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Speaker 1: welcome to tonight here at the Volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody.
Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys are having a great
Speaker 1: week so far. We are live on amps so if
Speaker 1: you're watching on YouTube, we're listening on our podcast feeds.
Speaker 1: Don't forget that AMPU is the very first place that
Speaker 1: you guys can get these shows. Continuing our Power rankings
Speaker 1: today with number ten the Oklahoma City Thunder who are
Speaker 1: very interesting on their own accord, before we even get
Speaker 1: to the fact that Chen Holmgren's coming back this year,
Speaker 1: and just so you guys know, over the weekend, we
Speaker 1: are now less than a month away from the kickoff
Speaker 1: of Or I should say, the tip off of the
Speaker 1: NBA season we are today is what September twenty sixth
Speaker 1: and October twenty fourth is our season opener. The Denver
Speaker 1: Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers will get things kicked off,
Speaker 1: So I'm starting to get super excited for that. But
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk, okay, see today a good long season
Speaker 1: preview on them, and then I've got three or four
Speaker 1: mail back questions for the end of the show as well.
Speaker 1: You guys are the job. Before we get started, subscribe
Speaker 1: to our YouTube channel. Don't forget about follow me on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Underscore Jason LT and our podcast feeds wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. And I need
Speaker 1: mailbag questions. We're gonna continue to do those at the
Speaker 1: end of these shows in perpetuities, so don't forget to
Speaker 1: drop mailback questions in the YouTube comments. All right, let's
Speaker 1: talk some basketball so quick, little off season recap. Not
Speaker 1: much roster turnover for the Thunder. They did lose Darios
Speaker 1: Rich to the Warriors and free agency. He was basically
Speaker 1: their backup five last year. They did get Davis Beharton's
Speaker 1: in a trade. He shot a fifty eight percent EFFECTI
Speaker 1: field goal percentage on catch and shoot jump shots last
Speaker 1: year sixty five percent when he was unguarded. In general,
Speaker 1: was deadly in spot up situations one point four to
Speaker 1: four points per possession, which is like off the charge. Good.
Speaker 1: But he barely played only eleven minutes per game last year,
Speaker 1: and forty five games only logged eighty two spot up possessions.
Speaker 1: My guess is that he probably won't play much. We'll see,
Speaker 1: but it's very possible that he ends up getting moved
Speaker 1: at some point. I'm curious to see what they decided
Speaker 1: to do to him. But technically he's on the Thunders
Speaker 1: roster right now. Vacilla Jay and I'm sorry if I'm
Speaker 1: butchering the pronunciation there, but Vasilla Jay meat Chitch signs
Speaker 1: for three years and twenty four million dollars. Played overseas
Speaker 1: last year and was amazing. He's a big guard. He's
Speaker 1: about six foot five, moves pretty well laterally. He's not
Speaker 1: a great like vertical athlete, but he moves pretty well laterally.
Speaker 1: He's got a good quick first step. He was one
Speaker 1: point two to one points per possession in pick and
Speaker 1: roll last year. Just a ridiculou lessly deadly pull up three,
Speaker 1: particularly from three, but he can do it from everywhere
Speaker 1: on the floor. But he just whenever he sees a
Speaker 1: spot when a dude ducks under a pick or gets
Speaker 1: caught on a pick, he can rise in, fire out
Speaker 1: to like twenty five twenty six feet and hit it
Speaker 1: pretty consistently. He was fifty three point four percent in
Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage on pull up jump shots overall
Speaker 1: last year, and most importantly, when he gets downhill and
Speaker 1: pick and roll, he's got a gift for engaging the
Speaker 1: screen defender, baiting them to come further out. Because of
Speaker 1: his willingness to shoot not just the three, but also
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots in the mid range and floaters
Speaker 1: and things along those lines, he could pull the screen
Speaker 1: defender out, which then unlocks his best skill, which is
Speaker 1: his passing ability. He was an excellent passer and pick
Speaker 1: and roll last year, great at making the skip pass
Speaker 1: of the weeks side corner, hitting the roll man. He's
Speaker 1: just a super skilled shot creator and I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be an interesting addition off the bench for Okase.
Speaker 1: He was forty one percent on all jump shots overall,
Speaker 1: fifty eight percent waited for threes, and sixty two percent
Speaker 1: at the rim, which is excellent for guard. I just
Speaker 1: look at him as basically like a shorter version of
Speaker 1: Josh Giddy, who's a better jump shooter. Is kind of
Speaker 1: the way that I look at it. But I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be an interesting guy to come off the
Speaker 1: bench and continue to be the next in a long
Speaker 1: line of skilled shot creators on this OKC team. They
Speaker 1: also drafted Cason Wallace out of Kentucky, Big guard, six
Speaker 1: foot two, strong, long arms. I think he's got about
Speaker 1: a six to eight wingspan, good athlete with like real
Speaker 1: downhill power when he starts attacking the rim. He can
Speaker 1: actually get by people pretty easily. Good shooters well, fifty
Speaker 1: four percent effective field goal percentage on catch and shoot
Speaker 1: jump shots, forty seven percent on pull up jump shots,
Speaker 1: and he has the potential to be an excellent defender.
Speaker 1: I'm not as high on him as everyone else. I
Speaker 1: think he really struggles with screen navigation right now, but
Speaker 1: I think it's mostly an effort thing. When I watch him,
Speaker 1: he just kind of seems willing to die into screens
Speaker 1: or get into a trailing position. I think he's got
Speaker 1: the athletic tools and the strength to be an excellent
Speaker 1: screen navigator, so I think in the long run he
Speaker 1: could be a really interesting option there. But this is
Speaker 1: a team that's deep at guard, so I'm not sure
Speaker 1: he's gonna play much to start. But again, in this
Speaker 1: particular situation with the Thunder, they're just stacking assets, stacking
Speaker 1: young talented basketball players, so they could pick the ones
Speaker 1: that actually make sense with them in their long term
Speaker 1: vision and trade the ones that aren't a fit into
Speaker 1: that vision for potentially the veteran star that could come
Speaker 1: into the picture. Right, because as we look at this roster,
Speaker 1: it's all kids in their twenties, right, You're guys like
Speaker 1: Victor Oladipo who are on the roster. I mean that,
Speaker 1: like I doubt he ever actually plays for the Thunder,
Speaker 1: that he's not going to be a veteran presence necessarily, right,
Speaker 1: So it's like, you're not this is a young team,
Speaker 1: and so in the long run, having all these assets
Speaker 1: could be the vehicle with which you get veteran presences
Speaker 1: that are needed, specifically a role player, because I don't
Speaker 1: think this team needs any more shot creation necessarily. But
Speaker 1: looking at the depth chart at guard, they have shake Gil,
Speaker 1: just Alexander Trey, mann, Isaiah Joe Mitschich. Like we mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: Cassan Wallace at four, Josh Gitty, lou Dort, Jalen Williams,
Speaker 1: Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and Jeremiah Robinson Earl. That's a
Speaker 1: pretty ridiculously deep core of forwards. And then Bigs Chet Holmgren,
Speaker 1: Alexei Pokoschewski, Jalen Williams, and Uzman Dang. That's a lot
Speaker 1: of really good basketball players and it's gonna be really
Speaker 1: interesting to see how they kind of piece together the rotation.
Speaker 1: Starting lineup with Chet coming back should be Shay, Josh Gitty,
Speaker 1: Lou Dort, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren. That's potentially a
Speaker 1: lineup that could be the best lineup in basketball within
Speaker 1: the next five years. That is a really, really exciting
Speaker 1: group of young players. So there's two different ways that
Speaker 1: I think that the Thunder are going to make a
Speaker 1: leap this year. Because obviously I have them very high.
Speaker 1: I have them up at tenth. So I'm saying that
Speaker 1: I believe the Thunder a top ten team in this league.
Speaker 1: And this is a team that was very firmly in
Speaker 1: the middle of the pack last year. So what am
Speaker 1: I saying is going to justify that leap a couple
Speaker 1: of different things. Specifically, is this already is an existing
Speaker 1: group that is on the rise before we even get
Speaker 1: to Chet Holmgren. Right, Like Shake Giojess Alexander is a
Speaker 1: bona fide superstar, Josh Gatty is a serious weapon as
Speaker 1: a number two. Not only did he average seventeen eight
Speaker 1: and six last year, but he had thirty one points,
Speaker 1: nine rebounds, and ten assists in that play in victory
Speaker 1: against the Pelicans. I watched that game in its entirety
Speaker 1: again this morning. He was awesome. And then Jalen Williams
Speaker 1: is coming off of super impressive rookie campaign. I think
Speaker 1: he has the potential to be a better version of
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, who's got more of like a versatile shot
Speaker 1: creation package and a better passer, much better. He's already
Speaker 1: a better passer than Jalen Brown. So, like, I'm really
Speaker 1: excited about Jalen Williams in the long run as well.
Speaker 1: This is a team that can get so much better
Speaker 1: even just looking at that specific core. And then you
Speaker 1: throw in Chet, who specifically addresses some very specific weaknesses
Speaker 1: on this team, right, like, this is a team that
Speaker 1: did not protect the rim well last year. This is
Speaker 1: a team that did not rebound well last year. And
Speaker 1: so not only is chet Holmgren another super exciting young
Speaker 1: player as like a folkrum there, he's also specific addressing
Speaker 1: a need. And as good as Jaylen Williams was last
Speaker 1: year playing off playing basically as they're starting five for
Speaker 1: the second half of the season, like he struggled in
Speaker 1: pick and pop situations, he struggled as a role man.
Speaker 1: That's something I expect Chet to be good at right away.
Speaker 1: And so it's not just the exciting young group and
Speaker 1: the improved continuity and them getting better as they are
Speaker 1: as just as all young players do year by year
Speaker 1: in their experience in the NBA. It's also adding a
Speaker 1: super talented young player that specifically addresses a need. And
Speaker 1: so I'm really really excited to dive into that a
Speaker 1: little bit deeper on both ends of the floor. But
Speaker 1: I don't think people are even prepared for how good
Speaker 1: Chet Holmgren is going to be. I think he's gone
Speaker 1: under the radar a little bit, not just because he
Speaker 1: missed the year last year, but because of all the
Speaker 1: hype surrounding Victor Wembinyama, and like, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: Victor wemen Yama is a better prospect. He deserves to be,
Speaker 1: and in the long run he should be a better player.
Speaker 1: But right now, Chet's actually significantly more polished from the perimeter,
Speaker 1: significantly more polished Webnyama is, and so I think he's
Speaker 1: actually gonna provide a lot of what Victor can right away,
Speaker 1: but be a much better perimeter player, which I think
Speaker 1: is going to be super exciting. But we'll talk about
Speaker 1: that more later. So let's get to the offensive end
Speaker 1: of the four. So the Thunder primarily set up in
Speaker 1: five out spacing, and the reason why they're able to
Speaker 1: do that is they've got skilled big men, right like
Speaker 1: Jaylen Williams and Alexi Pokashevski and Dario Sarch last year
Speaker 1: were all capable at least willing to take three point shots, right.
Speaker 1: Some of them made it more than others, but they
Speaker 1: were willing to take those shots, and so that allowed
Speaker 1: them to set up in that five out spacing. This year,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the exact same kind of arrangement. You're
Speaker 1: just gonna basically swap out Dariosarge for Cheded Holmgren. And
Speaker 1: then properly slot Jaalen Williams where he should be, which
Speaker 1: is as a backup five right. But it's the same
Speaker 1: kind of setup, and the reason why five out spacing
Speaker 1: matters is it's just much harder rotations to make. So
Speaker 1: imagine a four out one in spacing system where in
Speaker 1: any sort of ISO situation, my big man's in the
Speaker 1: dunker spot. If I beat somebody off the dribble, or
Speaker 1: I post up and try to make them move aggressively
Speaker 1: towards the basket, it's a really easy rotation for the
Speaker 1: rim protector to make because he's basically just gonna let's
Speaker 1: say that his man is in the dunker spot, He's
Speaker 1: gonna situate himself close enough that the ref won't call
Speaker 1: defense of three seconds, but close but still be in
Speaker 1: the paint where he can help, right, Or even if
Speaker 1: that dunker stands, you know, in the short corner, he
Speaker 1: can still have like one foot in the paint and
Speaker 1: just kind of step in and out. It's a really
Speaker 1: easy rotation for him to make at the rim. And
Speaker 1: then same thing for pick and roll. In a pick
Speaker 1: and roll situation, if you have a non shooting five,
Speaker 1: you can run no roller behind coverage, meaning like you
Speaker 1: can actually continue to back up into the paint and
Speaker 1: not have to worry about the rollman popping to the
Speaker 1: three point line where he can cause problems. You can
Speaker 1: drop back and handle the rollman and the ball handler
Speaker 1: coming towards you. Right. So in a five out spacing system,
Speaker 1: you make that rotation infinitely harder, right because in pick
Speaker 1: and roll coverages, now you've got Jalen Williams or in
Speaker 1: this case Chet Holmgren popping to the three point line,
Speaker 1: and now as the role man, you have to account
Speaker 1: for the fact that he can score there. Now, jay
Speaker 1: Lynn Williams actually struggled in picking pop situations last year,
Speaker 1: did not play super well there. Chet Holmgren's gonna be
Speaker 1: much much better there. So it's gonna be an even
Speaker 1: bigger problem for defenses this season. But as the screen defender,
Speaker 1: you have to be prepared for on the throwback pass
Speaker 1: to the popping big you have to close out, which
Speaker 1: is a really difficult rotation to make. Right. Or let's
Speaker 1: just say, in any sort of ISO situation, if I've
Speaker 1: got a shooting five, let's say, for instance, like a
Speaker 1: play that the thunder run a lot, so a lot
Speaker 1: of times they'll have they'll have their big man started
Speaker 1: above the break at the top of the key. So
Speaker 1: let's say Chet Holmgren's there, right, and they'll do a
Speaker 1: back cut with SGA. So a lot of times they'll
Speaker 1: use SGA as like a decoy to set up a
Speaker 1: dribble handoff. So like SGA will like throw the entry
Speaker 1: pass to the top of the key to the big
Speaker 1: man and like fake like he's gonna go for a
Speaker 1: dribble handoff, but then he'll just cut back door and
Speaker 1: he'll go through to the other side, and then they'll
Speaker 1: like flow into a dribble handoff out of the corner
Speaker 1: for like Jalen Williams or something like that. Right, But
Speaker 1: let's say Shae gets by his man in the back
Speaker 1: cut and Chet throws the pass and hits Shay on
Speaker 1: the drop on the back cut towards the basket. Where's
Speaker 1: the rotation? Right? In a excuse me, in a four
Speaker 1: out one end system, if you beat somebody on a
Speaker 1: back cut and the rim protector's there, it's an easy rotation, right.
Speaker 1: The rim protector's just waiting. Maybe you make the drop
Speaker 1: off pass to the dunker spot. But we've seen a
Speaker 1: lot in the playoffs, in particular, guys in the dunker spot,
Speaker 1: it's easy for them to get to for the rim
Speaker 1: protector to recover, right. Like we'd see you know, Jared
Speaker 1: Allen sitting in the dunker spot and Mitchell Robinson be
Speaker 1: able to stunt up at Evan Mobley but still get
Speaker 1: back to contest Jared Allen. Or we'd see the Lakers.
Speaker 1: That would happen a lot with Jared Vanderbilt, Like he
Speaker 1: cut into the dunker spot and he'd catch there and
Speaker 1: the guy would be able to step up to help,
Speaker 1: but then still recover back to Jared Vanderbilt. It's just
Speaker 1: an easier rotation to make, especially for an elite rim protector.
Speaker 1: But in a five out system, if SGA beats his
Speaker 1: man on the cut and you know chet Holme and
Speaker 1: throws that bounce pass, that rotation's got to come all
Speaker 1: the way out of the weak side corner. Now that's
Speaker 1: an extremely difficult rotation to make. SHA's probably going to
Speaker 1: get a layup, right, And if he doesn't get a layup,
Speaker 1: it's you're in a five out spacing system, right, So
Speaker 1: even if he does rotate over and stop SHA from
Speaker 1: making the layup, he's gonna have easy kickouts to shooters
Speaker 1: on the weak side and so and like, literally, instead
Speaker 1: of a rim protector being able to step up to
Speaker 1: contain SGA and then stunt back to stop the dunker spot,
Speaker 1: he's not gonna be able to contest that and then
Speaker 1: close all the way out to the weak side corner.
Speaker 1: So again, five out spacing requires you to have a
Speaker 1: skilled big man, a guy that's capable of knocking down shots,
Speaker 1: and not only that, but capable of making plays off
Speaker 1: the dribble. But if you can set up that way,
Speaker 1: it provides many, many more issues for the defense, right.
Speaker 1: And like we've seen five out lead to advantages even
Speaker 1: for teams that don't have shooting bigs, right, like Golden
Speaker 1: State runs primarily a five out offense. And now again
Speaker 1: we've seen elite defen has caused them problems by sagging
Speaker 1: and top locking, right, But for the most part, five
Speaker 1: out spacing is going to provide better opportunities for your
Speaker 1: perimeter players to get downhill. That just fundamentally is the
Speaker 1: best way that they to set up an offense in
Speaker 1: the modern NBA. And that's you know, kind of why
Speaker 1: I love this Oklahoma City Thunder team so much like
Speaker 1: they have one of my favorite young players in the
Speaker 1: league and Shay Gilles Alexander, they have one of my
Speaker 1: favorite young draft prospects in the league and Chat Holmgren.
Speaker 1: They've got all these other young players that are super
Speaker 1: fun and exciting to watch. They've got a coach, Mark Dagenol,
Speaker 1: who does a really nice job. But also they play
Speaker 1: a modern brand of basketball that I really really like,
Speaker 1: not just on the offensive end of the floor, but
Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the floor as well. But again,
Speaker 1: like that, when you combine that spacing setup with guys
Speaker 1: like Shay that can get downhill so well, with guys
Speaker 1: like Jalen Williams that can get downhill so well, with
Speaker 1: big guards like Josh Giddy that can punish players inside,
Speaker 1: like you end up scoring in the paint a ton
Speaker 1: And they were fifth in restricted area makes per game
Speaker 1: in the entire NBA in seventh and overall points in
Speaker 1: the paint per game, So I think that was a
Speaker 1: positive fallout from their spacing setup. But everything starts with
Speaker 1: shake gil As Alexander, like he's just a bonafide superstar.
Speaker 1: He was fourth in the league in scoring last year,
Speaker 1: averaged thirty one points per game sixty three percent through shooting,
Speaker 1: which is just obnoxiously good. But most importantly, he excels
Speaker 1: at a brand of basketball that you need to reach
Speaker 1: the highest levels of the game of basketball. Right Like
Speaker 1: SGA is not an analytics guru, Like I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: the most efficient shots, and we're gonna squeeze out the
Speaker 1: best point per possession rating and in all these situations
Speaker 1: and maximize regular season potency. He plays basketball in a
Speaker 1: way that succeeds in the NBA postseason. He does take
Speaker 1: shots that are not necessarily analytically sound, right Like an
Speaker 1: SGA pull up jump shot last year was only worth
Speaker 1: about one point zero two points per possession, right, which
Speaker 1: seems low because he's taking a lot of pull up twos,
Speaker 1: But the reality is is like he can get to
Speaker 1: that shot whenever he needs to, even in a situation
Speaker 1: where things get super congested in the paint, where the
Speaker 1: ref starts swallowing their whistles and letting go a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of contact and fouling. Right, like his
Speaker 1: points per possession is resilient, it's postseason resilient. By by
Speaker 1: thriving in the methodical half court setting, he can be
Speaker 1: a great crunch time player, and he can be a
Speaker 1: great playoff player. And I don't think it was a
Speaker 1: coincidence that in his first massively important elimination game as
Speaker 1: a as the solo star, as the main star on
Speaker 1: a team. Obviously he had his reps in the past.
Speaker 1: I think he at that one playoff series with with
Speaker 1: Chris Paul in the bubble, right, But like when when
Speaker 1: you look specifically at his first real big, you know,
Speaker 1: high stakes playoff game in the first round of the
Speaker 1: of the playing tournament, he was incredible and down the
Speaker 1: stretch of the game was creating high quality shots all
Speaker 1: over the floor right and ended up hitting basically the
Speaker 1: game winner, that crazy one like fade away going along
Speaker 1: the left lane line, right. So, like, that's the exciting
Speaker 1: part is it's not just that you have a superstar.
Speaker 1: You have a superstar whose game is specifically built to
Speaker 1: thrive in the NBA postseason. And that to me, if
Speaker 1: you're a basketball fan and you're rooting for a team,
Speaker 1: that's like the one thing you absolutely have to have
Speaker 1: to have any chance to win. And SGA is that guy,
Speaker 1: And so that's your starting point, that's your primary entry point, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's the guy that can consistently get the defense
Speaker 1: into rotation, and from there, they're just a devastating drive
Speaker 1: and kick team because everybody on the floor knows how
Speaker 1: to cut, knows how to relocate off the ball, knows
Speaker 1: how to attack a close out, knows how to attack
Speaker 1: the offensive glass. They're just an extremely difficult team to guard.
Speaker 1: It's funny because, like watching the Thunder is a surreal
Speaker 1: experience because they're super young, right, They're this super young
Speaker 1: basketball team. All their core players are in their twenties,
Speaker 1: and yet when you watch them, it's like watching a
Speaker 1: veteran team. Even their older play, even their excuse me,
Speaker 1: even they're younger players, guys like Jaylen Williams and Josh Giddy,
Speaker 1: they play like veteran players, you know. Like even Jaylen
Speaker 1: Williams as a young big man in this league, Like
Speaker 1: you watch him in a high stakes environment and he
Speaker 1: just isn't gonna do anything stupid, Like he's just gonna
Speaker 1: play within his role and limit mistakes and do his job.
Speaker 1: And that's like a cultural thing from the top down
Speaker 1: in the roster, Like this is not the Houston Rockets
Speaker 1: from last year or the Detroit Pistons, and some of
Speaker 1: these other young teams where it's like it just feels
Speaker 1: like no one really knows how to play basketball at
Speaker 1: like a veteran level. Right, Like, this is a young
Speaker 1: team with the personality and execution and habits that you'd
Speaker 1: expect to see from a veteran team. And that's what
Speaker 1: makes him such a devastating half court offense in these big,
Speaker 1: like slow down environments, right because like you're just SGA
Speaker 1: is either gonna be able to call for a ball
Speaker 1: screen and get a blitz which is gonna open up
Speaker 1: a four on three and you're gonna get some sort
Speaker 1: of wide open shot out of it, or in single
Speaker 1: he's capable of executing and getting to spots on the
Speaker 1: floor where he knows he can make shots at a
Speaker 1: high percentage, and and it just makes them really really
Speaker 1: difficult to guard. But they have tons of secondary shot creation, obviously,
Speaker 1: Josh Giddy, as we mentioned earlier, the incredible thirty one
Speaker 1: to nine to ten in the In that first playing
Speaker 1: game against the Pelicans, Jalen Williams was up over a
Speaker 1: point per possession in all play types. Last year, Jalen
Speaker 1: Williams converted ISOs at one point one to two points
Speaker 1: per possession. Last year, there were seventy two players in
Speaker 1: the NBA who averaged or excuse me, who logged at
Speaker 1: least one hundred ISOs last year. Jalen Williams ranked seventh
Speaker 1: out of those seventy two players with his one point
Speaker 1: one to two points per possession. Like, as far as
Speaker 1: young rookies go, he's one of the more exciting ones,
Speaker 1: and he's obviously going to experience significant leaps in the
Speaker 1: coming years now, the biggest weak point in the offense
Speaker 1: last year was their spot up shooting. As good as
Speaker 1: their spacing principles were, they just had a lot of
Speaker 1: guys who struggled to make shots like Lou Dort, Jalen
Speaker 1: Williams and Josh Gitty and I'm talking about jay Len
Speaker 1: Williams and Josh Gitty were all below a point per
Speaker 1: possession in spot up situations last year. Even Shay is
Speaker 1: good of a pull up jump shooter is as he is,
Speaker 1: he's not a good catch and shoot player. He was
Speaker 1: only twenty eight percent from the field on catch and
Speaker 1: shoot jump shots last year. As a team, the Thunder
Speaker 1: were twenty six then spot up efficiency, so they were
Speaker 1: bottom five in converting spot up possesions. Last year, that
Speaker 1: was the big thing that held them back on the
Speaker 1: offensive end of the floor. Now, I think a couple
Speaker 1: of things will help here a lot with their spot
Speaker 1: up shooting. One, continuity, you have guys like Josh Kitty,
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams, Sga. These are all guys that are accustomed
Speaker 1: to having the basketball in their hands a lot, right,
Speaker 1: And so I'm not surprised the guys like Jalen Williams
Speaker 1: and Josh Kitty struggled a little bit in spot up
Speaker 1: situations because they're just not used to having to do
Speaker 1: that a lot on the basketball floor, right. So, and
Speaker 1: even Sga, like you give the ball to Josh Kitty
Speaker 1: or Jalen Williams and let them go to work. He's
Speaker 1: not used to having to take a lot of catch
Speaker 1: and shoot jump shots, so he only took fifty all season, right. So,
Speaker 1: Like at a certain point like these all three of
Speaker 1: them will get more and more comfortable playing with each other,
Speaker 1: understanding where their off ball opportunities are and how to
Speaker 1: capitalize on them. So I think continuity will help, because yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's basically the first year that all three
Speaker 1: of those guys have played together, and then the Chet
Speaker 1: Holmgern thing. He's just a massive upgrade on both ends
Speaker 1: of the floor and it's just gonna make things a
Speaker 1: lot easier. Like Jaylynn Williams the center, he was really
Speaker 1: good in catch and shoot situations, in spot up situations,
Speaker 1: but when he was picking and popping, he struggled to
Speaker 1: knock down shots. He was just six for twenty one
Speaker 1: on the season knocking down shots. He was good in
Speaker 1: the short role, like he would catch on those blitzes
Speaker 1: from SGA and he would make good reads to shooters,
Speaker 1: but he really struggled finishing at the basket. So like
Speaker 1: as good as Jalen Williams was in certain areas, he
Speaker 1: had some pretty glaring weaknesses. Like I expect Chet to
Speaker 1: thrive in those situations. I expect Chet to be a
Speaker 1: great pick and pop player. I expect Chet to be
Speaker 1: a really good short role player as well. He's gonna
Speaker 1: actually provide vertical spacing, a legit gravity in rollman possessions
Speaker 1: where he can actually roll to the rim and be
Speaker 1: a vertical spacer. That's not a thing that this team
Speaker 1: has had, and that's not a thing that SGA has
Speaker 1: been able to play with right and then he's also
Speaker 1: gonna have the ability to capitalize on switches and things
Speaker 1: along those lines, which Jalen Williams couldn't do. So I
Speaker 1: think I think Chet's just gonna be a much much
Speaker 1: better player. And that's not an insult to Jalen Williams.
Speaker 1: He did his job. He filled in as a center
Speaker 1: with the injury, but like that's where he should be.
Speaker 1: He should be off the bench. He's a very good
Speaker 1: bench player to have on this particular team at the
Speaker 1: center position. But when you add in the improved spacing
Speaker 1: with Chet Holmgren, and not only that but his improved
Speaker 1: playmaking in the short role, I actually think you're just
Speaker 1: gonna get higher quality spot up reps. So when you
Speaker 1: factor in better spot up opportunities and more continuity for
Speaker 1: the guys learning how to capitalize on him, I expect
Speaker 1: them to be a much much better spot up team
Speaker 1: next year. So I mean, when you kind of put
Speaker 1: all that together, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised
Speaker 1: if OKC ended up being a top ten offense next year.
Speaker 1: I predict them to finish in that eight to twelve area,
Speaker 1: like right around the tenth best offense in the league. Now,
Speaker 1: looking at the defensive end is actually a super interesting
Speaker 1: experience with this Thunder team because they were really good
Speaker 1: in some areas and really struggled in others. Right, They
Speaker 1: finished thirteenth in defensive rating, which is confusing because they
Speaker 1: were an average paint defense, They were a bottom ten
Speaker 1: three point defense, They were the third worst defensive rebounding
Speaker 1: team in the league, and they fouled a ton. So like,
Speaker 1: how did they manage a decent defensive rating thirteenth in
Speaker 1: the league despite being not great at any of those
Speaker 1: core areas. And it really just comes down to they
Speaker 1: never ever turned the ball over, right, They they're the
Speaker 1: fourth best team in the league at taking care of
Speaker 1: the ball. That prevents their defense from having to deal
Speaker 1: with those trains opportunities, Right, Like, every time you turn
Speaker 1: the ball over, it's a high percentage possession going the
Speaker 1: other way. By taking care of the basketball, you prevent
Speaker 1: those opportunities. Right. In fact, they allowed a transition possession
Speaker 1: on just thirteen point five percent of their defensive possessions.
Speaker 1: That was the best in the entire league according to
Speaker 1: Cleaning the Glass. So taking care of the basketball and
Speaker 1: avoiding those catastrophic defensive possessions where you're just giving away
Speaker 1: a two on one, three on one, fast break dunk
Speaker 1: or wide open three. That helps a lot. And then
Speaker 1: the second part of it is they forced to turn
Speaker 1: the turnovers. Opponents averaged sixteen point three turnovers per one
Speaker 1: hundred possessions against the Thunder, which was the second best
Speaker 1: mark in the NBA, second only to the Toronto Raptors.
Speaker 1: And that comes down to their aggressive point of attack defense.
Speaker 1: This is the strength of their defense is the point
Speaker 1: of attack. Lou Dort is one of the very best
Speaker 1: perimeter defenders in the league. Shake Gildas Alexander is a
Speaker 1: very impactful perimeter defender, is very disruptive. He's constantly reaching
Speaker 1: in with his long arms and getting deflections and knocking
Speaker 1: the ball away. He was actually tenth in the entire
Speaker 1: league in stocks last year steals plus blocks, which is
Speaker 1: insane because that's a stat that's typically dominated by long,
Speaker 1: athletic wings and rim protectors, right. But nope, Sga is
Speaker 1: right there in the mix because he's super disruptive at
Speaker 1: the point of attack. So think of it like this,
Speaker 1: if you force a ton of turnovers, meaning you cause
Speaker 1: in this case, sixteen and a half possessions a game
Speaker 1: where the other team doesn't even get a shot on
Speaker 1: the basket and you keep them out of transition, you
Speaker 1: can be a good defense even when you struggle in
Speaker 1: other areas. And I think that's the perfect example of that.
Speaker 1: You finished thirteenth in defensive rating despite not protecting the
Speaker 1: paint well, despite not protecting the three point line well,
Speaker 1: despite not rebounding well, and despite fouling a lot, And
Speaker 1: it's literally just goes to show you like you can
Speaker 1: target specific areas and be elite at specific things and
Speaker 1: cover for that. And them dominating the transition attack through
Speaker 1: forcing turnof and taking care of the basketball allowed them
Speaker 1: to be a moderately successful defense. But again, like chat Holmgren,
Speaker 1: is what makes this super super exciting because you've got
Speaker 1: this elite point of attack defense in my opinion, right
Speaker 1: like between SGA and Loudort, you're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: cause serious problems for perimeter players at the point of attack,
Speaker 1: but you've had no rim protection behind you, and you've
Speaker 1: never been able to end defensive possessions with a rebound.
Speaker 1: Like here's how important rebounding is for this team. According
Speaker 1: to cleaning the glass on half court defensive possessions in
Speaker 1: terms of actually forcing misses. The Thunder were the fourth
Speaker 1: best half court defense in the league last year in
Speaker 1: terms of actually forcing misses, and we count calculate that
Speaker 1: by points per play rather than points per possession. But
Speaker 1: they gave up an offensive rebound on thirty percent of
Speaker 1: those half court possessions. So when you're giving them an
Speaker 1: extra chance one out of every three times, that's gonna
Speaker 1: hurt your defense. And that's what it ended up happening.
Speaker 1: So again, like they actually were a really good half
Speaker 1: court defense, they just couldn't secure defensive rebounds, right And
Speaker 1: so like when you look at that specific situation, that's
Speaker 1: where it gets exciting to add chet Holmger into the mix,
Speaker 1: because this is a team that forces a ton of turnovers.
Speaker 1: This is a team that can be impactful at the
Speaker 1: point of attack. Now, this is a team that can
Speaker 1: protect the rim. Now, this is a team that can
Speaker 1: secure defensive rebounds. Chet Holmgren is that type of athlete
Speaker 1: at the center position, and that I think is gonna
Speaker 1: push them way up in what their defensive potential could be.
Speaker 1: I actually think this team is gonna finish right around
Speaker 1: tenth and defense as well, and Again, if you're a
Speaker 1: right around the tenth best offense and right around the
Speaker 1: tenth best defense in the league, you're gonna win a
Speaker 1: lot of games. And I think this Thunder team is
Speaker 1: gonna win a lot of games. I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: win probably around fifty games, which is a lot in
Speaker 1: the Western Conference. I think they're gonna have home court
Speaker 1: advantage in the first trout of the playoffs. I thin
Speaker 1: they're gonna be a top four seed, and I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna be a royal pain in the ass when
Speaker 1: they get there. And I wouldn't be the least bit
Speaker 1: surprised if they knocked out a team or two along
Speaker 1: the way. Don't be the least bit surprised if you
Speaker 1: see kind of similar to what the Thunder did in
Speaker 1: twenty eleven. Just start beating teams that you're not expecting
Speaker 1: them to beat like that is the type of potential
Speaker 1: that I think this team has. I'm super super excited
Speaker 1: to watch them this year. They're only gonna be on
Speaker 1: national TV thirteen times, which I think is a mistake
Speaker 1: because not only do they have super exciting young players
Speaker 1: to watch, but they're just gonna be good. They're going
Speaker 1: to be good that Like. Of all of the things
Speaker 1: that we're going to see this year, one of the
Speaker 1: ones that I feel most confident about is that if
Speaker 1: the Thunder are healthy, they are going to be a
Speaker 1: top four seed in the West. I just I think
Speaker 1: this team is incredibly talented. I think they're led by
Speaker 1: the right kind of star. They are adding a very
Speaker 1: specific player that addresses all of their weaknesses, and they've
Speaker 1: got young players that are gonna take leaps. Watch out
Speaker 1: for the Thunder this year, man, I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: be incredibly good. All right, let's move forward to the mailbag. So,
Speaker 1: first mail back question, how much does being involved in
Speaker 1: an injury change how you play? Things that come to
Speaker 1: mind is charge setting, blindside screens, undercutting on closeouts, mid
Speaker 1: air contests. Thinking about the player that made the impact
Speaker 1: on Nick Chubb. I'm sure there is some internal warfare
Speaker 1: anytime a player performs those things on a court after
Speaker 1: they were involved in an injury. Do players continue to
Speaker 1: close out as hard, set as many screens, take as
Speaker 1: many charges, et cetera. So good question. I can only
Speaker 1: speak from my personal experience. Uh, but I had a
Speaker 1: broken foot my sophomore year of college and It happened
Speaker 1: during the off season, and I was still recovering from
Speaker 1: it when I came into the season, and the big
Speaker 1: thing that stood out to me personally was not trusting
Speaker 1: planting hard or exploding on it. Like when you see
Speaker 1: it's it's funny. As a basketball player, you see these
Speaker 1: opportunities arise right like you'll you'll be working on a
Speaker 1: close out or working and pick and roll and you'll
Speaker 1: see an opportunity, like a lane will open up, and
Speaker 1: if you're an athlete, you'll think, like, oh, I can
Speaker 1: shoot that gap, and like that was one of my
Speaker 1: strengths when I was playing, was like I was good athlete.
Speaker 1: I was a good size, and I could jump and
Speaker 1: I can move a quick first step right. So like
Speaker 1: if I saw an opening, I'd shoot that gap right.
Speaker 1: And that is an example of a play that requires
Speaker 1: when you when you really like try to hit the jets,
Speaker 1: so to speak, into those tight space environments, you have
Speaker 1: to trust that you can explode, meaning like you have
Speaker 1: to plant hard. Let's say I need to do a
Speaker 1: left right takeoff, so I need to plant my left
Speaker 1: foot hard, swing that right foot around and plant it
Speaker 1: hard and elevate off the ground. And like I didn't
Speaker 1: trust my foot, and that was the main issue, is
Speaker 1: like I just was very passive and tentative. And it
Speaker 1: wasn't even just in those specific situations attacking the like
Speaker 1: any sort of lane that would open up, I'd also
Speaker 1: it would also be in rebounding situations, like a like
Speaker 1: a highly contested rebound where I know I need to
Speaker 1: elevate in traffic, like maybe I don't jump for it right,
Speaker 1: or a tougher defensive rotation or something along those lines.
Speaker 1: Like there was a trust phase that was after the
Speaker 1: recovery phase, and that's what I remember, is like it
Speaker 1: was like I got hurt, I rested, you know, walked
Speaker 1: around in a walking boot for two months, and then
Speaker 1: when I got to campus, I started to rehabbing get
Speaker 1: back into shape, and like then there was like this
Speaker 1: phase where I was more or less back, but I
Speaker 1: wasn't playing well. And it's funny because in this particular
Speaker 1: season that I'm referencing, in non conference play at the
Speaker 1: start of the season, I really struggled and at one
Speaker 1: point I actually got pulled out of the starting lineup
Speaker 1: for two games to like teach me a lesson, so
Speaker 1: to speak, about not competing enough on the offensive glass
Speaker 1: or on the on just on the glass in general
Speaker 1: as a rebounder. By the way, my coach was right
Speaker 1: to do that. I was not rebounding well at the time.
Speaker 1: But then like right around the end of that semester
Speaker 1: going into the spring, like something clicked and suddenly I
Speaker 1: trusted myself again and to really plant that footthard and
Speaker 1: then I was able to make those explosive moves again.
Speaker 1: And then suddenly, like I rebounded really well. I was
Speaker 1: I think third in my conference and rebounding that during
Speaker 1: conference play and ended up making an All conference team.
Speaker 1: I played much better in the springtime, and it was
Speaker 1: because like I regained that trust in my athleticism, and like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because that's like in general, what
Speaker 1: it's like aging with the game is. And I'm not
Speaker 1: that old. I'm only thirty two, but like as a
Speaker 1: thirty two year old playing now, I'm still not quite
Speaker 1: the athlete I was when I was in college. But
Speaker 1: I'm still a good athlete. But like I'm just super
Speaker 1: picky about it. But it's not even about not trusting
Speaker 1: my body. It's about just not wanting to take the
Speaker 1: risk and it's more like as a thirty two year
Speaker 1: old whose profession is not basketball, like my profession or
Speaker 1: shouldn't say basketball, but not playing basketball, right, Like, my
Speaker 1: profession is outside of that, And I have other passions, right,
Speaker 1: Like I love to be active with my wife, and
Speaker 1: we love to travel, and I love to you know, ski.
Speaker 1: I'm getting ready to go into ski season, right, so,
Speaker 1: like I have these other priorities, and so like a
Speaker 1: serious injury is not something I'm interested in messing around with, right,
Speaker 1: so I won't push it. So to speak to the
Speaker 1: same extent that I used to, like most recently, on Sunday,
Speaker 1: I played in a game, or on Saturday, I played
Speaker 1: in a game with like a group of players that
Speaker 1: I play with that we scrimmage club teams in jucos
Speaker 1: around the state of Arizona. It's just like a way
Speaker 1: that I just find the higher level competition every once
Speaker 1: in a while coming out of Tucson. And I was
Speaker 1: playing on Saturday and my achilles was causing me some
Speaker 1: like significant soreness, and I started to feel some soreness
Speaker 1: on Thursday, and like, I'm just I don't want to
Speaker 1: risk that, Like it's just not worth it to me.
Speaker 1: So I literally skipped my game yesterday for my men's league,
Speaker 1: and like, I'm not gonna play today and I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna play tomorrow. I'm gonna take some time off because
Speaker 1: it's just not worth it for me at this phase
Speaker 1: of my life to push through and I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to play professionally or anything, right, And so that same
Speaker 1: ideology stems into everything, like I won't put my body
Speaker 1: on the line as much as I used to. And
Speaker 1: that's the thing. When you're younger, you feel invincible and
Speaker 1: you do put your body on the line all the time.
Speaker 1: But I think everybody kind of goes through a phase
Speaker 1: in their thirties where they just kind of start to
Speaker 1: be more picky about it. But as far as injuries go,
Speaker 1: I think that's like the big thing I learned from
Speaker 1: that broken foot. And it's just like there's phases. There's
Speaker 1: the healing process, there's like the rehab and reconditioning process.
Speaker 1: Then there's like the mental process. It's getting over the
Speaker 1: mental hurdles that you build over the course of that injury.
Speaker 1: All right, next mail back question. If you had the
Speaker 1: power of the NBA commissioner, what would you change specific
Speaker 1: or would you change anything specific in the NBA. So
Speaker 1: I put three things down just as quick. Ideas, I
Speaker 1: shortened the seasonto sixty six games. I've talked about this before,
Speaker 1: but like whatever gate revenue you lose by losing twenty
Speaker 1: percent of the games, I think in the long run
Speaker 1: you would make up through improved urgency, improved star performance.
Speaker 1: Those two participation I should say, by having your stars
Speaker 1: playing way more of the games, By having each of
Speaker 1: those games matter twenty percent more in the long run,
Speaker 1: I think you'd recoup that lost revenue. The league will
Speaker 1: never do it, but that's what I would do. Secondly,
Speaker 1: I'd change the way the game is officiated. I think
Speaker 1: there's an obsession with trying to avoid the overly ugly
Speaker 1: physical rock fight games of the late nineties and early
Speaker 1: two thousands. That's kind of like the direction the league
Speaker 1: went right with the way they were officiating is trying
Speaker 1: to avoid that. But I don't think that would happen
Speaker 1: if you changed the way the game was officiating. By
Speaker 1: the way, when I say that, I mean like basically
Speaker 1: give the benefit of the doubt to the defender is
Speaker 1: what I would do. I would make it so that
Speaker 1: like if a dude does some janky non basketball move
Speaker 1: and tries to draw out, don't give it to him.
Speaker 1: If a guy flops, don't give it to him. If
Speaker 1: a guy is maybe fouled on a jump shot, like,
Speaker 1: don't call it unless you're one hundred percent certain. Like
Speaker 1: just I would be way, way, way more deferential to
Speaker 1: the defense with officiating, And I don't think it would
Speaker 1: ruin the product because the spacing in general is so
Speaker 1: much better and the overall skill level on the floor
Speaker 1: is so much better. I think it would just look
Speaker 1: like playoff basketball in the regular season, which is a
Speaker 1: very very entertaining television product. So I would change the
Speaker 1: way the game is officiating more more in favor of
Speaker 1: the defense. And lastly, I would change the salary cap
Speaker 1: rules to protect teams that draft well. So I think
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous if you're a team like like uh, Oklahoma City,
Speaker 1: for instance, and you draft all these guys and it
Speaker 1: comes it comes time to pay them and you can't
Speaker 1: because of the salary cap, and then you end up
Speaker 1: having to pick and choose which guys you want to
Speaker 1: actually retain. Right Like, to me, that doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 1: Like the Orlando Magic could run into this problem soon,
Speaker 1: Like what if you need to pay everybody and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you have to let Markel Folts go?
Speaker 1: Like that doesn't that That's not fair in my opinion.
Speaker 1: And so the way that I'd structure it is like,
Speaker 1: because every team has a combination of both, right, Like
Speaker 1: the Magic have Markel Folts who they have obtained in
Speaker 1: a trade, but then they have Franz Wagner and Pala
Speaker 1: Boncarra that they got through the draft. Right, So like,
Speaker 1: at what point do you kind of like change the
Speaker 1: rules based on how you obtained the player. And That's
Speaker 1: what I would do is I'd make it so that
Speaker 1: if you are paying salary tax penalties, I'd structure the
Speaker 1: entire process so that you only pay those penalties on
Speaker 1: players obtained through free agency and trades. Because at the
Speaker 1: very least, you should have the ability to sign or
Speaker 1: extend a homegrown player that you've obtained through the draft
Speaker 1: to a long term deal and not have to worry
Speaker 1: about paying absurd luxury tax penalties just because your scouting
Speaker 1: department is better than the team down the road. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's fair, especially when you look at the
Speaker 1: realities of first round draft picks and how many of
Speaker 1: them actually pan out, and the answer is pretty small.
Speaker 1: And so like, if you do strike gold three times,
Speaker 1: like that sucks that you might have to lose a
Speaker 1: player as a result of that. So that's something that
Speaker 1: I'd like to see them address as well. Two more,
Speaker 1: a lot of people say that Kyrie Irving is the
Speaker 1: most skilled player in the NBA. What do you say
Speaker 1: to this? I tend to disagree because I think Steph
Speaker 1: Curry is the most skilled player in the league. Kyrie
Speaker 1: might have the best handle, but there have been other
Speaker 1: ball handlers at least comparable to him in history. However,
Speaker 1: no one can even touch Curry in terms of volume,
Speaker 1: pull up three point shooting, plus he might have the
Speaker 1: top might have a top three handle in the league. Thoughts.
Speaker 1: Good question. I've talked about this before, so I'll just
Speaker 1: give like a really short version of it. But to me,
Speaker 1: it's like separating the skill set from the realities of
Speaker 1: what makes a good basketball player. So if you include
Speaker 1: things like the willingness and ability to play off the ball, conditioning,
Speaker 1: competitiveness on defense, defensive instincts, things like that as skills,
Speaker 1: so to speak, then yeah, I think Steph is a
Speaker 1: more skilled player than Kyrie. But if I simplify skill
Speaker 1: down to strictly shooting touch from every spot on the floor,
Speaker 1: including at the raymen, off jump shots, footwork in and
Speaker 1: out of specific moves and counter moves, and the handle
Speaker 1: to make all those moves and counter moves, if I
Speaker 1: oversimplify the game to just that move passing, off ball
Speaker 1: play every other thing out of the equation, then I
Speaker 1: do think Kyrie's combination of shooting, touch, footwork, rim finishing,
Speaker 1: sheer arsenal of moves and counter moves is the best
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Maybe ever, like that's that's how much
Speaker 1: I think Kyrie has that stuff polished out. But like
Speaker 1: it's just a silly conversation to my opinion, because Steph
Speaker 1: is just a much much better basketball player. He is
Speaker 1: willing to work off the ball and does so at
Speaker 1: an extremely high level that helps him generate easier offense. Right.
Speaker 1: His willingness to work off the ball makes him less repetitive. So,
Speaker 1: like Kyrie, Irving is gonna attack in very similar ways often,
Speaker 1: and if you are guarding him with a live dribble
Speaker 1: from the perimeter every single time, like you're just gonna
Speaker 1: kind of figure out how to get in front of
Speaker 1: some of his moves, right, But like, Steph is gonna
Speaker 1: always be moving off the ball, and if he does
Speaker 1: go to pick and roll, it's gonna at the end
Speaker 1: of the game when he needs to, and it's gonna
Speaker 1: catch you off guard and you're not gonna be ready
Speaker 1: for those moves. And I think that's a big part
Speaker 1: of why he's so successful when he gets later into
Speaker 1: the postseason, right, and then Steph is also a better defender,
Speaker 1: a better rebounder, a better leader. He's just a better
Speaker 1: basketball player. And so like, yeah, when we say, like
Speaker 1: who's the most skilled player of all time, it all
Speaker 1: depends on how you define skill. And yes, if we
Speaker 1: narrow down skills specifically to ball handling, shooting, footwork, then yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say that Kyrie is the most skilled player
Speaker 1: in the NBA. But he's not close as a basketball
Speaker 1: player to Steph. He's a far better player on both
Speaker 1: ends of the floor, including on the offensive end, and
Speaker 1: that's why he's won so much in his career. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's a coincidence. All right, last question, what
Speaker 1: do you think will happen with Dame? Doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: Portland is interested in trading him into Miami. So the
Speaker 1: latest intel is that Toronto's getting in on the equation.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to say it's off the table,
Speaker 1: because one, I'm not a super connected guy. It's not
Speaker 1: something I'm really interested in. I'm more of an analyst, right,
Speaker 1: I'm not, you know, constantly having phone conversations with gms
Speaker 1: and trying to get behind the scenes intel. Right, So
Speaker 1: like I don't speak I can't speak to the to
Speaker 1: the personalities involved. Right. And if here's the reality, If
Speaker 1: Portland is vindictive enough to send Miami away from Miami, there,
Speaker 1: excuse me, send Dame somewhere other than Miami. And if
Speaker 1: Toronto is as aggressive as they were during the Kawhi situation,
Speaker 1: then yeah, like Dame might end up being a Toronto raft.
Speaker 1: But two things. One, I don't understand why Toronto would
Speaker 1: even do that. Like how good is Toronto really? Like
Speaker 1: I didn't even have them in my top twenty teams
Speaker 1: this year. They have arguably the worst backcourt in the NBA.
Speaker 1: Like if I slot Dame into the starting lineup even
Speaker 1: in a vacuum, Like, let's just pretend Toronto doesn't even
Speaker 1: have to send players back like is Dame Ogan Andobi
Speaker 1: Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Yaka Perl Are they are
Speaker 1: they winning the championship? Like? I don't think so. Like
Speaker 1: I think they instantly become like a fringe contender, But
Speaker 1: they're not winning the championship. It's not like the Rafters
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, who were if I remember correctly, they
Speaker 1: won fifty nine games or something like that, and we're
Speaker 1: the number one seed in the East and like or
Speaker 1: just flat out like literally just a better version of
Speaker 1: Demarta Rosen away from being a championship team. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: they swapped Danny Green and Demarta Rosan out and or
Speaker 1: excuse me, swapped Demarta Rosan out right in the deal
Speaker 1: they had Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green and suddenly like
Speaker 1: they are the best team in the league and demonstrate
Speaker 1: that on the court. Right, But like that team actually
Speaker 1: made a lot more sense in terms of how close
Speaker 1: they were, how wide open the league was at that point.
Speaker 1: Obviously with when you get to the postseason, Well, I guess,
Speaker 1: I guess technically it's not true because the Warriors were
Speaker 1: still put together. I get Yeah, I guess that's a
Speaker 1: good point, like the Raptors were technically taking an even
Speaker 1: bigger risk when you factor in how dangerous the Warriors
Speaker 1: were at that point. But I do think in general,
Speaker 1: taking a fifty nine win team and swapping a superstar
Speaker 1: or a star like in Demarta Rosen for a superstar
Speaker 1: in Kawhi Leonard is just a much more straightforward process
Speaker 1: than We're maybe not even a playoff team, and we'd
Speaker 1: have to give up one of our core players to
Speaker 1: get Dame anyway, Like, let's say you just give up
Speaker 1: ogn and obi Is, which is the structure of the deal,
Speaker 1: that the only structure of the deal that makes any
Speaker 1: sense for the Raptors. Let's say you just give away
Speaker 1: Ojan and obi Is, Damian Lillard and Gary Trent Junior
Speaker 1: with Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Yakapera winning the title.
Speaker 1: I don't think so so Like I don't really understand
Speaker 1: that specific rumor. I continue to think, like I've thought
Speaker 1: all summer, that Portland cannot do this to Dame. They
Speaker 1: I do believe they owe it to him to send
Speaker 1: him to Miami. I know so many of you guys
Speaker 1: disagree with me, and we don't need to get into
Speaker 1: that again today. But like I do believe that they're
Speaker 1: eventually gonna send him to Miami, and this is all
Speaker 1: just a leverage campaign to get the most possible return,
Speaker 1: which I'm totally okay with, even as ugly as it
Speaker 1: all looks in the big in the big picture. Right,
Speaker 1: So my guess is, I mean today's Tuesday. My guess
Speaker 1: is that we end up having this trade before before
Speaker 1: some because of Media Day on that following Monday, and
Speaker 1: teams wanting to kind of have their roster set going
Speaker 1: into training camp. So my guess is this ends pretty soon.
Speaker 1: And my guess is this ends with him in Miami,
Speaker 1: but of course it's on the table that he ends
Speaker 1: up in Toronto or somewhere else. All Right, guys, that
Speaker 1: is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting the show. We will be
Speaker 1: back tomorrow with number nine the volume