He hasn't really changed it up much,

747
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,640
and it was different throughout the entire season. But what

748
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,200
we did see there towards the end of the season

749
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,400
is the double bigs were who started, and obviously that

750
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:51,000
led to some conversations during the playoffs and they switched

751
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,160
it up a little bit. But I know, like Jacob

752
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,200
our Guy, Jacob myself, we'd really see Cason Wallace slide

753
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,839
in there potentially to a starting lineup, but knowing Mark,

754
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:02,680
he might just go ahead and start them anyways and

755
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,599
then try and stagger, so you have one big at

756
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,400
all times depending on the lineup.

757
00:34:07,519 --> 00:34:09,679
Speaker 1: JD. I think when you look at and I know

758
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,079
this scales too far ahead, but Isaiah Hartenstein's team option

759
00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:15,679
for twenty six twenty seven has been one of the

760
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,519
examples uses well, this is how the thunder can help navigate.

761
00:34:18,599 --> 00:34:20,880
Like the quote unquote financial crisis that might be coming

762
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:22,960
for them. And while I do think like there could

763
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,960
be something, Okay, decline of team option, try and get

764
00:34:25,039 --> 00:34:28,880
him back for cheaper is he I know you have Chet,

765
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,159
I know you have Big jaywill there too, but like,

766
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,679
is he really that expendable when you're looking at a

767
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,480
lot of the things he does, especially when it comes

768
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,480
to his presence on the glass, the physicality he brings

769
00:34:38,519 --> 00:34:40,960
up front, the way he can insulate Chet against some

770
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:42,840
of those defenses. I just feel like people are kind

771
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,000
of writing off the Yeah, like the thunder can just

772
00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:46,519
get rid of him, and like that's how they're going

773
00:34:46,559 --> 00:34:48,360
to navigate some of this financial crunching.

774
00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, you make a really good point, and that has

775
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,840
been kind of the biggest, my biggest concern, where like

776
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,519
you said, like, yeah, we can, we can avoid it

777
00:34:55,519 --> 00:34:58,920
by just declining the player option and see a lady, iHeart,

778
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,719
we loved you while you were he don't need you anymore.

779
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,239
It is more complicated than that, though. He is super

780
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,519
super valuable to the team, and that's why they spent

781
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,719
what was it fifteen sober was picked fifteen I believe, Yeah,

782
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,000
that's why they picked him because it's like he's gonna

783
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:22,039
be our next Heartenstein in two years. Well maybe not,

784
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:26,159
we'll see, but no, I mean, with Chet's history, you

785
00:35:26,199 --> 00:35:29,079
do need a different guy. It's the peanut butter and

786
00:35:29,159 --> 00:35:33,119
jelly scenario. Iheart's peanut butter. Jada Check can be the jelly,

787
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,119
and I love Jay, will love him to death, But

788
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:40,119
I don't know if he's a high minute backup center

789
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,480
in that way, he works better as a third big

790
00:35:42,519 --> 00:35:43,800
I think agreed.

791
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:47,559
Speaker 1: Let's talk Kayson Wallace. I don't know if you guys

792
00:35:47,559 --> 00:35:51,400
have heard the latest Zach Lowe episode, and I was

793
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,079
just shocked to hear this name come up. And to

794
00:35:53,119 --> 00:35:55,440
be fair, it was in the tier of players who

795
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,559
he could see having an outside chance of doing this.

796
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:01,320
Cason Wallace was a most improved player can for him? Yeah,

797
00:36:02,039 --> 00:36:05,599
that just I assign a lot of value to opportunity

798
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:07,519
when it comes to that award, And I just don't

799
00:36:07,559 --> 00:36:09,679
see Case and Wallace ever having it, at least the

800
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:12,760
way it's currently constructed, or unless catastrophe strikes in the

801
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,079
form of injuries. But what is the actual next I

802
00:36:16,079 --> 00:36:17,480
think it's easy to boil it down to a case

803
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,239
watch just hit your corner threes again. And like we're

804
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,280
golden here, but Taylor, like what is the next what

805
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:22,840
are the next steps for him or what is his

806
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:24,000
ceiling within this core?

807
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,480
Speaker 2: So I think you nailed that. The biggest factor here

808
00:36:28,039 --> 00:36:30,599
is just the way that this team is constructed. It

809
00:36:30,679 --> 00:36:33,760
does make it difficult to not only find playing time

810
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,760
for all these prospects, but also to get the ball

811
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:40,360
in their hands. That's exactly case and Wallace's next evolution,

812
00:36:40,599 --> 00:36:42,960
especially offensively, we know he's a great defender. We know

813
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:44,639
he'll continue to improve. He's never going to be a

814
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,280
Jada that can guard one through five, but he's going

815
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,119
to be a lockdown you can guard one through the

816
00:36:49,159 --> 00:36:53,639
wave of exactly not versatile enough, sorry, Case, but he's

817
00:36:53,639 --> 00:36:55,960
absolutely going to be a lockdown defender, maybe an elite

818
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,360
definit perimeter defender who can guard went through three. We

819
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,679
know that's going to improve. Offensively, I think he's always

820
00:37:01,679 --> 00:37:03,079
going to be the guy who probably can be a

821
00:37:03,519 --> 00:37:06,000
little streaky from outside, but like you said, can always

822
00:37:06,039 --> 00:37:07,800
fit that three and d roll. But I think with

823
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:09,599
the thunder really see with him. And if you look

824
00:37:09,639 --> 00:37:12,039
back at his high school tape and then you look

825
00:37:12,079 --> 00:37:14,199
back to that Kentucky season, his rookie year or his

826
00:37:14,199 --> 00:37:16,559
freshman year where they have the injury, so Cason was

827
00:37:16,599 --> 00:37:18,000
forced to play a little more point guard like he

828
00:37:18,039 --> 00:37:20,559
did growing up. That's the next evolution and we saw

829
00:37:20,559 --> 00:37:22,159
a little bit of that down the latter part of

830
00:37:22,159 --> 00:37:26,000
the season, a little less in the playoffs, but him

831
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,920
bring the ball up and actually initiating getting Shae freed

832
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:30,199
up so that way he can come up and get

833
00:37:30,199 --> 00:37:34,039
the ball. I mean, you talked about Dan, but those

834
00:37:34,039 --> 00:37:36,360
second units when you don't have Shay and he went

835
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:38,880
dub to be the primary score and maybe he's taken

836
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,280
on a little too much responsibility being the primary distributor

837
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,159
with the ball in his hands. Like having a player

838
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:45,000
like at Cason Wallace or an Aj Mitchell which we're

839
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:46,719
about to get into who can step up and do

840
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,639
that for this team is huge. So I think for me,

841
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:50,760
that next step in Cason's evolution, I mean, we know

842
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:51,119
he can.

843
00:37:51,039 --> 00:37:51,519
Speaker 3: Get to the room.

844
00:37:51,599 --> 00:37:54,000
Speaker 2: He's explosive as well, it's going to be the ball handling.

845
00:37:54,199 --> 00:37:57,280
Now to your point, can he get enough reps to

846
00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,039
really be able to take that leap this season?

847
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 1: Jad? Do you think he's able to get there? When

848
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:04,440
looking at and I would agree with all the playmaking stuff.

849
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:08,000
Taylor said, do you think he can be like if

850
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,440
he's going against a defense that's tilted or he's in transition.

851
00:38:10,519 --> 00:38:12,239
I have no question when you're looking at him trying

852
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,039
to run a half court offense, do you think that

853
00:38:14,119 --> 00:38:17,079
he has that in him? Is it still? We haven't

854
00:38:17,119 --> 00:38:18,880
seen enough of that? I mean, like he had some

855
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,559
good moments in Summer League this year, but like, where

856
00:38:21,559 --> 00:38:25,559
do you, like, do you see that level in him?

857
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,079
Speaker 3: I don't know if I see like the primary initiator stuff.

858
00:38:29,079 --> 00:38:33,480
He's always been in the Drew Holliday archetype of guard.

859
00:38:33,599 --> 00:38:35,639
Where he is if he's your second guard out there

860
00:38:36,119 --> 00:38:40,519
doing the secondary playmaking. Hell, yes, we're feeling good. And

861
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,559
I don't think he's gonna be the primary ballhanded if

862
00:38:43,559 --> 00:38:46,039
he was, if he was able to do that, that's

863
00:38:46,039 --> 00:38:47,920
a player I worry about being able to afford, to

864
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:52,159
be honest, if he can do so much other stuff.

865
00:38:52,199 --> 00:38:55,400
And I think the Thunder might also feel that way,

866
00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:57,519
and that's why they've added a couple of other guys

867
00:38:57,559 --> 00:38:59,559
that are really good off the dribble and really good

868
00:38:59,559 --> 00:39:02,000
at the playmaking aspect that I know we'll talk about

869
00:39:02,079 --> 00:39:06,639
later in this show. Yeah, I love Cason Wallace. Amazing defender,

870
00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:12,480
amazing transition player, amazing just attacking closeouts. The shooting is

871
00:39:12,559 --> 00:39:16,400
streaky playmaking. I'm not totally sold on, and I think

872
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,400
that's okay, that's okay he can be I mean, Caruso

873
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,800
doesn't do that for us now. He could be an

874
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:23,960
iteration of that. Lou Dort doesn't do that now, and

875
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:25,079
he can be an iteration of that.

876
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:27,559
Speaker 1: I feel like lou Dort thinks he can do that

877
00:39:27,599 --> 00:39:28,440
though he does.

878
00:39:28,559 --> 00:39:31,480
Speaker 3: Oh my god, he does that.

879
00:39:31,599 --> 00:39:33,559
Speaker 2: Man has the utmost confidence.

880
00:39:34,039 --> 00:39:38,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, he Jady, you mentioned being worried about if Caseon

881
00:39:38,159 --> 00:39:42,440
Wallas does actually become like his highest end outcome affording him.

882
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:43,800
I think one of the things that really helps out

883
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,960
the Thunders at this point, AJ Mitchell is going to

884
00:39:46,039 --> 00:39:48,320
pay them to play for the team for the next

885
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:49,320
like three four years.

886
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:50,280
Speaker 3: Yeah.

887
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: I also want to I'm gonna do a victory lap

888
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,679
for Taylor, Jacob and myself. We did last year Taylor

889
00:39:55,039 --> 00:39:57,079
like three to four minutes on AJ Mitchell. I want

890
00:39:57,119 --> 00:39:59,519
to know what other national podcast in the preseason did

891
00:40:00,079 --> 00:40:03,760
even thirty seconds Mitchell. Yes, we did it. We did it.

892
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,039
Speaker 2: Not Hardwood Knocks, but.

893
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:10,519
Speaker 1: JD, where are you at with like the AJ Mitchell experience?

894
00:40:10,559 --> 00:40:11,960
And I just I have to every time I say

895
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,280
his name, I just have to reiterate for his injury.

896
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:15,880
I know the Thunder were banged up. He was in

897
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:19,960
the rotation of what became the NBA champion Like that

898
00:40:20,159 --> 00:40:22,519
was like insane, that's just insane.

899
00:40:22,559 --> 00:40:25,039
Speaker 2: The same time and Game one of the NBA Finals,

900
00:40:25,079 --> 00:40:27,039
coming back from his injury, We're all like, wait, is

901
00:40:27,039 --> 00:40:27,800
that aj.

902
00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:30,119
Speaker 1: Kevi It' said? You know, he wasn't in there the

903
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:31,960
rotation the entire time teller. So I'm just wondering if

904
00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:34,840
he's a bus and if they're better off trading him. Right, So,

905
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:36,800
but Jad's so, where are you kind of at with

906
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,039
your early impressions of him and like what you see

907
00:40:39,039 --> 00:40:41,079
for him as a ceiling or best fit long term

908
00:40:41,079 --> 00:40:41,719
with this team.

909
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:46,119
Speaker 3: I it feels a little silly because the Thunder just

910
00:40:46,199 --> 00:40:48,280
keep It feels like they just keep finding these guys

911
00:40:49,119 --> 00:40:53,039
where most teams don't pick an AJ Mitchell when they're

912
00:40:53,079 --> 00:40:55,599
already as good as as as the Thunder. Because I'm

913
00:40:55,679 --> 00:40:58,719
very high on aj Mitchell, Like I think he's really good.

914
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:03,000
I've made comparisons and he is not this player in

915
00:41:03,039 --> 00:41:04,840
any way at this one time. To be very clear,

916
00:41:06,159 --> 00:41:11,559
Andrew Nemhart, I think they are similar archetypes of players, right, No,

917
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,679
I could, I could go higher, but that's like the

918
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,719
archetype I see him as which down the road when

919
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,960
Caruso and maybe a Dort aren't here anymore. If you

920
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,239
have Casin and aj that's amazing like that, that's that's amazing.

921
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,079
And this guy is on you know, part of navigating

922
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,280
uh the salary cap and things of that nature. Something

923
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,360
you don't think of that much is sometimes Presley gets

924
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,239
players on scam contracts. Because a J. Mitchell is making

925
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:42,880
like two percent of the cap over the past few years.

926
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,280
Speaker 1: I don't even know if it's that.

927
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:47,800
Speaker 3: Like one point five to two percent of the cap.

928
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,639
And Aaron Wiggins another guy on a scam contract, like

929
00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:54,119
he's making like eight mill a year over the next

930
00:41:54,159 --> 00:41:59,079
three years, I think, and declining and declining. He can

931
00:41:59,119 --> 00:42:01,239
make so much, he can make so much more. Isaia

932
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,239
Joe is another guy. But yeah, it's a J. Mitchell

933
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,440
I see. I want to see a bunch of minutes

934
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,239
from him, and it's tough because there's like twelve guys.

935
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:10,599
I want to see a bunch of minutes for but

936
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:12,760
he's awesome and he showed it in summer league. He

937
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,920
was a he was in the too good for Summer

938
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,320
League camp. In my opinion, he.

939
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,880
Speaker 1: Was I had. I did a redraft. I was a

940
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,039
month into the season and I had him as a

941
00:42:22,039 --> 00:42:25,760
lottery pick. To my redraft, I caught so much shit,

942
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,920
and that redraft looks awful. Now. You should see some

943
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,039
of the stuff I got wrong. And I look back

944
00:42:30,039 --> 00:42:32,599
at that particular. I look at that and I'm like,

945
00:42:32,599 --> 00:42:34,280
you know, I don't know if number eleven was high

946
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:36,960
enough for a J Mitchell in that trap now or whatever.

947
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,639
Speaker 3: It's awesome, Yeah, not. I've not heard hardly anyone talk

948
00:42:40,639 --> 00:42:42,320
about him on national podcasts.

949
00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:44,639
Speaker 1: So it was just funny because I don't even remember

950
00:42:44,679 --> 00:42:46,760
we said something about I forget what it was, but

951
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,880
I just remember specifically that Taylor and Jacob were able

952
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:51,880
to talk to me for a few minutes about AJ Mitchell,

953
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:53,000
and it was just, you know what, thought it ended

954
00:42:53,079 --> 00:42:55,239
up working out. That wasn't just us covering our bases.

955
00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:57,559
Speaker 2: We were, I think we were saying after seeing him

956
00:42:57,559 --> 00:43:00,800
in Summer League, and so you like you do what

957
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,239
you always do and ask incredible questions. I think it

958
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,639
was like, what guy are we not talking about? And

959
00:43:05,679 --> 00:43:08,039
we started rubbing her hands and we were like, hey,

960
00:43:08,079 --> 00:43:08,760
Mitchell time.

961
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm like waiting for the Uzman jang renaissance to start,

962
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:16,000
and you guys are like, well, let's talk about Mitchell.

963
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:20,800
So these two guys, I think when you look at

964
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:24,400
the I think Jad mentioned Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins

965
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,239
just kind of in the same breath there. If you

966
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,039
want to keep the top of this roster together while

967
00:43:30,079 --> 00:43:33,559
Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins are on these steal of

968
00:43:33,599 --> 00:43:36,119
a deals, that might also be where you start to

969
00:43:36,159 --> 00:43:39,360
cut ways with certain players. Is there anything that could

970
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,679
happen this season or to start this season tailor that

971
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,840
accelerates that process in anyway from the Thunder's perspective, with

972
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,320
one of those guys one who would be most likely

973
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:49,920
to but like two, what is that?

974
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:50,400
Speaker 2: Like?

975
00:43:50,519 --> 00:43:52,599
Speaker 1: Why are they doing that? Like what happened with Cason

976
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:54,639
Wallace and our aj Mitchell that would compel them to

977
00:43:54,679 --> 00:43:56,559
do that? And for anyone listening, I'll only asking this

978
00:43:56,639 --> 00:43:59,360
question because if you're the Thunder and you're worried about

979
00:44:00,159 --> 00:44:01,840
I lean more towards Isaiah Joe here, But like, if

980
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:04,679
you're worried about finding these guys minutes, you move them

981
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:07,559
while they might still have value, rather than if it's

982
00:44:07,639 --> 00:44:10,199
next offseason and they barely played, their value is gonna

983
00:44:10,199 --> 00:44:10,559
have drop.

984
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:12,800
Speaker 2: Correct. And so I think the first step of that,

985
00:44:13,079 --> 00:44:15,119
I think was the first part of your question, would

986
00:44:15,159 --> 00:44:18,239
be just like you mentioned, especially earlier in the season,

987
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:19,800
and we see the Thunder do this all the time.

988
00:44:20,079 --> 00:44:22,599
This happened last year, Dan, I mean Aaron Wiggins obviously

989
00:44:22,639 --> 00:44:25,320
played a critical role for the Thunder, especially in the

990
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:27,320
latter part of the regular season and in the playoffs

991
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:29,760
as we saw, but there were so many times throughout

992
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:31,920
the season. Thus Thunder fans are sitting there, even more

993
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,039
casual Thunder fans who do get to watch every single

994
00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:36,400
game or sitting there like I just watched that Aaron

995
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:38,760
Wiggins guy from Maryland drop like you know, he say

996
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:41,599
basketball or something. He dropped like twenty something points yesterday

997
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:44,519
or two days ago, and he's not playing tonight. Well,

998
00:44:44,519 --> 00:44:46,480
the reason for that is because they wanted to see

999
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:49,800
players like a Dylan Jones may he rest in Washington,

1000
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,199
which is that's.

1001
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,920
Speaker 1: So funny because they traded the pick that was Dylan

1002
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,199
Jones only to reacquire it, only.

1003
00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:00,480
Speaker 2: To the dump it a year a year later exactly,

1004
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:02,880
And they were targeting him two drafts ago before he

1005
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:05,559
decided to stay at Weaver State and all kinds of

1006
00:45:05,559 --> 00:45:08,400
stuff there. When Pressey wants somebody, he'll go get him,

1007
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,559
just like we saw him maneuver up in the second

1008
00:45:10,639 --> 00:45:12,119
round last year to go up and get a j

1009
00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:13,320
Mitchell in the second.

1010
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:15,559
Speaker 1: Anyway, it's just all there book today.

1011
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,760
Speaker 2: There we go, dud you guys next year so so.

1012
00:45:20,079 --> 00:45:22,679
And also, like you mentioned Oscott some early playing time

1013
00:45:22,719 --> 00:45:24,440
last year as well, and that was at the expensive

1014
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:26,559
players like I mean, Isaiah Joe still got playing time,

1015
00:45:26,599 --> 00:45:29,000
but Wiggins and others. So that's going to be the

1016
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,599
first step. Do they trade a guy like Isaiah Joe

1017
00:45:31,639 --> 00:45:34,280
Air Wiggins this year? Maybe if the right opportunity comes

1018
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,119
across Pressy's always opportunistic, but it's not something I don't

1019
00:45:37,159 --> 00:45:39,039
think he's going to be searching for. I think when

1020
00:45:39,039 --> 00:45:41,440
we're talking about Isaiah Joe and Wiggs stopping on this roster,

1021
00:45:41,599 --> 00:45:43,840
players of that caliber, we're talking more of like this time,

1022
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:46,760
well maybe not this time, but like early offseason next year.

1023
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:50,519
And the second part of your question. The reasoning for

1024
00:45:50,559 --> 00:45:53,119
that is guys like Cason Wallace and aj Mitchell stepping

1025
00:45:53,199 --> 00:45:56,360
up like they have and also just being able. I mean,

1026
00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:58,880
that's one that's some of the beauty of having any

1027
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:02,199
two games in the season, those games in January, especially

1028
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,079
when you have the great team that you do, maybe

1029
00:46:04,079 --> 00:46:06,519
you're kind of securely in the like a top four

1030
00:46:06,599 --> 00:46:08,679
seed in the West. In a random Tuesday night game

1031
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:10,480
in January, you can kind of see what you have

1032
00:46:10,599 --> 00:46:12,960
in nicolotopitch, or you can kind of like let Aj

1033
00:46:13,079 --> 00:46:15,719
Mitchell expand his role and completely run the second unit,

1034
00:46:16,079 --> 00:46:18,280
or you can let Cason Wallace get some more reps

1035
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:20,320
on ball, like we talked about earlier. So that's kind

1036
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:22,119
of why I think how that thunder envisioned these thinks

1037
00:46:22,159 --> 00:46:23,960
and how it all kind of comes together. But to

1038
00:46:24,039 --> 00:46:26,360
your point, does that result in Isaiah jo or Wiggins

1039
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:28,800
being moved off at some point or even them wanting

1040
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:30,840
a new opportunity elsewhere it could?

1041
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,159
Speaker 1: Is there like a challenge though, i'llow that's run to

1042
00:46:34,199 --> 00:46:36,199
j D where it's like looking at Isaia Joe specifically,

1043
00:46:36,239 --> 00:46:38,559
they just prove that he doesn't have to play X

1044
00:46:38,559 --> 00:46:40,639
amount of minutes for them to win the title. But

1045
00:46:40,679 --> 00:46:42,320
he also in theory, like who else is going to

1046
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:46,079
provide the type of offensive pressure that Isaiah Joe does

1047
00:46:46,079 --> 00:46:47,679
for what he's able to do off the ball just

1048
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:49,800
with his shooting, It doesn't feel like that guy's on

1049
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:51,440
the roster. And I don't think I don't see aj

1050
00:46:51,519 --> 00:46:53,599
Mitchell or case and Wallace becoming that guy.

1051
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's not another archetype of Isaiah Joe on the

1052
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,199
team at this point in time. Aaron Wiggins is the closest.

1053
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:01,079
Is the closest thing that So it does feel like

1054
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,559
in the playoffs, usually one of them would play, you know,

1055
00:47:03,599 --> 00:47:06,320
because you need one of those spark plug offensive guys.

1056
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,840
But we saw it wasn't Isaiah Joe most of the playoffs,

1057
00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:11,599
and I think that was for defensive reasons a lot

1058
00:47:11,639 --> 00:47:13,320
of the times, but he also couldn't make shots for

1059
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:14,400
some reason when he was in there.

1060
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,639
Speaker 2: Well, so a little inside Baseball I guess that we

1061
00:47:16,679 --> 00:47:20,039
can share on a national podcast. Isaiah Joe was also

1062
00:47:20,159 --> 00:47:22,639
he Jalen Williams was not the only player on the

1063
00:47:22,679 --> 00:47:25,679
Thunder battling of risk injury to his shooting hands. Now

1064
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:28,360
nothing's come out after the season to be fair. I

1065
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:30,320
don't think Sam even really planned until he was kind

1066
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:32,480
of fired up during his exit interview talked to even

1067
00:47:32,519 --> 00:47:33,719
bring up Jadubb's rist.

1068
00:47:33,639 --> 00:47:34,679
Speaker 3: Injury shock.

1069
00:47:36,119 --> 00:47:37,639
Speaker 1: Information exactly, and.

1070
00:47:37,559 --> 00:47:39,679
Speaker 2: Then he was fired up after the championship wanted to

1071
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:43,960
and and look, there's been nothing announced. For all we know,

1072
00:47:44,039 --> 00:47:46,480
isaia Jo hasn't had a procedure on that wrist or anything.

1073
00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:48,440
In fact, he was at Shay's. He he's up in

1074
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:51,039
Toronto right now, Thunder kind of doing their their players

1075
00:47:51,079 --> 00:47:54,800
only mini camp during Shay's NBA basketball camp. He's throwing

1076
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,000
up back home in Ontario and didn't look like he

1077
00:47:57,039 --> 00:48:00,719
had a splint or a rapper anything on that risk.

1078
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:02,679
But all that being said, I think he was battling

1079
00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:05,440
an injury, which I think contributed to his poor shooting.

1080
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,519
But even then, he's not like an incredible lockdown defender.

1081
00:48:09,079 --> 00:48:11,599
He tries very hard, he has good instincts, he just

1082
00:48:12,039 --> 00:48:14,880
doesn't fit that archetype. And like Silva said, if I

1083
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:18,199
mean he's he's streaky, He's very streaky. You look at

1084
00:48:18,199 --> 00:48:20,199
his overall streaming percentage. I had this earlier in the

1085
00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:22,800
offseason on our podcast, but it's something great, like it

1086
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:24,639
was something like you know, thirty seven inch percent on

1087
00:48:24,679 --> 00:48:27,559
the season, but the majority of those would come, but

1088
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:30,159
it'd be game to game. He'd go oh five. One game,

1089
00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:32,719
the next night, he goes three of five. The next night,

1090
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,320
maybe he goes eight of ten, and then he'll have

1091
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,000
like a couple of games of five oh four. Just

1092
00:48:38,039 --> 00:48:40,239
a very streaky shooter. He's either hot or cold.

1093
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,039
Speaker 3: So he's a bit of a luxury player for the

1094
00:48:42,039 --> 00:48:44,039
Thunder at this point.

1095
00:48:44,079 --> 00:48:45,119
Speaker 2: He have a handful of those.

1096
00:48:45,159 --> 00:48:46,920
Speaker 3: You don't need to like, you don't need to play

1097
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:50,440
him really like, he is a guy, just an innings

1098
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:52,159
eater kind of in the regular season. It's kind of

1099
00:48:52,159 --> 00:48:54,840
how I see him. Like if you just need, like,

1100
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:58,159
if you're trying to develop Cason Wallace's playmaking, it does

1101
00:48:58,199 --> 00:48:59,760
help to have a guy like Isaiah Joe out there

1102
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:02,519
who can provide some spacing for you hill screen too.

1103
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:04,280
Speaker 1: That's why I just like players like it. But you're right,

1104
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,920
You're totally right about the streakingness. That's like, that's for sure.

1105
00:49:07,679 --> 00:49:09,199
Tell her you mentioned this before. I want to ask

1106
00:49:09,199 --> 00:49:11,039
you guys about some of the other younger guys, But

1107
00:49:11,519 --> 00:49:14,599
does it get harder or easier now that they're at

1108
00:49:14,639 --> 00:49:18,679
this level to continue developing talent while remaining like in

1109
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:21,480
the let's win a bunch of championships stage of their

1110
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:22,880
competitive life cycle.

1111
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:27,320
Speaker 2: That is an incredibly difficult, difficult question. That's a really

1112
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:30,159
good question. I think you could argue both sides. Probably

1113
00:49:31,039 --> 00:49:32,880
in some instances, like you said, the pressure is kind

1114
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:35,039
of off. You know, you have these really good players

1115
00:49:35,079 --> 00:49:38,719
in Shay and Jadab and Chet, so that may allow you,

1116
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,519
like I said, a random game in January, February whatever,

1117
00:49:41,639 --> 00:49:43,880
the dog days of the NBA season, to let some

1118
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:45,679
of these guys kind of expand and grow and give

1119
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:48,639
them those reps. At the same time, it does become

1120
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:50,800
more difficult because as much as we want to talk

1121
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:54,360
about Chet, Shay, Jada being the next quote unquote big

1122
00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:57,920
three of the league, they're all super young. Also, that

1123
00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:00,480
includes Shake Gills Alexander who could still im prove as

1124
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,519
crazy as that sounds. Obviously, Jada we talked about his improvement,

1125
00:50:03,559 --> 00:50:05,559
We talked about chess improvement to begin all this, right,

1126
00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:07,760
there's other guys on this team who could kind of

1127
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,280
step into a starting role long term for the Thunder.

1128
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:13,880
Because they continue to improve, you still have to invest

1129
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:16,960
in their internal development also, right, and so how do

1130
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:19,119
you balance all of that, And that's a challenge that

1131
00:50:19,199 --> 00:50:21,639
Mark Danel and his coaching staff and Sam pressI have

1132
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,559
done so incredible that we have to give them all

1133
00:50:24,599 --> 00:50:26,519
all the props. But to your point, it's just it's

1134
00:50:26,559 --> 00:50:28,519
only getting more difficult. It feels like, to me.

1135
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:32,760
Speaker 1: Jadi, what are your early impressions of Nicola Tope healthy?

1136
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:33,599
Nicole topish?

1137
00:50:33,639 --> 00:50:38,360
Speaker 3: Excuse me, the hides are really high, but it does

1138
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:40,119
look like a guy who hasn't played basketball in like

1139
00:50:40,159 --> 00:50:42,920
two years almost, So it's going to take some time.

1140
00:50:44,159 --> 00:50:49,159
On the discussion, Taylor was just having, like I, I

1141
00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:52,559
think there are going to be shorter leashes on players

1142
00:50:52,559 --> 00:50:55,079
in terms of giving them time to develop in this

1143
00:50:55,159 --> 00:50:58,679
era of the Thunder, because guys on rookie contracts are

1144
00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:01,440
going to have to contribute with than those rookie contracts.

1145
00:51:02,079 --> 00:51:04,199
With the way this team is constructed, you know, Jade

1146
00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,159
Sgachad are going to be eighty five percent of the

1147
00:51:07,199 --> 00:51:09,400
cap basically moving forward, So those guys are going to

1148
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:12,119
have to perform. That's why you saw Dylan Jones get

1149
00:51:12,199 --> 00:51:14,559
shipped out already after one year. I don't think they

1150
00:51:14,559 --> 00:51:17,639
would bring in an Usman Jang style of player again,

1151
00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,079
because he's I mean, Usban's in what year four and

1152
00:51:21,119 --> 00:51:24,000
we're still like, what's this guy going to be? But Topich,

1153
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,239
I don't think Topich is that level of prospect. I

1154
00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:29,719
think his feel for the game is way higher. I

1155
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:33,599
think he is pretty strong already, but he just he

1156
00:51:33,639 --> 00:51:36,519
does need reps. I wouldn't be shocked if he got

1157
00:51:36,519 --> 00:51:40,599
a bunch of G League reps for the OKC Blue

1158
00:51:40,639 --> 00:51:43,079
just to like give him minutes, get him out there.

1159
00:51:43,119 --> 00:51:45,559
Speaker 2: And get the ball in his sands, like already today.

1160
00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:48,320
So you're spot on. And when we say that, you

1161
00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:50,480
often think of teams to just send a player down

1162
00:51:50,519 --> 00:51:52,760
to the G League for a period of time and

1163
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:54,639
then they bring him back up see if they're ready,

1164
00:51:54,679 --> 00:51:56,480
that kind of thing. I don't think that's going to

1165
00:51:56,519 --> 00:51:58,760
be the case, and that hasn't been the case previously

1166
00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:00,960
with some of these under players we're talking. That's the

1167
00:52:01,039 --> 00:52:03,599
luxury of having. And this is why Sam Presty fought

1168
00:52:03,719 --> 00:52:06,119
to keep the Blue playing and pay com Center. This

1169
00:52:06,199 --> 00:52:12,480
means Nicole a uh toepitch plays, you know, twelve pm

1170
00:52:13,239 --> 00:52:16,280
that day during the lunch hour with the Okay See

1171
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:18,519
Blue and then later that night still suit up with

1172
00:52:18,559 --> 00:52:20,360
the Okay See Thunder. That's kind of how they treat

1173
00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:20,679
these things.

1174
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:23,599
Speaker 3: Happened a bunch last year with Dylan Jones and people

1175
00:52:23,639 --> 00:52:24,840
like this. Mm hm.

1176
00:52:26,519 --> 00:52:29,840
Speaker 1: Topig is fascinating though, because I get well, I guess

1177
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,199
the Thunder would have an opening to give someone more

1178
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:34,039
on ball reps, but are you going to give them

1179
00:52:34,039 --> 00:52:35,880
to a rookie? And so he's gonna need to like

1180
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:37,920
if you want to see him have a role with

1181
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:40,199
the big club like their needs. He was you mentioned

1182
00:52:40,239 --> 00:52:42,840
the strength before j D. He was like better defensively

1183
00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:44,480
in Summer League than I thought he was going to be.

1184
00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:46,760
I'm just wondering, like what would be his off ball

1185
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:49,639
impact on offense if you're trying to put him anywhere,

1186
00:52:49,719 --> 00:52:52,400
like game him anywhere within this current core. And that's

1187
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:53,920
what I struggle with. It's not a bad thing. Like

1188
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:56,280
you said, they have the Okay see Blue like they can,

1189
00:52:56,840 --> 00:52:59,079
They'll be able, They'll he will get plenty of action

1190
00:52:59,199 --> 00:53:01,639
on the ball, but like that's not the role that

1191
00:53:01,719 --> 00:53:04,239
he would necessarily have with this version of the Thunder,

1192
00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:05,400
at least not anytime soon.

1193
00:53:05,719 --> 00:53:08,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's gonna be. I mean they before

1194
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:12,039
they traded Josh giddy. They proposed Josh a bench role

1195
00:53:12,119 --> 00:53:14,800
because they did value that type of player, and I

1196
00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:17,159
think it's gonna kind of be like that for topic,

1197
00:53:17,239 --> 00:53:22,079
where he's connective, passing drives and kickouts, shoot when you

1198
00:53:22,119 --> 00:53:23,719
have it, when you have an opening, and I think

1199
00:53:23,719 --> 00:53:25,360
he's going to be a better shooter in his career

1200
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:28,880
than than Josh. I think that's that's gonna be it.

1201
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,119
And it might it might look a little awkward at times,

1202
00:53:31,159 --> 00:53:33,440
and then we'll have moments where he is, you know,

1203
00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:36,559
the five minutes here, be the on ball guy. I

1204
00:53:36,599 --> 00:53:39,360
think that will work. Now there's a this is a

1205
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:42,519
deep cut player, but Vasilier Meetsich was a guy they

1206
00:53:42,559 --> 00:53:46,039
had on the team season and a half ago, yep.

1207
00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:50,079
And his minutes with his minutes with Jadub and Chet

1208
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:52,840
and Vasilier kind of being the main creator there. We're

1209
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:55,719
pretty sick and I would like to see that type

1210
00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:56,360
of thing again.

1211
00:53:58,199 --> 00:54:02,159
Speaker 1: What are your early impression of the injured Thomas sorber Taylor.

1212
00:54:04,239 --> 00:54:08,440
Speaker 2: The impressions come purely from scouting. Obviously, our guide, Nick

1213
00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:10,360
is very big into the NBA draft space. I'm an

1214
00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:13,679
NBA draft nerd, so I don't write about it like

1215
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:15,599
Nick does. But I still like to dive in early,

1216
00:54:16,679 --> 00:54:19,079
so we watched Sorber. We actually were doing a bonus

1217
00:54:19,079 --> 00:54:21,760
pod on our Patreon NBA Draft. We like to kick

1218
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:23,000
things off like in the fall and just kind of

1219
00:54:23,039 --> 00:54:25,199
give up preview what to look for for the college

1220
00:54:25,239 --> 00:54:28,639
basketball season and some targets to look at, and I

1221
00:54:28,679 --> 00:54:30,440
mentioned some of the guys like Derek Queen at that point,

1222
00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:32,559
some of the other centered prospects that the Thunder could

1223
00:54:32,599 --> 00:54:35,400
potentially be looking at to your earlier question Dan to

1224
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:38,519
potentially be a Nheart replacement. And Nick looked at me

1225
00:54:38,559 --> 00:54:40,440
and he said, dude, you got to check out Thomas

1226
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,800
Sorber from Georgetown. He is fun. And I did, and

1227
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:45,519
I watched him the next two weeks and then he

1228
00:54:45,559 --> 00:54:48,239
got hurt and didn't play again. But what you see

1229
00:54:48,239 --> 00:54:51,639
from Sorber is obviously a very big physical specimen, especially

1230
00:54:51,679 --> 00:54:53,000
for being as young as he is. He's only like

1231
00:54:53,039 --> 00:54:56,679
eighteen or nineteen years old. Still very big, very powerful.

1232
00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,840
Not the best rebounder necessarily or the quickest office feet,

1233
00:55:00,079 --> 00:55:02,840
but a great shop blocker has has good instincts in

1234
00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:04,599
that regard. He's not going to be a big that

1235
00:55:04,639 --> 00:55:07,880
can defend him a perimeter necessarily, but on the offensive side,

1236
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:11,320
and they're playmaking hub. He's a player who's able to

1237
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:15,639
make some pretty sick passes. He's good at getting offensive rebounds,

1238
00:55:15,679 --> 00:55:18,199
getting put backs. I think he would fit in very well,

1239
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:20,880
kind of in that iHeart role, especially with like a

1240
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:25,079
second unit, but not quite as versatile probably or as

1241
00:55:25,159 --> 00:55:27,880
much of a playmaker. I kind of buy his three

1242
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:29,639
point shot, although it was if you look up his

1243
00:55:29,639 --> 00:55:32,440
his numbers last year, like it was terrible. Just the

1244
00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:35,440
mechanics in the forum. I think he can eventually developed that.

1245
00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:37,800
And the other thing about Sorber shout out loud dort.

1246
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:39,599
He's got that loud dort in talt. He's not afraid

1247
00:55:39,639 --> 00:55:41,920
to pull the trigger, especially being a big like he is.

1248
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:44,360
So that's kind of like an overview of Sorber. That's

1249
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,119
kind of how I envision him, like I said, almost

1250
00:55:46,159 --> 00:55:49,039
like a poor man's iHeart to start his career. But Dan,

1251
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:51,920
you know this as much as we do. Multiple injuries,

1252
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:55,920
multiple lower body injuries for such a young big, it

1253
00:55:56,119 --> 00:55:58,880
legitimately makes you concerned about his NBA career long term,

1254
00:55:58,960 --> 00:56:00,000
And that's just the truth of the matter.

1255
00:56:00,599 --> 00:56:03,079
Speaker 1: That's also why I know nothing, so because I don't

1256
00:56:03,119 --> 00:56:05,840
really dive into anyone who's not like a top prospect

1257
00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:07,880
until summer league because he's not in some league and

1258
00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:10,239
gets injured zero priors with him. But when I see

1259
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:12,159
them take a big j D, I'm like, you know,

1260
00:56:12,199 --> 00:56:13,880
they just they have a lot of injuries up front.

1261
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:16,360
Like just looking at Chet's history, if I say Heartenstein's

1262
00:56:16,360 --> 00:56:18,719
ever dealing with anything like that's someone who could technically

1263
00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:21,960
actually play. Not anymore though, So like that's like kind

1264
00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:23,440
of a bummer too. And so then when you stack

1265
00:56:23,519 --> 00:56:25,400
on as Taylor was saying, the lower body injuries, I

1266
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,280
guess that's a that's definitely a red flag.

1267
00:56:28,039 --> 00:56:32,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is. So you're gonna see more J J.

1268
00:56:32,199 --> 00:56:36,079
Will Jalen Williams this season. You're going to see more

1269
00:56:36,159 --> 00:56:38,400
Kenwick Williams at the five, which is still crazy if

1270
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:39,679
they do that and they're good at.

1271
00:56:39,679 --> 00:56:42,119
Speaker 1: The statue built yet what's his status?

1272
00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:44,880
Speaker 3: There's the plans are in place, it'll be a couple

1273
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:48,519
of years from now. Yeah, and you might even see

1274
00:56:48,559 --> 00:56:50,079
there's a guy we might talk about a bit later.

1275
00:56:50,159 --> 00:56:51,800
I think it'd be cool if he saw him at

1276
00:56:51,800 --> 00:57:00,559
the five. But actually I could see him playing some

1277
00:57:00,960 --> 00:57:03,239
ran like five minutes at the five every once in

1278
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:06,000
a while. Yeah, it sucks for Sorber. Dude, I was

1279
00:57:06,039 --> 00:57:09,840
I was pumped because he's a really exciting style of

1280
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:12,760
player in the Thunder. It feels like, I just I

1281
00:57:12,760 --> 00:57:15,239
feel good when Presty drafts somebody he's had so many hits,

1282
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:16,760
I'm like, hell, yeah, I can just be excited about

1283
00:57:16,800 --> 00:57:20,800
this guy and it'll probably go well. You have seen

1284
00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:25,400
more videos of Thomas Silber dancing on TikTok than I

1285
00:57:25,400 --> 00:57:26,800
have seen him playing basketball.

1286
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:31,000
Speaker 1: At this point, I have seen zero Thomas Sober dancing

1287
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:35,039
on TikTok videos. It's look, it's not as big of

1288
00:57:35,039 --> 00:57:36,440
a deal to this team, So I'm not trying to

1289
00:57:36,480 --> 00:57:38,679
sound the alarm there. But when you're really trying to

1290
00:57:38,719 --> 00:57:41,280
make sure that you can continue replenishing, like the rotation

1291
00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:44,239
with these younger guys, when you lose an entire year,

1292
00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:47,920
like it increases the urgency with which you develop them

1293
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:50,000
when they come back, or like you just need to

1294
00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:52,119
be prepared to make a decision on them after two

1295
00:57:52,199 --> 00:57:55,039
years worth's of samples rather than whether it's the GV

1296
00:57:55,199 --> 00:57:57,440
or the NBA, rather than retire three years, because like

1297
00:57:57,440 --> 00:58:01,039
that's the way the extension of eligibilities work JD. How do

1298
00:58:01,039 --> 00:58:03,199
you feeling about Brooks Barnheiser. He was a summer league

1299
00:58:03,199 --> 00:58:05,000
favorite of mine. I'm not gonna lie, so no pressure

1300
00:58:05,320 --> 00:58:07,639
to just, you know, throw a bunch of platitudes out.

1301
00:58:07,639 --> 00:58:09,239
Speaker 2: I saw some of the praise you and grant were

1302
00:58:09,239 --> 00:58:09,800
thrown at him.

1303
00:58:10,159 --> 00:58:13,400
Speaker 3: Pretty good, damn it. He's pretty exciting. I hope he

1304
00:58:13,400 --> 00:58:16,360
gets minutes. I hope he gets minutes, and I hope

1305
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:20,079
he studies under at the altar of Kenrich Williams because

1306
00:58:20,079 --> 00:58:23,039
I think they could be similar archetypes of players long term.

1307
00:58:23,159 --> 00:58:26,599
You know, Brooks brings physicality that the team still needs

1308
00:58:26,639 --> 00:58:30,400
because it is the Thunder, a pretty thin, more agile

1309
00:58:30,559 --> 00:58:34,760
than than powerful team top to bottom, and Brooks and

1310
00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:39,519
Kenrick Williams they can bring that necessary energy. I think

1311
00:58:39,559 --> 00:58:42,079
he's gonna play a lot in the G League. I

1312
00:58:42,119 --> 00:58:44,639
say this, I said this about aj Mitchell, so I

1313
00:58:44,639 --> 00:58:46,360
could be totally wrong. I don't know how many minutes

1314
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:51,079
he's actually gonna get this season, but I I like

1315
00:58:51,639 --> 00:58:53,159
the shot is the shot needs a lot of work.

1316
00:58:53,239 --> 00:58:55,840
That's kind of the the big thing for him. But

1317
00:58:56,000 --> 00:58:56,639
he's exciting.

1318
00:58:57,239 --> 00:58:59,719
Speaker 2: He's just physical and like Sylvia you mentioned, he has

1319
00:58:59,760 --> 00:59:02,119
the dog mentality. He's not afraid to muck it up

1320
00:59:02,159 --> 00:59:05,559
on the defensive end of the floor. He's obviously not

1321
00:59:05,599 --> 00:59:08,440
afraid to drive to the rim. He's explosive. We saw

1322
00:59:08,440 --> 00:59:10,440
some big time dunks from him in Summer League, but

1323
00:59:10,480 --> 00:59:13,800
the three point shot is a little brutal. So he's

1324
00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:15,840
definitely a guy that you're going to see play with

1325
00:59:15,880 --> 00:59:18,480
the OKC Blue quite a bit the majority. But he's

1326
00:59:18,519 --> 00:59:20,480
also a guy that probably is going to get a

1327
00:59:20,559 --> 00:59:22,760
random game now and then where he has like ten

1328
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:25,199
minutes off the bench, just depending on the opponent and

1329
00:59:25,239 --> 00:59:28,920
the development plan that the coaching staff and the organization

1330
00:59:28,960 --> 00:59:31,320
puts in place for he shoots players. So they'll be

1331
00:59:31,320 --> 00:59:33,880
fun to just watch his growth and improvement and see

1332
00:59:33,880 --> 00:59:36,039
where he could potentially fit long term. When we're at

1333
00:59:36,079 --> 00:59:38,039
this point now, you know, a year from now.

1334
00:59:38,719 --> 00:59:41,239
Speaker 1: If you can trust him to hit a set three

1335
00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:44,800
point shot, I will say some incandesc and things about yes,

1336
00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:46,960
I just and even now, it's just like he's probably

1337
00:59:47,000 --> 00:59:49,760
the rookie who's most likely to play fewer than twenty

1338
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:52,159
minutes but still finished with zero fouls and five steals

1339
00:59:52,320 --> 00:59:55,199
or something like that. Yeah, So I don't watch a

1340
00:59:55,239 --> 00:59:57,519
lot of G League stuff, So I hope that he

1341
00:59:57,679 --> 00:59:59,440
just gets some random run with the thunderver so I'll

1342
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:01,440
go back and check it out. I think that's the

1343
01:00:01,480 --> 01:00:06,719
one I didn't know. Again, I wouldn't need I'm gonna neat.

1344
01:00:06,559 --> 01:00:09,360
Speaker 2: The Brooks Barn alert turn it over.

1345
01:00:09,199 --> 01:00:12,559
Speaker 1: To I think he's going to be just someone that

1346
01:00:13,039 --> 01:00:15,559
we look back, we meeting people who aren't in like THEO. Okay,

1347
01:00:15,559 --> 01:00:17,679
so he'd be like fucking thunder did it again. I

1348
01:00:17,719 --> 01:00:19,480
really think that he's gonna end up being that type

1349
01:00:19,480 --> 01:00:19,920
of player.

1350
01:00:20,719 --> 01:00:22,679
Speaker 3: They seem to have found an archetype of guy. They

1351
01:00:23,119 --> 01:00:26,840
guy they like like the chaos ball, can get you

1352
01:00:27,119 --> 01:00:30,199
three steals in two minutes type of guy. We'll figure

1353
01:00:30,199 --> 01:00:33,440
out the offense down the road. But that they I mean,

1354
01:00:34,440 --> 01:00:37,360
if he can. Caruso was like, I know he's another

1355
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:40,079
white guy, but like, can you can you just study

1356
01:00:40,119 --> 01:00:42,559
under Caruso and Kendons Williams and do some of that

1357
01:00:42,679 --> 01:00:45,280
when when you come in, Like that'd be amazing.

1358
01:00:46,199 --> 01:00:48,719
Speaker 1: I was putting together my notes for this podcast and

1359
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:51,440
I just didn't have anything on Shay. So I when

1360
01:00:51,480 --> 01:00:53,320
I ask a question about Shay that has nothing to

1361
01:00:53,360 --> 01:00:55,960
do with Shae, it still feels like there's room for

1362
01:00:56,000 --> 01:00:59,280
improvement on this offense where things can still get boggy

1363
01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:01,079
sometimes when he's floor a lot of the times when

1364
01:01:01,079 --> 01:01:04,079
he's off Taylor, what does that look like for this

1365
01:01:04,159 --> 01:01:05,960
team next year? And I present that with the caveat

1366
01:01:06,039 --> 01:01:07,639
of like some of the numbers without Shay by the

1367
01:01:07,719 --> 01:01:09,840
end of last year were really offensively ended up being

1368
01:01:09,920 --> 01:01:11,920
really really good when you started mixing and matching the

1369
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:14,559
J Dub chet Isaiah Hartenstein of it all.

1370
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:17,719
Speaker 2: When Check came back, things changed dramatically. We have a

1371
01:01:17,719 --> 01:01:20,039
caliber of that a player of that caliber to be

1372
01:01:20,079 --> 01:01:22,559
able to insert back into that second lineup and also

1373
01:01:22,599 --> 01:01:24,719
being able to stagger two players and two bigs and

1374
01:01:24,760 --> 01:01:28,519
I Heart and Chet that changed a lot. Also, I'm

1375
01:01:28,559 --> 01:01:30,400
glad you mentioned that, Dan, because a lot of the

1376
01:01:30,400 --> 01:01:32,159
times it felt like the player who was kind of

1377
01:01:32,199 --> 01:01:34,079
being staggered. I mean, we saw some Chet, but I

1378
01:01:34,199 --> 01:01:36,039
Heart would come in with with J Dubb in that

1379
01:01:36,079 --> 01:01:38,840
second unit, and that provided, even though it wasn't at

1380
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:41,559
the point guard position, another facilitator on the floor to

1381
01:01:41,559 --> 01:01:44,079
help free up JDub. So that's definitely something to keep

1382
01:01:44,119 --> 01:01:46,480
an eye on. But like I mentioned, with guys like

1383
01:01:46,519 --> 01:01:48,639
I mean, I don't know if Cason Wallace necessarily is

1384
01:01:48,639 --> 01:01:50,440
going to be like lead point guard when Jadub's in

1385
01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:52,320
the game, They're going to have JDub bring the ball up.

1386
01:01:52,519 --> 01:01:54,719
But Aj Mitchell, for example, we've talked a lot about him,

1387
01:01:54,719 --> 01:01:57,199
like that's just another ball handler to be able to

1388
01:01:57,239 --> 01:01:59,440
bring the ball up. Get JDub off ball so that

1389
01:01:59,559 --> 01:02:01,320
you can free him up and allow him to score

1390
01:02:01,360 --> 01:02:03,920
more easily. That in itself is going to improve the

1391
01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:06,639
efficiency obviously of those second units are of those non

1392
01:02:06,679 --> 01:02:10,119
shade minutes. And then just Chet improving offensively. I mean,

1393
01:02:10,159 --> 01:02:11,559
like you said you have it here in the notes,

1394
01:02:11,679 --> 01:02:14,000
Really it's going to come down to internal development and

1395
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:15,880
then just finding the right fits and the right schemes,

1396
01:02:15,880 --> 01:02:17,119
which we trust Mark to do.

1397
01:02:17,480 --> 01:02:17,639
Speaker 3: So.

1398
01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:19,880
Speaker 2: I think the internal development of guys like the big

1399
01:02:19,920 --> 01:02:22,719
dogs like Chet and j Dubb, but also the improvement

1400
01:02:22,719 --> 01:02:25,840
of guys like we've talked about with AJ Mitchell's and

1401
01:02:25,960 --> 01:02:28,800
Case and Wallace's could really help those non shave minutes.

1402
01:02:30,119 --> 01:02:33,079
Speaker 1: Jady, are we stilling our responded Jangstock officially? Or what's

1403
01:02:33,079 --> 01:02:34,840
says that? Is he still on this team after the

1404
01:02:34,880 --> 01:02:36,280
trade deadline? What happens here?

1405
01:02:36,599 --> 01:02:39,719
Speaker 3: I stold my stock two years ago. I get me

1406
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:43,159
out of there. Yeah, no, I wouldn't be shocked if

1407
01:02:43,159 --> 01:02:45,360
he gets traded this season or moved, they move on

1408
01:02:45,440 --> 01:02:49,400
from him. At some point in Presti's end of season conference,

1409
01:02:49,519 --> 01:02:51,239
he still seemed high on him. He was like, yeah,

1410
01:02:51,239 --> 01:02:53,559
we knew would take a long time for Usban. It's like,

1411
01:02:54,159 --> 01:02:56,239
I'm tired of it. I hate watching him play.

1412
01:02:56,440 --> 01:03:00,639
Speaker 2: Just Pressy's also notorious for like doing those shoutout intentionally

1413
01:03:00,960 --> 01:03:02,400
and then I don't want to say a mind game,

1414
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:04,079
but it's like how he kind of us it as

1415
01:03:04,159 --> 01:03:07,039
motivation to help like Busto's kind of players, while also

1416
01:03:07,199 --> 01:03:09,920
like when you have like Russell Westbrook for example, sometimes

1417
01:03:09,920 --> 01:03:11,360
like trying to bring him back down to earth a

1418
01:03:11,400 --> 01:03:14,119
little bit because he already has that mentality guy like

1419
01:03:14,199 --> 01:03:15,880
Usmann Jeny, you really kind of have to fire up

1420
01:03:15,880 --> 01:03:18,679
a little more. And I think that that external encouragement

1421
01:03:18,719 --> 01:03:21,440
maybe it was a form of encouragement for him.

1422
01:03:21,480 --> 01:03:26,000
Speaker 3: Sola. Yeah, I get frustrated watching players that it just

1423
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:29,320
seems like they're not trying hard enough, they're not playing

1424
01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:32,480
with enough physicality, they're not buying in in the same

1425
01:03:32,519 --> 01:03:35,320
way everyone else is, and it just feels like it's

1426
01:03:35,320 --> 01:03:37,440
like he's never jumping as high as he can, or

1427
01:03:37,480 --> 01:03:40,039
running as fast as he can, or doing anything as

1428
01:03:40,039 --> 01:03:42,320
hard as he can. So I just like, get me

1429
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:43,440
out of here. I hate it.

1430
01:03:43,519 --> 01:03:45,400
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of the consensus we've come to

1431
01:03:45,480 --> 01:03:48,000
on the podcast with Oose and and to his like,

1432
01:03:48,880 --> 01:03:50,880
it's not a discredit to him as a person or

1433
01:03:51,159 --> 01:03:54,360
I don't know, I'm not trying. He's a great character guy,

1434
01:03:54,519 --> 01:03:56,440
Like he's great in the locker room. It's like it's

1435
01:03:56,440 --> 01:03:59,159
not like he's out there not trying. He just unfortunately,

1436
01:03:59,199 --> 01:04:03,760
there's certain traits that can't just be learned. Physicality is

1437
01:04:03,800 --> 01:04:06,039
a part of that, especially with a player of his size,

1438
01:04:06,519 --> 01:04:08,159
has to be more physical. He's going to be able

1439
01:04:08,159 --> 01:04:09,880
to compete and be out there on built ins of

1440
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:13,079
the court. You see it in flashes. He's trying, but

1441
01:04:13,400 --> 01:04:17,159
it just doesn't come natural to him, and unfortunately he's

1442
01:04:17,199 --> 01:04:19,119
not going to get playing time on the Thunder if

1443
01:04:19,119 --> 01:04:20,119
he's unable to do that.

1444
01:04:20,960 --> 01:04:23,840
Speaker 1: Me from twenty twenty three is good it right now?

1445
01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:27,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, both I Swawann jaying hype train.

1446
01:04:27,800 --> 01:04:30,760
Speaker 1: Yeah. After his rookie season, I was still like I

1447
01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:32,440
was in on him in the draft and I remember

1448
01:04:32,480 --> 01:04:34,599
talking to you and Jacob tail Or after his rookie season.

1449
01:04:34,599 --> 01:04:36,920
I was like, oh, like the thunder did it again,

1450
01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:38,400
Like this is going to be someone who ends up

1451
01:04:38,400 --> 01:04:41,159
being really good. I hope they trade him soon. I

1452
01:04:41,239 --> 01:04:42,519
just want to see what he would be like with

1453
01:04:42,519 --> 01:04:44,400
more of an opportunity, because I still maintain that that

1454
01:04:44,480 --> 01:04:46,519
I agree with everything you guys said, and like the

1455
01:04:46,519 --> 01:04:48,800
physicality with his size and not really knowing what he

1456
01:04:48,840 --> 01:04:50,960
could do if he doesn't like if he's not gonna

1457
01:04:50,960 --> 01:04:52,280
be able to shoot, Like, I don't really know what

1458
01:04:52,320 --> 01:04:54,360
he's going to be able to do. If you're not physical,

1459
01:04:54,400 --> 01:04:56,639
you're not going to be trustworthy a shooter. But there's

1460
01:04:56,639 --> 01:04:59,280
like kind of some feel there sometimes at least I

1461
01:04:59,320 --> 01:05:02,280
think that that's really absolutely you can't teach that. Is

1462
01:05:02,280 --> 01:05:03,639
that what the cliche says? So I just want to

1463
01:05:03,639 --> 01:05:06,199
see him somewhere where he can just kind of play

1464
01:05:06,239 --> 01:05:08,679
through the muck and like you can't do that in Okay,

1465
01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:11,119
see right now, because they have like nineteen guys that

1466
01:05:11,159 --> 01:05:14,960
all deserve minutes on this roster? Are you too ready

1467
01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:18,119
to enter the cookie Cutter Lightning Round portion of the podcast?

1468
01:05:18,320 --> 01:05:18,519
Do it?

1469
01:05:18,639 --> 01:05:19,199
Speaker 3: Hell? Yes?

1470
01:05:19,800 --> 01:05:23,159
Speaker 1: Okay, So when you look at this roster. Let's start

1471
01:05:23,199 --> 01:05:25,760
with you, JD. What do you view as its single

1472
01:05:25,800 --> 01:05:27,480
biggest need Shooting?

1473
01:05:28,599 --> 01:05:33,079
Speaker 3: I would say shooting that I can't just have the

1474
01:05:33,599 --> 01:05:36,639
lower volume pretty good shooting in the regular season. I

1475
01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:40,280
need more in the postseason because we it dried up

1476
01:05:40,320 --> 01:05:43,599
completely last year in the playoffs and who lost games

1477
01:05:43,639 --> 01:05:44,199
because of it?

1478
01:05:44,559 --> 01:05:46,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, who aside from Isaiah Joe is going to be

1479
01:05:46,760 --> 01:05:50,159
best equipped to Is this a Jup and Chet only situation?

1480
01:05:50,199 --> 01:05:52,119
If you're looking at just supporting cast players, like who

1481
01:05:52,119 --> 01:05:54,440
are you looking towards more than an Isaiah Joe to

1482
01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:55,719
help kind of remedy.

1483
01:05:55,360 --> 01:05:59,280
Speaker 3: That, Yeah, it's got to be Chet like. It kind

1484
01:05:59,280 --> 01:06:03,599
of has to be Chat and Chad and Jade f Yes, so.

1485
01:06:04,199 --> 01:06:06,960
Speaker 2: In I mean, lou Dort had a drastic improvement from three.

1486
01:06:07,239 --> 01:06:09,840
Struggled some of the playoffs, obviously has some huge threeses

1487
01:06:09,840 --> 01:06:12,599
that he made a swell, but lou Dort continuing his

1488
01:06:13,000 --> 01:06:15,760
trajectory even if he just is capped out now being

1489
01:06:15,800 --> 01:06:17,719
able to maintain what he did this past year. And

1490
01:06:17,719 --> 01:06:19,800
then we talked about Cason Walls Dan, like you said,

1491
01:06:20,559 --> 01:06:23,159
he has some really good stretches the past two seasons.

1492
01:06:23,639 --> 01:06:25,960
From three, He's going to have to find consistency. But

1493
01:06:26,039 --> 01:06:27,480
if he does that, that's going to be a huge

1494
01:06:27,480 --> 01:06:28,159
boost as well.

1495
01:06:28,719 --> 01:06:30,960
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that they should run Barnheiser off pinned

1496
01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:37,360
downs and that's over over. Uh, Taylor, what's something in

1497
01:06:37,440 --> 01:06:39,639
so far as there can be anything about this team

1498
01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:43,239
that storyline, strength, weakness, concern whatever, that's flying under the

1499
01:06:43,320 --> 01:06:45,400
radar right now you think deserves more of a spotlight.

1500
01:06:45,960 --> 01:06:51,079
Speaker 2: Hmmm, flying under the radar. That's tough because they did

1501
01:06:51,199 --> 01:06:53,119
just win the championship, so it feels like everything kind

1502
01:06:53,159 --> 01:06:54,079
of is magnified.

1503
01:06:55,239 --> 01:06:56,760
Speaker 1: But maybe just about how they're going to break up

1504
01:06:56,800 --> 01:06:58,480
in twenty twenty seven, I was.

1505
01:06:58,440 --> 01:07:01,880
Speaker 2: Gonna say, yeah, nobody's talking of that salary cap. Nobody's

1506
01:07:01,920 --> 01:07:06,559
talking about that. I think maybe people are just overlooking

1507
01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:09,360
the young players at the Thunder, bringing in that we've

1508
01:07:09,360 --> 01:07:11,599
talked so much about already. I think there are going

1509
01:07:11,639 --> 01:07:14,320
to be some games where opposing teams and er sorry,

1510
01:07:14,360 --> 01:07:16,639
posing cool teams. Yes, but also fan bases are just

1511
01:07:16,639 --> 01:07:19,159
gonna get pissed off because Aj Mitchell goes for twenty

1512
01:07:19,159 --> 01:07:22,920
points off the bench. You're just like, what, who's this kid?

1513
01:07:23,039 --> 01:07:25,840
Or Nicole Topich comes in and is making big time plays.

1514
01:07:25,840 --> 01:07:29,000
You're like, my team's been looking for Nicole Topich for

1515
01:07:29,159 --> 01:07:31,639
two seasons now. Like I think it was Nikai is

1516
01:07:31,679 --> 01:07:35,159
Duncan or somebody similar, maybe with Steve Jones. One of

1517
01:07:35,159 --> 01:07:37,320
them tweeted out like, you know who the Bucks need

1518
01:07:37,360 --> 01:07:38,880
to go out and get right now. They need need

1519
01:07:38,920 --> 01:07:41,039
to go and get aj Mitchell. They need a point guard,

1520
01:07:41,119 --> 01:07:43,440
facilitator and somebody who can score off the bench for them.

1521
01:07:43,880 --> 01:07:46,119
And it's like the Thunder just have him kind of

1522
01:07:46,199 --> 01:07:48,079
chilling and can throw them in whenever they need to.

1523
01:07:48,559 --> 01:07:51,199
They're trying to find minutes for him, you know, Like

1524
01:07:51,400 --> 01:07:53,519
I think maybe that's the most underrated aspect is the

1525
01:07:53,880 --> 01:07:55,440
just the depth that Sam Pressy has built.

1526
01:07:56,280 --> 01:07:57,639
Speaker 1: Do you have anything different on that front?

1527
01:07:57,719 --> 01:07:57,960
Speaker 2: JD.

1528
01:07:59,199 --> 01:08:02,719
Speaker 3: No, that is it. It's it was gonna be. You know,

1529
01:08:02,760 --> 01:08:05,519
the top of the West improved via transactions, you know,

1530
01:08:05,559 --> 01:08:09,599
like Houston got KD, Denver got Cam Johnson and other

1531
01:08:09,719 --> 01:08:12,559
depth pieces. Thunder didn't make any moves like that. But

1532
01:08:13,880 --> 01:08:15,800
the youngest team in the NBA is gonna continue to

1533
01:08:15,840 --> 01:08:19,319
develop and get better and they'll be still at the top.

1534
01:08:19,359 --> 01:08:19,680
I think.

1535
01:08:20,520 --> 01:08:21,840
Speaker 1: So this is a question for the two of you

1536
01:08:21,920 --> 01:08:24,039
to hash out. You have to narrow down the rotation

1537
01:08:24,199 --> 01:08:26,880
just to ten players. I don't care about matchups. Who

1538
01:08:26,880 --> 01:08:29,399
are the ten most used players on this team?

1539
01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:30,239
Speaker 3: I like it?

1540
01:08:30,600 --> 01:08:34,000
Speaker 2: Okay, starting let's go with the original starting five to

1541
01:08:34,159 --> 01:08:36,760
end the season Silva, So the big three.

1542
01:08:38,279 --> 01:08:41,840
Speaker 1: Barneiser, AJ Mitchell, Shay.

1543
01:08:42,760 --> 01:08:46,399
Speaker 2: So we got Shaye, dub chet Low and I heart

1544
01:08:46,439 --> 01:08:48,000
because they started the double bigs yep.

1545
01:08:48,239 --> 01:08:51,680
Speaker 3: And then you gotta go Cason Wallace, correct Alan Cruso,

1546
01:08:51,960 --> 01:08:53,800
and then Aaron Wiggins.

1547
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:55,079
Speaker 2: That's where it gets interesting.

1548
01:08:55,119 --> 01:08:59,079
Speaker 1: So Alex stuff started get after seven, which is insane.

1549
01:08:58,760 --> 01:09:02,000
Speaker 2: Hayson Wallace at seven. So now we go Aaron Wiggins?

1550
01:09:02,720 --> 01:09:05,359
Do we go a J. Mitchell?

1551
01:09:06,319 --> 01:09:08,079
Speaker 3: I would like to go a J. Mitchell, But there's

1552
01:09:08,079 --> 01:09:11,239
also J. Will Oh yeah, he could be there.

1553
01:09:12,039 --> 01:09:16,199
Speaker 2: So basically our last spot or the last two spots

1554
01:09:16,239 --> 01:09:17,800
Kenrich Williams A J. Mitchell.

1555
01:09:18,079 --> 01:09:19,920
Speaker 3: I have not mentioned Isaiah Joe at this point.

1556
01:09:19,960 --> 01:09:23,720
Speaker 2: We have mentioned Isaiah Joe and so and that's the thing, Like,

1557
01:09:23,760 --> 01:09:26,199
that's the answer to this is Mark's going to rotate

1558
01:09:26,239 --> 01:09:28,279
those last handful of rotations pieces.

1559
01:09:28,680 --> 01:09:29,600
Speaker 1: That wasn't the question.

1560
01:09:29,680 --> 01:09:33,479
Speaker 2: But that wasn't the question. Exactly who do we want

1561
01:09:33,520 --> 01:09:34,159
to go with? Give me.

1562
01:09:35,079 --> 01:09:37,079
Speaker 3: That's fine, I'm cool. Give me and then we have

1563
01:09:37,119 --> 01:09:37,439
one more?

1564
01:09:37,520 --> 01:09:38,760
Speaker 2: Right? Or was that ten?

1565
01:09:39,159 --> 01:09:41,840
Speaker 1: So you have your starting five, you have Cason Caruso,

1566
01:09:42,439 --> 01:09:46,000
you threw a j in there, you put Wiggins and

1567
01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:47,560
then didn't you have j will So that would be ten.

1568
01:09:47,600 --> 01:09:48,920
Speaker 3: I would like Jay will in there.

1569
01:09:48,920 --> 01:09:49,720
Speaker 2: I'm happy with that.

1570
01:09:50,279 --> 01:09:51,560
Speaker 1: I love Kenrick Williams so much.

1571
01:09:53,479 --> 01:09:56,279
Speaker 2: How do we What is the hardest should be such

1572
01:09:56,279 --> 01:09:57,119
a TIDS player?

1573
01:09:57,399 --> 01:09:58,840
Speaker 3: Well, not anymore?

1574
01:09:59,319 --> 01:10:05,399
Speaker 1: The next last, what is the single biggest like or Jenny,

1575
01:10:05,439 --> 01:10:07,640
what's the hardest rotation decision? You think on a night

1576
01:10:07,680 --> 01:10:09,039
to night basi of that Mark Day. No, it's gonna

1577
01:10:09,079 --> 01:10:11,880
need to make whether it's something about their style or

1578
01:10:11,960 --> 01:10:14,319
more so about like, well, is this guy ever really

1579
01:10:14,359 --> 01:10:15,720
gonna get consistent playing time?

1580
01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:20,239
Speaker 3: It's gonna be who's gonna be? In addition, it's gonna

1581
01:10:20,239 --> 01:10:24,800
be Sga, Jada Chat and then a lot of times

1582
01:10:24,880 --> 01:10:27,039
Hartenstein to end kind of to end games. Who the

1583
01:10:27,079 --> 01:10:28,560
hell is gonna be the other guy? Is it going

1584
01:10:28,640 --> 01:10:31,800
to be? There's so many good options. It could be Caruso,

1585
01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:34,319
it could be Dort, it could be Cason Wallace.

1586
01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:34,920
Speaker 2: Correct.

1587
01:10:35,239 --> 01:10:37,319
Speaker 3: If you need more playmaking, maybe you get nuts and

1588
01:10:37,359 --> 01:10:39,600
thro toopitch in there, it's like, who's the other Stark,

1589
01:10:40,359 --> 01:10:44,600
who's the other guard. It's kind of my my biggest question, which.

1590
01:10:44,439 --> 01:10:46,000
Speaker 1: Is funny because that is a question of what would

1591
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:47,840
be their most used crunch time units, So like, how

1592
01:10:47,960 --> 01:10:50,079
do you round out the fifth spot tailor if it's like,

1593
01:10:50,079 --> 01:10:52,239
who do you think ends up getting the line's share

1594
01:10:52,279 --> 01:10:53,359
of like that fifth wheel?

1595
01:10:54,159 --> 01:10:56,840
Speaker 2: I think Silva is spot on. It's probably going to

1596
01:10:56,880 --> 01:11:01,079
be iHeart when you look at just the physicality, the

1597
01:11:01,119 --> 01:11:03,119
way those lineups play together, and just going off the

1598
01:11:03,159 --> 01:11:06,840
sample size we saw after Tich got healthy again. But

1599
01:11:06,960 --> 01:11:10,119
the other underrated aspect of this, we all know how

1600
01:11:10,159 --> 01:11:12,319
important Alex Crusoe is to this team and how incredible

1601
01:11:12,359 --> 01:11:15,479
he is. He was literally a playoff game changer, like

1602
01:11:15,720 --> 01:11:18,800
maybe as good as Shaye was, the best player, most

1603
01:11:18,840 --> 01:11:21,359
impactful player for the Thunder and the Denver Nuggets seven

1604
01:11:21,399 --> 01:11:25,039
game series second round. Yeah, that being said, the reason

1605
01:11:25,079 --> 01:11:26,319
he was able to play like he did in the

1606
01:11:26,319 --> 01:11:28,720
playoffs stand which we were complaining about earlier in the

1607
01:11:28,760 --> 01:11:30,880
regular season, that it was because he wasn't playing in

1608
01:11:30,880 --> 01:11:33,199
the regular season. I mean, yes, he'd play, but he

1609
01:11:33,279 --> 01:11:36,199
wasn't playing. Like this is the Celtics. Why aren't we

1610
01:11:36,239 --> 01:11:38,319
playing him twenty five to twenty six minutes a game

1611
01:11:38,359 --> 01:11:41,920
he only played twenty Well, because guess what, February games

1612
01:11:41,920 --> 01:11:43,840
against the Celtics don't matter as much in the granch

1613
01:11:43,840 --> 01:11:47,159
scheme of things as playoff games. And so because of that,

1614
01:11:47,399 --> 01:11:49,239
I don't think we're going to see Alex Gruzzo those

1615
01:11:49,279 --> 01:11:52,119
closing lineups. They're going to use that as development opportunities

1616
01:11:52,159 --> 01:11:55,640
sometimes for guys like Kason Wallace. I think overall, your

1617
01:11:55,720 --> 01:11:58,119
your right, So that's going to be iHeart you.

1618
01:11:58,239 --> 01:12:00,920
Speaker 1: Look, Taylor, you and Jacob were We Actually our biggest

1619
01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:03,279
disagreement in quotes of the pop last year was I

1620
01:12:03,439 --> 01:12:06,840
insisted Alex Caruso was going to close more games than

1621
01:12:06,920 --> 01:12:09,000
Isaiah Hearten, I said, or play more minutes than Isaiah Hart.

1622
01:12:09,039 --> 01:12:10,720
And so now the injury is hard and signs of

1623
01:12:10,720 --> 01:12:13,680
availability and then what happens in the playoffs. But Alex

1624
01:12:13,760 --> 01:12:17,479
Caruso was I underrated or underestimated how much they were

1625
01:12:17,520 --> 01:12:20,439
going to try and preserve him for the postseason stretch.

1626
01:12:20,520 --> 01:12:24,319
And that's kind of like a really big oversight in hindsight,

1627
01:12:24,399 --> 01:12:27,399
because it's they had the depth. We know Alex Caruso's

1628
01:12:27,800 --> 01:12:29,520
injury history. It makes all the sense to the white of.

1629
01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:31,520
Speaker 2: Them to do that. Because I was on the podcast,

1630
01:12:31,680 --> 01:12:34,640
I was on Twitter like tweeting like, are you play

1631
01:12:34,720 --> 01:12:37,439
Alex Scrucimore. He's healthy? Why aren't he's so impactful? Why

1632
01:12:37,439 --> 01:12:38,800
aren't you playing him more? We want to see these

1633
01:12:38,880 --> 01:12:41,600
lamps together, And it's like, oh, yeah, because you're gonna

1634
01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:43,960
play him thirty minutes for or twenty six, twenty seven,

1635
01:12:44,000 --> 01:12:45,359
twenty eight minutes per game in the playoffs.

1636
01:12:47,479 --> 01:12:47,960
Speaker 3: H j D.

1637
01:12:48,119 --> 01:12:50,399
Speaker 1: I have this theory that your answer to this next

1638
01:12:50,479 --> 01:12:52,359
question will tell us a lot about who you are

1639
01:12:52,359 --> 01:12:56,239
as a human being. So what is the weirdo lineup

1640
01:12:56,479 --> 01:12:58,880
you want Mark Dagnall to try this year?

1641
01:12:59,520 --> 01:13:02,720
Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's that's a fun question. Okay. Any weirdo

1642
01:13:02,800 --> 01:13:06,079
lineup has to have Chet at center, has to have

1643
01:13:06,199 --> 01:13:07,079
Chet at center.

1644
01:13:07,039 --> 01:13:10,399
Speaker 1: Or lineup Chet at center. I know where's barn High?

1645
01:13:10,439 --> 01:13:12,000
You had Barnheiser there before.

1646
01:13:12,439 --> 01:13:16,319
Speaker 3: Could be there? We could, And I'm gonna go Chet.

1647
01:13:16,600 --> 01:13:20,800
I'm gonna go Topitch in a weirdo lineup. I'm gonna

1648
01:13:20,840 --> 01:13:26,159
go Jada Shay cannot be in my weirdo lineup? Who

1649
01:13:26,359 --> 01:13:31,960
else is gonna be there? Chet Hop pitch, Jada Chet

1650
01:13:32,640 --> 01:13:38,119
what's gonna get maybe? Maybe, No, I'm gonna throw Barnheiser

1651
01:13:38,199 --> 01:13:39,880
in there for the hell of it. He can be our.

1652
01:13:40,880 --> 01:13:42,920
Speaker 1: I feel like you're you're getting to the closing unit

1653
01:13:42,960 --> 01:13:44,720
of the twenty twenty nine Thunder title team.

1654
01:13:44,800 --> 01:13:46,399
Speaker 3: You're kind of right, You're kind of right.

1655
01:13:47,600 --> 01:13:50,039
Speaker 2: And then Shay's moved back to Toronto to finish his

1656
01:13:50,159 --> 01:13:52,760
career after three rings, like and.

1657
01:13:52,800 --> 01:13:55,840
Speaker 3: Then Isaiah Joe, will we ever see that lineup? If

1658
01:13:55,920 --> 01:13:57,960
we do, someone give me a call because I I

1659
01:13:58,560 --> 01:14:03,920
cannot miss that, but hope it Isaiah Joe, Jada Brooks,

1660
01:14:03,960 --> 01:14:04,960
Barnheiser and Chat.

1661
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:07,159
Speaker 1: That is you know what that is weird? Once you

1662
01:14:07,199 --> 01:14:10,399
put Chat at center, I was concerned, but I now

1663
01:14:10,479 --> 01:14:12,560
know enough to know that you're a good person. So

1664
01:14:13,239 --> 01:14:16,079
as the question, Uh, Taylor, what would your pick?

1665
01:14:16,560 --> 01:14:19,039
Speaker 2: This one's easy for me. And shout out to Jacob

1666
01:14:19,119 --> 01:14:21,560
as well. Give him another shout out on this podcast.

1667
01:14:21,640 --> 01:14:25,319
We we love this equivalent. We we we call it

1668
01:14:25,319 --> 01:14:28,760
the equivalent of the Thunder's death lineup. So, uh, you

1669
01:14:28,840 --> 01:14:34,359
got lou Dort, you got Jay Dubb, probably Shay Cason Wallace,

1670
01:14:35,079 --> 01:14:42,680
Al Scruso, All Defense, Jesus Christ one through five small ball. No, Chet,

1671
01:14:43,000 --> 01:14:45,720
we're just going out there and we're just hounding you

1672
01:14:46,600 --> 01:14:49,239
for like ten minutes, just transition basketball.

1673
01:14:50,359 --> 01:14:52,800
Speaker 1: I think mine would. Oh my god, that these lines,

1674
01:14:52,840 --> 01:14:56,399
the fact that Thunder just have these lineups is I

1675
01:14:56,520 --> 01:14:59,039
want to see J Dub at the five with like

1676
01:14:59,159 --> 01:15:01,399
I guess, plus kids I'll call, even though J Dub

1677
01:15:01,520 --> 01:15:03,279
is the kid himself. So give me a J. Mitchell,

1678
01:15:03,760 --> 01:15:05,680
Give me a J. Dub younger than a J. Mitchell.

1679
01:15:05,760 --> 01:15:08,439
Speaker 3: No, probably not. It might be close to the same,

1680
01:15:09,239 --> 01:15:10,359
good point, but.

1681
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:15,800
Speaker 1: J Dub a J Mitchell, Barnheiser toepitch and I guess

1682
01:15:15,840 --> 01:15:18,640
let me go Caseen Wallace there. So that's that's what

1683
01:15:18,720 --> 01:15:21,319
I want to say. Who's the tallest players that's six toepitch,

1684
01:15:21,399 --> 01:15:23,760
the tallest player in that unit? Maybe, Yeah, So I

1685
01:15:23,840 --> 01:15:26,399
want to see that. That's like the that's the fuck

1686
01:15:26,439 --> 01:15:28,760
you look how deep and versatile we are lining up? Yeah,

1687
01:15:29,159 --> 01:15:31,479
that's also the fuck you outcome lineup because I don't

1688
01:15:31,479 --> 01:15:33,079
know what that looks like. You know, on the glass.

1689
01:15:33,880 --> 01:15:37,840
Speaker 2: We're resting, Chet in my heart tonight because we can lineup.

1690
01:15:38,760 --> 01:15:43,079
Speaker 1: We're resting not only yeah, no, Kenrick Williams is out

1691
01:15:43,119 --> 01:15:45,199
to and j will he's gonna get it. He's gonna

1692
01:15:45,199 --> 01:15:48,359
get a little bit of a break. So before I

1693
01:15:48,479 --> 01:15:50,880
get you guys to make some predictions, is there any

1694
01:15:50,960 --> 01:15:53,359
one anything else about this team? We haven't discussed that.

1695
01:15:53,439 --> 01:16:00,119
You think Warrant's uh conversation. Oh man, I know if

1696
01:16:00,159 --> 01:16:01,720
you had a little time on Shaye, but we're just

1697
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:03,680
kind of at the You want to talk about why

1698
01:16:03,760 --> 01:16:05,439
he takes too many free throws and how the Thunder

1699
01:16:05,560 --> 01:16:07,359
free throw merchants even though they were bottom ten and

1700
01:16:07,399 --> 01:16:08,760
free throw tenth th eight. Right.

1701
01:16:09,000 --> 01:16:12,399
Speaker 3: My only thing is I hope people appreciate Sga more.

1702
01:16:12,880 --> 01:16:14,720
It does feel like a lot of the Shay conversation

1703
01:16:14,840 --> 01:16:17,960
and the mainstream was clouded by the free throw stuff,

1704
01:16:17,960 --> 01:16:21,399
which I always thought was stupid. Yeah, but I mean,

1705
01:16:21,680 --> 01:16:24,119
look at what he did last year. Admired the player

1706
01:16:24,159 --> 01:16:25,880
that's in front of you, all the Hoopers, all the

1707
01:16:26,000 --> 01:16:29,680
Kobe lovers, the d Wade lovers. You should love this guy.

1708
01:16:30,520 --> 01:16:33,039
You should love this guy. He plays the same way

1709
01:16:34,319 --> 01:16:37,680
that they did. He plays a very mid two thousand

1710
01:16:37,760 --> 01:16:38,119
style of.

1711
01:16:38,159 --> 01:16:39,760
Speaker 1: Ball, style of basketball.

1712
01:16:39,960 --> 01:16:42,199
Speaker 3: He plays an unethical style of ball. But he's just

1713
01:16:42,279 --> 01:16:46,359
a bucket getter and weird, Weirdly, the biggest shot in

1714
01:16:46,399 --> 01:16:50,359
the arm for his pr was that Brett Usher video

1715
01:16:50,720 --> 01:16:53,079
that had like sixty k likes. It was just a

1716
01:16:53,199 --> 01:16:57,079
montage of shade like getting buckets, and all the replies

1717
01:16:57,119 --> 01:16:59,960
on there were like, this looks like Kobe, this guy

1718
01:17:00,079 --> 01:17:02,359
looks amazing. I've never realized it was this good and

1719
01:17:02,479 --> 01:17:06,359
it was just a random video in like late July.

1720
01:17:06,640 --> 01:17:10,800
I think that Brett Usher on Twitter posted it was like, yeah,

1721
01:17:10,880 --> 01:17:12,319
he's been doing this all year. Guys, I don't know

1722
01:17:12,359 --> 01:17:14,239
why you're just now realizing, right, But I.

1723
01:17:14,239 --> 01:17:16,479
Speaker 2: Think in a similar vein Silva the Thunder's defense as well.

1724
01:17:16,520 --> 01:17:18,119
Those are the two things you heard so much from

1725
01:17:18,159 --> 01:17:20,439
a posing fan basis they just hound you and they

1726
01:17:20,520 --> 01:17:22,560
get away with all these fouls and you just can't

1727
01:17:22,560 --> 01:17:25,640
even play against them because it's so poorly officiated. And like, look,

1728
01:17:26,239 --> 01:17:27,560
a lot of this has comes down to even a

1729
01:17:27,560 --> 01:17:29,920
bigger picture, like even outside of sports, which we don't

1730
01:17:29,920 --> 01:17:31,720
have to dive down that rabbit hole or we'll be

1731
01:17:31,760 --> 01:17:35,119
here another three hours, but just the reactions.

1732
01:17:34,720 --> 01:17:38,199
Speaker 1: Hold on, let me get our fact checkers. Those guys off.

1733
01:17:39,279 --> 01:17:44,800
Speaker 2: Grants on vacation, I think that's just the primary like

1734
01:17:45,000 --> 01:17:48,640
go to an eight reaction to things. He says, right

1735
01:17:48,680 --> 01:17:51,239
stright and tear something good down because my team isn't

1736
01:17:51,279 --> 01:17:52,760
this good or I want this, I want my team

1737
01:17:52,800 --> 01:17:54,800
to win, whatever it may be. Just appreciate greatness for

1738
01:17:54,880 --> 01:17:57,720
what it is, not the Thunder. Like, I understand the

1739
01:17:57,800 --> 01:18:00,680
league is in a weird situation, but there's never been

1740
01:18:00,760 --> 01:18:03,680
more talents in the NBA before. Like, think about all

1741
01:18:03,680 --> 01:18:06,319
the incredible people you've had, and then somehow he got

1742
01:18:06,319 --> 01:18:09,279
stuck with us Dan during your previous.

1743
01:18:10,159 --> 01:18:12,399
Speaker 1: I'm gonna meet all of you at one point, we

1744
01:18:12,479 --> 01:18:14,920
got the uncontested people.

1745
01:18:15,920 --> 01:18:17,800
Speaker 2: We'll have justin on next year. We'll make it happen.

1746
01:18:19,159 --> 01:18:21,039
Just appreciate it for what it is. But I think

1747
01:18:21,079 --> 01:18:25,039
you're exactly right Silva with with SGA and it makes

1748
01:18:25,079 --> 01:18:26,439
her think of the Thunders defense as well.

1749
01:18:27,159 --> 01:18:29,039
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying this just because you guys are

1750
01:18:29,079 --> 01:18:33,239
on the pod. I don't I dismiss when fan bases

1751
01:18:33,279 --> 01:18:37,239
complain about my star isn't getting enough calls throughout the season,

1752
01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:41,119
the game was rigged because it's just like I've tried

1753
01:18:41,159 --> 01:18:43,199
to engage sometimes people in our discord know this, like

1754
01:18:43,239 --> 01:18:47,119
there's a running bit with it, but just it's maybe

1755
01:18:47,199 --> 01:18:48,880
there's a there's at some point there are going to

1756
01:18:48,880 --> 01:18:51,520
be lopsided whistles in games. But I just don't that

1757
01:18:51,680 --> 01:18:53,680
is not why your team is where they are because

1758
01:18:54,079 --> 01:18:57,199
Zion Williamson is refereed differently than everybody else, or Kay

1759
01:18:57,279 --> 01:18:59,840
Cunningham is referee differently. Like, it's just I don't have

1760
01:18:59,880 --> 01:19:03,720
the patience for that stuff. So the complaining about the

1761
01:19:03,760 --> 01:19:06,199
thunder defense or the complaining about and especially like the

1762
01:19:06,319 --> 01:19:08,239
team in general, where it's just look at where they

1763
01:19:08,279 --> 01:19:10,600
are and free throw at tenph th eight. So it's

1764
01:19:10,640 --> 01:19:12,640
not just the thunder. If you're gonna talk about like,

1765
01:19:12,800 --> 01:19:15,680
I'll be equally dismissive of Like if you're complaining about

1766
01:19:15,720 --> 01:19:18,840
like yo kitchen, like oh, like he's bleeding on his arms,

1767
01:19:18,880 --> 01:19:20,439
you can just say he wasn't fouled or whatever, Like

1768
01:19:20,560 --> 01:19:23,520
I don't know what to tell you. So predictions time,

1769
01:19:24,359 --> 01:19:27,359
where do you see this team landing in the West

1770
01:19:27,399 --> 01:19:28,960
really isn't fun unless you guys think that they're just

1771
01:19:29,000 --> 01:19:30,920
gonna punt on the regular season all together. How many

1772
01:19:30,960 --> 01:19:32,640
games do you think they win this year?

1773
01:19:33,039 --> 01:19:35,960
Speaker 3: I would pick I don't think they win sixty eight. Again,

1774
01:19:36,119 --> 01:19:41,680
that's that's pretty if they do. Coward genius I think

1775
01:19:41,840 --> 01:19:45,600
it's between sixty two and sixty five probably if I

1776
01:19:45,680 --> 01:19:46,399
had to guess.

1777
01:19:47,680 --> 01:19:48,520
Speaker 1: Brow you at Taylor.

1778
01:19:49,560 --> 01:19:51,840
Speaker 2: I that's kind of where I lean as well, Silba,

1779
01:19:51,880 --> 01:19:53,239
in the sense I don't think they're going to hit

1780
01:19:53,279 --> 01:19:56,560
sixty eight wins on the contract, like playing Devil's advocate.

1781
01:19:56,640 --> 01:19:59,079
If Nick Crane we're here with us as he would

1782
01:19:59,119 --> 01:20:02,720
be doing, you could argue that if the Thunder have

1783
01:20:02,840 --> 01:20:06,039
full health, I mean they're one of the most statistically

1784
01:20:06,159 --> 01:20:08,319
one of the most injured teams last year during the

1785
01:20:08,359 --> 01:20:11,319
regular season. If they have full health and these guys

1786
01:20:11,359 --> 01:20:14,319
are taking leaps like we say they should be, like,

1787
01:20:14,520 --> 01:20:16,960
why couldn't they surpass sixty eight? So and I understand

1788
01:20:17,039 --> 01:20:19,399
that the reason I agree with Silva, I'm sigdning with

1789
01:20:19,439 --> 01:20:21,760
Silva thinking it's closer to the sixty sixty two wins

1790
01:20:22,520 --> 01:20:25,119
and still probably leading the Western Conference in the one seed.

1791
01:20:25,199 --> 01:20:27,560
I know you have that here as well. The reason

1792
01:20:27,600 --> 01:20:30,560
I think that's because of what we talked about with earlier,

1793
01:20:30,720 --> 01:20:34,960
with balancing these young players and getting them reps. You

1794
01:20:35,119 --> 01:20:37,920
know you have a championship contender. You know you have

1795
01:20:38,039 --> 01:20:40,600
guys like Alex Cruso who are kind of a iHeart

1796
01:20:40,680 --> 01:20:44,119
who are kind of finished projects soon extent. You want

1797
01:20:44,159 --> 01:20:46,600
to keep them healthy long term, even guys like chet

1798
01:20:46,640 --> 01:20:49,359
who you just want to preserve until the playoffs. Even

1799
01:20:49,399 --> 01:20:52,239
if he doesn't have a serious injury, like you said Dan,

1800
01:20:52,479 --> 01:20:55,840
like he's smaller, he's not afraid of contact. He's going

1801
01:20:55,920 --> 01:20:58,039
to be battling down low for eighty two games. It

1802
01:20:58,119 --> 01:21:00,600
makes sense to wrest him for ten of those games

1803
01:21:00,840 --> 01:21:03,039
and try and keep him fresh, you know, or or

1804
01:21:03,199 --> 01:21:05,640
help him kind of get through some some nagging ankle injuries,

1805
01:21:05,680 --> 01:21:08,600
whatever it may be. For all those reasons, I'm with.

1806
01:21:08,680 --> 01:21:09,119
Speaker 3: You, Sila.

1807
01:21:09,600 --> 01:21:12,680
Speaker 2: I think it'll be closer in that like low sixties range.

1808
01:21:14,039 --> 01:21:16,119
Speaker 1: Silva who And this is a fun question to ask you, guys,

1809
01:21:16,159 --> 01:21:18,520
because every team I asked this for in the West

1810
01:21:18,680 --> 01:21:21,520
of what's a playoff matchup that is either most concerning

1811
01:21:21,600 --> 01:21:23,920
or fascinating to you? I just say non Thunder Division.

1812
01:21:24,520 --> 01:21:26,479
I don't have to say that to you too, So Silva,

1813
01:21:26,520 --> 01:21:29,119
what is it? And this one's fun too, because the

1814
01:21:29,239 --> 01:21:31,319
Nuggets proved a lot to me going up against the

1815
01:21:31,640 --> 01:21:33,399
thunder last year. But then like you look at what

1816
01:21:33,520 --> 01:21:35,439
Houston kind of did and just like the West at

1817
01:21:35,479 --> 01:21:37,039
the top is still really stacked. So who do you

1818
01:21:37,439 --> 01:21:39,560
view is either whether it's again from the perspective of

1819
01:21:40,159 --> 01:21:44,439
the most concerning or just most fascinating playoff matchup Denver.

1820
01:21:44,640 --> 01:21:46,359
Speaker 3: I still wake up in a cold sweat at night

1821
01:21:46,439 --> 01:21:48,159
thinking about playing against Yoki.

1822
01:21:48,319 --> 01:21:51,159
Speaker 2: So very commercial with made Lebron.

1823
01:21:51,479 --> 01:21:56,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's that Denver is Denver's up, definitely, dude.

1824
01:21:56,520 --> 01:22:00,439
I mean, Yogi's just is unbelievable gained. I already had

1825
01:22:00,439 --> 01:22:02,520
a ton of respect for Jokic, but watching him play

1826
01:22:02,520 --> 01:22:04,239
against the defense as good as the Thunders, it's like

1827
01:22:04,319 --> 01:22:07,640
he still is generating an open look on every single possession.

1828
01:22:07,720 --> 01:22:13,760
Somehow it's them. Houston will be interesting. I think Houston's

1829
01:22:13,840 --> 01:22:15,880
defense could give us some trouble.

1830
01:22:16,079 --> 01:22:17,760
Speaker 1: They have a lot They might try to put Chet

1831
01:22:17,840 --> 01:22:18,880
in the hospital. They might.

1832
01:22:19,119 --> 01:22:20,960
Speaker 3: That's the thing. It's like they have a lot of beefy,

1833
01:22:21,199 --> 01:22:24,119
a lot of beefy dudes there. They have like a

1834
01:22:24,239 --> 01:22:26,920
nice combination of your your IM and Thompson's the hyper

1835
01:22:26,960 --> 01:22:30,119
athletic and guard SGA as well as anyone. And they

1836
01:22:30,159 --> 01:22:33,720
have like your bruising SHNG goons, Steven Adams types and

1837
01:22:34,399 --> 01:22:37,920
both of those. I think against the Thunders more frail

1838
01:22:38,000 --> 01:22:41,239
players I'll say, like a chet could cause could cause

1839
01:22:41,279 --> 01:22:44,239
some issues if there was a if there was a

1840
01:22:44,319 --> 01:22:47,840
third team, it's not the Timberwolves. I don't think that's

1841
01:22:47,880 --> 01:22:48,680
what I'm looking at.

1842
01:22:52,319 --> 01:22:53,159
Speaker 2: Is Lakers.

1843
01:22:53,800 --> 01:22:55,680
Speaker 3: I don't know, man, I don't really believe.

1844
01:22:58,520 --> 01:22:59,199
Speaker 1: Exceptionalism.

1845
01:22:59,279 --> 01:23:01,640
Speaker 3: I don't really believe in that. I mean, those are

1846
01:23:01,680 --> 01:23:03,479
the it's markets.

1847
01:23:04,119 --> 01:23:07,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, the team that you didn't mention, I think

1848
01:23:07,039 --> 01:23:10,159
Houston or Denver the natural answers. I don't know what

1849
01:23:10,199 --> 01:23:12,039
they're gonna look like at this point. I assume they're

1850
01:23:12,039 --> 01:23:13,720
gonna look the same and that everyone's gonna play if

1851
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:16,239
they're healthy. But the Clippers like they can run some

1852
01:23:16,319 --> 01:23:20,239
interesting from courts now, Yeah, like because of John Collins Zubats,

1853
01:23:20,239 --> 01:23:22,760
who's probably the most underrated player in the NBA of

1854
01:23:22,800 --> 01:23:27,079
the past half decade, and then having Brook Lopez there too.

1855
01:23:27,640 --> 01:23:29,680
So that's the day. Like if you tell me Kawhi

1856
01:23:29,880 --> 01:23:34,119
is healthy and you know, still allowed to play.

1857
01:23:35,319 --> 01:23:37,479
Speaker 2: WHI I mean where this is like the nursing home

1858
01:23:37,560 --> 01:23:38,880
for NBA players right now?

1859
01:23:39,119 --> 01:23:42,560
Speaker 1: Like twenty one is so excited right now if you have.

1860
01:23:43,399 --> 01:23:46,359
Speaker 2: Gosh, our championship contender right Actually.

1861
01:23:46,119 --> 01:23:48,279
Speaker 1: I think they're they could be I think they're like

1862
01:23:48,359 --> 01:23:50,880
one of four best teams in the West at full strength,

1863
01:23:50,920 --> 01:23:53,439
Like the depth is there. When I started to think

1864
01:23:53,479 --> 01:23:55,520
about it, my first inclination was they lean too far

1865
01:23:55,600 --> 01:23:58,039
into offense. But then I started going through their bench

1866
01:23:58,079 --> 01:24:01,239
and I'm just like Derek Jones, Junior brook Lopez, like

1867
01:24:01,279 --> 01:24:04,119
they have enough tea, yeah, Chris Dunn and so I

1868
01:24:04,159 --> 01:24:06,000
don't know how much those guys are gonna play, but

1869
01:24:06,119 --> 01:24:08,119
like they have plenty of defense still. So I think

1870
01:24:08,159 --> 01:24:11,199
this team, if it's healthy, they would be an interesting matchup.

1871
01:24:11,239 --> 01:24:12,640
But I think it's I think you both hit it

1872
01:24:12,720 --> 01:24:14,640
with Denver. It's probably the team that I'm most interested.

1873
01:24:14,760 --> 01:24:17,079
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and last year my answer would have been my

1874
01:24:17,319 --> 01:24:19,199
answer last year would have included the Lakers. It would

1875
01:24:19,199 --> 01:24:22,159
have included the Timberwolves, the Warriors, just because those are

1876
01:24:22,199 --> 01:24:24,880
teams that if you if if you're a young team

1877
01:24:24,880 --> 01:24:27,840
and you're playing against Lebron or Steph or Ant in

1878
01:24:27,920 --> 01:24:30,000
that defense, you're you're afraid of what's gonna happen. But

1879
01:24:30,119 --> 01:24:32,560
last playoffs kind of showed me they can problem solve

1880
01:24:32,680 --> 01:24:35,159
enough to where those guys aren't quite as skill.

1881
01:24:35,199 --> 01:24:37,720
Speaker 2: And then the timber Wolves lose, nah, and they don't

1882
01:24:37,760 --> 01:24:40,760
really they re sign like nas Reed and Julius Randall,

1883
01:24:40,800 --> 01:24:42,479
but they don't really make significant improvements.

1884
01:24:43,119 --> 01:24:45,640
Speaker 1: So that's why I think I don't think they're gonna

1885
01:24:45,680 --> 01:24:48,039
miss Naw that much. I think Terren Shannon Junior is

1886
01:24:48,039 --> 01:24:50,840
gonna be ready. Maybe they'll miss his shooting if that's

1887
01:24:51,079 --> 01:24:53,600
like not shooting hasn't really translated to the playoffs just yet.

1888
01:24:54,560 --> 01:24:58,119
You know, you mentioned Dallas would be interesting. I don't

1889
01:24:58,119 --> 01:24:59,520
know if they're gonna make the playoffs, but like their

1890
01:24:59,560 --> 01:25:03,079
point guard might be bigger than OKC Center at one point,

1891
01:25:03,159 --> 01:25:04,439
Like if you have flag as your point guard and

1892
01:25:04,479 --> 01:25:06,760
you're gonna run small as the thunder, that would be gosh.

1893
01:25:06,880 --> 01:25:10,680
Speaker 2: Guys, speaking of sickle lineups, can you imagine Cooper and

1894
01:25:10,880 --> 01:25:14,319
Chet guarding each other full court, like both running point

1895
01:25:14,359 --> 01:25:15,039
of tax.

1896
01:25:14,880 --> 01:25:20,680
Speaker 3: Lots Dallas fans. We see Dallas fans a lot still

1897
01:25:20,760 --> 01:25:23,479
kind of living in the embers of the Luca team

1898
01:25:23,640 --> 01:25:26,840
that was they were like our biggest rival back then,

1899
01:25:26,920 --> 01:25:30,239
and they're still like PJ. Washington owns you and they

1900
01:25:30,359 --> 01:25:33,039
still kind of think we can They can compete and

1901
01:25:33,159 --> 01:25:37,159
Dallas defensively, yes, but offensively, I just don't know. You're

1902
01:25:37,159 --> 01:25:39,199
starting you need Anthony.

1903
01:25:38,920 --> 01:25:40,880
Speaker 1: Davis to want to play center, so like that's already

1904
01:25:40,880 --> 01:25:42,880
and then Kyrie's heard. I don't know what to make

1905
01:25:42,960 --> 01:25:44,520
of that team other than they're huge, and I think

1906
01:25:44,560 --> 01:25:45,760
they'll be really good defensively.

1907
01:25:45,880 --> 01:25:48,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're fun. They're fun again, like they have Cooper there,

1908
01:25:48,399 --> 01:25:49,399
they'll be they'll be fun.

1909
01:25:49,479 --> 01:25:51,760
Speaker 1: But yeah, this is an interesting question to ask you, guys,

1910
01:25:51,800 --> 01:25:54,600
from your perspective, who's the most to you menacing team

1911
01:25:54,640 --> 01:25:56,600
in the Eastern Conference like the Thunder in the finals.

1912
01:25:56,640 --> 01:25:58,439
Who do you want to face the least coming out

1913
01:25:58,439 --> 01:25:58,880
of the East.

1914
01:26:00,079 --> 01:26:01,439
Speaker 3: This weird? Is this weird?

1915
01:26:01,680 --> 01:26:04,359
Speaker 2: This year is so weird in the Eastern Conference with

1916
01:26:04,439 --> 01:26:06,720
the Celtics Beam banged up with Tatum and.

1917
01:26:08,319 --> 01:26:10,840
Speaker 3: Oh man, I don't want to go to MSG and

1918
01:26:10,920 --> 01:26:14,520
play basketball in the place. I don't want to go

1919
01:26:14,600 --> 01:26:15,039
to MSG.

1920
01:26:15,800 --> 01:26:17,520
Speaker 1: I think if you're trying to play Kate the host,

1921
01:26:17,880 --> 01:26:20,760
that's the answer. I kind of wonder if the actual

1922
01:26:20,840 --> 01:26:23,560
answer is Orlando, Yes, Oh yeah.

1923
01:26:24,319 --> 01:26:26,600
Speaker 2: They feel like the Thunder from like two years ago.

1924
01:26:26,800 --> 01:26:29,840
They're about to make a really big leap, so you could.

1925
01:26:29,680 --> 01:26:31,560
Speaker 1: Go the whole Maybe they're not ready factor because I

1926
01:26:31,640 --> 01:26:33,199
really like Cleveland. I think they're gonna be my pick

1927
01:26:33,239 --> 01:26:35,119
to come out of the East. Yea, but just like you,

1928
01:26:35,560 --> 01:26:38,119
I talked about this with Justin Rowan. I talked about

1929
01:26:38,119 --> 01:26:40,880
this with Philip Rossman Wright, who covers the Magic Yep.

1930
01:26:41,119 --> 01:26:43,600
Like you just feel or Land. They could lose a

1931
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:45,199
series four to zero and you might come out of

1932
01:26:45,239 --> 01:26:49,640
it limping still. That's what. Yeah, that's a that's an

1933
01:26:49,680 --> 01:26:53,000
excellent point. So to wrap this up before I let

1934
01:26:53,039 --> 01:26:55,720
you to go, can I get one other prediction about

1935
01:26:55,760 --> 01:26:57,760
the thunder for this coming season from each of you?

1936
01:26:57,840 --> 01:27:00,560
Will begin with the first timer, JD you have for me?

1937
01:27:00,920 --> 01:27:04,520
Speaker 3: Oh wow, I'm gonna go Chet Homegrin is an all star.

1938
01:27:06,119 --> 01:27:06,840
I think I like that.

1939
01:27:07,199 --> 01:27:09,159
Speaker 1: I have to wear my it'd be weird if you

1940
01:27:09,279 --> 01:27:12,800
didn't tailor if you're just like you're gonna like you

1941
01:27:13,199 --> 01:27:15,479
predict Jadub making all NBA, and I was like, God,

1942
01:27:15,520 --> 01:27:17,560
I hope not. What about what about the wallet? His

1943
01:27:17,680 --> 01:27:18,760
contract's gonna go up?

1944
01:27:20,159 --> 01:27:20,359
Speaker 3: Yeah?

1945
01:27:20,479 --> 01:27:20,880
Speaker 2: I like that.

1946
01:27:21,000 --> 01:27:22,039
Speaker 1: I don't really like that.

1947
01:27:22,199 --> 01:27:26,159
Speaker 3: So I love Chat. I'm gonna continue to believe in him.

1948
01:27:27,319 --> 01:27:27,760
That's good.

1949
01:27:28,119 --> 01:27:30,800
Speaker 1: Well is there if you don't believe in Chet? I'm

1950
01:27:30,840 --> 01:27:33,239
just talking in general, it'd be weird to just say

1951
01:27:33,600 --> 01:27:36,119
I'm out on chat like, I like, what would be

1952
01:27:36,199 --> 01:27:38,199
the basis for that? I guess injuries, but that's not

1953
01:27:38,319 --> 01:27:42,199
really one. Yeah no, no, no, What about you, Taylor?

1954
01:27:42,319 --> 01:27:43,039
What's your prediction?

1955
01:27:43,720 --> 01:27:47,199
Speaker 2: So, now that Jay Dubb's emerge into stardom, I can't

1956
01:27:47,199 --> 01:27:50,039
say super stardom yet, but stardom on his way, I

1957
01:27:50,119 --> 01:27:52,319
have to pick a new underdog and we already have

1958
01:27:52,319 --> 01:27:54,000
talked about him a couple of times on the podcast

1959
01:27:54,079 --> 01:27:56,159
so far. If you guys have listened to us over

1960
01:27:56,199 --> 01:27:57,840
the past season or so, we're all really high on

1961
01:27:57,880 --> 01:28:00,880
this player. But Cason Wallace is my guy. I think

1962
01:28:00,920 --> 01:28:03,840
there's so much on tap potential. I think Cason Wallace

1963
01:28:04,119 --> 01:28:07,319
is closing games in the playoffs come a year from now.

1964
01:28:07,680 --> 01:28:09,359
Speaker 3: Hell yes, that's fun.

1965
01:28:09,399 --> 01:28:10,680
Speaker 1: Wow, I love that producer.

1966
01:28:10,840 --> 01:28:13,479
Speaker 2: I couldn't say that earlier because I do think like

1967
01:28:13,560 --> 01:28:16,359
I do stand by my question earlier. We specifically asked

1968
01:28:16,399 --> 01:28:19,319
that question Dan that it is going to change, but

1969
01:28:19,439 --> 01:28:21,840
I think when push comes to shove, I think at

1970
01:28:21,880 --> 01:28:24,640
that point the season another year development for Cason Wallace.

1971
01:28:24,720 --> 01:28:27,079
I think he's going to be too important defensively and

1972
01:28:27,319 --> 01:28:29,800
when he brings offensively as well to leave off the court.

1973
01:28:31,079 --> 01:28:37,079
Speaker 1: God, this team just might be so insane. Are you

1974
01:28:37,159 --> 01:28:41,159
able to tell our listeners, watcher subscribers, audience where they

1975
01:28:41,159 --> 01:28:42,560
can find you, guys, and all the work that you

1976
01:28:42,680 --> 01:28:44,920
do will begin again with you, mister Silva.

1977
01:28:45,479 --> 01:28:48,199
Speaker 3: Yes, you can find me at JD. Silva Underscore. On Twitter,

1978
01:28:48,279 --> 01:28:51,439
you can find the un contested Twitter. What the hell's Taylor?

1979
01:28:51,479 --> 01:28:53,319
What the hell is our at Underscore?

1980
01:28:53,359 --> 01:28:56,039
Speaker 2: The uncontested at the Underscore and Contested Boom.

1981
01:28:56,119 --> 01:28:58,359
Speaker 3: Yep, We're on YouTube, We're on Twitter, of course, We're

1982
01:28:58,399 --> 01:29:03,039
on TikTok Facebook. We have a Patreon where you get

1983
01:29:03,079 --> 01:29:07,760
access to bonus episodes. Sometimes it's like non basketball related

1984
01:29:07,840 --> 01:29:11,720
mail bag questions, which are always fun. Sometimes it's draft breakdowns.

1985
01:29:12,079 --> 01:29:15,760
You also get access to our discord where it's about basketball,

1986
01:29:16,119 --> 01:29:18,760
or we have like a it's like every week one

1987
01:29:18,800 --> 01:29:20,600
of our subscribers is like, can we have a channel

1988
01:29:20,680 --> 01:29:23,159
for this, And it's like, now we have a fishing channel.

1989
01:29:22,920 --> 01:29:25,119
Speaker 2: And us go to it's the outdoor channel.

1990
01:29:25,159 --> 01:29:28,319
Speaker 3: He always have I joke. Now, yeah, we have a

1991
01:29:28,359 --> 01:29:29,560
good It is a lot of fun.

1992
01:29:29,880 --> 01:29:32,520
Speaker 2: Hey, So, speaking of that plugging both the Patreon, but

1993
01:29:32,600 --> 01:29:35,680
also our good friends over here Hardwood Knocks. Like Dan said,

1994
01:29:35,960 --> 01:29:38,239
we've known each other since a very very early Blue

1995
01:29:38,279 --> 01:29:40,680
Wire days when we both joined kind of when the

1996
01:29:40,760 --> 01:29:44,039
network was just starting, Kevin Jones just started, everything started

1997
01:29:44,119 --> 01:29:47,359
doing collapse and stuff. We long overdue for us to

1998
01:29:47,359 --> 01:29:51,279
get either Dan Grant or hopefully both on and was

1999
01:29:51,319 --> 01:29:53,439
thinking to be kind of cool, maybe to do something

2000
01:29:53,479 --> 01:29:56,760
where we record like a podcast like this. We dropped

2001
01:29:56,760 --> 01:29:59,720
the first part in front of the play payroll paywall,

2002
01:29:59,880 --> 01:30:03,520
just you know, on a normal, normal distribution, and then

2003
01:30:03,600 --> 01:30:06,239
maybe for the patron subscribers, have a little bonus content

2004
01:30:06,520 --> 01:30:08,560
with Dan and Grant, So hopefully you guys will be

2005
01:30:08,600 --> 01:30:09,920
seeing them on our pod as well.

2006
01:30:10,319 --> 01:30:12,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully, Well, I'll definitely, I'm definitely in hope we

2007
01:30:12,439 --> 01:30:14,840
will be able to work out with Grant. You guys

2008
01:30:14,880 --> 01:30:17,760
do great work. The links to their podcast, the open

2009
01:30:17,800 --> 01:30:19,720
feed as well as the Patreon will be in our

2010
01:30:19,840 --> 01:30:23,159
podcast and YouTube description. Going there and talk about fishing.

2011
01:30:23,520 --> 01:30:26,079
We turn there's every year, which is kind of tradition

2012
01:30:26,159 --> 01:30:28,600
we just started in our discord. We identify one team

2013
01:30:29,159 --> 01:30:31,399
where it's that's not going to be about the actual

2014
01:30:31,439 --> 01:30:33,800
team because they're either so bad or just they're going nowhere.

2015
01:30:33,800 --> 01:30:36,319
So last year it was the Pelicans became the movies

2016
01:30:36,359 --> 01:30:39,960
and TV shows this year it's the Celtics. It was

2017
01:30:40,039 --> 01:30:43,520
chosen to be the Celtics. So that's what you can

2018
01:30:43,560 --> 01:30:46,920
get in our discord. Is we we purposely bullied one

2019
01:30:47,000 --> 01:30:48,920
fan base apparently, or we don't bully, we just exo

2020
01:30:49,000 --> 01:30:50,319
communicate them from existence.

2021
01:30:50,399 --> 01:30:53,119
Speaker 2: Apparently you talk about your team.

2022
01:30:53,560 --> 01:30:55,680
Speaker 1: Yeah right, awesome. You guys do great work at the

2023
01:30:55,680 --> 01:30:57,560
Young Contest. And so again everybody, if you're not already

2024
01:30:57,600 --> 01:30:59,760
and listening to this and made it this far, my god,

2025
01:31:00,319 --> 01:31:03,279
go subscribe already. Thank you guys for being so generous

2026
01:31:03,279 --> 01:31:05,239
with your time as always, and as you know by now,

2027
01:31:05,399 --> 01:31:07,520
I will be pestering you again in the future.