Speaker 1: Break was breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines, So
Speaker 1: the heat Check. The Heat Check was Trista Craig, the
Speaker 1: best podcast covering all the drama around the association.
Speaker 2: Now we're in for a big treat. We got Kurt
Speaker 2: Healing on. Kurt is the blogger in chief of Pro
Speaker 2: Basketball Talk dot com but also NBC Sports dot com
Speaker 2: and the managing editor in NBC. We had a wide
Speaker 2: ranging interview. It touched on a lot of inner storylines
Speaker 2: that come up for the season. So let's get into it.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show. My man, Kurt Healing, lead NBA Rider,
Speaker 2: managing editor NBC Sports dot Com, just one of the
Speaker 2: I would say, more honest guys in their assessments of
Speaker 2: what's happening around the NBA. I've got a ton of questions.
Speaker 2: There's a lot developing, and we could spend all day,
Speaker 2: but I figured I would call it down to the
Speaker 2: teams that I personally am the most interested in based
Speaker 2: on what we saw opening night, but also some of
Speaker 2: the sleeper teams too. So I am really intrigued by Phoenix.
Speaker 2: I think that's a team that could potentially break the
Speaker 2: mentality of the super team right being dead and Bradley
Speaker 2: Beal obviously is a guy that they got for absolutely nothing.
Speaker 2: They made moves at in the summer with Nurkic, which
Speaker 2: I think is super interesting, got a lot of depth.
Speaker 2: They get a bunch of guys from the Blazers, and
Speaker 2: I think when they went to Chase last night or
Speaker 2: on Tuesday night, we were wondering how they would look
Speaker 2: against a team that has largely been a contender anytime
Speaker 2: Steph is healthy. So the thing that stuck out to
Speaker 2: me was Devin Booker. You watch him and it looked
Speaker 2: like he was the best player on the floor pretty
Speaker 2: much the entire night thirty two six and eight one steal,
Speaker 2: and that was with Steph doing you know, Steph things.
Speaker 2: Do you think Devin Booker is a legit MVP candidate
Speaker 2: if he plays on a team that Kevin Durant plays on.
Speaker 3: I think it'd be hard to be MVP with Kevin
Speaker 3: Durant sitting there because unless he does like every night,
Speaker 3: but Durant was cold shooting, and by the way, everybody
Speaker 3: not named Booker and they came like great put up numbers,
Speaker 3: but he was like eight of twenty and everybody else
Speaker 3: was just ice cold. For both teams. I think it
Speaker 3: solidifies his all NBA spot. Probably. I picked the Suns
Speaker 3: to go to the finals. I am. I'm like, I am,
Speaker 3: I'm big on them. I don't know that they're like,
Speaker 3: I don't think they're there right now, even though they
Speaker 3: you know, they got a nice win the other night,
Speaker 3: and they got some promising signs because you had I
Speaker 3: got questions about Nurkic and his health and whatever, but
Speaker 3: he looked pretty good in the opener. I got questions
Speaker 3: about like Josha Kogie, but he's hitting key corner threes
Speaker 3: and making plays. So I just think over the course
Speaker 3: of eighty two and maybe with a move at the deadline,
Speaker 3: a smaller move, like a role playery move. The question
Speaker 3: isn't the top end. The question is like depth defense
Speaker 3: all that, and I think they'll figure it out. But
Speaker 3: I still think, look as much as Booker's going to
Speaker 3: stand out, I think it'd be hard. You're just hard
Speaker 3: pressed to do that against next to Kevin Durant, who
Speaker 3: wasn't great in that first game. But you you know,
Speaker 3: I don't like we all know, like there's a big
Speaker 3: Kevin Durant stretch coming.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he always produces and that's what we
Speaker 2: know he's going to be able to do. The Bradley
Speaker 2: Beal thing is weird. I wondered why how he ends
Speaker 2: up recovering and rehabbing all offseason and then we don't
Speaker 2: see him with back spasms, especially with this NBA new
Speaker 2: rule about load management. Obviously that's not Low's management. Is
Speaker 2: Bradley Bule's help a concern or a factor for you
Speaker 2: at all in terms of you thinking that this is
Speaker 2: a finals team.
Speaker 3: I don't really. I think the only way to judge
Speaker 3: of preseason is to say a team is healthy unless proven.
Speaker 3: Like do I think Kawhi Leonard is going to play
Speaker 3: eighty two games?
Speaker 4: Probably not right, Like I think we're gonna safely say no,
Speaker 4: But I kind of presume going into the season that
Speaker 4: he's healthy for the playoffs or you start playing a
Speaker 4: really random game, and so.
Speaker 3: I'm going to assume that he's healthy. But I think
Speaker 3: it's with his history and Kevin Durant's history, it is
Speaker 3: absolutely on one of the things that can derail the Suns.
Speaker 3: It is it is a legitimate concern that he's not
Speaker 3: there opening night, But you're right, it's it's not load management.
Speaker 3: But also just between you and me, do you know
Speaker 3: how many guys are gonna have Like we're gonna take
Speaker 3: our time bringing Dreamond Green back from this ankle thing
Speaker 3: because we can get him a little rest right now,
Speaker 3: we could like the guys are gonna go down with
Speaker 3: these injuries all season long that are just rest nights.
Speaker 2: So you think there's gonna be manipulating of that, then yeah.
Speaker 3: Yes, the league says they're going to come in. But
Speaker 3: it's the thing about the NBA, and frankly, you know
Speaker 3: anybody watching who's an NFL fan. By week what three,
Speaker 3: any guy in the NFL can take a week off
Speaker 3: for an injury if they want to, right like they're
Speaker 3: all they've all got enough bumps and bruises. What the
Speaker 3: NBA is pretty much that way a month into the season,
Speaker 3: like everybody's got knee tendonitis or their achilles aches a
Speaker 3: little bit, whatever it is. There's all sorts of things
Speaker 3: that you can come up with to get a guy
Speaker 3: a night off if they really want to. It's not
Speaker 3: gonna be hard. And I'm really cute is to see
Speaker 3: how that shakes out with the new league rule on
Speaker 3: sixty five games to get your end of you know
Speaker 3: to be eligible for end of season awards, and like,
Speaker 3: I think we're gonna see a whole lot of guys
Speaker 3: play sixty six games.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just because the line is sixty five in
Speaker 2: order to get all NBA and MVP and all these awards.
Speaker 2: Eric Gordon was really good in that game. He didn't
Speaker 2: produce offensively, but he was still like plus whenever he
Speaker 2: was on the floor. I think he was a huge pickup.
Speaker 2: Not a lot of people are talking about him. Utah
Speaker 2: Wattonabe obviously came over just because he wanted to play
Speaker 2: with Kevin Durant. I'm curious from your perspective and what
Speaker 2: you see, who is that number one X factor role
Speaker 2: player that you think is gonna bring the Suns over
Speaker 2: the top to get them to the finals and beat
Speaker 2: a team like Denver.
Speaker 3: Eric Gordon's gonna have a big role. I kind of
Speaker 3: think it's a Kogi just because they're gonna need his defense.
Speaker 3: They're going to need somebody out. I mean, he's got
Speaker 3: to be offensively good enough to stay on the floor.
Speaker 3: But ultimately, I mean, Kevin Durant, it's a pretty good
Speaker 3: defender when he is geared up for it and wants
Speaker 3: to be, but he's not going to do it over
Speaker 3: eighty two. Nurkic is a big body in the middle.
Speaker 3: They don't have a lot of great defenders, and it's
Speaker 3: on a very defensive minded coach and Frank Fogel to
Speaker 3: find a way to get enough defense out of this team.
Speaker 3: Playing a lot of drop coverage with the big body
Speaker 3: of Nurkic, I imagine. But I think a kogie comes clear,
Speaker 3: and then I think you're right. I think Eric Gordon
Speaker 3: is the one guy on that bench right now going
Speaker 3: into the season like, yeah, he's going to be rock
Speaker 3: solid for eighty two, He's going to be rock solid
Speaker 3: for the final sixteen, you know in the playoffs. He's
Speaker 3: not the guy I'm worried about. They just need, you know,
Speaker 3: who are the other guys to step up? Really? I mean,
Speaker 3: they've just got to find at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: don't you basically got to get to a seven man
Speaker 3: rotation you trust by April. And my guess is they
Speaker 3: get there, but we'll see.
Speaker 2: Are you sleeping on Denver, Like tell me the truth,
Speaker 2: because I feel you're kind of doing what everyone is
Speaker 2: doing right now, which is like, oh, they they lost
Speaker 2: Jeff Green, They lost Bruce Brown, who will come in
Speaker 2: and save them off the bench. And last night Opening Night,
Speaker 2: it really didn't even matter. Reggie Jackson looked like he
Speaker 2: was that guy. But I mean it was spread all
Speaker 2: the way through. Everybody was producing, and they still scored
Speaker 2: over one hundred and twenty points and it was like
Speaker 2: not a lot of bench production.
Speaker 3: I felt like Game five of the Western Conference Finals
Speaker 3: from last year, didn't it just like it's like it's
Speaker 3: just a continuation of what we saw. I thought their
Speaker 3: bench played okay too. Christian Brown was a Brown. I
Speaker 3: wouldn't call him Broun because it's Christian Brown. Christian Brown.
Speaker 3: That's he played really well. I thought that they're bench
Speaker 3: in general, Reggie Jackson. You can count on Reggie Jackson
Speaker 3: for some points, a few highlights, on some trash talk.
Speaker 3: I think their bench isn't bad. I don't. I just do.
Speaker 3: I trust it as much as Bruce Brown. I just
Speaker 3: let's put this away. I think they're very, very good.
Speaker 3: I think they're the bar for the entire NBA. If
Speaker 3: your Phoenix or Frankly, if you're Boston or Milwaukee or
Speaker 3: any other team with championship designs, you gotta be better
Speaker 3: than Nikolai, Jokis, Jamal Murray and Denver and at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, maybe nobody is. I just got
Speaker 3: a feeling somebody's gonna pass them this year, and we'll see.
Speaker 3: I think they will miss Bruce Brown in the platfs
Speaker 3: as much as I like Christian Brown and everybody else.
Speaker 3: Like Bruce Brown was huge in the postseason, but you
Speaker 3: can't blame the man for go get the bag. Like
Speaker 3: you know, they don't got it for you in Denver,
Speaker 3: you gotta go get it. And by the way, I
Speaker 3: like the Pacers.
Speaker 2: Too, Love the Pacers, love what they're doing. We'll definitely
Speaker 2: hit on that. I think Nikolak could actually win the
Speaker 2: MVP again if that's oh that sounds crazy because he
Speaker 2: he had three assists at halftime something like that, still
Speaker 2: finished with eleven, and it feels like maybe more aggressive
Speaker 2: offensively than he's been to start the year. He was
Speaker 2: just bullying Ad down in the post. It was come
Speaker 2: and stop me. I'm going into the paint. I'm going
Speaker 2: to score every time if I want, I'll grab my
Speaker 2: own put back and get the points as well. So
Speaker 2: it feels like maybe there's even another level production wise
Speaker 2: from a points perspective, then Nikole Jokic was even doing
Speaker 2: the year before when he won MVP two years ago
Speaker 2: or the year before that, or even last year when
Speaker 2: MB won it. What are you seeing or what did
Speaker 2: you see from him? Did you see what I saw?
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's really become good at that at And I
Speaker 3: think that's interesting because we were talking earlier, like, hey,
Speaker 3: the Sons go get use of Nurkic in play it
Speaker 3: out in place of the issues they had with another
Speaker 3: big body guy in DeAndre eight. But I think if
Speaker 3: you're looking at the West and you want to get
Speaker 3: through the West, one of your questions has to be, hey,
Speaker 3: how do we how do we match up with him?
Speaker 3: How do we even slow him? And Anthony Davis last
Speaker 3: year I think was as good or better a defender,
Speaker 3: probably the best defender in the playoffs. He was phenomenal,
Speaker 3: and Jokic just destroyed it and then did it again,
Speaker 3: and like, you've got to have one of those big bodies.
Speaker 3: I wonder if again, I think with the Suns, did
Speaker 3: they get Nurkic thinking back, thinking we've got to have
Speaker 3: somebody to put a body on him who's somewhat more
Speaker 3: if he can just stay healthy, his decision making and
Speaker 3: just iq r off the charts. That's the thing that
Speaker 3: just hey, all right, I can go through Anthony Davis
Speaker 3: and get mine. Oh they've adjusted the defense. I'm going
Speaker 3: to keep finding guys. I mean, I think the most
Speaker 3: telling play of the game was late. It's actually I
Speaker 3: think the play he got the triple double assist on
Speaker 3: you just set a pick for Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray
Speaker 3: was hot, so both defenders kind of went to him.
Speaker 3: He went to the little Draymond Green short roll, got
Speaker 3: the ball at the free throw line, saw the defense
Speaker 3: start to rotate, and just whipped it to MPG in
Speaker 3: the corner wide open three. It was like, I don't
Speaker 3: know how you defend the team when they're playing like
Speaker 3: that and all those guys are cooking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it makes it feel like the role players
Speaker 2: don't even matter, right, like you, Yes, starting five can
Speaker 2: do what they did, and they absolutely gassed Ad. Nicola
Speaker 2: Jokic turned Ad into an absolute zero in the second half.
Speaker 2: He's getting crushed on first take, he's getting crushed on
Speaker 2: social media. I actually like fine with it. I don't
Speaker 2: think you can really take anything from AD's lack of
Speaker 2: production in the second half because he's tasked with guarding
Speaker 2: a guy who's decided he's going to score thirty, thirteen
Speaker 2: and eleven or whatever it was, right like, So, do
Speaker 2: you think that was unfair criticism?
Speaker 3: Not as much, just because Anthony David. Look what you
Speaker 3: saw from Lebron is what you get from Lebron right now,
Speaker 3: right You're gonna get thirty minutes to night out of him.
Speaker 3: It would have been thirty if they had garbage time
Speaker 3: the last minute and a half thirty minutes tonight and
Speaker 3: he was plus seven. He put up numbers. But the
Speaker 3: end of the day, if this Laker team is going
Speaker 3: to go where they want to go, Anthony Davis has
Speaker 3: to be elite. He has to be on both ends.
Speaker 3: He has to be this high level All NBA player.
Speaker 3: And one of the issues has long been good game,
Speaker 3: bad game, good half, bad half, which we saw last night.
Speaker 3: And I don't think it's all on him, because Trista,
Speaker 3: I hope you are passionate about and believe something in
Speaker 3: your life. As much as Danseel Russell believes in his shot,
Speaker 3: he's going to take it regardless. But and I don't
Speaker 3: think they got Anthony Davis the ball and he had
Speaker 3: all these ISOs and posts up in the first half,
Speaker 3: he just literally wasn't getting them. But he's also got
Speaker 3: to demand those. He's got to take charge. He's got it.
Speaker 3: Like you don't see him be like not getting the
Speaker 3: ball after a while, like get the guy of the ball.
Speaker 3: He's got to show up every night. It's the only
Speaker 3: it's the only way they can be where they want
Speaker 3: to be.
Speaker 2: I took him for MVP. He was my pick for
Speaker 2: MVP as a sleeper at forty to one, and that
Speaker 2: that just did not just did not line up with
Speaker 2: what I was expecting. I also thought he could have
Speaker 2: a legit to chance to if he didn't win MVP,
Speaker 2: to be one of the defensive Player of the year.
Speaker 3: Can yaw.
Speaker 2: He is, That's how he is when he's healthy. And
Speaker 2: it's just a disappointing first game against really a team
Speaker 2: that you know you have to go against to get
Speaker 2: through to the finals. I'm curious about a couple of dudes, though.
Speaker 2: Why sign someone like Christian Wood and Cam Reddish when
Speaker 2: those guys have clearly, throughout the course of their career
Speaker 2: been not locker room cancers, but certainly cultural negatives.
Speaker 3: Because you have Lebron James. I think it's literally it.
Speaker 3: It's just that's the Lebron James locker room. That's he's
Speaker 3: going to set the tone. He's not going to put
Speaker 3: up with guys who aren't focused. So I think there's
Speaker 3: a sense of like, you can get away with that
Speaker 3: when Lebron's on your team in a way with There
Speaker 3: may be a couple other guys in the league, but
Speaker 3: there's not many who can set that tone. And the
Speaker 3: other part, especially in Christiano, well, actually both those cases.
Speaker 3: Christian who's better than a minimum contract player. Yeez, whatever
Speaker 3: I think of him, Like why I might talk myself
Speaker 3: out of wanting him on my team. He gets buckets.
Speaker 3: He is better than a minimum contract, and if I
Speaker 3: can get him for a year at the minimum, then
Speaker 3: I've got to take that because that's still a really
Speaker 3: good deal. And another guy that, hey, depending on the situation,
Speaker 3: you might be able to throw into a trade later
Speaker 3: as an enticing piece as some other team knows he's
Speaker 3: more valuable than that too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, dude, I was so high on this Lakers team
Speaker 2: and I don't even like the Lakers as a Portland
Speaker 2: Shoilboizer fan. I was like, man, this could be a
Speaker 2: team who is like top three in the West, and
Speaker 2: if you're not getting production out of your team without
Speaker 2: Lebron on the floor, this could honestly be a seventh seed.
Speaker 3: Again, I think the West is so bunched up that
Speaker 3: after look, Denver's Denver Phoenix, not just last night. I
Speaker 3: just Phoenix is gonna win a ton of regular season
Speaker 3: games because they have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and
Speaker 3: Bradley Beal and they're just they're gonna outscore teams. I
Speaker 3: think they're one to two in whatever order after that.
Speaker 3: Three through frankly twelve are teams that think they should
Speaker 3: be in the playoffs and it's not going to be
Speaker 3: this huge difference. And that's what's gonna make the West wild.
Speaker 3: It's like, I don't have Utah in the playoffs, dude,
Speaker 3: they still got John Collins and and Laurie marking in
Speaker 3: and like, we're good last year and surprised people the Kings.
Speaker 3: Everybody's kind of sleeping on the Kings a little bit.
Speaker 3: I agree, they're gonna score. They're not gonna stop anybody.
Speaker 3: They're gonna score a ton of points and be tough
Speaker 3: to be Like, so I think three through out of
Speaker 3: the post. You know, missing the play in out West
Speaker 3: is everything's in play for those teams, and the Lakers
Speaker 3: can't afford to get caught in the middle of that
Speaker 3: and try to be breaking out mid season because it's
Speaker 3: gonna be it's gonna be tough. Minnesota's good, everybody, and
Speaker 3: even look, I think the bad teams Houston pretty good,
Speaker 3: pretty good. They've got Fred Benfleet and Dalen Brooks and
Speaker 3: Jared Jalen Green is gonna be good. And Jabari Junior
Speaker 3: looked awesome at Summer League. And the Spurs are gonna suck,
Speaker 3: except you know, Wemby and Devin Basel are gonna be
Speaker 3: entertaining and they're gonna win a few games because like
Speaker 3: there's just not gonna be off nights in the West
Speaker 3: except maybe against Lasers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, it's so bad, We're I don't even
Speaker 2: really know what that team is doing. I like the
Speaker 2: Dame Tradel lot. Yeah, but I'm very curious why holding
Speaker 2: on to Malcolm Brogden and Rob Williams are a thing.
Speaker 2: The only thing that I can think of is that
Speaker 2: they they're waiting for a team that needs them at
Speaker 2: the deadline, and they think that they can extract more
Speaker 2: value from them in January than they can in September.
Speaker 2: Is that kind of what you think is happening.
Speaker 3: To I might even put Jeremy Grant in that list. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: I think all those guys, look you're rebuilding right now
Speaker 3: are on Scoot and Anthony Simons, who are, by the way,
Speaker 3: going to be entertaining, like it's gonna be a good show.
Speaker 3: But I think everybody not those two guys is available.
Speaker 3: Maybe I'm curious. I'm really curious to see how DeAndre
Speaker 3: Ayton fits with them and in a system where he
Speaker 3: gets some of the freedom and touches he wants. Probably
Speaker 3: then he he wasn't going to get his option number
Speaker 3: four in Phoenix even last year. I mean, it's just
Speaker 3: better options than him down there. But you know, hey,
Speaker 3: he'll get he'll get more looks up there. So they're
Speaker 3: going to be a fun, interesting team and they're not
Speaker 3: going to be a pushover. There's you know, I don't
Speaker 3: think they're the worst team in the league. I was
Speaker 3: gonna say there is the Wizards.
Speaker 2: Wizards are gonna be a tough watch too. I love Ty,
Speaker 2: I love tyas Jones, So I'm I'm very curious how
Speaker 2: they're gonna be building that roster. Let's talk about this
Speaker 2: sixer team though, because they are right on the brink, dude,
Speaker 2: they are on the brink of a full scale roster meltdown.
Speaker 2: The only player that I think is safe is Tyrese MAXI.
Speaker 2: I think everyone else could potentially either both on their
Speaker 2: own or get kicked out the door. Now, we got
Speaker 2: James Harden coming back to Philly past opening night and
Speaker 2: they're like, no, we don't want you traveling with the team.
Speaker 2: What does that mean? I don't want you traveling with
Speaker 2: the team. Does that mean that a deal is imminent
Speaker 2: or does that mean that we don't want you around
Speaker 2: our players, muddying the water and poisoning the well.
Speaker 3: More that more more the distraction, right Like, and just
Speaker 3: if he's there, then he making things messy and harder,
Speaker 3: and just being just him on the trip and being
Speaker 3: on the bench is going to lead to questions, And
Speaker 3: so I think they think it's just better they go
Speaker 3: from they play in for people who don't know, they
Speaker 3: play in Milwaukee opening night, and then uh Toronto two
Speaker 3: nights later before going back home. I think that he
Speaker 3: won't play in either of those games, and that doesn't
Speaker 3: mean I'll just say I doesn't mean to trade as imminent.
Speaker 3: The people I've talked to and people out with closer
Speaker 3: to the Clippers have been like, the offers the offer.
Speaker 3: Maybe that changes if they get ten games into the
Speaker 3: season and think, oh crap, like we got to do
Speaker 3: Maybe then Terrence Man or a second pick or whatever
Speaker 3: goes into the deal. But right now they've got The
Speaker 3: Clippers have a lot more to think about too, just
Speaker 3: because if you trade for James Harden, who's going to
Speaker 3: be a free agency kind of got to lock him up,
Speaker 3: and then you could extend Kawhi Leonard and Paul George
Speaker 3: a couple of years and hey, do you want more?
Speaker 3: Do you want three more years of those guys? Is
Speaker 3: your core?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: So yeah, I just don't think they're that eager. It's
Speaker 3: they're they're walking a weird line because they move into
Speaker 3: a new building next year, and they're not going to
Speaker 3: want to move a rebuilding team into a new building.
Speaker 3: But I don't like the path they're on is not sustainable.
Speaker 3: So I'm not sure what happens, but they're they're unlikely
Speaker 3: in the short term to up their offers so the
Speaker 3: bottom line, it's.
Speaker 2: Really fucking them up. They fucked up letting Shae Yogis
Speaker 2: Alexander go, And I don't think that's got to be
Speaker 2: the most egregiously bad decision an NBA team, in hindsight.
Speaker 2: Has made a young player not even close to his peak,
Speaker 2: who's now legit, he's a first team All NBA guy,
Speaker 2: and you let him go because Kawhi wanted Paul George.
Speaker 3: When they let him go, I'll tell you that people
Speaker 3: with the Clippers were not happy, but they didn't see this.
Speaker 3: What they said was, man, she's gonna be an All
Speaker 3: Star somebody. He's gonna make a few All Star teams.
Speaker 3: He's gonna be pretty, he's gonna be good. They didn't
Speaker 3: see Shaye being this good.
Speaker 2: You like the secors this year with Nick Nurse, are
Speaker 2: you buying into his system?
Speaker 3: I think they're good. I think with or without Harden,
Speaker 3: I think they're a good team that finishes. I don't
Speaker 3: even want to say top three, top five, top six
Speaker 3: for sure in the East. Like, I think they're a
Speaker 3: good team. I'm higher on Cleveland than everybody else, but really,
Speaker 3: if yeah, but if if they finished you know, third, fourth, fifth,
Speaker 3: something like that. Maybe you know, I think that that's
Speaker 3: they're good and I don't want to see them in
Speaker 3: the playoffs if he beat is healthy, like they're going
Speaker 3: to be a tough out. I think Tyrene Maxi's going
Speaker 3: to be fantastic this year. Like that's a good team.
Speaker 3: It's just the two teams that if the goal is
Speaker 3: to win a championship. I don't know what you do
Speaker 3: because I don't even know with hard What do you
Speaker 3: think Tristan with with Harden, do they compete with Boston
Speaker 3: and Milwaukee?
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I mean unless you're getting what
Speaker 2: you got from Harden in those good games where he's
Speaker 2: putting up forty. Yeah, but you have to have that
Speaker 2: every game. You need that. They had the chance to
Speaker 2: beat Boston and right, and they probably should have if
Speaker 2: they wouldn't have collassed. So they're like close ish, But
Speaker 2: now you got another year of Harden declining and he's
Speaker 2: not someone that was ever really reliable in the postseason.
Speaker 2: Joelle Ebie's never been healthy in a postseason in his
Speaker 2: entire career. He's always dealing with something strange or a
Speaker 2: bone fracture, ankle, knee. It's like a mister you know,
Speaker 2: it's like operation over there, and now you have a
Speaker 2: new coach. I'm just very suspicious in general about the
Speaker 2: ability for a team to really compete Milwaukee, included with
Speaker 2: a brand new head coach. I'm moving forward to teams
Speaker 2: that you're the most excited about, Teams that did not
Speaker 2: make the playoffs last year that you think are legit
Speaker 2: playoff teams this year.
Speaker 3: We mentioned one. I'm just really high on the Pacers.
Speaker 3: I think that the Indiana Pacers are taking a step forward.
Speaker 3: Part of that is Tyrese Haliburton was already kind of
Speaker 3: taking that step as one of the best passers and
Speaker 3: facilitators in the league. They play fast. I thought they
Speaker 3: underachieved last year, but their offseason edition of Bruce Brown,
Speaker 3: what they lacked was point of attack, defense and somebody
Speaker 3: basically who could fill a role like that. They've got
Speaker 3: plenty shooting, They've got Buddy Heal. I love Miles Turner,
Speaker 3: and I may not agree with his self assessment of
Speaker 3: being a top five center in the league, but he
Speaker 3: is a very good center. I don't know if they
Speaker 3: make top six or if they get in through the plan,
Speaker 3: but I think this is a playoff team. That's going
Speaker 3: to surprise a lot of people and continue to surprise
Speaker 3: a lot of people because they're like never on national television.
Speaker 3: That's probably the team I'm highest on that missed the
Speaker 3: playoffs last year.
Speaker 2: Does that mean then that because I actually love him too,
Speaker 2: because I think they're very deep. Because you've got Jerris Walker.
Speaker 3: Who was who looked great.
Speaker 2: He looks great at Summer League, just looked like the best,
Speaker 2: most dominant man on the floor, can do so many
Speaker 2: different things. He just had that thing that popped off
Speaker 2: while popped off the court while you watched him. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then you add him to a team with already
Speaker 2: as Miles Turner, and you add Obi Toppin, and you've
Speaker 2: got Benntt Mather and taking another step right, and so
Speaker 2: I'm super excited about them. Is that then meaning that
Speaker 2: Rick Carlile could maybe win Coach of the Year.
Speaker 3: It's funny. I when I was putting up predictions for
Speaker 3: Coach of the Year and I picked bicker Staff just
Speaker 3: because I'm again like I'm high on the calves. I
Speaker 3: thought about it, and I'm like, guys, don't really love
Speaker 3: Rick Carlisle. Quickly with the media, who votes, so like,
Speaker 3: even if he does the job and deserves the nomination,
Speaker 3: deserves the award, Like, how many media members are gonna
Speaker 3: be like sleep Rick Carlisle give it him that award?
Speaker 2: What do you expect from wemby.
Speaker 3: MVP thirty eight points?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: Does that unreasonable?
Speaker 2: I think though he could be an MVP candidate earlier
Speaker 2: than anyone can even imagine.
Speaker 3: I think rookie again, it's the Spurs. They're going to
Speaker 3: slow play this. They are not gonna They're not gonna
Speaker 3: make the big mistake. Too many teams make of like, hey,
Speaker 3: this guy's really good, let's just join in the process.
Speaker 3: Well no, let's trades forer a bunch of veterans. Let's
Speaker 3: try to win now. Like the Spurs are not gonna
Speaker 3: do that. They're gonna take some lumps. But I still
Speaker 3: think he's eighteen and eight this year is like not
Speaker 3: out of the question, with like two one of the borderline,
Speaker 3: if not all defensive team level play out of the gate.
Speaker 3: And that's again with him probably getting some rest nights
Speaker 3: or nights off because the jump from Europe to college,
Speaker 3: I don't think people could people can really grasp like
Speaker 3: playing forty games a night, forty games a season, low
Speaker 3: forties if you count a deep run in the NCAA
Speaker 3: tournament eighty two game regulars, he said, like the jump
Speaker 3: is just ridiculous, and the war a terror is ridiculous.
Speaker 3: In Europe you play two games a week, Like it's
Speaker 3: just the travel. The travel isn't as bad because you're
Speaker 3: just traveling around France, or in his case, if he's
Speaker 3: gonna get some nights off. But that said by year three,
Speaker 3: that would like that's not crazy depending.
Speaker 2: On where the team is, he's rookie of the year,
Speaker 2: do you.
Speaker 3: I did a podcast in a couple videos up at
Speaker 3: NBC with Drew din Sik, who's our betting analyst. Yeah, Andrew,
Speaker 3: Drew's roy Ward was every other bet in this category
Speaker 3: is dead money. It's just as much as I could
Speaker 3: try to make a case for why chet Holmgren might
Speaker 3: because he's playing more meaningful minutes on a playoff team
Speaker 3: like we talked about with a thunder and is exactly
Speaker 3: what they need facing the floor and defense in the paint.
Speaker 3: Like as good as that is, I still wouldn't bet
Speaker 3: on it. Like I still I still just think it's
Speaker 3: it's Wemby's to lose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, Finally, team that did make the playoffs
Speaker 2: last year that will not make the playoffs this year.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say the Clippers, but Miami's Miami's a possibility,
Speaker 3: but it would involve Jimmy. Jimmy Butler's too good if
Speaker 3: he plays, even as I know he likes to say,
Speaker 3: he has said to you to everyone, playoff Jimmy is
Speaker 3: not a thing. It's not yet. It is like, he
Speaker 3: definitely is better in the playoffs. That said, if he
Speaker 3: feels the pressure like in that, like he can crank
Speaker 3: it up in the East is in his deep. But
Speaker 3: if he misses a chunk of games for whatever reason,
Speaker 3: I mean, you're there. Didn't it feel like they built
Speaker 3: their whole offseason around getting They just expected to get Lillard,
Speaker 3: and when that didn't happen, they expected to get Drew
Speaker 3: or somebody else, and nobody fills that gap. And you
Speaker 3: can sort of replace Gabe, and you do get and
Speaker 3: Max Struce by the way, and who Love Who I
Speaker 3: Love in Cleveland is a fit. Those aren't like individually
Speaker 3: huge losses, but together it's just yeah, I can make
Speaker 3: I could see them falling, but I don't know if
Speaker 3: they were on the edge of that last year they
Speaker 3: were trailing the balls hundering the fourth quarter of the
Speaker 3: playing game, as if I remember that PROBA a second
Speaker 3: playing game, so like they came that close last year.
Speaker 3: So it's possible, But I think the Clippers.
Speaker 2: You're right, the Clippers could very easily fall out too.
Speaker 3: That's a team where it could look like one of
Speaker 3: those bad, old silent movie cars where everything just falls apart,
Speaker 3: Like it could absolutely happen to them. The whole wheels
Speaker 3: could come off this thing.
Speaker 2: All right, before I let you run, give me your
Speaker 2: finals projection on day one of the NBA season, and
Speaker 2: your champion.
Speaker 3: The Orlando Magic over the Houston No, I really think
Speaker 3: it's gonna come from one of four teams. So I
Speaker 3: went with Boston over Phoenix in the finals. I've got
Speaker 3: Boston as your champions, and I think they're the one team,
Speaker 3: by the way, if one team is going to click,
Speaker 3: it's all gonna come together. They're gonna win sixty five
Speaker 3: games in steamroll of the league. It's them. Like I
Speaker 3: just I think Boston could be very very good. But
Speaker 3: I have Boston beating Phoenix in the finals. If you
Speaker 3: told me it was either Denver or Milwaukee, or in
Speaker 3: that mix.
Speaker 2: Kurt Elan, thanks so much. It's always a pleasure. We'll
Speaker 2: have to have you back on more. Lead NBA writer
Speaker 2: and Managing editor nbcsports dot Com. This man is always
Speaker 2: giving us some nuggets, some facts. We'll have to have
Speaker 2: you on BENMGM tonight as well soon.
Speaker 3: I look forward to it man.
Speaker 2: Thanks brother, Take care. That's all the time for this
Speaker 2: episode of the Heat Check come back Monday. Check out
Speaker 2: the feed for past episodes and many episodes that will
Speaker 2: drop unexpectedly. Do not forget to download, subscribe and tell
Speaker 2: your friends every single one of them, and follow us
Speaker 2: on SOCIALI at this Heat checking at Trista Creek on TikTok,
Speaker 2: Twitter and Instagram. We'll see you next time.