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Speaker 2: Welcome to Bullyball, presented by DraftKings. I'm Rachel Nichols.
Speaker 1: That is DeMarcus Cousins and can you tell from my
Speaker 1: festive attire book. This is our holiday show, our Christmas show,
Speaker 1: because we.
Speaker 2: Won't be with everyone next week, so we're doing a
Speaker 2: little extra bonus show for you guys.
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit about this week's games, look
Speaker 1: ahead to the Christmas games, which are always a good slate.
Speaker 1: And I don't think I can start bug without talking
Speaker 1: about John Moran, because man in his first game, No
Speaker 1: Rust thirty four points, that game winning shot which was ridiculous,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna have the chance.
Speaker 2: To show off again. The next game they play.
Speaker 1: Is against the Pacers, which means matching up with another
Speaker 1: young guard in the league, mister Tyrese Haliburton.
Speaker 2: I just I can't wait to see these two go
Speaker 2: at it.
Speaker 1: And I think I think some people forgot about how
Speaker 1: good Jah was. As impossible as that is to believe,
Speaker 1: but so many people after that first game were like,
Speaker 1: oh man, oh yeah, John Moran.
Speaker 3: It's a different time than we're in.
Speaker 4: And one thing that's for certain is if you're a star,
Speaker 4: you're gonna shine regardless, no matter how much they try
Speaker 4: to dim your light, no matter how much mood they
Speaker 4: throw in your name, you know, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 4: John Moran is him. You know we've seen this time
Speaker 4: and time again.
Speaker 3: Amen.
Speaker 4: Obviously he went through his you know, his little adversity
Speaker 4: trials and tribute relations whatever you want to call it,
Speaker 4: and you know, hopefully he's on their mistakes.
Speaker 1: They're self inflicted, but yes, he learned from them, hopefully,
Speaker 1: and now he's back just prove it to everyone.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's get back to what he's great at, which
Speaker 4: is playing basketball. Let's get back to what he loves
Speaker 4: which is this game. And he went out and showed that.
Speaker 4: He showed the world that he is a saw. He
Speaker 4: is a star, regardless of the circumstances. So I'm glad
Speaker 4: to have him back on the floor. I'm glad that
Speaker 4: he's able to go out and show his talent. Go
Speaker 4: be the superstar that you are. Let's move past all
Speaker 4: the bullshit. So I was very showing in his first game.
Speaker 4: I spoke on it earlier in the week. I don't
Speaker 4: believe there will be Russ.
Speaker 1: He'll come out and you said it, but you were like,
Speaker 1: he's twenty four years old.
Speaker 4: This is he can roll out of bed and do this.
Speaker 4: So he came out and he proved that. So this
Speaker 4: is a great time for him to show his his
Speaker 4: growth as a young man, a leader, yeah, superstar in
Speaker 4: this league. He can show that, you know, he has
Speaker 4: learned from his past mistakes and this is just about
Speaker 4: him moving forward and continuing to be a star.
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm happy for him.
Speaker 4: I'm happy for the performance that he was able to,
Speaker 4: you know, display to the world. And like I said,
Speaker 4: this is his chance to keep moving forward. So you know, kudos,
Speaker 4: dam well.
Speaker 1: Look, speaking of twenty four year olds who can just
Speaker 1: roll out of bed and apparently drop thirty four The
Speaker 1: Spectacular Dunks producer Nate and I were talking after we're
Speaker 1: talking about job about Okay, So, now that he has
Speaker 1: reminded everyone he is one of the top players in
Speaker 1: the league, what about the top players under twenty five?
Speaker 1: And Nate was trying to sneak Jason Tatum in there.
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum is twenty five. We cannot include him on
Speaker 1: this list. So I wanted to ask you, especially with
Speaker 1: John Morant and Halliburton about to knock head to head
Speaker 1: and go against each other, who are your top five
Speaker 1: players under twenty five?
Speaker 2: They can be big man guards whoever?
Speaker 3: Top five? That is tough.
Speaker 4: There's so many young talented I know. Well, obviously Luca's
Speaker 4: in that conversation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Luka leads that commerce. He could be the
Speaker 2: whole conversation.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Anthony Edwards has to be in that conversation.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: How old is sha Is Shae?
Speaker 2: I think he's older. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure he's older. He's old and wizzend. Yeah, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's twenty five years old, so you know, couldn't possibly
Speaker 1: be included hear.
Speaker 3: Okay, it has to be in that conversation.
Speaker 1: All right, So so far you've got Luca and Halliburton.
Speaker 1: I assume you've got your ant, John Morant, right, oh.
Speaker 3: John Morant obviously, yes, has.
Speaker 2: To be right. Okay, So that's for sure.
Speaker 3: That's four and we got one more.
Speaker 2: So let me let me give you some names for
Speaker 2: your last slot.
Speaker 1: You've got Tyres MAXI, You've got Zion, you've got Paolo,
Speaker 1: you've got Wemby.
Speaker 2: Who do you put?
Speaker 4: It can't go past yes, And regardless of you know
Speaker 4: what the narrative around his name is, right now, this
Speaker 4: guy has he's proven that he's a star in this
Speaker 4: league from the day he stepped in. Obviously has been
Speaker 4: a little inconsistent with you know, you know, the bullshit
Speaker 4: circulating around his name. But the talent is there. He's
Speaker 4: a star and he's proven it since walking in. So
Speaker 4: around that top five off of those guys.
Speaker 1: See, I don't know, man, I think you've got to
Speaker 1: be consistent if you're going to be in one of
Speaker 1: these lists, right, I mean, we're about to talk about
Speaker 1: All Star voting, and there's guys who are great players,
Speaker 1: like legendary players who might not make my first team
Speaker 1: All Star ballot because they just haven't been consistent this season, right,
Speaker 1: they haven't been playing as much or the when they have,
Speaker 1: it's been a little bit choppy.
Speaker 2: Tyres.
Speaker 1: Maxi has been there for that team in a way
Speaker 1: that nobody expected. He's exceeded expectations. He's allowed Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: to do what he does. It's really just changed the
Speaker 1: calculus the entire team. So I'm putting Maxie in there
Speaker 1: instead of Zion, And you know, we can fight about that,
Speaker 1: but I feel like I feel like right now he
Speaker 1: is more valuable to his team.
Speaker 4: Is this based off one season or is this based
Speaker 4: off Well that's a good point.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean then you can't really have Haliburton in
Speaker 1: there if you're if you're saying it's like lifetime body.
Speaker 3: Work, that's valid. That's valid. So I mean, yeah, I
Speaker 3: guess you could.
Speaker 4: I guess if you add certain things to it, it's
Speaker 4: gonna always move a criteria or kind of moved.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's valid. That's vot. I can agree
Speaker 3: with you. I can agree with that.
Speaker 2: My favorite line it's top five, not top seven.
Speaker 1: Okay, speaking of All Star voting, we'll get Rondo back.
Speaker 2: We'll discuss that with him.
Speaker 1: Voting has just started for the people out there, Let's
Speaker 1: give them some advice both on who they should vote for.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you to make your choices. Let's start
Speaker 1: in the E because it's a little easier.
Speaker 2: Who do you got in the East?
Speaker 1: And remember all Star voting is yeah, and it's not
Speaker 1: positionless yet, which I've been lobbying the league to make
Speaker 1: it positionless because they played positionless and some guys are
Speaker 1: weirdly listed to positions, but some guys aren't and it
Speaker 1: messes everything up.
Speaker 2: So I'm I'm I'm still on that train.
Speaker 1: Let's make a positionless But until then, right, you've got
Speaker 1: two forwards, a center, and two guards.
Speaker 4: All right, Well, we're gonna start off with the guy
Speaker 4: I believe should be MVP once again this year, with
Speaker 4: Joe LMB. I think that's a given. At the four spot.
Speaker 4: I hate that you know what you say, put names
Speaker 4: on the positions, but at the four, we're gonna put
Speaker 4: Gianni's At the three.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Now, this is where it starts to get a little tricky.
Speaker 3: In the East.
Speaker 2: I know the guards right.
Speaker 4: The guards. It's kind of up and down, But I
Speaker 4: think the right decision would be Donovan Mitchell m M
Speaker 4: two and my god dang dahla starting at the one.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go with that as the East. I think
Speaker 4: that's I think that's valid. How you feel about that,
Speaker 4: right See, this.
Speaker 1: Is hard for me because I always say I vote
Speaker 1: for the All Star Game a little different than I
Speaker 1: vote for like All NBA at.
Speaker 2: The end of the year.
Speaker 1: All NBA to me is like, what did you do
Speaker 1: this season? How is your season? You know, it changes
Speaker 1: every year. Sometimes guys are in and then out of
Speaker 1: my ballot, you know, from year to year, that kind
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 2: For All Star I do like to take into account.
Speaker 1: It's the All Star Game, right Like, there is something
Speaker 1: about the wattage of the star and sort of what
Speaker 1: they can do and more of that lifetime achievement element
Speaker 1: to me.
Speaker 2: So I think.
Speaker 1: I'm good with your picks, both Tyrese's I feel deserve
Speaker 1: that first starting spot, you know, Maxie and Haliburton. But
Speaker 1: if I'm a fan watching the All Star Game and
Speaker 1: I see the court out there with like physically all
Speaker 1: of the stars.
Speaker 2: Of the league.
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard like belongs in that discussion, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just sort of it's a tougher It's it's tougher
Speaker 1: to figure.
Speaker 4: Out also popularity, So I mean you got to take
Speaker 4: that into account as well. If if we're going popularity
Speaker 4: right now, not based on you know, performance or skill,
Speaker 4: if you take Damian Lillard and Tyreks Maxie, I think
Speaker 4: it's gonna always go with Damian Lillard. So how to
Speaker 4: take that into account as well?
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it is partly performance, Like I'm not throwing
Speaker 1: performance out, but Dame has obviously performed so well. Like
Speaker 1: you know, obviously that team has had some growing pains
Speaker 1: as they're new team getting put together. You know, the
Speaker 1: Sons have had growing pains. But when we get to
Speaker 1: the West, I'm certainly putting kd in there. But that
Speaker 1: being said, like Lillard has done exactly what they wanted
Speaker 1: him to do there, which is be a closer, organized
Speaker 1: him in the last five minut of games where they
Speaker 1: were a mess, and be the guy because sometimes a
Speaker 1: big man can't be the guy to do that.
Speaker 2: Kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm my list was different before I came
Speaker 1: on here with you book, but you've convinced me.
Speaker 2: All right, So I got you on the Under twenty five,
Speaker 2: you got me on All Star.
Speaker 1: Give me your Western Conference All Stars because this is
Speaker 1: about to get very tricky.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's gonna get a little tricky. Let's see what West.
Speaker 4: We gotta start with the big Fella and Yokic mm hmm.
Speaker 4: At the four, I'm gonna go Lebron James mm hmm.
Speaker 4: At the three, I'll go Kevin Durant mm hmm. For
Speaker 4: a two, I'm gonna say Luca Donts yep.
Speaker 3: For the one. Man, I gotta go with shay.
Speaker 2: Yah, gotta go with shap Yeah. No, I like that list.
Speaker 2: That's basically my list.
Speaker 1: You know, my struggle was Steph Curry and Devin Booker,
Speaker 1: right stuff.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, brother, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Right, it's Steph Curry.
Speaker 2: So then I kind of go back to the All
Speaker 2: Star thing. And he's had a tremendous season.
Speaker 1: I know the Warriors are sucked, but he's been incredible.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of the KD principle like, but.
Speaker 1: Then again, I don't know, winning has to be account
Speaker 1: for something. So do you put Shay in there, or
Speaker 1: you know, put some of the other guys, I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's very complicated.
Speaker 1: This.
Speaker 4: It still goes back to this. It's still the popularity
Speaker 4: contest at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: So okay, so you flip.
Speaker 4: I think Steph Steph will always get voted in over Shap,
Speaker 4: regardless of he performs better. Like Steph is one of
Speaker 4: the faces of this league. He's been that for the
Speaker 4: past decade. So yeah, you can't. You can't ignore that fact.
Speaker 4: I could be wrong. I could replace Shaye right now, Stiff.
Speaker 4: I think Stiff takes that spot. I was wrong about that.
Speaker 1: Well, again, it's not all NBA. Like people are going
Speaker 1: to quibble with this in the comments. I appreciate that,
Speaker 1: we want your comments, but like, to me, there's a
Speaker 1: difference in the way you vote for this versus All
Speaker 1: NBA or some of the end of season awards.
Speaker 2: You know, it's so funny to keep saying as a
Speaker 2: popularity contest.
Speaker 1: Like I had someone arguing with me last year and
Speaker 1: they're like, well, it's not like it's a popularity contest.
Speaker 2: I'm like, it's exactly what it is. That is exactly
Speaker 2: what the All Star Game is. You hit the nail
Speaker 2: on the head.
Speaker 1: So there's something about that, and I love the fact
Speaker 1: that you know, the NBA is a star driven league.
Speaker 1: I mean that you look at what the stars have
Speaker 1: been doing so far in this season, and they've been
Speaker 1: China man, and you look at you know, I watched
Speaker 1: plenty of football, and sure there's individual players we all watch,
Speaker 1: but it's not the same like it's just the NBA
Speaker 1: is about the stars. That is the thing that draws
Speaker 1: people in. So I think for the All Star Game,
Speaker 1: you know, it's okay to rely on that a little
Speaker 1: bit more. And then when you vote for All MBA
Speaker 1: at the end of the year, any of the end
Speaker 1: of season awards, you can rely on the other thing. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, the end of season awards they have to
Speaker 1: hit sixty five games, which don't get me started on that.
Speaker 2: I think that's ridiculous. But it's a conversation for later
Speaker 2: in the yearbook. We'll get to that. We'll get to that.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about a game on Wednesday night,
Speaker 1: the Bulls and Lakers were playing in what I like
Speaker 1: to call the Zach Lavine Invitational, even though he wasn't
Speaker 1: on the court, because it has been so heavily rumored
Speaker 1: that the Lakers are going to trade for zach Lavine.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised they didn't just take him home in a
Speaker 1: Duffel bag on the plane. I mean, it's just ridiculous
Speaker 1: the chatter around these two teams.
Speaker 2: But there's also reporting coming out of LA that yes,
Speaker 2: there is.
Speaker 1: A heavy consideration to Levine, But if you look at
Speaker 1: the two other pieces on the Bulls that might be
Speaker 1: available for trade, DeMar de Rosen and Alex Grusso, who
Speaker 1: definitely Lebron James and several other people around the LA
Speaker 1: franchise are sorry that they let go, that they maybe
Speaker 1: better fits and that they may be the ones that
Speaker 1: they're after. Caruso has a very reasonable salary in terms
Speaker 1: of fitting into a larger system. Demarto Rosen's an expiring contract,
Speaker 1: so that's always helpful. Zach Lavine is a big contract
Speaker 1: at big numbers for a long time, so it's just
Speaker 1: much more of a commitment. They made that commitment to
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook and then quickly got out of it, So
Speaker 1: it's possible that you don't have to, you know, be
Speaker 1: died in the wool air. But it is a different conversation.
Speaker 1: So when you look at what the Lakers need and
Speaker 1: by the way, they have lost three straight since the
Speaker 1: n season tournament.
Speaker 2: Lebron talked about the whole.
Speaker 1: Team being fatigued the other day, so like that's a factor.
Speaker 2: What do you think they need to get them over
Speaker 2: the hump?
Speaker 1: Because they're definitely playing really well, but they're probably not
Speaker 1: in that absolute favorite, top top elite tier yet in
Speaker 1: the NBA.
Speaker 4: Well, it's obvious that they need that therapiece. We spoke
Speaker 4: on this earlier in the year. They just need that
Speaker 4: that that third option to help them, you know, close games,
Speaker 4: get over the humps. It may be nice where Lebron isn't,
Speaker 4: you know, at the top of his game, or it
Speaker 4: may be nice where Ad is struggling. So you always
Speaker 4: need that third option to you know, kind of get
Speaker 4: you over that hump. But if I'm the Lakers and
Speaker 4: I'm looking in on this on this bull team and
Speaker 4: the assets that they have that could potentially, you know,
Speaker 4: improve my team, which is a Lakers, the number one
Speaker 4: trade target in my opinion.
Speaker 3: It should be Caruso.
Speaker 4: And obviously there's a history with Caruso. It's a chemistry
Speaker 4: with Caruso. He was a part of that championship Lakers team,
Speaker 4: bubble team, so Obviously there's a history, they have chemistry.
Speaker 3: It's obviously it works.
Speaker 4: So but uh, it has to be a combination of
Speaker 4: the It has to be a combination of Caruso DeRozan
Speaker 4: or Caruso.
Speaker 3: Levine in order for this Lakers team to improve.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, as I say, money wise, Caruso and
Speaker 1: Jamar kind of packaged better together, right.
Speaker 4: I agree with that too, But in my opinion, I
Speaker 4: believe the Caruso DeRozan package fits this Lakers team a
Speaker 4: bit better. I think Damar has the mindset to fit
Speaker 4: in with this team to have championship you know, goals.
Speaker 4: Not to take anything away from Levigne, I just when
Speaker 4: it comes to fitting next to Lebron, it's a certain
Speaker 4: type of player it has to be, and I just
Speaker 4: don't feel like at this point in Levine's career he's
Speaker 4: at that point.
Speaker 3: So I would lean more towards the package.
Speaker 4: You know, Damar and Caruso, and I think, you know,
Speaker 4: that could really help this Lakers team get over the
Speaker 4: hump and you know, being the conversation that's being a
Speaker 4: championship caliber team. So I could be wrong, but I
Speaker 4: feel like that's the perfect combination to help this team
Speaker 4: right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I lean toward that too. I think that gets
Speaker 1: you a little bit more on both ends. Those guys
Speaker 1: will fit in and Alex russo, you know, just being
Speaker 1: living here in LA and being around that locker room
Speaker 1: when he was here, you know, they love that guy.
Speaker 1: Lebron loves that guy, and that don't discount how big
Speaker 1: a deal that is. And you know, I just think
Speaker 1: that that bringing him back will just sort of give
Speaker 1: a little peace of mind to some.
Speaker 2: Of the guys in that locker room who like playing
Speaker 2: with him. And Damarrow I believe he's an LA native.
Speaker 1: One of the producers can jump in if I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: but I think he's from LA. So, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of like Kawai, right, Just like Kawhi and Paul, George
Speaker 1: and Russ and Hardin have all said that, like they're
Speaker 1: going to play differently because they're playing at home and
Speaker 1: they want to stay at home. They don't want this
Speaker 1: team not to the Clippers team, not to work because
Speaker 1: then they're going to break them up and who knows
Speaker 1: where they'll go.
Speaker 2: They like being here with their families.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow I know has gone through you know, some struggles
Speaker 1: and stuff, or being near his family has been really
Speaker 1: important to him, So I think that he will play
Speaker 1: to stay if he is here, and you obviously have
Speaker 1: the out on him over the summer where his contract's expiring.
Speaker 1: If it doesn't work out, you can wash your hands
Speaker 1: of it, and if it does work out, you've got
Speaker 1: a longer term piece. So I like that combo two.
Speaker 1: I think you're right on target. But man, those zach
Speaker 1: Lavine ruers. You cannot shut people up. There is so
Speaker 1: much shadow around that. So we'll see what happens. The
Speaker 1: Lakers don't always make the right trade, so we'll see
Speaker 1: they if they do that there, Buggie. Last week we
Speaker 1: talked about the fact that the Pistons, they don't need
Speaker 1: to go on a winning streak.
Speaker 2: They don't need to become world beaters. They don't need
Speaker 2: to be contenders.
Speaker 1: You know what they need, Boogie, They need one win.
Speaker 1: They need one win. Get a win, gentlemen, just one win.
Speaker 1: And apparently the folks at DraftKings heard me because they
Speaker 1: have put up a bet on the website that is amazing.
Speaker 1: When will the Pistons win a game? So you can
Speaker 1: have odds on this twenty four game losing streak. The
Speaker 1: record by the way belongs to the twenty ten Calves.
Speaker 1: That's the year that Lebron of course left for Miami.
Speaker 1: They had a twenty six game losing Treek. So the
Speaker 1: Pistons are catching up. There are just two more games. Boys,
Speaker 1: which game do you think they will break the streak?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna read you.
Speaker 2: The odds of the opponents, and that's you know what
Speaker 2: you can judge.
Speaker 1: So first they play the Jazz, that's plus one hundred,
Speaker 1: Then they play the Nets that's plus four seventy five.
Speaker 1: Then they play the Nets again and that's plus five hundred,
Speaker 1: and then they play the Raptors plus seven hundred. So
Speaker 1: obviously DraftKings is looking at it's more likely they'll break
Speaker 1: this streak earlier, possibly in their next game against the Jazz.
Speaker 1: But I don't know, man, I feel like this team
Speaker 1: could really go for that record the way things are going.
Speaker 2: What do you think.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go against the grand I believe they will
Speaker 4: win a game, and I think it'll be against one
Speaker 4: of the Nets team.
Speaker 3: It's hard against one of the Nets game or matchups.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: The reason I say that it's hard to beat, it's
Speaker 4: hard to lose to the team. It's hard to beat
Speaker 4: the team twice, so I think they'll get lucky and
Speaker 4: get one of the NETS games. But I mean, at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, it's pretty obvious this is
Speaker 4: their goal this season.
Speaker 3: They want to lose as many games as they can.
Speaker 4: They want to tank, they want to get a good pick,
Speaker 4: they want to keep building their young roster up. It's obvious.
Speaker 4: But their goal isn't to win games this season. So
Speaker 4: I mean, but I do believe.
Speaker 1: They could win a game, Boogie. It would not change
Speaker 1: their lottery status.
Speaker 2: They could win a game, even San Antonio, which is
Speaker 2: clearly you never know, not prioritizing winning. They win a
Speaker 2: game here and there, one game one. I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think one of the NETS games is good, all right,
Speaker 1: So put your money where your mouth is. Plus four
Speaker 1: seventy five for the first NETS game, plus five hundred
Speaker 1: for the second NETS game. Not a huge difference. But
Speaker 1: which one do you think they would break it? First
Speaker 1: game or second game.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with the second. I'm gonna go with this.
Speaker 1: I think that's most likely one game, just one, and
Speaker 1: then we'll stay off you for the next twenty four games.
Speaker 2: Apparently, But like one one game, do it baby.
Speaker 1: All right, we do have the Christmas games coming up.
Speaker 1: I am wearing Sparklely shirt, so we do have to
Speaker 1: talk about them. We won't be having a podcast next
Speaker 1: Monday because it is Christmas. We're gonna all be with
Speaker 1: our families. I hope you all out there are gonna
Speaker 1: be with yours.
Speaker 2: Christmas to everyone.
Speaker 1: Happy holidays, everyone who celebrates everything, very happy everything. But
Speaker 1: I want to talk about these games because we do
Speaker 1: have a great slate, So real quick, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: going to ask you who you have in these games,
Speaker 1: and you can tell me if you just have a
Speaker 1: pick or if you've picked for a reason or anything
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: They're opening up with Bucks Knicks, so a little bit
Speaker 2: of a.
Speaker 1: They've had some good playoff battles, Like what do you
Speaker 1: see with the Bucks next game?
Speaker 3: I see the Bucks winning this game. Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 4: It's not a soul on the floor that can guard.
Speaker 4: Is not a soul on the floor can guard day?
Speaker 4: Yeah the Buck easily easily.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh. The Knicks just applied for a disabled player exception
Speaker 1: on Mitchell Robinson, which means he is out for the
Speaker 1: rest of the year.
Speaker 2: And little things like that, little pieces you know.
Speaker 1: I mean not that these little but like role player
Speaker 1: pieces I think really are affecting the Knicks a little bit.
Speaker 3: So I'm with you.
Speaker 2: I'm with you for Bucks. Let's talk about Warriors Nuggets.
Speaker 1: Definitely two different teams these days, but it's always a
Speaker 1: good matchup. I think they went to overtime last time
Speaker 1: they played, or at least one of the times this season.
Speaker 2: What do you see there?
Speaker 3: I'm gonna lean with the Nuggets on this one.
Speaker 4: You know, they're missing the key piece and Draymond with
Speaker 4: you know, the suspension of whatever they have going on
Speaker 4: with him, So with them missing their defensive anchor, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna lean towards the Nuggets. I don't see anybody being
Speaker 4: able to stop or slow down the big feather and Yokich,
Speaker 4: so I'm leaning towards the Nuggets.
Speaker 1: I have to agree with you, although it pains me
Speaker 1: because Steph Curry on Christmas Day has put on such
Speaker 1: a show so many years in a row, and we
Speaker 1: saw just.
Speaker 2: The other night that overtime game. He's got it.
Speaker 1: He's still got it, no question at that top level.
Speaker 1: So it's sad for me to go against Steph Curry
Speaker 1: on Christmas. But I agree with you with Draymond out.
Speaker 1: I think this is the Nuggets game to win. Here,
Speaker 1: Celtics Lakers, huge rivalry game. They haven't played on Christmas
Speaker 1: in a while. Book, I think it's been like a
Speaker 1: dozen years or something, maybe even old longer.
Speaker 2: So who do you take? Lakers Celtics. It's in LA.
Speaker 3: This is a tough one. Yeah, I think I'm gonna
Speaker 3: lean with the Lakers one.
Speaker 4: Honestly, I think Lebron comes out, puts on the show
Speaker 4: on Christmas Day. He's done it time and time again.
Speaker 4: I think eighty also comes out, has a big game. Uh,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go with the Lakers. I think I think
Speaker 4: the Lakers schools this one out.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if someone can tell Jason Tatum to stop
Speaker 1: trying so many threes. If that conversation has before, it
Speaker 1: happens before the Christmas Day game, I might go Celtics.
Speaker 1: If it happens after the Christmas Day game, I might
Speaker 1: go Lakers. You know, I look, Tatum is a rock star,
Speaker 1: not just a star, just a superstar. You know, he's
Speaker 1: leading the best team in the Eastern Conference. You know.
Speaker 1: There it seems silly to pick at or complain about
Speaker 1: his game. But he is in the top five of
Speaker 1: guys who shoot the most three pointers in the league,
Speaker 1: and yet he's shooting under thirty percent, And like, I
Speaker 1: just think, I don't know, Maybe he's just trying to
Speaker 1: shoot and shoot until he gets there. Maybe it's just
Speaker 1: a way to stretch the defense. But if I had
Speaker 1: to pick at anything with the Celtics right now, it
Speaker 1: would be a little bit of that. I still think
Speaker 1: they need a little more frontline help, and that's where
Speaker 1: the Lakers in this game can really try to exploit that.
Speaker 2: So it could be a different matchup after the tread
Speaker 2: deadline them before it's home game for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: I kind of the same thing as Steph, Like I
Speaker 1: really if it's a toss up, I can't go against
Speaker 1: Lebron on Christmas Day, So I'm with you, with you.
Speaker 1: It's begrudging though, because the Celtics are so good, so good,
Speaker 1: all right. We got a little Joel Embiid versus Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler friendship bowl going on. The Sixers play the heat
Speaker 1: down in Miami. You know, these two guys are so
Speaker 1: close still after playing with each other, but they always
Speaker 1: have great battles on the court.
Speaker 2: You know, further evidence that the casual fans who say.
Speaker 1: Oh why are their old friends because they don't really
Speaker 1: compete against each other, which is bullshit. I think they
Speaker 1: compete harder against each other for bragging rights, and I
Speaker 1: expect that on Christmas Day.
Speaker 2: Who do you think is gonna win?
Speaker 4: I'm gonna roll with the Sixers on this one. The
Speaker 4: big fella Embiid has been on an absolute tear. He's
Speaker 4: showing that he's the most dominant force in this league.
Speaker 4: He's unguardable. It's not a scheme, a defense or a
Speaker 4: matchup that can slow him down or stop him. And
Speaker 4: I think get a carry over to Christmas Day. I
Speaker 4: just his dominance is at all time higher now and
Speaker 4: I don't see anybody getting in this way. So I'm
Speaker 4: gonna lean with the six and then obviously with Tyre's
Speaker 4: Maxi complement those big performances. I mean, you have fifty
Speaker 4: one the other night, Tyre's had thirty five. That's a
Speaker 4: tough dudo.
Speaker 3: So I'm leaning with the circuit.
Speaker 1: You would think that Tyres Maxi would be one of
Speaker 1: the top five players under twenty five.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I just I know I know it's tough.
Speaker 3: It's tough, I know very good.
Speaker 2: Who's it around?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: I'm with you on the Sixers. I think Joel Embiid
Speaker 2: is the free train that will not be stopped.
Speaker 1: So I think do it. I do think it'll be
Speaker 1: a spirited, fun game though, with those two guys on
Speaker 1: the court playing against each other.
Speaker 2: And we got to talk MAVs Sons because that's a
Speaker 2: Kappa on the evening.
Speaker 1: Obviously those two teams have been going in very different
Speaker 1: directions right now, but Kevin Durant has been playing exceptionally.
Speaker 2: What who are you taking there?
Speaker 3: I'm leaning with Katie.
Speaker 4: Uh, another guy that we've seen time and time again,
Speaker 4: you know, put up big games on Christmas Day. Uh,
Speaker 4: I don't expect anything. Let's on this next one. So
Speaker 4: I'm gonna leaning with Katie and the Suns. You know,
Speaker 4: they're still struggling with you know, figuring out their health
Speaker 4: and rotations and things of that matter. But you just
Speaker 4: can't deny the talent and and the combo of players
Speaker 4: they have on the team. When they do find their rhythm,
Speaker 4: they're a scary team and we all know we're just
Speaker 4: waiting until that happens. This Sun team is just loaded.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I'm I'm leaning with yours on one as well.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm making a pick that is not necessarily
Speaker 1: what I think is going to happen in the game,
Speaker 1: but just because I want to be able to make
Speaker 1: the pick, I'm going to go with the MAVs because
Speaker 1: I think they have not gotten enough respect for what
Speaker 1: they are doing this season. I mean, they've been hovering
Speaker 1: around the number three spot and it goes up and
Speaker 1: down depending on what day you check the standings. But
Speaker 1: nobody thought that was going to happen. In fact, they
Speaker 1: got a lot of criticism after this summer about they
Speaker 1: didn't do enough trading.
Speaker 2: You know. The first of all, the criticism was that
Speaker 2: they traded away too.
Speaker 1: Much for Kyrie. Then it was they didn't do enough
Speaker 1: to restock the team over the summer. You know, Luca
Speaker 1: has gotten sort of you know, there's definitely been increasing
Speaker 1: criticism from all corners about his arguing with the refs
Speaker 1: and all this other stuff, and like they blown the
Speaker 1: doors off a bunch of really really good teams. Luca
Speaker 1: is playing exceptionally. You know, Kyrie when he's healthy, has
Speaker 1: been a great compliment and a team guy and has
Speaker 1: done all the things they've asked him to do. I
Speaker 1: had a conversation with Jason Kidd about Kyrie, and they
Speaker 1: just say he's been perfect in their locker room and
Speaker 1: their organization. So it's nice to see him sorting that
Speaker 1: part of his life out and really just being able
Speaker 1: to be a basketball player.
Speaker 2: So I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're going to beat the Suns
Speaker 1: on Christmas Day. And it depends on who plays on
Speaker 1: the Suns, and you know, it deals out. I think,
Speaker 1: but Booker, I think will be in for that game.
Speaker 1: So I you know, I think you may be right.
Speaker 2: But I'm still going to pick the mask because I
Speaker 2: think they should get more credit. Booky cousins. Absolutely, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: We just mentioned a lot of guys who are elite scorers, right,
Speaker 1: So who scores the biggest point total on Christmas Day?
Speaker 3: Point?
Speaker 1: You got Steph, you got Luca, You've got KD, You've
Speaker 1: got Lebron, You've got a D. You've got Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: You've got Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2: You're honest. You going with Embiid?
Speaker 1: I kind of got to I gotta gotta agree with you.
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's been a show every night.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think mb like I said earlier, he's the
Speaker 4: dominance that he's displaying nightly. Regardless of the situation that
Speaker 4: happened with this team early on, the guy's focus, he's
Speaker 4: locked in. This is probably some of the best ball
Speaker 4: we've seen him play in his young career so far.
Speaker 4: I just don't see anybody being able to match up
Speaker 4: with him or slow him down. So I think another
Speaker 4: big performance is coming from MBID on Christmas Day.
Speaker 3: So I'm an I'm with you.
Speaker 2: I think that's a safe pay.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, any of those guys could pop off,
Speaker 1: so it's a little bit of a crapshew.
Speaker 2: But I give you, if you're going to make a prediction,
Speaker 2: I get that one. Assists are a harder thing to predict.
Speaker 1: But of all those, you know, great talented guards we've
Speaker 1: got playing, who do you think is going to rack
Speaker 1: up the most assists in these games?
Speaker 3: Talented guards? I'm gonna go with the big fella.
Speaker 2: Yo kisch mm hm hmmm.
Speaker 3: And it's kind of it's kind of funny.
Speaker 4: I remember a couple of years back when the whole
Speaker 4: small ball thing was coming into play, and you know,
Speaker 4: they had a big they had a big thing about,
Speaker 4: you know, Draymond being a center in the NBA. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm now waiting for them to talk about how Joki
Speaker 4: is a point guard in the league now, Like it's
Speaker 4: a positionless league. It's no positions, there's no you know,
Speaker 4: no label on what a player is. Now, well, let's
Speaker 4: let's push Jokic as a point guard now, because he's
Speaker 4: literally one of d or the best passer in the league.
Speaker 4: So he ignites the offense on the nightly basis. The
Speaker 4: offense runs through him, like the whole system is built
Speaker 4: around this one guy. So you know, let's let's see
Speaker 4: if they start pushing in there of yok being a
Speaker 4: point guard now.
Speaker 1: No, I like that. And by the way, I think
Speaker 1: that's the conversation we're going to have with Wemby a
Speaker 1: couple of years, right. I Mean, he's obviously just still
Speaker 1: finding his legs, but he brings that ball down the
Speaker 1: floor like the guard, and I think that I think
Speaker 1: that's only going to emphasize, you know, the versatility of
Speaker 1: all of these players, but particularly the big men and
Speaker 1: what they can do. We talked about this last week,
Speaker 1: like the last three finalists for MVP big men, right, Like,
Speaker 1: I just I think that the tide has turned a
Speaker 1: little bit again in the league. You know, it's still incredible,
Speaker 1: guard play incredible, but it's a little more balanced.
Speaker 2: Now than it was at one point.
Speaker 3: So there we go.
Speaker 2: All right, we got to go doom scroll here. This
Speaker 2: is what we find around social media. We do the
Speaker 2: SCROLLNK so you won't have to.
Speaker 1: And one of the best follows on Twitter, Jason Concepsio,
Speaker 1: and if you're not following him, you should be.
Speaker 2: Tweeted this. Every NBA team should be.
Speaker 1: Allowed to choose one all time franchise great, he says,
Speaker 1: like in foundation, but I love the idea of this.
Speaker 1: So you would put one all time franchise great on
Speaker 1: the current team, So you got to think a little
Speaker 1: bit about who would fit in with them, but also
Speaker 1: who would you want, right, And so we're gonna go
Speaker 1: with the I'm gonna ask you about the Lakers, the
Speaker 1: Magic and the Thunder SuperSonics combination, right, because they've all
Speaker 1: got players and names.
Speaker 2: This's the harder choice. So let's talk about the Lakers first.
Speaker 2: You can pick one Lakers franchise all time great to
Speaker 2: put on this team. Who would you book.
Speaker 3: Bean. Come on, man, we know the answer to that. Bean.
Speaker 4: You put Bean on this team with aide and Lebron.
Speaker 4: I don't think they lose a game. Like honestly, we
Speaker 4: talk about we talk about the Lakers needing a third
Speaker 4: piece of guy to get them over the hum.
Speaker 2: I mean, right, no, he would be the first piece.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but on the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Look, you can debate whether Lebron or Kobe is a
Speaker 1: better player, and I know a lot of people feel
Speaker 1: Lebron is and I think that argument absolutely has merit.
Speaker 2: But on a Lakers team, you know, that's Kobe's.
Speaker 3: Team, Kobe absolutely, Sarah, you know.
Speaker 1: I kind of toyed with Magic Johnson for this, just
Speaker 1: because like he would fit in with those guys so
Speaker 1: well that are currently on that team, right, just a
Speaker 1: floor fit kind of thing.
Speaker 2: But you're right, you gotta go Kobe. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: no other answer. So let's move Let's.
Speaker 1: Move on to the Magic because you know, young NBA
Speaker 1: fans don't realize this, but they used to have up
Speaker 1: a loaded team a year after.
Speaker 2: Year after year.
Speaker 1: So who would you pick on the Magic to be
Speaker 1: the franchise all time great? That would go into Jason
Speaker 1: Caccepcio's world here.
Speaker 4: Oh so, you know, kind of looking at this magic team,
Speaker 4: I know that the one glaring issue is there, you know,
Speaker 4: shout out to my young fellow Marko. Folks can't wait
Speaker 4: for you to get Hilton back on the floor. All
Speaker 4: those things. But as far as this team, they need
Speaker 4: is a PG right now.
Speaker 2: So okay, my.
Speaker 3: My mind is telling me to go with Penny.
Speaker 4: But awesome, the way this team gets up and down
Speaker 4: the floor, the speed that they play at, the tanacity
Speaker 4: that they play at, I gotta go with you, Racing McGrady.
Speaker 3: You put Trase McGrady on this team. These guys are
Speaker 3: a tough team to be so right, I want to say,
Speaker 3: I gotta go with I gotta go with Tracy and.
Speaker 2: By the way, Chequillae and eil Grant Hill, Dwight Howard.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go with Tracy. And I can't pick because,
Speaker 4: like I said, this is a team that likes to
Speaker 4: run up and down shot and his time was a
Speaker 4: half court guye things of that nature. So I gotta
Speaker 4: go with Chralsey. I think he fits in perfectly with
Speaker 4: this team. He's obviously one of the greatest scorers to
Speaker 4: ever played the game.
Speaker 3: So you add him to this team, they're sick. That's
Speaker 3: the sick thing.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine Mac in today's league was scoring.
Speaker 3: Like unfair, unfair, unfair.
Speaker 1: He would just be so off the hook, like it's crazy.
Speaker 1: I think about that sometimes, like, dude, I.
Speaker 3: Would hate to be that big on the switch. Seriously, dude.
Speaker 1: So all right, let's do Let's do thunder Sonic the
Speaker 1: franchise since you know, obviously we're going back in history
Speaker 1: and this is tough because they might have the best
Speaker 1: player they've ever had on the.
Speaker 2: Floor right now.
Speaker 1: You could argue that right well, actually, sorry, he's still playing,
Speaker 1: is what I should say.
Speaker 2: That was a big misstep. But I didn't mean that
Speaker 2: he's still playing under I just meant like, no, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: to start that again. All right, we gotta go thunder Sonics. Obviously.
Speaker 1: You know we've got to include the Sonics there with
Speaker 1: their history, and you know, it's tough. One of the
Speaker 1: players you have to consider there is still.
Speaker 2: Playing in the NBA. Katie.
Speaker 1: So, but you've got you've got guys in that past
Speaker 1: past uniform who are great won an NBA title.
Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
Speaker 4: Well, obviously, Kad would be the most obvious pick, but
Speaker 4: the fact that he is still playing. So I'm gonna
Speaker 4: go with guys that are you know, retired and done playing, right.
Speaker 4: I think Sean KM will fit great.
Speaker 3: Next.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there are also a team that likes to get
Speaker 4: up and down. They're very, very versatile. Uh you put
Speaker 4: an athletic force like that just dominating the paint and
Speaker 4: allowing Chat to be out spread the floor, you know,
Speaker 4: play his guard forward type game.
Speaker 3: I think that would be a great combination for that team.
Speaker 3: So I'm no, I think.
Speaker 2: That's totally valid and the correct answer is Katie.
Speaker 1: By the way, can you imagine that like just a
Speaker 1: forced trade off the tons to the thunder?
Speaker 2: Nope, sorry, you're going back. It's just the rules. That's
Speaker 2: how it is. Shout out Jason for an excellent, excellent
Speaker 2: tweet there.
Speaker 1: Also from NBA Communications, We've got a tweet from them
Speaker 1: saying the most viewed players on NBA Social So.
Speaker 2: Uh, you look at some of these guys.
Speaker 1: Lebron obviously right up there, Janie is up there, get
Speaker 1: a lot of Lakers up there.
Speaker 2: Who do you who do you see? Who do you
Speaker 2: think is the most viral NBA player?
Speaker 3: Right now, does it have to be off of this
Speaker 3: list or well, this is.
Speaker 1: Who they say, like if it gets the numbers right,
Speaker 1: So Wheben Yama's up.
Speaker 4: There the most ving player in the league, I'm I'm
Speaker 4: going off of this list. My my personal favorite or
Speaker 4: guy that I think is just gonna take over completely
Speaker 4: is Anthony Edwards. He has he has the personality, he
Speaker 4: has the charisma, he has a huge personality at that
Speaker 4: and he has a big game to match up with
Speaker 4: that personality. Super talented guy. Uh, I gotta go Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 4: I think he'll be eventually be the face of the NBA.
Speaker 4: And like I said, he has all the you know,
Speaker 4: the personality, characteristics, the charisma to go along with it.
Speaker 4: So I think he'll carry the league off once these
Speaker 4: guys you know, ride off in the sunset and be
Speaker 4: in a good place.
Speaker 3: So Anthony Edwards for sure.
Speaker 2: I mean, he just gets it.
Speaker 1: He's so funny on social right, like he just thought
Speaker 1: its exactly what to say. He's been viral for other
Speaker 1: reasons recently, but we won't get into that.
Speaker 2: I do, I do.
Speaker 1: I'm adding to someone to this list, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: they did this like this season so far, and obviously
Speaker 1: John Morant had made a lot of highlights, you know,
Speaker 1: before this past week.
Speaker 2: But I'm going with Jah Morant.
Speaker 1: I know, whenever post something about job on my social like,
Speaker 1: it blows up, Like I just think with the way
Speaker 1: he dunks, the way he plays, you know that back
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it was a perfect example.
Speaker 1: He had a playing warm ups like you know, dunk
Speaker 1: and warm ups that was ridiculous. Like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm going, I'm putting him, I'm forcing him on the list.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, look the other guys up there,
Speaker 1: Lebron Steph kd Wenby, Like there's there's you know, there's
Speaker 1: a good list up there. I mean your pick is excellent.
Speaker 1: Like Jammaran, I just think it's his world and we're
Speaker 1: going to be living in it for a while. Friend,
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. I know you got family coming in.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for you.
Speaker 1: We will not be in your inbox or whatever on
Speaker 1: Monday because we will be eating popcorn and watching these
Speaker 1: games and hanging.
Speaker 2: With the Fams.
Speaker 1: So everyone out there, happy holidays, and we will see
Speaker 1: you back right after the new year. We got a
Speaker 1: show coming on January second, so you can mark your
Speaker 1: calendar for that.
Speaker 2: We will be on YouTube.
Speaker 1: We will be on wherever you get your podcasts, and
Speaker 1: please rate and review us. We need those five stars
Speaker 1: for us to push up in that algorithm. We're new,
Speaker 1: we're young as a podcast. That's very you know, we're tender.
Speaker 2: No we're not.
Speaker 1: We're real evolved, but still help us out and we
Speaker 1: will see you after the holidays.
Speaker 2: But you have a great, great week.
Speaker 3: All r right, you do to say appreciate you guys,