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Speaker 1: Slash Baseball all right, wellcome to you tonight. You're at

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Speaker 1: the volume. Happy Friday, everybody, hope all if you guys

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Speaker 1: have had an incredible week. We are going to do

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Speaker 1: a mail bag today, but I want to mix it

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Speaker 1: up a little bit from the mailbags we've been doing

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Speaker 1: on every Friday. I want to start by going over

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Speaker 1: the top five off seasons that I've seen so far

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Speaker 1: around the NBA. So we're gonna talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: about the teams that really hit home runs over the

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Speaker 1: summer to try to step up their chances to win

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Speaker 1: or at least compete for the Larry O'Brian Trophy next year.

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Speaker 1: And then we're gonna do a mail bag that bounces

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Speaker 1: all around the league. You guys know the joke before

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Speaker 1: we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to Night YouTube

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Speaker 1: channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter, underscore JSNLTS, you guys, don't miss

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Speaker 1: show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight, and then keep dropping

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Speaker 1: mail bag questions in those YouTube comments that we keep

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Speaker 1: hitting them throughout the rest of the summer. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So before we actually get into

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Speaker 1: the top five, the five teams that I put on

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Speaker 1: that list are all teams that are in contention, teams

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Speaker 1: that are at least close to competing for the Lario

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Speaker 1: Brian Trophy. But I wanted to take a chance to

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Speaker 1: shout out two other off seasons that are for teams

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Speaker 1: that are not necessarily contending for Larry O'Brian, but teams

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Speaker 1: that I think did a nice job revamping things and

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Speaker 1: at least moving in that general direction despite being far

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Speaker 1: away this summer. So the first of those two teams

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Speaker 1: is the San Antonio Spurps. You know, obviously last year

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Speaker 1: they just had this dreadful lack of ball handling, which

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Speaker 1: made it really difficult to even get a good feel

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Speaker 1: for what Victor Wembinyama is capable of playing on a

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Speaker 1: real basketball team with real ball in player movement, with

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Speaker 1: a real understanding of how to play alongside each other.

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Speaker 1: And I think adding Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul to

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Speaker 1: that roster, putting some legit shooting in the front court

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Speaker 1: as well as a guy that can just kind of

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Speaker 1: orchestrate things on the offensive end of the floor, I

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Speaker 1: think that's super exciting. And then especially in light of

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Speaker 1: what we saw over the course of FIBA, and obviously

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Speaker 1: it's still going on, but in the Olympics, a lot

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Speaker 1: of the stuff that Victor webbin Yama has been doing

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Speaker 1: running four or five pick and rolls, where he's been

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Speaker 1: running pick and rolls with another big I'm really interested

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Speaker 1: to see him doing some of that inverted with Harrison Barnes.

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Speaker 1: You can imagine with his shooting ability, that could be

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Speaker 1: a really interesting action. I just like what the direction

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Speaker 1: they moved in. It's just gonna make them entertaining in

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Speaker 1: the short term, while also flexible in the long run

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Speaker 1: to see what else you're gonna get out of these guys,

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Speaker 1: guys like Devin Vessel, for instance, in the long run.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was a really smart offseason approach from

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Speaker 1: the San Antonio Spurs. Secondly the Atlanta Hawks. So first

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Speaker 1: of all, getting Zachary Risache in the draft, so we're

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Speaker 1: talking about essentially a three and D wing, a guy

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Speaker 1: who specializes in off ball defense, a guy with a

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Speaker 1: lot of length, a guy that can shoot the basketball.

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Speaker 1: I really like him as a complimentary fit alongside Jalen Johnson.

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Speaker 1: I do think it's gonna be interesting to see which

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Speaker 1: of those two guys prioritizes playing on the perimeter, because again,

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Speaker 1: like remember when you have a three and a four,

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Speaker 1: there's basically two different roles there. There's the guy who's

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Speaker 1: gonna guard the better offensive forward. That guy's job is

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Speaker 1: tip if it's a wing player, to chase and navigate

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Speaker 1: around screens to a certain extent, right, whereas the other

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Speaker 1: of the two that's guarding the lesser offensive player is

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Speaker 1: probably going to operate more as a low man, right,

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Speaker 1: And so that's a guy that's going to be responsible

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Speaker 1: for breaking up lob passes and pick and roll and

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Speaker 1: closing out to the weak side shooter. Right. So like,

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Speaker 1: those two roles are pretty different, and Jalen Johnson and

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Speaker 1: Zachary Rissoschet have some similar skill sets there, So one

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Speaker 1: of those two guys is going to have to develop

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Speaker 1: into a little bit more of a screen navigating kind

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Speaker 1: of perimeter chase guy, and I'm really curious to see

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Speaker 1: which one of those two guys ends up doing that. However,

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Speaker 1: I really like the offensive fit as kind of like

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Speaker 1: that Jalen Johnson downhill, freaky athleticism transition attack. And then

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Speaker 1: Zachary Rissasche a guy who likes to take and make

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Speaker 1: and actively hunt three point shots off the catch and

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Speaker 1: is a guy that has a lot of skill attacking

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Speaker 1: closeouts and so I like that fit. And then I

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Speaker 1: thought they nailed the Dejonte Murray trade. Obviously, as a

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Speaker 1: Lakers fan, I really wanted him in LA, but I

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Speaker 1: thought the Pelicans offer was really good. I mean, when

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Speaker 1: you really dig into it. He hit the two first

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Speaker 1: round picks, which obviously are on the table if you

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Speaker 1: do the Laker deal. Now, I would argue the first

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Speaker 1: round picks from the Lakers are probably a little more

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Speaker 1: valuable just because of the incompetence of that franchise, and

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Speaker 1: once Lebron James retires, I just have a hard time

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Speaker 1: believing they're going to be competent. We'll see, but I

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Speaker 1: thought the actual players that got back in the deal

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Speaker 1: were better. So like, obviously you're gonna get one of

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Speaker 1: those You're gonna get a one way guy back from

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, Like you're gonna get somebody like a Gabe

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Speaker 1: Vincent or a like a Jared Vanderbilt type of guy.

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Speaker 1: They got Dyson Daniels from New Orleans. He's a really

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Speaker 1: interesting defensive two guard, and specifically an interesting guy to

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Speaker 1: have next to Trey Young if we think of the

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Speaker 1: typical kind of orientation of having a skill guard next

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Speaker 1: to an athlete guard. Dejonte Murray was an athlete guard,

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Speaker 1: but didn't focus as much on those details. Obviously is

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Speaker 1: a more offensive minded player at this phase in his career,

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Speaker 1: and Dyson Daniels slots really nicely in there is just

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Speaker 1: like a traditional kind of three and D two guard,

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Speaker 1: And so I thought that was really interesting. Larry Nants Junior,

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Speaker 1: this is a type of big that Atlanta hasn't had yet.

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Speaker 1: You know, obviously with Capella and Yakakongu. It's a lot

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Speaker 1: of rebounding, it's a lot of athleticism, and Larry Nants

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Speaker 1: brings athleticism to the table. But Larry Nants can shoot

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Speaker 1: the ball a little bit. You can shoot the ball

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Speaker 1: a little bit. He can drive close outs a little bit.

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Speaker 1: He is a kind of a more quintessential modern kind

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Speaker 1: of perimeter oriented big and has some ability to defend

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Speaker 1: in switches. And obviously, like I just think you're getting

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Speaker 1: two really high quality role players, guys that can help

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Speaker 1: you on both ends of the floor, and you get

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Speaker 1: the two draft picks that you were hoping for. So,

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Speaker 1: like all things considered for the Hawks this summer, man,

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Speaker 1: that's a pretty nice little turnaround there to get a

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Speaker 1: really high quality role player in the draft, two more

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Speaker 1: high quality role players in the trade, to bolster your

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Speaker 1: draft compensation if you wanted to jump on a particular

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Speaker 1: type of deal. Else, like if you're let's say you

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Speaker 1: find yourself in a situation where Zachary Risache and Jalen

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Speaker 1: Johnson can't really play together because they're both fours, for instance,

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Speaker 1: as an example, and then Brandon Ingram becomes available and

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Speaker 1: you want to jump in and make a deal, or

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Speaker 1: if you want to go after a different star around

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Speaker 1: the league, just that becomes available at some point, you're

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Speaker 1: more well equipped to jump on that type of opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Really liked the off season from the Atlanta Hawks. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's get to our top five off seasons for our contenders.

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Speaker 1: At number five, I have the Philadelphia seventy six Ers

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Speaker 1: adding Paul George, Andre Drummond, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, and

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Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson, losing Nick Patom, Buddy Heel, d Anthony Melton,

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Speaker 1: and Paul Reid. Now, obviously losing to Anthony Melton is

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Speaker 1: one of those things where like when he's healthy, that's

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Speaker 1: a substantial loss. I think d Anthony Melton is a

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Speaker 1: quality starting two guard in this league, but there was

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Speaker 1: health question there, and obviously they wanted to direct their

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Speaker 1: cap space in other directions. I thought, you know, getting

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Speaker 1: Caleb Martin is kind of that athletic wing to kind

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Speaker 1: of play in that type of role at a discount

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Speaker 1: was a nice move. Giving yourself Andre Drummond for the

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Speaker 1: eighty two is going to be vitally important because again,

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Speaker 1: I think you got to keep Joel and Beat around,

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Speaker 1: you know, fifty games, and that's going to require a

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Speaker 1: pretty substantial load management schedule throughout the season. And in

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Speaker 1: order to do that, you just have to have an

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Speaker 1: excellent backup center. And Andre Drummond's as good a backup

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Speaker 1: center as you'll find around the league right now, and

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Speaker 1: at least at the at the bare minimum, just eats

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Speaker 1: up a lot of rebounds and just kind of takes

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Speaker 1: those takes all that physical contact underneath the basket. I

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Speaker 1: think he's a perfect fit there. Obviously, having Tyrese Maxi

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Speaker 1: and Paul George as offensive initiators gives you a better chance.

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Speaker 1: Like to put it simply, if you put a lineup

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Speaker 1: out there with Tyrese Maxi, Caleb and Paul George, you know,

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Speaker 1: Kelly u Bray and Andre Drummond, you give yourself a

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Speaker 1: solid chance to win an NBA regular season game, Like

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Speaker 1: you can go five hundred with that group without EMBIID

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Speaker 1: And if you go five hundred without EMBIID and then

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Speaker 1: you win, you know, seventy five percent of your games.

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Speaker 1: With Embiid, you can be a top seeded team while

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Speaker 1: resting your superstar for a third of the season. And

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Speaker 1: so here's the thing. They took on some risk taking

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Speaker 1: on Paul George long term at that number. There's some

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Speaker 1: real risk there. However, you're not in a position where

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Speaker 1: you can be risk averse having Joel Embiid, with his

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Speaker 1: health history at his age, after a couple of disappointing seasons,

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Speaker 1: you had no choice but to be aggressive. And I

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Speaker 1: thought Darryl Mory did a nice job being aggressive. This

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Speaker 1: is an interesting team that he has put together. I

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Speaker 1: have the seventy six ers at number five, number four,

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Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks. After getting Spencer Dinwoodie too recently, they

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Speaker 1: have now added a considerable amount of ball handling and

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Speaker 1: movement shooting. So Klay Thompson obviously the signing of the summer,

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Speaker 1: you get Quinton Grimes as well. Those are two movement shooters,

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Speaker 1: particularly two movement shooters that Klay Thompson has a history

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Speaker 1: of being able to defend. We'll see if he can

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Speaker 1: still defend at this phase in his career. And I

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Speaker 1: think Quinton Grimes is a pretty solid athletic perimeter defender,

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Speaker 1: did a lot of work for the next two years

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Speaker 1: ago in the playoffs as their primary point of attack

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Speaker 1: guy that they would put on the other team's best player.

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Speaker 1: And so you get two movement shooters that theoretically can defend,

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Speaker 1: and then you add two additional guys that are really

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Speaker 1: high quality ball handler. Spencer Dinwoody can handle the ball

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Speaker 1: run action. Naji Marshall can handle the ball run action.

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Speaker 1: And so two additional ball handlers, two additional movement shooters.

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Speaker 1: You're losing Josh Green, who's a guy that struggled to

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Speaker 1: put the ball on the floor and make plays. Derek

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Speaker 1: Jones Junior, a guy who was not a great ball handler.

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Speaker 1: And then Tim Hardaway Junior, who is a decent upside

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Speaker 1: type of offensive player but a lot of ups and

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Speaker 1: down is not a very good defensive player and just

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Speaker 1: quite frankly, didn't make enough shots. Right, So what you

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Speaker 1: did is you took some specialists and you turn them

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Speaker 1: into some more versatile guys. There's some downsides, right, like

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Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwoodie a pretty bad catch and shoot guy. That's

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Speaker 1: something that can be an issue, right, So you got

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Speaker 1: to make sure the ball is in his hands, right

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Speaker 1: Klay Thompson. At his age, obviously a little bit of

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Speaker 1: defensive decline is to be expected. However, I like the

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Speaker 1: two movement shooters and the two guys that can dribble.

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Speaker 1: That to me is a clear sign from the Dallas

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Speaker 1: front office that they want to lean into more ball

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Speaker 1: in player movement. We talked a lot about this after

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Speaker 1: the playoffs last year, but there's a certain ceiling to

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Speaker 1: four out offense that's helio centric and centered around a star,

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Speaker 1: especially in the modern MBA with how much groundcoverage these

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Speaker 1: teams have, with the schematic approach that teams take the

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Speaker 1: new strategy of just putting a forward on your opposing

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Speaker 1: big man so you can switch ball screens and force

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Speaker 1: lesser shooters to take above the break threes. That four

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Speaker 1: out thing just it's a little easy to guard at

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Speaker 1: this point, and so putting yourself in a position where

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Speaker 1: you have more ball handling, you have guys that can

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Speaker 1: come flying off a screen and shooting that just gives

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Speaker 1: you more offensive resilience. It gives you a better chance

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Speaker 1: of holding up in more matchups. Yes, it worked great

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Speaker 1: in certain matchups, worked really really well against Minnesota, not

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Speaker 1: so much against Oklahoma City. There are some struggles there. Right.

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Speaker 1: As soon as you have multiple high quality perimeter defenders

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Speaker 1: that can make your guys work really hard, it gets tough.

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Speaker 1: But when there's lots of ball in player movement, you

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Speaker 1: get the defense in rotation more, you have more opportunities

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Speaker 1: to play with an advantage than those elite perimeter defenders

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Speaker 1: can be mitigated to a certain extent. And so I

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Speaker 1: just thought it was a really smart, kind of like

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Speaker 1: philosophical approach from Dallas this summer to try to improve

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Speaker 1: the overall offensive skill of the roster. Number three I

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Speaker 1: have the Milwaukee Bucks, And again this is about grading

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Speaker 1: on a curve, because there's nothing overly exciting here. The

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Speaker 1: Bucks additorium prints, Gary Trent, junior Delon Wright, and they

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Speaker 1: lost Maleague Beasley. Nothing like super exciting to talk about there.

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Speaker 1: But this was a team that was in a tough spot.

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Speaker 1: They kind of needed to run it back, but they

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Speaker 1: needed to make some slight tweaks to the roster, particularly

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Speaker 1: in guys that can play both ends of the floor. Right,

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Speaker 1: And here's the deal. You're in that situation basically handcuffed

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Speaker 1: to the mid level exception and veteran minimum deals, so

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Speaker 1: you're not in a situation where you can really go

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Speaker 1: out and be overly aggressive and bring in a high

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Speaker 1: quality starter. That's that's not an option for you, right,

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Speaker 1: But what you did is you turn Malik Beasley into

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Speaker 1: a much better version of him and Gary Trent Junior

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Speaker 1: at a veteran minimum contract that is a home run

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Speaker 1: ten times out of ten. Gary Trent Junior last year's

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Speaker 1: shot catch and shoot jump shots just as well as

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Speaker 1: Malik Beasley did, except for he's a much better ball

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Speaker 1: handler and he's more active with his hands at the

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Speaker 1: point of attack, even though he leaves a lot to

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Speaker 1: be desired on that end. Gary Trent Junior is capable

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Speaker 1: of being a better perimeter defender than Malik Beasley and

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Speaker 1: is at least going to be more disruptive. If Gary

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Speaker 1: Trann Junior is a guy that gets a lot of deflections,

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Speaker 1: a lot of strips at the point of attack, and

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Speaker 1: so I just think that's an upgrade. Is Gary Trn

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Speaker 1: Junior a perfect player? No. If he was, he'd be

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Speaker 1: making a lot more than the three million a year

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Speaker 1: or whatever he's gonna make next year. But at that number,

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Speaker 1: you cannot do better. Than that substantial of an upgrade

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Speaker 1: going from a league Beasley to Gary Tran junior Delon Wright,

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Speaker 1: a professional point of attack defender. That's why he's in

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Speaker 1: the league. A little older now, but that comes with

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Speaker 1: better shooting as well. He shot the ball really well

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Speaker 1: last year. If his body can hold up and if

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Speaker 1: he can defend like he's capable of when he was younger,

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Speaker 1: that's a really nice pickup. And then Torrian Prince, again

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Speaker 1: I've said two Bucks fans, you don't want him starting

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Speaker 1: in the moments when Chris Middleton is out of the

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Speaker 1: lineup with an injury and Toring Prince has to start.

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Speaker 1: He will leave some to be desired in the sense

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Speaker 1: that like he struggles to hang athletically with starting forwards.

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Speaker 1: But he's a good catch and shoot guy, a good

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Speaker 1: closeout attacker, a good NBA player, And if he's in

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Speaker 1: your rotation, as in a bench player who starts when

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Speaker 1: he has to, you're good. If he use them the

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Speaker 1: way the Lakers did is a full time starter, that's

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Speaker 1: where it can get disappointing. And so as long as

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Speaker 1: they use Tori imprints the way that I hope they

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Speaker 1: will as a bench forward, which mainly is going to

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Speaker 1: rely on Chris Middleton's health. That's three substantial rotation spot

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Speaker 1: upgrades executed within the confines of a really tough situation

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Speaker 1: with their cap. So I just got to say that's

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Speaker 1: a damn good offseason. I have the Bucks at number three,

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Speaker 1: number two, the New York Knicks, you had Michale Bridges.

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Speaker 1: You lose Isaiah Hartenstein, a couple of bench guys, namely

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Speaker 1: Alec Burkson, boy and mcdonovich. So here's the thing. The

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Speaker 1: Hartenstein piece sucks. But a lot of this just has

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Speaker 1: to do and we're going to talk about this when

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Speaker 1: we get into the mailbag. A lot of this just

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Speaker 1: has to do with the reality of the center market.

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Speaker 1: Nick Claxton got twenty five million a year. Isaiah Hardenstein

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Speaker 1: gets twenty seven million a year. Jared Allen, who's a

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Speaker 1: what somewhere around the eighth to twelfth best starting center

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Speaker 1: in the NBA, just got thirty one million a year

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Speaker 1: in an extension. And so the market on centers is,

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Speaker 1: if you're a starting center that is one of the

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Speaker 1: top fifteen to twenty starting centers in the league, you're

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Speaker 1: getting twenty five million. And so unfortunately the Knicks were

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Speaker 1: kind of in a predicament where it was gonna be

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Speaker 1: really difficult for them to retain Hertenstein under any circumstances.

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Speaker 1: So that's not something I'm going to necessarily hold them

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Speaker 1: accountable to. They got Michale Bridges. Did they give up

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Speaker 1: a lot? Yes, But this is not going after Paul George.

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Speaker 1: You're going after and in his prime, incredibly durable two

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Speaker 1: way wing. So like anytime you're doing something like that,

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Speaker 1: a guy who's in his late twenties notoriously available to play,

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Speaker 1: and a guy that plays both ends of the floor,

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Speaker 1: if you're gonna overpay, you're gonna overpay for a guy

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Speaker 1: like that. Mainly, we can see now that the Knicks

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Speaker 1: are stocking up on guys that can play both ends

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Speaker 1: of the floor. Right, Dante DiVincenzo can play both ends

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Speaker 1: of the floor. Kale Bridges can play both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor. O Jananobi can play both ends of the floor.

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Speaker 1: Deuce McBride can play both ends of the floor. That

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Speaker 1: that is a really solid foundation when you need to

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Speaker 1: get out of the Eastern Conference against the Boston Celtics

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Speaker 1: team that specifically targets weak points for you on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor. We saw it with Dallas.

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Speaker 1: It's like they got Derek Lively out there, he's sliding

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Speaker 1: his feet. They got Derek Jones out there, he sliding

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Speaker 1: his feet. They got PJ. Washington out there, he's sliding

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Speaker 1: his feet. They got you know, Kyrie Irving out there,

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Speaker 1: he's sliding his feet. But they just went after Luca, right,

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Speaker 1: And that's the thing. Like Jalen Brunson is a guy

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Speaker 1: that at least competes and does his job and he throws.

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Speaker 1: He'll throw a hedge and recover if he needs to.

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Speaker 1: Surrounding him with a bunch of guys that can play

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Speaker 1: both ends of the floor gives you a solid chance

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Speaker 1: to contain that Boston dribble penetration, keep your defense out

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Speaker 1: of rotation, and have a better chance of holding up.

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Speaker 1: I like the move, and again like the you're setup

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Speaker 1: specifically for a bunch of different looks. You've got a

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Speaker 1: Julius Randall at center. Look where you can go small

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Speaker 1: and just play literally five good two way players. You've

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Speaker 1: got a bench or a big group where you've got

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Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson at the five. You held down a precious

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Speaker 1: to Chua as an An additional kind of like kind

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Speaker 1: of hybrid look where Precious can switch onto some guards.

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Speaker 1: They've got a lot of different looks they can go to.

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Speaker 1: They've got a trade to make still because they've got

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Speaker 1: Julius Randall. If he's an awkward fit. There's gonna be

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Speaker 1: someone out there that will take advantage of what Julius

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Speaker 1: Randall brings to the table, especially teams that are looking

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Speaker 1: for size in the front court. So like they're in

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Speaker 1: a really good spot, they're gonna be immediately good and

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Speaker 1: they've got moves to make, like where the Knicks are at.

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00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,960
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00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,840
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00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,080
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00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,520
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Speaker 1: Number one though the Oklahoma City Thunder, they added Alex

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Speaker 1: Crusoe and Isaiah Hartenstein and lost Josh Giddy put it simply,

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Speaker 1: you took the one guy in your rotation that didn't

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Speaker 1: make sense last year. You turned him into a guy

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Speaker 1: that can step in and immediately contribute on both ends

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Speaker 1: with four and Alex Crusoe, and you addressed your biggest

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Speaker 1: individual weakness as a team last year, which was your

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Speaker 1: ability to hold up under physicality in the front court,

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Speaker 1: including dealing with bigger bodied players and most importantly, defensive rebounding,

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Speaker 1: as the Thunder one of the worst defensive rebounding teams

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Speaker 1: in the league last year. Isaiah Hartenstein is a human

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Speaker 1: wrecking ball and he's going to help so much in

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Speaker 1: those areas. But most importantly, Isaiah Hartenstein is a player

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Speaker 1: that is a wheel greaser so to speak, in five

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Speaker 1: out offense. I talked about this a lot with Team

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Speaker 1: USA as it pertains to Joel Embiid, But the five

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Speaker 1: spot is the most important spot to have a guy

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Speaker 1: who can make quick decisions and get the ball from

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Speaker 1: side to side in five out. If you have a

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Speaker 1: guy that struggles with that specifically, it comes things up

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Speaker 1: for everybody because the center is the bridge to both

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Speaker 1: sides of the floor in five out offense. He's the

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Speaker 1: guy that, like when you run action on the right

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Speaker 1: side and you throw the dribble handoff and then you

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Speaker 1: short roll and you catch and nothing's open. He's the

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Speaker 1: guy that's got to turn and go to a dribble

428
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,520
Speaker 1: handoff on the other side of the floor. He's the

429
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 1: guy that's got to get up and down the floor

430
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,560
Speaker 1: and transition. He's the guy that's got to set those

431
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:09,160
Speaker 1: screens and the dribble handoffs, roll hard, but then also

432
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,960
Speaker 1: get back out for the next sequence. It is a

433
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,560
Speaker 1: motor position. It is a decision making position. It is

434
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,720
Speaker 1: a position where you can't have hesitation. You've got to

435
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,479
Speaker 1: be quick, and Isaiah Hartenstein is really really good at that.

436
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,919
Speaker 1: He can make all the back door passes, he can

437
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,399
Speaker 1: set good screens, he can make those floaters. Love the

438
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 1: fit there. I think the thunder immediately addressed a couple

439
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,200
Speaker 1: of their biggest weaknesses. And they were already the one

440
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 1: seed that already had an impressive second round showing that

441
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 1: came this close to making it to the Western Conference finals,

442
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,000
Speaker 1: and they made themselves substantially better. And that didn't even

443
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 1: count for the fact that all of their young stars

444
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 1: have a lot more experience now after having two rounds

445
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 1: of playoff basketball underneath their belt. Really really excited about

446
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,439
Speaker 1: the Thunder next season. I thought they had the best offseason. Small, simple,

447
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: to the point, and addressed their needs. All right, let's

448
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 1: get to the mailbag. Why is Jason Tatum not considered

449
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,520
Speaker 1: a top five player despite being selected First Team All

450
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 1: NBA three years in a row. Had a bunch of

451
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 1: Celtics fans bring this up to me. First of all,

452
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,800
Speaker 1: First Team All NBA is an award. It's something that

453
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,360
Speaker 1: is voted on and it typically has a lot more

454
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,879
Speaker 1: to do with team success than anything else. And so,

455
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: as a result, like we commonly will see situations where

456
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,120
Speaker 1: First Team All NBA does not represent the top five

457
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: players in the NBA. Like just a couple quick examples.

458
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty two, Devin Booker made First Team All NBA.

459
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,639
Speaker 1: I didn't think he was the top five player in

460
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,360
Speaker 1: the league. Last year, Nikola Jokic didn't make First Team

461
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 1: All NBA. He was very clearly the first team in

462
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,199
Speaker 1: the best player in the NBA. That was back in

463
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 1: That was twenty twenty three, not twenty twenty four. So

464
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: like the first Team All NBA is not just a

465
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: clear ranking of the top five players in the league. Secondly,

466
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: anybody who followed me on the show knows I've been

467
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:11,760
Speaker 1: consistent ever since twenty twenty two, literally before the finals

468
00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,360
Speaker 1: even started with Golden State, when I picked the Warriors

469
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 1: to win that series, I still said I think Boston

470
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,840
Speaker 1: has the most talented roster in the league, that they

471
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 1: had the most talented roster in the league in twenty

472
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,880
Speaker 1: twenty three, and then I thought they had by far

473
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 1: the most talented roster in the league in twenty twenty four.

474
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: Boston has the most talent. They just do. They've had

475
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 1: the most talent three years in a row now. And

476
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,159
Speaker 1: what ends up happening is when you have a lot

477
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 1: of talent, you win a lot of games. When you

478
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 1: win a lot of games, especially in a weak Eastern Conference,

479
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a lot of really favorable metrics, right,

480
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 1: because those metrics are fed by the results that are

481
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: taking place on the floor and a good percentage of

482
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 1: the NBA voting pool, they legitimately make decisions based on

483
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 1: numerical evidence over what they're seeing on their TV screens,

484
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 1: which is something I personally disagree with. But I literally

485
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,399
Speaker 1: had voters tell me that. I've had voters tell me

486
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,639
Speaker 1: that they believe that numbers are less fallible. And I'm

487
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,359
Speaker 1: not talking about like count raw counting stats. I have

488
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 1: talked to voters who believe that catch all metrics are

489
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,919
Speaker 1: more reliable than what we see on our TV screens,

490
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,600
Speaker 1: which is something I personally very much disagree with. I

491
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,199
Speaker 1: think catch all metrics are incredibly flawed. And so the

492
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,560
Speaker 1: point is Jason Tatum, while I do believe he's a

493
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 1: top ten player, has benefited from being on the most

494
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: talented rosters in the league, which has led to incredible

495
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 1: team results, which has led to incredible individual metrics, which

496
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,200
Speaker 1: has led to him getting a lot of voting support

497
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: in the all NBA voting. In my opinion, he is

498
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,960
Speaker 1: not one of the top five players in the NBA.

499
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,360
Speaker 1: He's not a good enough offensive engine in the half

500
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,120
Speaker 1: court to be that. I do think Tatum is underrated

501
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:54,400
Speaker 1: by a lot of his haters. And by the way,

502
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: this is something that I understand where Celtics fans are

503
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,159
Speaker 1: coming from. I am one of those guys that, like

504
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: I personally, very much value the offensive engine archetype. I

505
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 1: think it's the most valuable skill a player can bring

506
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: to the team. That's why a guy like Shay Gilders Alexander,

507
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 1: for example, is better in my opinion, than adjacent Tatum.

508
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,439
Speaker 1: If I need a guy to lead my team for

509
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,560
Speaker 1: four playoff rounds while surrounded with a bunch of talent

510
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: to just generate quality shots, give me Shay over Tatum

511
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 1: every single time. Right. That's just my personal view of

512
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 1: the game. Too often, and I know this is especially

513
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,920
Speaker 1: from Laker fans, and God knows that we've got a

514
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 1: lot of Laker fans that we deal with on the show,

515
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,480
Speaker 1: because I am a Laker fan myself when we cover

516
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 1: the Lakers very closely, and we got a lot of

517
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: Lakers fans that follow me on Twitter and a lot

518
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,119
Speaker 1: of Lakers fans that are in the comments, and so

519
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,120
Speaker 1: I understand that there can be a lot of Tatum negativity,

520
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 1: But like I just want to have an honest conversation

521
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 1: about it. I think he's an underrated defensive player. I

522
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 1: think his size and strength, even though it's led to

523
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: some drawbacks, but his jump shot has allowed him to

524
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 1: become one of the most versatile front court defenders in

525
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 1: the league. His ability to guard a post centers was

526
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 1: a huge part of what made Boston's defensive schemes work

527
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 1: during their two month playoff run. I'm a huge believer

528
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 1: in Jason Tatum. I think his offensive kind of like

529
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: approach worked really well with this Celtics group that had

530
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,399
Speaker 1: so much talent. Big Jason Tatum fan, but he is

531
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,640
Speaker 1: just not the He is not the offensive force that

532
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 1: the top players in the league are. That to me

533
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 1: puts him below that top tier of superstars. And I

534
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: do not think he's a top five player. That said,

535
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: he's going to continue to make first team All NBA

536
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: because he's on the most talented roster in the league.

537
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: He'll make first team All NBA again next year, and

538
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 1: I'm probably not going to think he's a top five player.

539
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: And so again that's just my take. I know you

540
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: Celtics fans disagree, doesn't mean you're wrong. Doesn't mean I'm wrong.

541
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: These are just our opinions. That's why we're hashing him out.

542
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 1: This was a direct message I got from Kevin. Hey Jason,

543
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,880
Speaker 1: longtime fan of listener, Please more Devin Booker. Love man.

544
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,399
Speaker 1: He's been so good defensively considering his skill set. He

545
00:27:58,440 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: has been at the top of Team USA and play

546
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,480
Speaker 1: minus since the beginning of Camp. I want some Jason

547
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 1: tim flove from a man the book. So the Devin

548
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: Booker thing has been really fascinating to me. I actually

549
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 1: was talking with the Spears n Aali. They're a local

550
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: radio station here in Tucson. Actually I was on the

551
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,919
Speaker 1: on there this morning and we were talking. They specifically

552
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,960
Speaker 1: asked me, like, with the play of Devin Booker and

553
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and the play of Anthony Davis and Lebron James,

554
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,639
Speaker 1: should Lakers fans and Suns fans be excited? And my

555
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 1: answer was they should be annoyed. And the reason why

556
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 1: they should be annoyed is the reason why the Sons

557
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: and Lakers struggle is because outside of their stars, they

558
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:47,080
Speaker 1: don't have starting caliber NBA players that play both ends

559
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: of the flour like Austin Reeves. Is the third best Laker.

560
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 1: He's a very good offensive player, and he tries on defense,

561
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 1: but because of his limitations, he's an average to slight

562
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 1: lee above average defensive player. D'Angelo Russell very good offensive player,

563
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 1: very bad defensive player. Ruey hat Chimura very good offensive player,

564
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 1: very bad defensive player. Jared Vanderbilt very good defensive player,

565
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 1: very bad offensive player. Gay Vincent decent offensive player or

566
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,480
Speaker 1: a defense A decent defensive player, pretty bad offensive player.

567
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,920
Speaker 1: As you can see, they got these one way guys,

568
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: and so the Lakers are full of holes and they've

569
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,000
Speaker 1: had a bunch of issues, which is why I've been

570
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: preaching they need upgrades at the two and three now

571
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: for two years. Right, look at the Suns, same sort

572
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,960
Speaker 1: of thing. Beyond Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal,

573
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: it's a bunch of guys who play one end of

574
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: the floor. Usif Nurkic is a really useful five out

575
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 1: folkrum Becoseet's good screens, that's good, dribble handoffs, can finish

576
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,320
Speaker 1: under the basket, can get offensive rebounds, can occasionally knock

577
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: down in three and I. While I was impressed by

578
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: his effort defensively, last year, he's limited. There. You know,

579
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 1: Eric Gordon at this phase in his career not exactly

580
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 1: a dominant two way player, right, Josha Kogi really good

581
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 1: defense player, limited offensively. We can go on and on,

582
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: but the reality is is the Suns and the Lakers

583
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 1: are struggling because from the front office down and for

584
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: the Suns it has more to do with their constraints

585
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 1: after making the deals that they made. For the Lakers,

586
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: it has more to do with organizational incompetence. But those

587
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: teams are struggling because as we saw, having the Derek Whites,

588
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: having the Drew Holidays, having the Al Horfords, having the

589
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,960
Speaker 1: role players that play both ends of the floor is

590
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: what wins you an NBA championship. You've got to have

591
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 1: superstar talent plus two way role players. And the Lakers

592
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 1: and Sons have the superstar talent, they don't have the

593
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 1: two way role players. And this is taking it back

594
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: to the Jason Tatum thing. This is why that kind

595
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,400
Speaker 1: of conversation is stupid. I think Kevin Durant, Lebron James

596
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,240
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis are all better than Jason Tatum right now.

597
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,960
Speaker 1: I think they all are, but especially with Jason Tatum

598
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 1: in this miserable shooting slump. It doesn't matter. It doesn't

599
00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 1: matter because their team has these limitations. Tatum's playing alongside

600
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,480
Speaker 1: good two way role players. His team's winning a shit

601
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 1: ton of games and winning the title. Anthony Davis and

602
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: Lebron and Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, they're playing against playing

603
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: alongside one way role players. Their team is really struggling.

604
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,560
Speaker 1: Basketball is a team sport at the end of the day.

605
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: And by the way, when I say Lebron, Anthony Davis

606
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 1: and Katie are better than Tatum, I'm mainly talking in

607
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: a playoff context. I think for eighty two games, you

608
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 1: still take Tatum over most guys just because of his durability.

609
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,840
Speaker 1: Lebron turns forty next year. But the point is is like,

610
00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: we did get a healthy Lebron in AD last year

611
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,440
Speaker 1: and they still underachieved. And a lot of people are

612
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: going like, well, if Lebron and AD are that good,

613
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: why aren't they winning more? And it's like, because it

614
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 1: is better to win games to have the Drus and

615
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: the Derek Whites and the al Horford's than it is

616
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: to have the Ruby Hatcher, Muraz the D'Angelo Russells and

617
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 1: the Jared Vanderbilts. It just is, it just is like

618
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: two way role players win titles. That is what happens.

619
00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 1: And so I hope that we can kind of like

620
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,600
Speaker 1: see pass that as far as the Devin Booker part goes,

621
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 1: and I want to take it back to the mailbag

622
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:08,120
Speaker 1: for a second. The fascinating thing to me is that

623
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 1: those four guys have played well. If you were to

624
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: rank the top five players with Team USA so far,

625
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Lebron and Ad Booker and KD and

626
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 1: it's probably Bam as the fifth guy. And I think

627
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,480
Speaker 1: that's really fascinating. Ad and Bam. Why have they succeeded?

628
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: They are two traditional five out bigs, really good at

629
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: flowing from side to side, multiple dribble handoffs in the

630
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,240
Speaker 1: same possession, the ability to be a scoring threat on

631
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: the role while also being able to get up and

632
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 1: down the floor and transition and defend in multiple ways.

633
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: That's obviously why they've worked. Why has Kevin Durant and

634
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 1: Devin Booker worked so well. Kevin Durant Devin Booker have

635
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 1: worked so well because they are the quintessential plug in

636
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: play guys. Devin Booker has been asked to be Klay

637
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: Thompson on this team, to guard on the perimeter, to

638
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,320
Speaker 1: chase over the top of screens, and to operate with

639
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: an advantage created by others. He's done a masterful job

640
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 1: of that, and then Kevin Durant the exact same thing.

641
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 1: Obviously from the forward position he's benefiting from the attention

642
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 1: of other guys are getting knocking down a ton of

643
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: these perimeter jump shots, which are so valuable in FOBA

644
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 1: with the defensive three second rule. And just one of

645
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 1: the big reasons why book and Kdie in particular I

646
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,240
Speaker 1: have played so well is quick decision making. They are

647
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 1: just guys that catch and quickly read the floor, make

648
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,360
Speaker 1: a read, keep it moving. That is really easy to

649
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,480
Speaker 1: play alongside. When you go play pick up and you're

650
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 1: playing with a guy that you know what he's gonna do,

651
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 1: it's easy because when you throw him that pass, if

652
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 1: you know he's gonna shoot when he's open, or he's

653
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:40,880
Speaker 1: gonna drive when he's guarded, and he's gonna always make

654
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,160
Speaker 1: the right play out of it, it's easy to play

655
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,480
Speaker 1: when you throw it to the guy who catches and

656
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: holds and jab steps and you don't know if he's

657
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,720
Speaker 1: gonna shoot, or if he's gonna randomly decide to io,

658
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:51,600
Speaker 1: or if he's gonna randomly decide to do something else.

659
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,280
Speaker 1: It's frustrating and difficult to play with the flip side

660
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: of that coin. Why has a guy like Joel Embiid

661
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,200
Speaker 1: really struggled in the setting? He's a struggle. He's going

662
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: to struggle to play five out basketball, flowing from side

663
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 1: to side, getting up and down the floor, playing alongside

664
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: other stars, quick decision making. I find that fascinating. And

665
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: what Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are telling you is

666
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,960
Speaker 1: they are professional basketball players, meaning they can play many

667
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:22,320
Speaker 1: different styles of basketball. It's like a session guitarist who

668
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,719
Speaker 1: like plays blues for one guy, a little bit of

669
00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,399
Speaker 1: classic rock for another guy, country lines for another guy.

670
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,239
Speaker 1: He's a professional. His job is what does the band need.

671
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 1: The band needs me to do this, I'll do that right.

672
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,919
Speaker 1: That's what KD and Devin Booker are doing. They are

673
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 1: slotting in two roles on this team because they are

674
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:45,040
Speaker 1: professional basketball players. Whereas a guy like Joel Embiid force

675
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: of nature and by a literal definition of professional basketball player,

676
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 1: but he needs to play a certain style and if

677
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,440
Speaker 1: I ask Himbiid to do something that's a little out

678
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 1: of his comfort zone, he's going to struggle. And I

679
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,080
Speaker 1: find that to be fascinating. And again, and I said

680
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:00,799
Speaker 1: this on the radio this morning, like that, to me

681
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,920
Speaker 1: is what's so fascinating about basketball. It's more art than science.

682
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 1: You don't just add talent and get talent benefit. You

683
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 1: add talent and you get what's complimentary out of it.

684
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,399
Speaker 1: And Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have incredibly complimentary play

685
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: styles that can fit alongside other good basketball players. For

686
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 1: the mailbag, why does the media hate Bam? I don't

687
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: think the media hate hates Bam. I think there's a

688
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,040
Speaker 1: certain limitation there offensively that has been baked in for

689
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,719
Speaker 1: a long time. And the three point shooting is exciting, right,

690
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: and that is something that kind of changes the equation

691
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: with Bam. Right, everyone's always been a huge fan of

692
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,320
Speaker 1: Bam on the defensive end of the forourd obviously everything

693
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:45,480
Speaker 1: he's capable of there, one of the probably the best

694
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 1: switching big in the league, if not one of the

695
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,120
Speaker 1: best switching bigs in the league. He's a guy that

696
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,800
Speaker 1: is a really good passer on the short roll, a

697
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 1: guy who's been a really good dribble handoff guy in

698
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,160
Speaker 1: five out offense. But there have been some limitations for

699
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 1: him offensively in his career, namely last year guys for Miami.

700
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 1: Last season, Bam shot below fifty percent on layups. That

701
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,719
Speaker 1: was a huge issue in the finals two years ago

702
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 1: against Denver, his ability to make those short shots right

703
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,720
Speaker 1: by the basket. And so the reality is, is Bam

704
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,840
Speaker 1: as good as he is, there's still just a little

705
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 1: bit of like an offensive limitation there that prevents him

706
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,399
Speaker 1: from getting to the next level. Right, But I still

707
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 1: think Bam is incredibly valuable. I think he's underrated. I

708
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,719
Speaker 1: think he's showing what he can do at this level.

709
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: I think, and here's the thing, if he's going to

710
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,960
Speaker 1: struggle to make layups, his ability to knock down three

711
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,200
Speaker 1: point shots would be an excellent counter to that. But,

712
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 1: like I mean, I don't think I think hate is

713
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 1: the wrong word. Bam flies under the radar because he

714
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: has offensive limitations. That's really all it is. But like

715
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,920
Speaker 1: anybody who watches Bam and understands the game knows that

716
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,319
Speaker 1: he brings so much good to the table. And if

717
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 1: he can mitigate some of his issues around the basket

718
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: by knocking down three point shots. That goes a long

719
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:01,800
Speaker 1: way to incre raising his value. And he shot the

720
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:06,680
Speaker 1: ball really damn well in these FEBA games. And like

721
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:08,879
Speaker 1: one of the specific things that I've also liked, I'm

722
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 1: pulling up BAM's jump shot numbers so i can show

723
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:12,680
Speaker 1: you guys real quick. But one of the other things

724
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: that I've appreciated with Bam too is you're getting a

725
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,400
Speaker 1: good look at what it's like when he plays alongside

726
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:22,560
Speaker 1: another big, when he's been with Anthony Davis, And that's

727
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,560
Speaker 1: fascinating because one of the things we talk about is

728
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,320
Speaker 1: when you have to use your big to defend ball screens,

729
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:33,880
Speaker 1: it gets a little bit tougher for your smaller players

730
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:38,200
Speaker 1: on the back line to make the lowman rotations. Right,

731
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:39,799
Speaker 1: So that's the guy that has to step over on

732
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,239
Speaker 1: the ball screen to deflect lobs when Bam is up

733
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 1: at the level, and then the guy gets back to

734
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,760
Speaker 1: the shooter when the ball gets worked to the opposite side. Right. Well,

735
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,319
Speaker 1: if you have another big in the equation, there's more

736
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,560
Speaker 1: opportunities for Bam to actually be in that situation. And

737
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 1: we've seen more of that with Anthony Davis and so

738
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,359
Speaker 1: I think it'd be really cool just to get more

739
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 1: opportunity to see Bam in that type of role. Bam

740
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 1: has taken twelve catch and shoot jump shots so far

741
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 1: with Team USA, and it's got fifteen points out of them.

742
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:11,600
Speaker 1: That's one point twenty five points per shot. That's really

743
00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:14,320
Speaker 1: really quality shooting from Bam Adebayo.

744
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 3: The NFL seasons right around the corner, we'll be breaking

745
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,280
Speaker 3: down all the off season storylines on the Colin Cowherd

746
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 3: podcast My Best Takes. Guests like my buddy Nick Wright.

747
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:29,160
Speaker 3: Check out the Colin Coward podcast, part of the Volume Network,

748
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 3: available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

749
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,520
Speaker 1: All right, we have five more questions. The Warriors acquired

750
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,360
Speaker 1: Melton and Anderson both were on the Grizzlies in twenty

751
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,920
Speaker 1: twenty two. The Warriors won a shit, but had the

752
00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:59,839
Speaker 1: toughest and most intense series against Memphis. Memphis challenged because

753
00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 1: they new Warrior basketball, hence the signings Clever move. I

754
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,359
Speaker 1: like them because they fit kind of traditional Golden State

755
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:11,120
Speaker 1: Warrior rolesd Anthony Melton is, in my opinion, like a

756
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,279
Speaker 1: poor man's version of KCP but he's a better ball

757
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,439
Speaker 1: handler than KCPKCP is more of a movement shooter type

758
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:19,800
Speaker 1: of archetype. Melton's got a little bit more off the

759
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,240
Speaker 1: dribble bounce like pop to be able to make plays

760
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 1: on his own on the bounce. Kyle Anderson fits the

761
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 1: other half of that Golden State Warriors mold. The Golden

762
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,400
Speaker 1: State five out mold typically kind of feeds around two

763
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 1: folkrums and then three decision makers. Right, So, whether that's

764
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: Draymond and Andrew Boget back in the day, or Draymond

765
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: and Looney a couple of years ago, or if it's

766
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,960
Speaker 1: Draymon and Kaminga now, they have these two guys that

767
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 1: function primarily as the guys that are set throwing the

768
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,479
Speaker 1: dribble handoffs while the other three guys are running action

769
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,640
Speaker 1: around them. And so you need three guys that can

770
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,359
Speaker 1: run action, that can all dribble and pass and make

771
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 1: quick decisions, and then you need the guys that can

772
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,440
Speaker 1: set those screens into space flow into the next driple handoff,

773
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,800
Speaker 1: all that classic stuff for the Warrior offense. Kyle Anderson

774
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,760
Speaker 1: to me, fits wonderfully into one of those folkrum spots.

775
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:12,080
Speaker 1: He's a guy who's really good at operating with an

776
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,120
Speaker 1: advantage on the catch in that short area where he

777
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,919
Speaker 1: can make those little floaters and stuff like ten feet

778
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: from the rim, he can make passes out of there,

779
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: set good screens while also being a very very good

780
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,360
Speaker 1: defensive player on the other end of the flour And

781
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:28,319
Speaker 1: then d Anthony Meltin because of his ability to put

782
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 1: the ball in the four, gives you another guy who

783
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:32,040
Speaker 1: can run action while also defending on the other end

784
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: of the four. You added two two way guys that

785
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 1: pretty seamlessly fit into the Golden State Warrior offense. I

786
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,719
Speaker 1: thought they were really nice additions. Can you briefly discuss

787
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,560
Speaker 1: how elite Derek White is at basketball? Where does he

788
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 1: rank in the NBA on the impact value scale? So

789
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:53,799
Speaker 1: I don't have any real like impact lists for Derek White,

790
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:55,440
Speaker 1: but I do want to talk about his impact for

791
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 1: a minute, because I talked a lot about Derek White

792
00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 1: when I went on with Ethan Strauss about we could

793
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 1: go and we were discussing just kind of like what

794
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,080
Speaker 1: makes a winning basketball player, and we were discussing some

795
00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:08,920
Speaker 1: tam Usa stuff, and one of the things that I

796
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 1: found find really fascinating about Derek White, because Derek White

797
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 1: made another game saving play the other day, and he's

798
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 1: made plenty of him in his life right. He famously

799
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,160
Speaker 1: last year in Eastern Conference Finals gave the Celtics a

800
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 1: chance to win in Game seven by stealing Game six

801
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:25,719
Speaker 1: in Miami with the offensive rebound put back right and

802
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,759
Speaker 1: against South Sudan, not in the Olympics, but in the exhibition.

803
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:37,000
Speaker 1: On the final possession, there's a play where Carlic Jones

804
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,239
Speaker 1: is working against Drew Holliday makes a really nice right

805
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,480
Speaker 1: to left move and kind of like ditches Drew and

806
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: goes into a floater. Anthony Davis has no choice but

807
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:47,440
Speaker 1: to abandon his man and step up and try to

808
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:49,960
Speaker 1: block it, which forces Karlake to shoot a really high

809
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,080
Speaker 1: floater which goes way over the backside of the room

810
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,480
Speaker 1: and Anthony Edwards does not peel off of his man

811
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 1: in back box. Anthony Davis's man out, Anthony Edwards makes

812
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 1: a mistake. It's become something that could be an issue.

813
00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 1: When Yan Gabriel goes up, gets two hands on the

814
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,200
Speaker 1: basketball and is right there to tip dunk it in,

815
00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:10,040
Speaker 1: Derek White comes flying in from out of the play,

816
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: barely gets a piece of it and causes one Yan

817
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:14,759
Speaker 1: Gabriel to throw it into the front of the rim

818
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,440
Speaker 1: and Tmusa wins. And it's an example of what makes

819
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,160
Speaker 1: Derek White such an elite role player. The motor never stops.

820
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: And I was talking about this with Ethan because the

821
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards Corolary on that same possession as he as

822
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:35,800
Speaker 1: he doesn't make that extra play. Is stars are always

823
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,719
Speaker 1: in the energy conservation business. They're trying to make sure

824
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:40,600
Speaker 1: they got the legs they need to make plays down

825
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:46,680
Speaker 1: the line. Role Players are always in the energy expending business.

826
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:51,319
Speaker 1: They know that their role is to constantly point and

827
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,359
Speaker 1: shoot their effort in all of these areas, knowing there's

828
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:56,200
Speaker 1: another guy that can step in and do their job

829
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,200
Speaker 1: when they're tired, and vice versa. And their job is

830
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:01,280
Speaker 1: to never leave any of that meat on the bone.

831
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:03,760
Speaker 1: And that's what makes Derek White the quintessential role player.

832
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,160
Speaker 1: He's got the tools, he's athletic, he's got long arms.

833
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:10,800
Speaker 1: He's a useful offensive player, very quick, accurate three point shot, release,

834
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,760
Speaker 1: makes quick reads, can play driving kick, can offensive rebound.

835
00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:18,880
Speaker 1: But he's also but most importantly, he directs his six

836
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:23,080
Speaker 1: to six long armed frame into just constant effort and

837
00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,560
Speaker 1: energy on the details, active as a rebounder, one of

838
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:29,879
Speaker 1: the best shot blocking guards in the league, a guy

839
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:33,200
Speaker 1: that fights over the top of screens consistently. That is

840
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 1: what makes a good role player. It's having athletic gifts,

841
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 1: but also being relentless in your attention to detail, in

842
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,680
Speaker 1: your effort and energy on every single possession, which is

843
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,040
Speaker 1: something that you can't expect out of stars, and that's

844
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:51,319
Speaker 1: what makes a really good role player. All Right, three more, Hi,

845
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 1: Jason Bigfan. I really enjoy listening to you talk about

846
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:55,759
Speaker 1: the game. The situation with Jason Tatum's jump shot got

847
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,120
Speaker 1: me thinking, how do players get into these slumps where

848
00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,279
Speaker 1: the mechanics are all out of whack. I imagine these

849
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:02,600
Speaker 1: guys are shooting hundreds of shots today, it's surprising that

850
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:05,640
Speaker 1: they all of a sudden lose rhythm in mechanics. So

851
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,400
Speaker 1: usually when you go work on your shot, you're you

852
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:13,279
Speaker 1: are working on some sort of mechanic thing. Right, A

853
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:16,319
Speaker 1: huge one for me is footwork. I rep footwork every

854
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:18,880
Speaker 1: single day because that's the part of my shot that

855
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,160
Speaker 1: I choose to focus on. But even with my release,

856
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:25,319
Speaker 1: like I have a specific thing that happens to me

857
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:26,680
Speaker 1: every once in a while where like every once in

858
00:44:26,719 --> 00:44:28,160
Speaker 1: a while, my hand will drift a little bit in

859
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:30,200
Speaker 1: front of my face instead of getting my elbow tuck.

860
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:33,759
Speaker 1: It's just something that happens when I play for months

861
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:35,400
Speaker 1: and months, like there'll be a stretch where just my

862
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,080
Speaker 1: form gets a little out of whack and I gotta

863
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 1: take time to go into the gym and like make

864
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:40,960
Speaker 1: sure I'm getting that elbow tuck so that I'm getting

865
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:44,480
Speaker 1: a good straight release every single time, right, Like everybody

866
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:48,160
Speaker 1: works on those those little details. I've listened to Kyrie

867
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:51,000
Speaker 1: Irving talk about how he tweaks it, goes into the

868
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,960
Speaker 1: gym and works on his form. Steph Curry shoots form shooting,

869
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:57,279
Speaker 1: does form shooting for several minutes before he even gets

870
00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,000
Speaker 1: into his shooting drill. So he I'll just shoot little

871
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:02,160
Speaker 1: five foot jumper until his form feels right. Like when

872
00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:04,600
Speaker 1: you go work on your shot, you work on your form.

873
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 1: And I think in a lot of cases, when you

874
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:09,239
Speaker 1: enter into a bad slump, it can cause you to

875
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:13,000
Speaker 1: over tinker with it. And it's very clear that because

876
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,120
Speaker 1: here's the thing. When you like just take that example

877
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,400
Speaker 1: I talked about with getting your elbow underneath so like,

878
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:20,359
Speaker 1: if you're like really hyper focused on getting that elbow in,

879
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,560
Speaker 1: you might start to exaggerate it and like add a

880
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:25,920
Speaker 1: little hitch into your shot. And you never want to

881
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,960
Speaker 1: do that because you want to have good energy transfer,

882
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,279
Speaker 1: You want to have good flow from the bottom of

883
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:31,920
Speaker 1: your shot to the top of your shot. And so,

884
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,560
Speaker 1: in all likelihood, my guess is that Jason just wasn't

885
00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:39,080
Speaker 1: shooting well and it started to get to him mentally

886
00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:41,279
Speaker 1: a little bit, and so he started to tinker with it.

887
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:43,839
Speaker 1: And now he's over tinkering with it, and now he's

888
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,839
Speaker 1: got some issues, is what happened. Anthony Davis, Like his

889
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,480
Speaker 1: release on his jump shot is way slower now than

890
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,200
Speaker 1: it was in the bubble, But he's probably tinkering with

891
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:54,359
Speaker 1: it a lot more because he just hasn't shot well

892
00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:57,440
Speaker 1: in a long time. And so Tatum just needs to

893
00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,320
Speaker 1: get out of this Olympic setting and he needs to

894
00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:01,480
Speaker 1: get in the gym all day summer and polish that

895
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:03,359
Speaker 1: shit up and make sure it's ready for training camp.

896
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,040
Speaker 1: Two more Jason. If the Lakers got Jeremy Grant in

897
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,239
Speaker 1: a trade and couldn't get an athletic guard at the two,

898
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,400
Speaker 1: who would be the fifth starter? At the two for you,

899
00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:13,719
Speaker 1: Max Christy, since you said for Max to start, you

900
00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:16,200
Speaker 1: need an awesome wing at the three, or Jared Vanderbilt

901
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:18,040
Speaker 1: to increase the length and size of the team, which

902
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 1: would most likely most likely be a switching group. I

903
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:22,840
Speaker 1: think that we are going to see Max Christy do

904
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:25,200
Speaker 1: some starting this year, especially if they end up trading d'

905
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:28,640
Speaker 1: angelo Russell. The thing with Max Christy that makes it

906
00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:31,399
Speaker 1: really hard for me is I just haven't seen him

907
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,240
Speaker 1: play a substantial NBA role for a large sample size.

908
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,319
Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff I'm really excited about. He's

909
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:39,800
Speaker 1: a very good athlete. I was actually watching some random

910
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 1: footage of the Laker Warrior game earlier this year, is

911
00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:45,600
Speaker 1: the one that went to double overtime and Lebron had

912
00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:47,839
Speaker 1: like thirty six twenty and twelve. It was like one

913
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:50,319
Speaker 1: of his crazy games this season, and he hit all

914
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:53,200
Speaker 1: those pull up jump shots in overtime to win the game.

915
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:56,239
Speaker 1: But in that game, there was a play where like

916
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:58,880
Speaker 1: Max Christie said a quick pick on Lebron and then

917
00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 1: slipped into open space and Lebron like hit him with

918
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 1: a perfect bounce pass and Max like caught in traffic

919
00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:07,320
Speaker 1: and like elevated off to two feet and dunked on

920
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,680
Speaker 1: Draymond Green, and I was like, man Like, Max has

921
00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:17,800
Speaker 1: like such great natural athletic gifts, excellent frame, excellent foot speed,

922
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:22,640
Speaker 1: competes at the point of attack, navigates screens well, active

923
00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: with his hands, absorbs contact, he's put on muscle, shoots

924
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 1: the ball really well. My main concern with him is

925
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:32,160
Speaker 1: driving and kicking, Like how good is he at just

926
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,279
Speaker 1: like making decisions when he has to put the ball

927
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:36,719
Speaker 1: on the floor. But again, like I just got to

928
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,440
Speaker 1: see it, and I need to see a lot of it.

929
00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:42,400
Speaker 1: And I hope that he gets a substantial role all

930
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,960
Speaker 1: season so that we just get a lot of time

931
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:49,240
Speaker 1: to see what Max Christy has. But bottom line, NBA

932
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,680
Speaker 1: history tells us young players struggle to contribute in the

933
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,600
Speaker 1: later rounds of the playoffs. And so if you're counting

934
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:58,759
Speaker 1: on Max to be your starting too, I think you'd

935
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:01,480
Speaker 1: have to be really good at the other four spots.

936
00:48:01,719 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 1: And it's a lot. It's a lot to ask with

937
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:06,360
Speaker 1: where the Lakers are at at this point, and so

938
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 1: we'll see, Like even Jeremy Grant like that. I like

939
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,360
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant. The thing that I like about Jeremy Grant

940
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:16,480
Speaker 1: is just the athletic waves. Jeremy is big and freaky athletic,

941
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:18,719
Speaker 1: and if you put him next to Lebron and Ad

942
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:23,200
Speaker 1: that's just a lot of a lot of size and athleticism.

943
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:27,320
Speaker 1: But Jeremy hasn't defended super well since he left left Denver.

944
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:30,480
Speaker 1: He's notoriously a guy that cares more about just making

945
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:33,719
Speaker 1: his money and playing chill basketball somewhere than playing a

946
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:37,480
Speaker 1: hard job for a winning team. That was kind of

947
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 1: the story on him when he went to Detroit. And

948
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 1: so like, I don't I don't know that we're gonna

949
00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:45,360
Speaker 1: I don't know what Jeremy Grant we get. Like if

950
00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:47,640
Speaker 1: we get the Jeremy Grant from the bubble who was

951
00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:51,320
Speaker 1: really competing and guarding the other team's best player like that,

952
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,279
Speaker 1: that that's interesting to me. But I'm curious to see

953
00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,040
Speaker 1: if that's what that's what we get if that deal

954
00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:58,440
Speaker 1: ends up getting done. And obviously there's no guarantee that

955
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:00,840
Speaker 1: deal ends up getting done, and so we'll see. Like

956
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,120
Speaker 1: the Lakers are in a tough spot. I mean, here's

957
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:05,960
Speaker 1: the thing. There's been a lot of talk about gave Vincent,

958
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:08,680
Speaker 1: Max Christie and Jared Vanderbilt just kind of being the

959
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:12,360
Speaker 1: defense and athleticism that joins the team, by Max actually

960
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:14,400
Speaker 1: getting playing time without Darvin Hamm in the picture, and

961
00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:17,600
Speaker 1: by Jared Vanderbilt and gave Vincent being healthy. I'm okay

962
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:21,000
Speaker 1: with the approach that you wait till the deadline at

963
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,240
Speaker 1: this point, because you already missed out on de Jontay Murray,

964
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:26,320
Speaker 1: and it looks like you weren't getting to de Jontay

965
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,760
Speaker 1: Murray unless you included Austin Reeves, which is a difficult

966
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:31,959
Speaker 1: decision to make. Right outside of that, I haven't seen

967
00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:35,640
Speaker 1: like Donovan Mitchell was not a realistic target, So there's

968
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,400
Speaker 1: not really a great option out there right now. And

969
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:40,960
Speaker 1: so while I would like them to upgrade the role

970
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:44,239
Speaker 1: player spots, I'm okay with you at least taking it

971
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:47,279
Speaker 1: into camp and seeing what Max can do, seeing what

972
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:50,920
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt looks like from a health standpoint, seeing how

973
00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:56,359
Speaker 1: Vincent looks. But come hell or high water, if it

974
00:49:56,400 --> 00:49:58,839
Speaker 1: doesn't look right, you got to make a move at

975
00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:01,560
Speaker 1: some point, because Lebron and eight are two good and

976
00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:04,239
Speaker 1: you owe these guys a legitimate final chance, and I

977
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:06,120
Speaker 1: think you owe them the use of those two first

978
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:09,359
Speaker 1: round draft picks. To try to make that happen all right.

979
00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:11,359
Speaker 1: Last one, Hi, Jason, I'm curious to hear your thoughts

980
00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:13,120
Speaker 1: on the future of centers in relation to the new

981
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:16,600
Speaker 1: CBA and cap management. Obviously, the tier one guys Jokic,

982
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 1: mbtn AD deserve the max and I'd assume if you

983
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:20,360
Speaker 1: didn't have one of those three guys, you'd want a

984
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:23,560
Speaker 1: basic rim protector or runner like a Lively, Jalen, Durant, etc.

985
00:50:24,239 --> 00:50:26,040
Speaker 1: Or a genuine Stretch five if you were lucky like

986
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:29,680
Speaker 1: Matt Miles Turner or Christops porzingis The issue arises if

987
00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 1: you're someone like Sabonis or Bam, who are clearly more

988
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:33,799
Speaker 1: skilled than average centers, but aren't close to the Tier

989
00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,480
Speaker 1: one guys, and when they are on max steals, both

990
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,200
Speaker 1: the ceiling for Miami and Sacramento are limited. If you

991
00:50:39,239 --> 00:50:41,160
Speaker 1: were a GM looking for a center, would you just

992
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:43,440
Speaker 1: want them to simply rebound, slash, protect the rim, slash

993
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:46,040
Speaker 1: catch lobs or try to find the next Tier one center.

994
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:48,440
Speaker 1: Having that genuine Tier one center gives you a true

995
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:51,160
Speaker 1: advantage come playoff time, but the numbers suggest that this

996
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:53,560
Speaker 1: is way harder to find compared to a Tier one

997
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:55,799
Speaker 1: winger guard thanks as always for your content. Looking forward

998
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:59,680
Speaker 1: to disagreeing with your player rankings. So this got really

999
00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:04,719
Speaker 1: fast for me after the Jared Allen deal because if

1000
00:51:04,719 --> 00:51:11,120
Speaker 1: you look at it, Jared Allen is probably a slightly

1001
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:17,000
Speaker 1: above average starting center in the NBA, and he got

1002
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:21,520
Speaker 1: over thirty million a year on his extension. Isaiah Hartenstein

1003
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:28,320
Speaker 1: is an average starting center in this league twenty seven

1004
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:34,680
Speaker 1: million a year. Nick Klaxton average starting center in this

1005
00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:41,839
Speaker 1: league twenty five million a year. And that's not even

1006
00:51:41,880 --> 00:51:44,600
Speaker 1: close to the top tier guys that you mentioned where

1007
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:50,840
Speaker 1: you're getting into Jokic, embiid, Anthony Davis, bam Adebayo, you

1008
00:51:50,880 --> 00:51:54,040
Speaker 1: know you mentioned Sabonis, Like, there's so many of these

1009
00:51:54,040 --> 00:51:58,440
Speaker 1: guys too, Like what about Zubach, what about Cheded Holmgren, Like,

1010
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:00,560
Speaker 1: like we can go on and on. There are so

1011
00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:05,160
Speaker 1: many of these like quality centers, and if the running

1012
00:52:05,280 --> 00:52:07,640
Speaker 1: rate on them is twenty five million a year at

1013
00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:11,360
Speaker 1: a minimum, a couple of things are interesting there. First

1014
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:17,000
Speaker 1: of all, it's fascinating that it's fascinating that the league

1015
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:19,319
Speaker 1: is telling us that that center position is so damn

1016
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:22,240
Speaker 1: valuable now, which is telling you with the problem that Jokic,

1017
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:25,320
Speaker 1: n Embid and Anthony Davis and all these guys present.

1018
00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:29,000
Speaker 1: You gotta have interior size. The second thing that's fascinating

1019
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:31,120
Speaker 1: about it is, Okay, what do you do if you're

1020
00:52:31,120 --> 00:52:34,840
Speaker 1: a GM then And this is where I look at, like,

1021
00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:38,440
Speaker 1: who is it that Jalen Smith went to? Let me

1022
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:42,040
Speaker 1: check real quick, but Jalen Smith, I saw, I went

1023
00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:46,920
Speaker 1: for like nine million a year? That bulls who went

1024
00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:50,120
Speaker 1: to the bulls? So like, that's where it gets difficult,

1025
00:52:50,520 --> 00:52:55,440
Speaker 1: Like would you be better off paying nine million a

1026
00:52:55,520 --> 00:53:00,160
Speaker 1: year for a guy like a Jalen Smith or you're

1027
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:03,920
Speaker 1: thirty million a year or twenty seven million a year

1028
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:06,799
Speaker 1: for a guy like Isaiah Hartenstein. And those are tough

1029
00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:08,680
Speaker 1: decisions to make. And that's where it comes down to

1030
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:12,319
Speaker 1: what the rest of your roster looks like. Right. So

1031
00:53:12,680 --> 00:53:16,359
Speaker 1: if you're a team that doesn't have the ability from

1032
00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:18,239
Speaker 1: the same point of the cap to go after a

1033
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:20,719
Speaker 1: higher level center, then you got to look at that

1034
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:24,440
Speaker 1: lower tier, right, And it's just all about resource management.

1035
00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:26,960
Speaker 1: And so from there, I think it just depends on

1036
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:30,520
Speaker 1: what your predicament is. Cleveland had to resign Jared Allen.

1037
00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:33,040
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley's not big enough to play center. They had

1038
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,040
Speaker 1: to appease Donovan Mitchell. They're in a little bit of

1039
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 1: a win now type of predicament, right the thunder. That's

1040
00:53:40,719 --> 00:53:44,560
Speaker 1: an interesting example, spending twenty seven million a year on

1041
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:47,160
Speaker 1: a center when you already have Chet Holmgren on the roster.

1042
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:51,080
Speaker 1: But they lined it up so that Isaiah Hartenstein's option

1043
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,440
Speaker 1: is at the same time as Chet Holmgren's deal, so

1044
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:55,879
Speaker 1: they can at least address that when they get into

1045
00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:58,640
Speaker 1: the future. My guess is that when they max Chet,

1046
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:02,239
Speaker 1: they probably won't don't retain Isaiah Hartenstide at that point,

1047
00:54:02,239 --> 00:54:05,480
Speaker 1: they probably will go after a bigger forward, right, And

1048
00:54:05,520 --> 00:54:08,600
Speaker 1: so these are it's all about resource management. But the

1049
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:10,759
Speaker 1: thing that's been fascinating to me is, just to put

1050
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:14,000
Speaker 1: it simply, the centers in the league just costs a

1051
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:16,560
Speaker 1: lot of money now, and I don't think there's such

1052
00:54:16,719 --> 00:54:19,479
Speaker 1: like if you on an average starting center, you're paying

1053
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:23,120
Speaker 1: twenty five million a year and that that's just that's

1054
00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:25,920
Speaker 1: just a lot. That's a lot to deal with with

1055
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,759
Speaker 1: the cap now. The one flip side there is when

1056
00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:31,759
Speaker 1: the new TV deal kicks in, twenty five million is

1057
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:33,719
Speaker 1: kind of like the new fifteen million, you know what

1058
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:37,000
Speaker 1: I mean. And so again like it might be one

1059
00:54:37,040 --> 00:54:38,880
Speaker 1: of those deals where when we get into the future,

1060
00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:42,439
Speaker 1: the teams that got in guys, the teams that locked

1061
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:46,160
Speaker 1: up Claxton and Jared Allen and and and all these

1062
00:54:46,160 --> 00:54:48,720
Speaker 1: guys in that in that twenty five to thirty million range,

1063
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,239
Speaker 1: they might be really happy a couple of years from

1064
00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:54,080
Speaker 1: now on the new CBA, or sorry, not the new CBA,

1065
00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:57,160
Speaker 1: the new TV deal, because that might be the new discount.

1066
00:54:57,200 --> 00:54:59,400
Speaker 1: A starting center might go for thirty five million a

1067
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:03,640
Speaker 1: year in a few years, and so and so. Again,

1068
00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:05,279
Speaker 1: we're in a little bit of a transition period. But

1069
00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:07,080
Speaker 1: I do think it's really fascinating how much the league

1070
00:55:07,120 --> 00:55:09,440
Speaker 1: is valuing those guys. All right, guys, that is all

1071
00:55:09,440 --> 00:55:12,160
Speaker 1: I have for today and for the weekend. We're gonna

1072
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:13,600
Speaker 1: take the rest of this weekend off. Probably gonna take

1073
00:55:13,640 --> 00:55:16,480
Speaker 1: Monday off too, because Team USA plays on Tuesday. In

1074
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:19,480
Speaker 1: all likelihood, we'll do an episode on Tuesday that covers

1075
00:55:19,480 --> 00:55:22,759
Speaker 1: the quarterfinal game. From now to Tuesday, I'm gonna keep

1076
00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:24,799
Speaker 1: working on player ranking stuff because I'm gonna have that

1077
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,560
Speaker 1: player I go out of town next Thursday, and I'm

1078
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,919
Speaker 1: gonna have I'm gonna have player ranking stuff that's gonna

1079
00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:33,120
Speaker 1: be releasing while I'm out of town, so I'll be

1080
00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:35,080
Speaker 1: working on that, but our next new episode will be

1081
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:37,680
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. As always, as sincerely appreciate you guys for

1082
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:39,760
Speaker 1: supporting me in the show. I'll see you guys.

1083
00:55:39,520 --> 00:55:42,920
Speaker 3: Then the volume.

1084
00:55:44,120 --> 00:55:46,480
Speaker 1: Well, so, guys, as always, I appreciate you for listening

1085
00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:49,400
Speaker 1: to and supporting OOPS tonight. It would actually be really

1086
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:51,320
Speaker 1: helpful for us if you guys would take a second

1087
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:54,080
Speaker 1: and leave a rating and a review. As always, I

1088
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:55,839
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take

1089
00:55:55,840 --> 00:55:58,200
Speaker 1: a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.