Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahustak, NBA analyst for the s Networking Today is Monday,
Speaker 1: December eighteenth, from our terrific core group of NBA journalists.
Speaker 1: We're joined now by NBA dot Com Senior writer Sean
Speaker 1: Powell and Sean. How you doing.
Speaker 2: I'm doing great, doing great. We're going to the holiday season. Yeah,
Speaker 2: on Christmas Day. You have to feel great this time
Speaker 2: of years.
Speaker 1: We got good stuff going on and a lot to
Speaker 1: get into. And I would like to begin with the
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors and what things look like for them.
Speaker 1: I got a chance to see them up close and
Speaker 1: personal on Saturday night as they had defeated the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 1: They've won two straight games here in the absence of
Speaker 1: Draymond Green indefinitely suspended, beating the Portland Trailblazers by four
Speaker 1: last night. They if one two, but they had lost
Speaker 1: their previous three games, four of their prior five, and
Speaker 1: of course there's a lot of questions surrounding this team.
Speaker 1: You look though at last night's game against a Trailblazer's
Speaker 1: steph which is seven points. It was the first time
Speaker 1: in gosh, as long as we can remember, he didn't
Speaker 1: hit a three point shot, struggled from the field to
Speaker 1: a twelve o eight, but he was blistering and helping
Speaker 1: the Warriors win on Saturday night. Though Clay has started
Speaker 1: to put together a couple solid games, the efficiency you've
Speaker 1: seen from him. Play again another three play with the
Speaker 1: shot clock at five.
Speaker 2: He checked it, returned, fade.
Speaker 1: Fire, and hit it in a tough loss to the Clippers.
Speaker 1: The wins over the Nets and the Trailblazers. Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: with a nice night last night with twenty five points.
Speaker 1: And you've got some role players that have stepped in
Speaker 1: and taken on added responsibility, Brandon Pajemski being one of
Speaker 1: those individuals. But when you look at this team, look
Speaker 1: at where they said currently I think right around eleventh
Speaker 1: there in the Western Conference, Sean, what do you see
Speaker 1: for the future in some of the uncertainties that sits
Speaker 1: with where this team and what the roster looks like
Speaker 1: right now, Given the situation of Draymond Green.
Speaker 2: I think the hardest team, in the hardest situation for
Speaker 2: any dynasty is the breakup period, because then you have
Speaker 2: to ask yourself some very hard questions with some very
Speaker 2: key players who are responsible for you winning those championships,
Speaker 2: and the organization has to make a decision do you
Speaker 2: elevate players over the team. It's hard. I mean, take Steve,
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr is going to go down with his guys.
Speaker 2: You know, those guys have made Steve Kerr rich. Those
Speaker 2: guys have put rings, more rings. I guess Steve Kurrs
Speaker 2: are already had rings coming to the Warriors, but put
Speaker 2: more rings on his finger. And those guys are going
Speaker 2: to put Steve Kerr into the Hall of Fame. So
Speaker 2: there's a sense of loyalty there. There's a sense of
Speaker 2: loyalty with Klay Thompson. There's a sense of loyalty with
Speaker 2: Draymond Green, a sense of Lord tib with Steph Curry,
Speaker 2: and in a sense with Draymond Green, maybe you don't
Speaker 2: scold him or get on him like you would a
Speaker 2: player who wasn't responsible for doing all that for you,
Speaker 2: Sampany McClay Thompson. You know, would Clay Thompson during his
Speaker 2: struggles would he still start if he hadn't helped you
Speaker 2: do all those things? So I can unders stand it
Speaker 2: and I can even admire it. To an extent. But
Speaker 2: the bottom line is, you know, the organization has to
Speaker 2: make a decision on some of these players and it's
Speaker 2: not easy. And I think that's where the Warriors are
Speaker 2: right now. I mean, you know, think about the last
Speaker 2: couple of days, I mean a couple of games. When
Speaker 2: did the Warriors start celebrating wins over teams at the
Speaker 2: bottom of the Western Conference. That shows you the sense
Speaker 2: of desperation, as shows you the sense of where they
Speaker 2: are and where they are right now, Sarah is you
Speaker 2: know Bill Parcells, the former great football coach, said something
Speaker 2: that always stuck with me. You are what your record
Speaker 2: says you are. And the Roys right now are twelve
Speaker 2: and fourteen. The Warriors were sitting outside of the play
Speaker 2: and said, now, I know we haven't even gotten the
Speaker 2: Christmas yet, So I get that, so let's keep it
Speaker 2: all in the context. But the bottom line is this
Speaker 2: is going to be a struggle for the wars particularly
Speaker 2: they don't have Draymond Green. And I know you have
Speaker 2: Trace Jackson Davis, who you know, young kids going to
Speaker 2: play well, but you're stepping You're asking him to step
Speaker 2: in and make some big decisions. Andrew Wiggins, you know,
Speaker 2: is he going to break his way out of his funk?
Speaker 2: Had the Warriors given up on him by having him
Speaker 2: come off the bench. Uh, and then Klay Thomas, I
Speaker 2: know it was last three games thirty points, twenty four points,
Speaker 2: twenty eight points, seventeen may threes.
Speaker 1: Lay Thompson has been the lifeline play an open corner three.
Speaker 2: Jot, but that should not mask what we've seen inconsistency
Speaker 2: we've seen from him off season. But I think the
Speaker 2: best thing to come out of that last game against
Speaker 2: the Blazers is, you know, Step for the first time
Speaker 2: in two and sixty eight games doesn't hit a three
Speaker 2: point shot, but his teammates picked him up, and you know,
Speaker 2: and he's going to need that sort of uh, you know,
Speaker 2: rallying the troops and help to compensate for the Draymond
Speaker 2: Green loss and inconsistent inconsistency with Klay Thompson. That's the
Speaker 2: only way the war is going to get this done
Speaker 2: and elevate further up in the standings in the West.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I think when just watching and seeing them,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Clay Thompson. I do think it's important to
Speaker 1: remember that not only I think we so often talk
Speaker 1: about age here he is in his eleventh season in
Speaker 1: the league, but also coming off those two devastating injuries,
Speaker 1: in the fact that you're you know, tearing your knee,
Speaker 1: tearing your achilles. How he's been able to come back
Speaker 1: and respond and I think, you know, whether it's you
Speaker 1: look at Clay, I think to me, the bigger question
Speaker 1: marks with Wiggins and you mentioned it to move off
Speaker 1: the bench. Can he get back to any level of
Speaker 1: play that you would see out of him in their
Speaker 1: title run and how important and critical he was to that.
Speaker 1: Jonathan kaminga, Moses Moody, those in the preseason were you know,
Speaker 1: the the players coming in that are the X factors
Speaker 1: of okay here in their third season, can they make
Speaker 1: a jump? And they've looked nice and they've been good,
Speaker 1: but the level of play that I think you've needed
Speaker 1: from them has not been there. And so I think,
Speaker 1: you know, is the season progresses to your point, a
Speaker 1: lot of tough questions to make and we'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see. Steve Kerr had said that, you know, between
Speaker 1: the organization, Draymond Green, everyone committed to supporting him, but
Speaker 1: what that looks like, I think that's where a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of the answers will come here as
Speaker 1: you move further into the season to see the trajectory
Speaker 1: of where they go. Another team looking to answer some
Speaker 1: questions will be the Memphis Grizzlies. They play tonight at
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, but all eyes will be on the Tuesday
Speaker 1: matchup on TNT when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans.
Speaker 1: You get Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and the return of
Speaker 1: Jah Morant. Sean. When you look at where the Grizzlies
Speaker 1: are at, how they've been trying to keep things afloat
Speaker 1: here without job but currently thirteenth in the Western Conference
Speaker 1: six and eighteen, what do you think what impact do
Speaker 1: you think that will have having Job back, both on
Speaker 1: the court and in just the feel around the team
Speaker 1: and in the organization.
Speaker 2: I can only think it can have a positive impact,
Speaker 2: because you can't get more negative right now for the Grizzlies.
Speaker 2: They're desperate for savior. You know, if your John Moran,
Speaker 2: this is you know, as crazy as it sounds, if
Speaker 2: your Ja Morant, this is a perfect situation for you
Speaker 2: to walk into. You know your team needs you. It's
Speaker 2: not like you know, they were bawling really well without you,
Speaker 2: and they're like, oh, okay, whatever. But this is a
Speaker 2: perfect situation for a Jamran to come in and show everybody,
Speaker 2: or remind everybody. I guess I should say the player
Speaker 2: that you are and how you, despite your size, can elevate,
Speaker 2: get to the rim, dunk over people, help your team win,
Speaker 2: all those things that he's done in the past. This
Speaker 2: is the perfect stage for him to come in and
Speaker 2: just really instill some good not only within the organization,
Speaker 2: but outside of the organization. Now, obviously, Sarah, he hasn't
Speaker 2: played competitive basketball since what you know, early last May.
Speaker 2: You know, you don't have those NBA reps behind you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you can practice and everything, but it's quite different, as
Speaker 2: you know, playing in an actual game versus practicing. So
Speaker 2: you wonder there's going to be some rust. But you know,
Speaker 2: if you look at this Grizzlies team, and obviously the
Speaker 2: big question is can they salvage what's left of the season.
Speaker 2: I mean, they've got to play, you know, they've got
Speaker 2: to win, and this is a guess of the mind,
Speaker 2: something like six or seven out of every ten games
Speaker 2: they play from from here on just to put themselves
Speaker 2: in position, you know, to play in or even make
Speaker 2: the NBA playoffs. That's a lot to ask of a
Speaker 2: team that doesn't have Stepen Adams. Remember Steven Adams up
Speaker 2: for the season. You know, he's hurt. You know, Marcus
Speaker 2: Smart has only played eleven games. Jaron Jackson Jr. Has
Speaker 2: been very inconsistent. You know, he hasn't been a dominant
Speaker 2: force that he was, particularly defensively as he was last season.
Speaker 2: They did have this Desmond Vane. I think by the
Speaker 2: way the guy's absence, you know, like twenty five points
Speaker 2: a game. He would if it wasn't for where his
Speaker 2: team is right now, he would be in the conversation
Speaker 2: for a potential All Star spot in the West. But everybody,
Speaker 2: you know, he's buried because of that. So John Moran
Speaker 2: coming in coincidentally playing against you know, Zion Williamson. You know,
Speaker 2: of course they went one to two in the draft.
Speaker 2: You know, I just think actually both players, you know,
Speaker 2: Zion and Job have to do some things you know,
Speaker 2: this season to sort of you know, I think, make
Speaker 2: themselves right. You know, we saw what Job, I mean,
Speaker 2: what Zion think to do in Las Vegas when he
Speaker 2: played against the Lakers in that semifinal game. That brought
Speaker 2: up all the old questions about you know, his conditioning
Speaker 2: and his commitment and things like that. So this will
Speaker 2: be a very good game, very interesting game. I think
Speaker 2: John Moran is really schomping at the bit to come
Speaker 2: back and remind people what he can do. And we
Speaker 2: get to sit back, stare and watch and see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I do think that's fascinating both those points. One,
Speaker 1: there was stretches when Joh had missed time with injury
Speaker 1: when the Grizzly We're still playing fantastic and you'd hear
Speaker 1: little chatter of oh are they better without Joh, which
Speaker 1: was not the case, but just given how well they
Speaker 1: were able to still collectively play without him, you know,
Speaker 1: is something there now seven games back of the Phoenix
Speaker 1: Suns for that tenth spot. So I guess my question
Speaker 1: to you, Sean, do you think they still have enough
Speaker 1: runway time and the personnel if they get John Morant
Speaker 1: back the way we have seen him play in the
Speaker 1: past to make the play in.
Speaker 2: I think John mort would have to be one of
Speaker 2: the top ten player. You know, again, given that the
Speaker 2: Grizzlies have looked disheveled without him, and also consider that
Speaker 2: in the West, you know, there's some steep competition, you
Speaker 2: know for playoff spots. You know, you're looking at a
Speaker 2: conference where Golden State is not guarantee the playoffs, where
Speaker 2: you can even say the Lakers are not getting nobody
Speaker 2: is really guaranteed other than maybe, I mean the way
Speaker 2: we look at it, Denver's probably going to be there,
Speaker 2: even the Nuggets are not, you know, ruling the West
Speaker 2: right now. You wonder if the timber Wolves can keep
Speaker 2: this up, you know, just you can go on and on.
Speaker 2: So the bottom line there is a competition is thick
Speaker 2: in the West. And again John Morett is going to
Speaker 2: have to be pretty much close to Superman and a
Speaker 2: lot of things will have to go right for the
Speaker 2: Memphis Grizzlies to put this team where it was last year,
Speaker 2: which was right near the Attica. First of all, I
Speaker 2: think getting in the top two or three spots wests
Speaker 2: out of the question. You just want to put yourself
Speaker 2: in a play in situation and then maybe you're rolling
Speaker 2: by then and then maybe you get in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting to watch the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: You said it is thick, and especially when you look
Speaker 1: where things are in the middle of it and towards
Speaker 1: those bottom spots, a lot of teams that looking not
Speaker 1: only to get right, but get healthy and how that
Speaker 1: could change things. Sewan, we are going to take a
Speaker 1: quick break and then preview a story that you've got
Speaker 1: coming up Thursday. A trade that was made five years ago.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to NBA. Paul Sahara Kustak, joined by Sean
Speaker 1: Poll and Sean, You've got a story coming out Thursday
Speaker 1: as the Los Angeles Clippers play the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaker 1: A key trade that was made between those two teams,
Speaker 1: Shay Gildas, Alexander and Paul George. Of of course, all
Speaker 1: of that came together as Kawhi Leonard had signed in
Speaker 1: free agency with the Los Angeles Clippers. And let you
Speaker 1: go through the the different mechanics of all of it,
Speaker 1: but just how things look. You got a Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Clippers team that, quite frankly, since that happened, has not
Speaker 1: been able to to really perform the way you would
Speaker 1: expect them or see them attempt attempt to do that
Speaker 1: because of a lot of injuries to those those big
Speaker 1: names of Kawhi and Paul George. Currently sitting sixth in
Speaker 1: the Western Conference and second place though is the Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City Thunder, a young team, tremendous cores, and Shay Gildess
Speaker 1: Alexander is at the front of it, leading everything. He
Speaker 1: has been tremendous. He's been tremendous throughout his career. But
Speaker 1: I think now the attention has even elevated to another
Speaker 1: level because the Thunder are sitting there in that second
Speaker 1: spot in the conference. Give us a little breakdown of
Speaker 1: what what do you anticipate to see in what that
Speaker 1: looks like now five years later.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, let's let's apply some context. At
Speaker 2: the time the trade was made, the Clippers had no superstars.
Speaker 2: I mean, this was a team that just really looking
Speaker 2: for I mean, Chris Paul gone, Blake Griffin heard. I
Speaker 2: mean that Lob City was over, and I think you
Speaker 2: had a new owner, Steve Bomber, who you know, Look,
Speaker 2: Steve Bomber has a little bit of cash in as well.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if you've heard Sarah, and he said,
Speaker 2: you know, we want to you know, money is no object.
Speaker 2: I won a winning team in a very competitive market
Speaker 2: like Los Angeles. Also understand that Shakes Alexander at that
Speaker 2: point was just a young player. He was not what
Speaker 2: we see right now. I mean, I don't know if
Speaker 2: people saw that coming in him. I mean he is
Speaker 2: right now, he's top five guard the NBA, top or
Speaker 2: you know, top ten player in the NBA whatever. But
Speaker 2: you didn't see that.
Speaker 1: Back then, shot Clock is on Arte using a time
Speaker 1: out scab. He's expinding Gang for the lead. SGA cks
Speaker 1: it down.
Speaker 2: We're just under a second to go. The thunder finally
Speaker 2: get the defensive stuff and SGA puts him in front,
Speaker 2: said I got this, folks. Yes, I think we have
Speaker 2: to keep that in that context with the Clippers. Make
Speaker 2: that trade today. Well, I don't know. I think you
Speaker 2: have to ask one person. That one person is Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 2: Because Kawhi Leonard was not coming to the Clippers unless
Speaker 2: he had a co star. He needed someone to write Shotgun,
Speaker 2: and Kawhi let that be known to the Clippers when
Speaker 2: he met with Jerry West, who then was an advisor, Uh,
Speaker 2: Steve Balmer and Doc Rivers who was in the coach
Speaker 2: I need a co star. You get me a co star,
Speaker 2: then I'm going to sign with the Clippers. Otherwise I'm
Speaker 2: going to sign with the Lakers. And by the way,
Speaker 2: Sarah and I know the Lakers won a championship. Since then,
Speaker 2: can you imagine the Lakers with you know, Anthony Davis,
Speaker 2: Lebron James and Kawhi Leonard, Oh my goodness. Uh. The
Speaker 2: other thing, the other thing we have to keep in
Speaker 2: context with this trade since then is that Kawhi has
Speaker 2: been hurt. Paul George, who they got in the trade
Speaker 2: from Oklasumi, he's been hurt. Imagine if those guys were healthy,
Speaker 2: we would not even be having this debate about this trade.
Speaker 2: I would think the Clippers would have gotten at least
Speaker 2: one championship since then. But be that asn't made, they
Speaker 2: don't have any of the show for it. And ever
Speaker 2: since they've made this trade, they've had to try to
Speaker 2: mortgage more of their future to try to you know,
Speaker 2: patch this thing together. You know, look at you know,
Speaker 2: getting James Harden, you know, getting Russell Westbrook, just trying
Speaker 2: to really maximize this trade for the shelf life that
Speaker 2: it has left. Now, let's go back and look at
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City. You know, they've got three they had three
Speaker 2: number one picks from the Clippers. Clippers also tossing two
Speaker 2: number one picks from the Miami Heat. And there's like
Speaker 2: there's three number one pick swaps from the Clippers, so
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, just to sum it up, Oklahoma City has
Speaker 2: Shay Gillis Ath Alexander, a batch of very good young players,
Speaker 2: more players coming in the future, and Sarah just sitting
Speaker 2: at number two in the Western Conference right now. I
Speaker 2: would say, you know, if the Clippers don't win a championship,
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City has won this trade and they last slide.
Speaker 1: You said it for for a lot of different reasons,
Speaker 1: both the now and the future. But let's talk about
Speaker 1: the now. Sean this season second in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: As you'd mentioned, there are three games back of Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Some of the teams kind of around there, up in
Speaker 1: the top four, Dallas Denver. How good do you think
Speaker 1: the Thunder can be this season? And the potential that
Speaker 1: they have for the playoffs?
Speaker 2: They kind of remind me a little bit of last
Speaker 2: year's Sacramento Kings, a young team that you know, came
Speaker 2: up finally hit that you know, hit their stride, you know,
Speaker 2: finished high in the West, led by a dynamic point guard,
Speaker 2: you know, Darren Fox, you know, had a good you know,
Speaker 2: big man, you know. So I think I can see
Speaker 2: where the parallels are you know with Sabonis and you
Speaker 2: know and check, you know with Shay Gills, Alexander and
Speaker 2: dearon Fox and all the young pieces are around them,
Speaker 2: you know, Javin Williams, Josh Giddy, a young coach who's
Speaker 2: who's hitting all the right uh, you know, making all
Speaker 2: the right calls, hitting all the right buttons. And you know,
Speaker 2: again they have to have the staying power. Do you
Speaker 2: wonder how some of these teams like Phoenix will be
Speaker 2: if they were healthy, When they get healthy, will they
Speaker 2: come up? You know, all those things are in consideration.
Speaker 2: But right here and now, Oklahoma City is taking advantage
Speaker 2: of number one good health right number one and number
Speaker 2: two young players starting to reach their potential. I'm not
Speaker 2: even going to say they even hit their potential, which
Speaker 2: is a scary thought. By the way. You think Shay's
Speaker 2: probably got another level to go. Chet certainly you know,
Speaker 2: has another a few levels ago.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: This is a good situation for a team. And the
Speaker 2: other good thing about Oklahoma City is that they have
Speaker 2: assets to trade if they want to next year, even
Speaker 2: about the trade deadline. If they want to deals, they
Speaker 2: can make deals. They've got number one picks, they've got
Speaker 2: young players, to throw in. I just think this is
Speaker 2: a good situation for an NBA team, And I would
Speaker 2: even venture to say this, Sarah, if you said, what
Speaker 2: team is in the best shape and I'm not just
Speaker 2: not talking about winning right now, but just in the
Speaker 2: best shape all around, Oklahoma City would have to be
Speaker 2: top five because you have young players, you're winning right now,
Speaker 2: and you have a batchup number one picks to either
Speaker 2: use for yourself or to trade. Tell me how many
Speaker 2: teams are in better shape overall shape right now than Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: City, Mike Drop, Sean Paul. We can't wait for your
Speaker 1: story to come out on Thursday, and continue reading and
Speaker 1: watching all your stuff on NBATV and NBA dot Com.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, Sarah.
Speaker 1: NBA post with Sarahustacks replection of the NBA and iHeartRadio.
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