Speaker 1: M hmmm. Welcome to the Day of the Lakers podcast.
Speaker 1: Happy Thursday everyone, although it's technically a Friday for me
Speaker 1: because I'm heading out of town this weekend for a
Speaker 1: for a wedding. But Roger and I are here. We're excited.
Speaker 1: This is probably gonna be the the second to last
Speaker 1: pod that will do before the first preseason game. Um,
Speaker 1: but we're very excited to be here this morning. Rog
Speaker 1: How are you doing, man, how's your week going? Doing great?
Speaker 1: Doing great? It's a beautiful Thursday. As you said, Media
Speaker 1: days in like six days, so we're um getting started
Speaker 1: here pretty soon and we'll be into really daily episodes.
Speaker 1: It feels like once once the season starts. Before we start, though,
Speaker 1: I just wanted something funny I saw over the weekend. Um,
Speaker 1: I saw you live tuning football, which I thought was hilarious. Um,
Speaker 1: I think you compared some into like a two guard
Speaker 1: or something like that. I saw that. I saw people
Speaker 1: telling you stick to basketball, which I thought was just
Speaker 1: the most hilarious thing in the world. I just wanted
Speaker 1: to share that with you because I thought it was
Speaker 1: pretty funny. When I so, I was like, oh no,
Speaker 1: I see going over to try to eat live football
Speaker 1: and someone's like, yeah, I just you know, keeping off basketball.
Speaker 1: I just thought that was hilarious. Well, you and I
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't be able to do this if we let
Speaker 1: twitter trolls effect to uh. I just got a good
Speaker 1: laugh out of it. Oh no, it's funny, and that
Speaker 1: just in general, it's just like I think, I think
Speaker 1: that's hilarious, Like god forbid, I sit down and enjoy.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what I was thinking. Um. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we are going to and Justin Herbert, the quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Chargers, unbelievable. The dude is just a freak physical talent.
Speaker 1: I was blown away and I couldn't believe the Cowboys
Speaker 1: won that game with how with how talented he is. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we uh today are going to break down the first
Speaker 1: fifteen games of the Lakers season quickly, kind of go
Speaker 1: over additions that those teams made, and what we think
Speaker 1: about those teams, and then what we think what we
Speaker 1: think the Lakers are gonna accomplish in that first fifteen games.
Speaker 1: A lot of road game or excuse me, home games,
Speaker 1: a lot of home games, and a lot of teams
Speaker 1: that the Lakers are gonna be heavily heavily favored against,
Speaker 1: and we'll kind of discuss that in detail. Then we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about Frank Vogel's comments during
Speaker 1: his interview on the Spectrum sports Net show that he
Speaker 1: sat down for. And then if we have time at
Speaker 1: the end, we're gonna talk a little Ben Simmons in
Speaker 1: a little bit of Wayne Ellington's interview that he did
Speaker 1: with our friends Zack and Rouche over with the Balls
Speaker 1: Life podcast. So lots of cover today, we're gonna get
Speaker 1: right into it. So the first game of the season
Speaker 1: is at home against the Warriors. Um. The Warriors added
Speaker 1: Namania be Eliza, they added Otto Porter Jr. They added
Speaker 1: Andrea Guadala, and then they have Clay Thompson coming back
Speaker 1: from injury. This is a team that I'm super intrigued
Speaker 1: by it just in general because they've kind of, uh,
Speaker 1: they have all of the pes from the death lineup
Speaker 1: in addition to some guys that they could kind of
Speaker 1: plug in there that are super interesting like Otto Porter Jr.
Speaker 1: If they can be healthy. Now Clay Thompson is probably
Speaker 1: not gonna play to start the season and probably not
Speaker 1: gonna look much like himself until later in the season,
Speaker 1: so I'm not particularly concerned about them being much of
Speaker 1: a regular season jugger. Not However, this is one of
Speaker 1: my like sneaky picks for a team that could be
Speaker 1: super dangerous in a playoff run, because when push comes
Speaker 1: to shove, if it's two games to two in Game
Speaker 1: five in one of these arenas, it's gonna be Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, Andrea Gudala, Draymond Green and probably uh Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins or Auto Porter Jr. In that other spot, and
Speaker 1: They're just gonna be really, really tough to beat in
Speaker 1: that type of environment. So I consider them to be
Speaker 1: somewhat of a threat. However, season opener in Staples Rock
Speaker 1: as house Lakers size is gonna be a huge problem.
Speaker 1: I expect the Lakers to handle them on opening night
Speaker 1: when by ten. What do you think about the Warriors?
Speaker 1: So to me, opening is always tough, So Lebron, this
Speaker 1: is gonna be Lebron's fourth year with the team. Um,
Speaker 1: we've lost opening Night the first three years, so every
Speaker 1: single time, every single opener we've lost, I have this
Speaker 1: one as a loss. I just think the Warriors in
Speaker 1: a one game sample are really tough Um, I think
Speaker 1: our defense will be as connected opening night. I think
Speaker 1: Steph is just a handful and I think Stephan Draymond
Speaker 1: feel like they'll have something to prove. I like the
Speaker 1: auto Porter pick up for them as well. I just
Speaker 1: think in a one game, first game, as staples, all
Speaker 1: this energy can kind of go against you sometimes as well.
Speaker 1: You kind of feel the nervousness, you know, they want
Speaker 1: to get that win, um on the first night. So
Speaker 1: I have this one actually as one of their few
Speaker 1: losses to start the season. Um. I just think like
Speaker 1: they'll lose a close one of the Warriors that I
Speaker 1: really respect them as a team, and I think they'll
Speaker 1: have something to prove. I just I think this will
Speaker 1: be a really close game and they'll want a little
Speaker 1: playback payback for what what happened in the playing game
Speaker 1: as well. Mhmm, you're not You're not wrong about those
Speaker 1: early season things, and that's definitely gonna be but works
Speaker 1: against them. I'm more concerned early in the season for
Speaker 1: the Warriors of just having a legitimate talent issue. They're
Speaker 1: just not gonna be super deep with talent, and I
Speaker 1: am really interested to see how experimental they are with
Speaker 1: their uh with their young players to start the season, like,
Speaker 1: are we gonna see a lot of Wisemen. We're gonna
Speaker 1: see a lot of those two forwards that they drafted
Speaker 1: this year. Um second game of the season, also at
Speaker 1: home against the Suns, they added JaVale McGhee to spruce
Speaker 1: up their front court. If you remember last year, DeAndre
Speaker 1: Ayton was awesome, but when they went down to Dario
Speaker 1: Saris and Frank Kaminski, it was a gigantic drop off
Speaker 1: in terms of their in terms of their physical presence inside.
Speaker 1: So they got JaVale McGhee to spruce set up. I
Speaker 1: like javal solid pickup um Alfred Payton, which I think
Speaker 1: was a really interesting signing simply because when they would
Speaker 1: go down to Campaign as their backup point guard, it
Speaker 1: was another really small player. It made it difficult for
Speaker 1: them to play multiple guards because they would have big
Speaker 1: a size disadvantages in the back court. Alfred Payton is
Speaker 1: just a much bigger, more athletic backup guard to have
Speaker 1: in that spot. So I actually like that pick up
Speaker 1: a lot too. And then Landry Shammon, that's just another
Speaker 1: shooter off the bench, not too much of an interesting
Speaker 1: piece for them. I think this is a revenge game
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. I think I think they're gonna attack it,
Speaker 1: and I think they win. I think it would be close,
Speaker 1: just because the Sons are a very good team, but
Speaker 1: I think that I think the Lakers will win their
Speaker 1: game somewhere five ten points something like that. What do
Speaker 1: you think? Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I think
Speaker 1: this is the one that Lebron and A D probably
Speaker 1: had circled already, you know, that first home game because
Speaker 1: the Sons how the playoffs ended. Um, a D should
Speaker 1: still be able to eat. I don't know why the
Speaker 1: matchup hasn't changed enough to me to where A D
Speaker 1: can't be the impact player that he was um when
Speaker 1: healthy in the series. Um, And yeah, Lebron should be
Speaker 1: ready to kind of get some hopeflic Campaign isn't himself.
Speaker 1: You know, Campaign kind of killed us in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: so maybe they would keep a lid on him a
Speaker 1: little bit better than they did. But yeah, I see
Speaker 1: this one as a win. Um, they should start the
Speaker 1: season to me one and one, And I think it's
Speaker 1: a good, good early test for them as well. Westbrook
Speaker 1: kind of contest Westbrook as well against a really good team.
Speaker 1: So I think they beat Phoenix to start. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: glad they have a couple of tough games at the
Speaker 1: start to kind of at them going because they come
Speaker 1: into a really funky stretch against a bunch of bad games.
Speaker 1: After that, we have, um, the third game of the season,
Speaker 1: also at home. Again, I think if I'm not I
Speaker 1: might be miscounting here, but I think eleven or four
Speaker 1: or twelve of their first fifteen games are at home,
Speaker 1: which is like absolutely crazy. Um, Grizzlies at home. They
Speaker 1: added Steven Adams and then they added Jared Culver. It
Speaker 1: was a former lottery pick for the Timberwolves, classic case
Speaker 1: of lottery pick changing teams because things didn't really work out.
Speaker 1: We're gonna see a lot of that, uh later on
Speaker 1: in the schedule. Um, but I wrote this down as
Speaker 1: the first game that they'll play against a really really
Speaker 1: aggressive dribble drive guard. You know, they're gonna play Dame
Speaker 1: and Steph and and teams like that early in the season. However,
Speaker 1: those guys are more really aggressive off the dribble jump shooters. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, Jared uh. John Morant is just a relentless
Speaker 1: back basket attacker, especially at a pick and roll it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a really really interesting challenge for the Lakers. Defensively,
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers will win. Um, But I think
Speaker 1: it's a class I think it's a one of the
Speaker 1: ones that circle is a potential upset just because if
Speaker 1: the Lakers do not have their guard core dialed in defensively,
Speaker 1: John Moran's gonna light them on fire. Um. What do
Speaker 1: you think about the Grizzlies and what do you think
Speaker 1: is gonna happen in that game? Yeah? To me, they're
Speaker 1: very similar team the last year as well. It called
Speaker 1: kind of relies on the growth of Jaw, which I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be even better this year. And then
Speaker 1: Jaren Jackson Jr. Who I think he's made in it
Speaker 1: out of the lineup, but he's a he's a star
Speaker 1: big man when he's healthy. To me, so him those two,
Speaker 1: And if you remember last year they play the Grizzlies
Speaker 1: at home, Grizzlies went up like twenty in the first
Speaker 1: half or something like that. I think the Lakers were
Speaker 1: kind of sleepwalking as well. But Job really kills them.
Speaker 1: He really kills that drop coverage. He has a really
Speaker 1: nice floater game. He gets into the paint really nicely,
Speaker 1: so it'll be a nice test. I also think they win.
Speaker 1: They're still a really young team as well. Um, still
Speaker 1: kind of rebuilding. Um. But uh, and then they lost
Speaker 1: Jonas Valan chooses as well. I think that swapped between
Speaker 1: him and Adams makes them a little worse, um just
Speaker 1: in the just in the front court. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think the Lakers win. That this is a good team though.
Speaker 1: I think they're going in the right direction that should
Speaker 1: be in that playing and of the playing game area
Speaker 1: of the of the Western Conference. But I think it's
Speaker 1: a win as well. Yep, we are on the same page.
Speaker 1: There After that, they go on the road for the
Speaker 1: first time the season. They play in San Antonio against
Speaker 1: the Spurs. Uh. This is a team that's gone full rebuild.
Speaker 1: They have Doug McDermott, they have Thaddeus Young, and they
Speaker 1: have Zack Collins, but they lost to mar De Rosen.
Speaker 1: Their guard corps is super young but very talented. There's
Speaker 1: certainly a threat. However, this to me, also in the
Speaker 1: Lebron James era, the Lakers have pretty much just dominated
Speaker 1: the Spurs. UM. So this, just in general, is is
Speaker 1: a game that I expect the Lakers to win. Classic
Speaker 1: road game against the rebuilt probably gonna be sloppy, but
Speaker 1: eventually I think they'll pull away third fourth quarter win
Speaker 1: by like ten fifteen points. What do you think? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I agree. I really like Dean Timry, Like, I think
Speaker 1: he's a really nice player, especially when he's healthy up,
Speaker 1: but I think he has a bright future. But yeah,
Speaker 1: they just don't have enough options. Lost to mar de
Speaker 1: Rosen as well, who is really their main playmaker. Like
Speaker 1: you said, they're in a full on rebuild, all these
Speaker 1: young kind of cards any minutes. Derek White, I think
Speaker 1: I like him as well. I mean I should be
Speaker 1: a young team kind of like a close game and
Speaker 1: then pull it away at the end. Um in San
Speaker 1: Antonio definitely is going the other way in terms of
Speaker 1: wins and losses. So I agree with you. I think
Speaker 1: it's a I think it's a win. I have them
Speaker 1: and I think three and one. Now, um, you have
Speaker 1: them at four. I know, is that great? Yes? I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't have them with the loss yet. Spoiler. I
Speaker 1: have the Lakers winning a lot of games earlier this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have a I have a rationale. I will explain
Speaker 1: as we get to the games. So then they stay
Speaker 1: on the road and go to Oklahoma City to play
Speaker 1: the Thunder, another full rebuild team. Obviously, Shay Gilders Alexander
Speaker 1: is a All Star in the making, probably not the
Speaker 1: guy who's gonna be a superstar, but a guy that
Speaker 1: I expect to be kind of like a competitor for
Speaker 1: third team All NBA for most of his prime. Um.
Speaker 1: They added Derrick Favors and then they drafted that really
Speaker 1: tall point guard from Australia, Josh Kiddy. Um, this is
Speaker 1: another game I expect to be sloppy, but I think
Speaker 1: the Lakers will win by twenty just because there's just
Speaker 1: a gigantic talent gap between the two teams. What do
Speaker 1: you think? Yeah, and my notes I put Okay, see
Speaker 1: isn't fielding a real basketball team. So that's that's my
Speaker 1: notes on the Oklahoma City Um, I love, I love,
Speaker 1: I love Shay gil just Alexander. Um, I'm happy for
Speaker 1: him he got the MAX. But yeah, that team is
Speaker 1: trying to lose and trying to lose a lot um
Speaker 1: and it's kind of flagrant what's going on there. But
Speaker 1: that's another discussion. I think the Lakers definitely pull this
Speaker 1: one out and pull and it's a little homecoming for
Speaker 1: us as well. I think he loves playing in front
Speaker 1: of Oklahoma City. Gives him even that extra boost. Not
Speaker 1: that he needs it, but he playing in Oklahoma City,
Speaker 1: I think it's different for him. So yeah, I think
Speaker 1: they win that one as well. So this next game
Speaker 1: at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I think it's pretty interesting.
Speaker 1: The Cavaliers have been a team that's weirdly generated a
Speaker 1: lot of buzz recently just because some of the bigger
Speaker 1: some of the bigger NBA writers out there, guys like
Speaker 1: Zach Log, guys like Kevin O'Connor, have been really pushing ah,
Speaker 1: you know, an emphasis on how good the backcourt is,
Speaker 1: the sex Land court, which is calling Sexton and Darius Garland. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm also on board with them. However, I and
Speaker 1: Zach look kind of touched on this in his appearance
Speaker 1: on Bill Simmons podcast the other day. But like there is,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, a heavy
Speaker 1: reliance on guys in the front court that aren't exactly
Speaker 1: like Evan Mobile will one day be a fantastic front
Speaker 1: court player. Jared Jared Allen is already a great shot
Speaker 1: blocker in the front court, but just in general, they
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of guys in the front court
Speaker 1: that can put the ball on the floor and make plays,
Speaker 1: which inherently makes the game tougher for their guards. I
Speaker 1: find them to be a very interesting team. However, I
Speaker 1: find them to be a team that's gonna lose a
Speaker 1: lot of games. They added Lori marken In. That's another
Speaker 1: example of one of those guys who's a lottery pick
Speaker 1: who really struggled in Chicago, who early on in Chicago
Speaker 1: showed a lot of promise as like a good two
Speaker 1: way forward who could really shoot the ball and was
Speaker 1: kind of weirdly uh a presence around the basket, is
Speaker 1: just like a big wing who could have some defensive impact,
Speaker 1: but just in general didn't perform up to that expectation.
Speaker 1: It was it was like the idea of Lori marketing
Speaker 1: was better than he actually was as a player. Um
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley we just mentioned that had brought in Ricky Rubio,
Speaker 1: which is gonna be really nice for Collin Sexton to
Speaker 1: just kind of learn about some of the intricacies of
Speaker 1: point guard play that he's kind of missing. The rub
Speaker 1: On Callin Sexton is even though he's actually a super
Speaker 1: efficient score for a little guard. He doesn't move the
Speaker 1: basketball and so there have been issues over the years
Speaker 1: with his teammates in particular that have complained about him
Speaker 1: never passing the ball. So that's uh something. And then
Speaker 1: then they added Denzel Valentine. I put this down as
Speaker 1: the first real risk of loss for me personally on
Speaker 1: the team because it's the classic game where if Darius
Speaker 1: Scarland and Collin Sexton are going in the Lakers guards
Speaker 1: aren't dialed in defensively, they could easily trick this game off. Um,
Speaker 1: it's kind of attacking one of the Lakers specific weaknesses.
Speaker 1: But I do think the Lakers end up winning close.
Speaker 1: What do you think? Yeah? I think so too. Cleveland's
Speaker 1: interesting because I callin Sexton. He averaged twenty four game
Speaker 1: last year, which is, you know, it's nothing that's scoff at.
Speaker 1: That's not something that's easily done. We kind of put
Speaker 1: down scores in this late, but twenty four games, twenty
Speaker 1: four a game, whether you're passing or not, that's still
Speaker 1: pretty pretty good on good efficiency. Um, I think losing
Speaker 1: Larry Nance hurts. I think he's better than Larry Marketing, honestly,
Speaker 1: And they paid marketing as well, which is really strange
Speaker 1: to me. They give Jared all On a hundred million
Speaker 1: dollars and then took Mobile as well in the draft.
Speaker 1: I know, just a strange team, a lot of guys
Speaker 1: trying to get minutes. I really like Garland as well,
Speaker 1: but again Rick Rick Rubio there all the minutes. Lebron
Speaker 1: loves playing in Cleveland as well. If you remember last year,
Speaker 1: he had that crazy kind of game at the end
Speaker 1: res hitting all the shots. Um, I think they win
Speaker 1: as well. I think Lebron loves playing there. And there's
Speaker 1: still a young team to me, still trying to figure
Speaker 1: things out. Um. I don't remember if they have a
Speaker 1: new coach or not, but uh, but I think they're
Speaker 1: a young team trying to figure it out. And the
Speaker 1: contexts and stuff is just a cloud over all of
Speaker 1: this with him not getting his extensions. So I think
Speaker 1: it's just a weird still a weird young team. I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna be fun, exciting. Rob the Lakers pointing
Speaker 1: this when out should be a team a game that
Speaker 1: you win as a good team trying to trying to
Speaker 1: pursue a title here, I think these are games you
Speaker 1: have to take. I agree and I and I think
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna lean heavily and Evan mobile to
Speaker 1: get him minutes so that he can kind of continue
Speaker 1: to grow as a player. And I think the Lakers
Speaker 1: front court is just going to demolish them. Um at
Speaker 1: home against the Rockets as the next game, they have
Speaker 1: Usman Garuba. He's We've learned a lot about him in
Speaker 1: the Olympics, but just a fantastic defensive forward with flashes
Speaker 1: of like incredible all defensive potential. Jalen Green obviously, who
Speaker 1: we watched in Summer League show flashes as just a
Speaker 1: dynamic athletic two guards score. And then Daniel Tye if
Speaker 1: you guys remember as the starting center from the Celtics
Speaker 1: teams that did really well a couple of years ago. Um,
Speaker 1: I put them down taking Team Lakers by twenty and
Speaker 1: the and but it will be sloppy, and they actually
Speaker 1: played his team back to back, both games at home,
Speaker 1: so the second one will probably be sloppier than the first.
Speaker 1: But I expect these both to be Laker wins. Yeah,
Speaker 1: me too. I like Jalen Green a lot. Houston is
Speaker 1: a really young team. They're just starting the rebuild as well,
Speaker 1: so just a young team doesn't really know how to
Speaker 1: win yet, but I think they'll be really fun. They
Speaker 1: have a bunch of young guys that seem really exciting. Um.
Speaker 1: Obviously John Wall won't be there, so it really opens
Speaker 1: up minutes for Kevin Porter Jr. As we said, Jalen
Speaker 1: Green a group as well. Um, but again, just a
Speaker 1: young team doesn't know really what it's doing, but it
Speaker 1: should be fun. I feel like this is gonna be
Speaker 1: like a one twenty two like one ten type of
Speaker 1: just scoring game where the Lakers pulled out. They should
Speaker 1: win both of these games pretty comfortably though. Yeah, and uh,
Speaker 1: like you said with with Kevin Porter Jr. And with
Speaker 1: Christian Would in particular, they're gonna have lineups that have
Speaker 1: a ton of talent on the floor. I don't think
Speaker 1: they'll win games, but they will have stretches where things
Speaker 1: kind of all click, where they look like you know,
Speaker 1: Houston fans are gonna be really excited about the future. Um.
Speaker 1: Back against the Thunder again for their next game at home.
Speaker 1: I just put Lakers win by fifteen. I'm assuming you
Speaker 1: would agree. There were already talking about that team, so
Speaker 1: this next game is super interesting to me. Uh, this
Speaker 1: is on the road against the Trailblazers. They added Ben McLemore,
Speaker 1: who I have defended as being kind of in a
Speaker 1: tough spot in l A last year. UH just kind
Speaker 1: of thrown in in the middle of the season into
Speaker 1: a UH and being asked to do a lot without
Speaker 1: given much of an opportunity to really figure it out. Um.
Speaker 1: They got Larry and Aunts back in that deal with
Speaker 1: the Calves, UH, nice little spruce up for their front court.
Speaker 1: And then they got Cody Zeller. I put this as
Speaker 1: a real road test, especially after two terrible teams. One
Speaker 1: of the things that I always watch out for is
Speaker 1: when NBA teams play bad teams, they form bad habits,
Speaker 1: and it's not it's hard to overnight UH fix those habits,
Speaker 1: and so I I see this as a game where
Speaker 1: the Lakers could potentially fall behind early. However, again, there's
Speaker 1: a gigantic talent gap here, and you know there's one
Speaker 1: person on the Lakers roster who's going to make sure
Speaker 1: that the Lakers are fired up for this one, and
Speaker 1: that's Russell Westbrook. So I put this as a as
Speaker 1: a game that the Lakers would really really want to win,
Speaker 1: and thus one that I think they would win. What
Speaker 1: do you think? So I have this one as a loss. Actually,
Speaker 1: I just at Portland always seems like a tough situation.
Speaker 1: Also in my notes to put Dame hates US for
Speaker 1: some reason, and obviously that hate is doubled now with
Speaker 1: what you just said. With Russell Westbrook on the team.
Speaker 1: M him and mccollumn for some bring for some reason
Speaker 1: in the regular season, just a tough matchup for US.
Speaker 1: Two guards who can shoot off the dribble, come off
Speaker 1: screens and pull up. That really kills that. That's really
Speaker 1: kind of our heel here um in the regular season.
Speaker 1: And I just think Dame in the regular season and
Speaker 1: they'll be healthy as well. Norkus, Will Nurki should be there. Um.
Speaker 1: Covington I think is still there. Um. And they obviously
Speaker 1: switched out Gary Trent for Norman Pale last year and
Speaker 1: they resigned Norm Pal. I think they have a nice
Speaker 1: starting lineup. I think I saw the numbers They're starting
Speaker 1: line up last year was like plus eleven or something,
Speaker 1: and it was even better than the playoffs. On their
Speaker 1: bench was just terrible, and I'm not sure if they
Speaker 1: really fixed that uh in the off season. Um. But
Speaker 1: I just think regular season at Portland is a tough game.
Speaker 1: One of the losses I have for them in the
Speaker 1: regular season, it will be close. If I just have
Speaker 1: I have Portland's sneaking that one out. Yep. Bland's an
Speaker 1: interesting team because that was the that was always the
Speaker 1: silver lining for them last year was that they're starting lineup.
Speaker 1: Not only did they outscore teams by a lot in
Speaker 1: those minutes, but they they defended well, which has always
Speaker 1: been the rub on the Blazers was the fact that
Speaker 1: they didn't play any defense and essentially when they when
Speaker 1: they had that group together, for whatever reason, it clicked,
Speaker 1: but they lacked the depth to kind of maintain that
Speaker 1: as they went further into games. Um. Okay, so at
Speaker 1: home for the Hornets is next. They added James buck Knight,
Speaker 1: UH rookie that they just drafted. Super athletic kind of
Speaker 1: scoring guard. The kind of guy that's not going to
Speaker 1: have a ton of impact, especially coming off the bench
Speaker 1: for them because they already have so many uh you know,
Speaker 1: shots coming to those two guards. UM west of wound
Speaker 1: do super athletic forward, defensive type of player. UM not
Speaker 1: really too much of an impact on them in their rotation,
Speaker 1: but an interesting piece. Kelly Ubre from the Warriors kind
Speaker 1: of another interesting player who's capable of going super frosty cold.
Speaker 1: But then I'll have a game every once in a
Speaker 1: while where he looks like an All Star and then
Speaker 1: Mason plumb lay to kinda spruce up there. The center
Speaker 1: position another challenge for the Lakers defense because of how
Speaker 1: good their guards are, you know, with Almelo and Terry Rozier.
Speaker 1: But I think the Lakers size will just be completely
Speaker 1: overwhelming for them and they're just like in that season,
Speaker 1: They're gonna be games on the schedule where regardless of
Speaker 1: what's going on with talent, regardless of what's going on
Speaker 1: with uh, you know, matchups in the backcourt, regardless of
Speaker 1: what's going on with the schedule or anything, they're gonna
Speaker 1: be games where the Lakers size is just so overwhelming
Speaker 1: that they're just gonna win. Which is what happened in
Speaker 1: And I put that as one of these games. Um,
Speaker 1: Lakers by ten, What do you think? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: so to Charlotte's an interesting team. Um, I think they
Speaker 1: go as far as LaMelo kind of takes them right,
Speaker 1: Like what is his jump? Like, is he stay the
Speaker 1: same or is he make that like Donovan Mitchell, not Luca.
Speaker 1: Maybe Luca is a tough one to make too, but
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, next level, kind of close to
Speaker 1: start here, um Ken LaMelo turned into that if that
Speaker 1: that's what it is, and they're gonna be a off team.
Speaker 1: They kind of built around him as well, right. They
Speaker 1: brought all these young kind of wings you talked about
Speaker 1: Kelly Ubre. They have Miles Bridges as well, guys that
Speaker 1: can run the wing for him. Um, I forgot the
Speaker 1: center they brought in, but the big man they brought in.
Speaker 1: But okay, yes, they brought in another like athletic kind
Speaker 1: of big for him. Um, just to run the offense through. Again,
Speaker 1: I still think they're a super young team. Uh, they're
Speaker 1: kind of They're gonna give you fits in the regular season.
Speaker 1: They're gonna try to run the ball and all. That.
Speaker 1: Should be a fun one at Staples. I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers pull it out, but I think they'll be close.
Speaker 1: Last year, they gave us a They give us a
Speaker 1: hell of a game last year too. I remember when
Speaker 1: we were healthy. I think LaMelo had a big game
Speaker 1: at Staples. Just a fun young remember that. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: LaMelo is good. I think he's the real deal, so
Speaker 1: we'll we'll see his kind of the next step in development.
Speaker 1: He has a full, healthy offseason as well to work
Speaker 1: on his game, so I'm excited to see what Charlotte
Speaker 1: turns into. But the Lakers winning this one as well.
Speaker 1: The interesting phenomenon with LaMelo last year was that he
Speaker 1: often was taken off the floor for clutch situations. Um,
Speaker 1: he's got great physical rules and has a tendency to
Speaker 1: disrupt a lot of plays defensively by getting his hands
Speaker 1: on the ball. However, he's your classic young player who
Speaker 1: doesn't really understand that. You know. Uh, there's uh. I
Speaker 1: can't even remember who said this, so I want to
Speaker 1: be I feel bad because I'm not going to properly
Speaker 1: credit them, But they laid this out so perfectly. They
Speaker 1: were saying, like, good defense is about making good offense
Speaker 1: not happen, not about turnovers, you know, because a turnover
Speaker 1: is difficult to replicate. If you reach in and swipe
Speaker 1: a ball from somebody and go the other way, that's great,
Speaker 1: But the next time you tried that, he's probably gonna
Speaker 1: do behind the bactory will leave you in the dust
Speaker 1: and break down your defense. Good defense is about always
Speaker 1: being in the right spot at the right time so
Speaker 1: that good offense doesn't happen. LaMelo has to learn that
Speaker 1: side of the game. It's kind of a similar stuff
Speaker 1: that we've been talking about with th h T. But
Speaker 1: I'm really interested in watching LaMelo's progress because he should
Speaker 1: be a good defensive player in the long run. That
Speaker 1: was actually that was Pete Webb, who was on the
Speaker 1: Laker film room. Thank you so much. That was a
Speaker 1: really interesting pot. By the way, I really enjoyed it was.
Speaker 1: It was great. He's great. Um So home for the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat added Kyle Lowry, markis Morris P. J. Tucker
Speaker 1: from the Bucks. Um I put this is the only
Speaker 1: Lakers loss in the first fifteen games, so I have
Speaker 1: them going fourteen and one to start the season, large
Speaker 1: in large part because of the uh the week schedule.
Speaker 1: But this is a couple of things. This is a
Speaker 1: team that for starters, the Kyle Lowry has always had
Speaker 1: his way with the Lakers. Um Secondly, the Heat always
Speaker 1: play their brand of basketball, which is in this season
Speaker 1: in particular, I think it's gonna be just very similar
Speaker 1: to the two thousand nineteen Raptors, just like obnoxiously good
Speaker 1: defense and just really fundamentally sound offense. To me, this
Speaker 1: is the kind of game where it's gonna be in Staples.
Speaker 1: The Heat are going to kind of always be up
Speaker 1: by five, and the Lakers are just gonna seem a
Speaker 1: little bit out of it mentally and kind of coasting
Speaker 1: their way through the game, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: like Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler are just gonna make
Speaker 1: a bunch of big shots down the stretch, and then
Speaker 1: they end up losing about like ten, and it's just
Speaker 1: kind of one of those weird games. So I have
Speaker 1: this as a Lakers loss. What about you? I actually
Speaker 1: do too, you know what? You know, it's funny. Those
Speaker 1: are actually the worst games to watch as a fan
Speaker 1: where your team is down five and you can never
Speaker 1: like get over that hump, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Like those are the most frustrating kind of games, Like
Speaker 1: you make it close and then they make like two
Speaker 1: shots in a row, which is exactly what Miami does.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler plays at his pace, Kyle plays at his pace.
Speaker 1: Baman of Bio is kind of a slow, kind of
Speaker 1: big right, He's kind of just plays his pick and
Speaker 1: roll kind of game. UM. I agree, Miami's gonna be
Speaker 1: a great regular season team to me this year. Eric
Speaker 1: Spoelstra amazing coach. Um, he'll find a way to make
Speaker 1: that work. I have this one as a loss to UM,
Speaker 1: so I have this as their third loss UM in
Speaker 1: this series. But yeah, I think Miami is a really
Speaker 1: good team that's gonna be a tough one to kind
Speaker 1: of pull out. UM should be close, though, two really
Speaker 1: good teams. To me, I think these are both teams
Speaker 1: that could compete for an NBA championships. So I think, uh,
Speaker 1: I think Miami wins this one in stables. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I I would pick the Lakers over Like, there were
Speaker 1: a lot of people are like, oh, gotta watch out
Speaker 1: for the Raptors in the playoffs if we ever run
Speaker 1: into them in the finals, they're a bad mans up,
Speaker 1: And I always disagreed with that, Like, I never thought
Speaker 1: that the Raptors were a real threat to the Lakers
Speaker 1: in a playoff series. I just think some there are
Speaker 1: some types of matchups that are particularly tough for specific
Speaker 1: types of teams in the regular season, and I thought
Speaker 1: that that was kind of what that was. And I
Speaker 1: think the Miami Heat are kind of a similar example
Speaker 1: in that regard um next home for the Timberwolves. The
Speaker 1: only meaningful change that I put down with Patrick Beverley,
Speaker 1: they're kind of more or less the same group of
Speaker 1: guys that they were last year. The cores center on
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell, and Karl Anthony Towns, which is
Speaker 1: really funky fit because Anthony Edwards will one day be
Speaker 1: a great defensive player, but right now he's not, and
Speaker 1: neither is Dangel Russell, neither is Karl Anthony town So
Speaker 1: they're kind of built around a core that doesn't defend,
Speaker 1: and that's obviously your recipe for disaster in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I put the Lakers win by ten. But the weird
Speaker 1: wrinkle with this is the Timberwolves are potential Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: trade destination, and it's very possible that by this point
Speaker 1: they look very different. Um, but that's where we might
Speaker 1: as well react to what we know for now. And
Speaker 1: so right now it's Patrick Beverley in the same group,
Speaker 1: and I think the Lakers went by ten. What about you? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree in Minnesota has their own issues. Um. I
Speaker 1: think they just like let co of their GM yesterday.
Speaker 1: For some weere some other reasons. Um, but yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I think the Lakers win this one as well.
Speaker 1: I think, uh, Minnesota is gonna depend on Cat. To me,
Speaker 1: like Edwards is obviously great still in the second year
Speaker 1: DEALO is who he is now in the league. I
Speaker 1: think we know what D'Angel Russell is. Um, he's gonna
Speaker 1: be a kind of off the dribble, high volume kind
Speaker 1: of score. Um, it's all around Krar Anthony Towns. Kenny
Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Towns came to league as like this defensive big,
Speaker 1: like we forget his rookie year, like he was a
Speaker 1: good defensive big. Like he was there. They used to
Speaker 1: do these poles like who would you take cat Um,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis or Embeed And people would pick Karl Anthony
Speaker 1: Towns a lot of times. And I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: just Minnesota not really being a real fan franchise for
Speaker 1: a while um kind of changed that. But uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think they're gonna depend big on Cap.
Speaker 1: The Lakers should win this one. I think they're the
Speaker 1: overall talent gap is just too big. When Minnesota, you know,
Speaker 1: takes away the starting lineup, they really don't have much
Speaker 1: coming off the bench, So yeah, I think the Leaders
Speaker 1: win this one as well. So, you know, Carl, I
Speaker 1: think there are Karl Anthony Towns is an interesting case
Speaker 1: defensively because I think there are two different kinds of
Speaker 1: of defensive players. They're like tone setters, and then there
Speaker 1: are guys that kind of like like think of it
Speaker 1: as like leaders and followers, right like you know, um,
Speaker 1: like Anthony Davis is a defensive leader. Like whatever tone
Speaker 1: he sets defensively, the rest of the team just kind
Speaker 1: of follows. I think Russell Westbrook will be a guy
Speaker 1: like that this year, to like, if he really sets
Speaker 1: the tone at the point of attack, I think the
Speaker 1: rest of the team will follow. Karl Anthony Towns And
Speaker 1: this is I kind of was defending him a little
Speaker 1: bit on Twitter last night because people were bringing up
Speaker 1: the two thousand eighteen first round series against the Rockets
Speaker 1: and how he didn't play particularly well. You know, in general,
Speaker 1: I was defending Dean DeAndre Jordan for the same example.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan and Karl Anthony Towns, in my opinion, are
Speaker 1: guys that if they are put around a group of
Speaker 1: guys who are defending, they are capable of being much
Speaker 1: better defenders than if you ask them to lead the way.
Speaker 1: Carl Anthon Town's clear really doesn't have the defensive impact
Speaker 1: or the defensive you know care, you know, for passion,
Speaker 1: whatever you wanna call it, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: He's not going to set the tone for you defensively.
Speaker 1: But if they did bring in Ben Simmons or somebody
Speaker 1: along those lines, who could be a tones that are defensively.
Speaker 1: I do think Karl Anthony Towns will have a phase
Speaker 1: of his career where he defends well. He just so
Speaker 1: that's kind of the way that I would frame his
Speaker 1: defensive progression to this point, if that makes sense that does.
Speaker 1: He's also like an offensive monsters. Numbers are insane. It
Speaker 1: just doesn't really translate to like super dominant basketball, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like is it shooting numbers are
Speaker 1: like when you talk about him, they say, like he's
Speaker 1: one of the best shooting bigs ever, But you look
Speaker 1: at it in terms of impact winning, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: impact the scoreboard as much as I think it should.
Speaker 1: And again maybe that's just his surrounding roster around him.
Speaker 1: But the talent is there, like he should be this
Speaker 1: defensive leader, like you're saying, but he's just not He
Speaker 1: needs like a he needs an anchor around him. Obviously
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler was that for them. But again, Minnesota is
Speaker 1: in a weird place now where they're trying to figure
Speaker 1: things out. And when they had Jimmy Butler and they
Speaker 1: were healthy, they were actually really good. Um it didn't
Speaker 1: really build so much because they had big injury problems
Speaker 1: and then they barely squeaked into the playoffs because of
Speaker 1: those injury problems and a mid season trade for Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 1: They got into the playoffs on the last day of
Speaker 1: the regular season by beating the Denver Nuggets, and then
Speaker 1: they ran into that buzz saw Houston Rockets team, which
Speaker 1: is one of the best teams to ever not win
Speaker 1: a title. And uh so, just in general, the way
Speaker 1: that I would frame that is like, he had one
Speaker 1: real season, half a season really where he was in
Speaker 1: a competent system, and he will have more seasons in
Speaker 1: the future where he's in a competent system, and we
Speaker 1: should evaluate him then. And lastly, he in theory, is
Speaker 1: a devastating playoff weapon. He is a guy who can
Speaker 1: score out of the post, meaning that you can absolutely
Speaker 1: throw him the ball out of a switch in a
Speaker 1: playoff defense. That's switching and attack mismatches. And he can
Speaker 1: space the floor, not just space the floor, but like
Speaker 1: space the floor to the elite level, Like he could
Speaker 1: shoot six threes a game and make forty two them. That,
Speaker 1: in theory, should be a really devastating playoff player. And
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see whether or not that really amounts
Speaker 1: to anything. Um home for the Spurs next. We already
Speaker 1: talked about their roster. I have this as another Lakers win.
Speaker 1: How about you? Yeah, me too. Yeah, it's still young team.
Speaker 1: We went into the mory so uh. Last game in
Speaker 1: the first fifteen is the Bulls. They added a Lonzo Ball,
Speaker 1: Demarta Rosen and Alex Caruso. Um, this is a team
Speaker 1: that has really varying opinions. You've got guys on their
Speaker 1: online we think they're gonna be great, and then you
Speaker 1: have guys who think they're gonna be terrible. I put
Speaker 1: this as a tough game. I think the Lakers are
Speaker 1: more equipped to handle this team defensively because they don't
Speaker 1: have fantastic dribble drive guards. Most of their offense centers
Speaker 1: around really aggressive jump shooting from Levine. You know, Alonzo
Speaker 1: has turned himself into a really aggressive jump shooter, and
Speaker 1: then Demarta Rosen who likes to attack mismatches in the post.
Speaker 1: So from that standpoint, I see this as a team
Speaker 1: that that kind of plays into the Lakers matchups. So
Speaker 1: even though I actually am higher on the Bull than
Speaker 1: most people are, I do believe in their formula. I
Speaker 1: think the Lakers will win this game by about ten
Speaker 1: points because I think it's a good match up. What
Speaker 1: about you, Yeah, I mean too. I went back and
Speaker 1: forth with winner loss. I ended up on the Lakers
Speaker 1: winning this one. Chicago is like a real test case
Speaker 1: for like what matters defensively in the NBA. Right, they
Speaker 1: have all these like not all. Obviously Tomarrojamarto Rose, and
Speaker 1: Zach Kalvine aren't great, but Lonzo Ball and Alex Cruso
Speaker 1: are good on ball defenders. But in their back line
Speaker 1: they have Vukovich as their main, you know, rim protector.
Speaker 1: Like it's gonna be interesting to see if they can
Speaker 1: even keep a good defense with that. And obviously when
Speaker 1: you play Alonzo and Alex Scruso, you give up a
Speaker 1: lot of offense as well, So I'm just wondering how
Speaker 1: that works and then Zach Lawe Jamada Rosen kind of
Speaker 1: going to kind of do the same things. Um, So
Speaker 1: I'm really interested to see how they work. But they
Speaker 1: did put a bunch of talent together, like they have talent,
Speaker 1: I just don't know how much it impacts to winning,
Speaker 1: So I'm interested to see how how that works. But
Speaker 1: you have the Lakers winning this one. I don't think
Speaker 1: the Bulls um can defend well enough inside. I think
Speaker 1: a D will be a lot for you know, Lebron
Speaker 1: and they have nobody that can guard the barn. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: and again the perimeter defenders. You give up a lot
Speaker 1: of offense when you play those two together. So I'm
Speaker 1: just interest to see how that works. I think the
Speaker 1: Bulls will be an okay playing team. That's where I
Speaker 1: have them at Zavine Demarmarta Rosen should be able to
Speaker 1: rack up a good enough regular season wins to put
Speaker 1: them in the plane, but I think they lose at stables.
Speaker 1: You So you have them at twelve and three. Am
Speaker 1: I accounting that correctly? Yes? Yes, I do. Okay, So
Speaker 1: I had them fourteen in one and I wanted to
Speaker 1: explain why because there are a couple of coin flip
Speaker 1: games that I had going for the Lakers. And this
Speaker 1: is something that I've talked about on the podcast before,
Speaker 1: but I just wanted to quickly reiterate it. You know,
Speaker 1: it's really easy to sit there and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, classic Lebron team coast through the regular season,
Speaker 1: and you know, they like they're they're they're not going
Speaker 1: to really be trying to win all these games. Oh
Speaker 1: there's basketball fit, you know that takes time. Blah blah
Speaker 1: blah blah. They're gonna I think I think the Lakers
Speaker 1: are gonna win sixty five games this year. And I've
Speaker 1: laid this out before, but the reality of the Lebron
Speaker 1: A D experience has been that when Lebron is healthy,
Speaker 1: they absolutely try in the regular season. They try harder
Speaker 1: than just about every team in the end be A
Speaker 1: in the regular season, you know, maybe then the other
Speaker 1: the other than maybe the Bucks, so like the and
Speaker 1: that is evidence in their defensive ratings, and it's evidence
Speaker 1: in their win loss record. They won sixty They wanted
Speaker 1: a sixty four win paste before the bubble last year,
Speaker 1: and they wanted a six or two years ago, and
Speaker 1: they wanted a sixty four win paste before the Lebron
Speaker 1: and a d injuries last year. So the reality is
Speaker 1: is when they're healthy, they try to win. If the
Speaker 1: Lakers are are not in uh near the top of
Speaker 1: the standings, in my opinion, it will only be because
Speaker 1: of injuries. And if you look at that schedule, every
Speaker 1: one of those games is winnable. They absolutely they don't
Speaker 1: play a real contender at all in that first I
Speaker 1: mean maybe the Sun's if you're counting the Sun's maybe,
Speaker 1: but like they don't play any of the top tier
Speaker 1: teams in the league in this first fifteen game stretch.
Speaker 1: They will probably in Vegas be favored in every single
Speaker 1: one of them. So it is absolutely in play that
Speaker 1: they could go fifteen and No. I'm picking fourteen and
Speaker 1: one because I think they will drop one of them.
Speaker 1: But I I I really think people are going to
Speaker 1: be surprised at how well the Lakers mesh pretty quickly
Speaker 1: and how well they attack the season. And lastly, the
Speaker 1: people are obsessed with the Russell Westbrook fit. And I
Speaker 1: think Darius Oriana laid this out the other day on
Speaker 1: his pod, but the Shrewder fit for for the fact
Speaker 1: that Shrewder is obviously an inferior player to Russ. It's
Speaker 1: a similar basketball dynamic though, and this is something that
Speaker 1: I addressed on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. But
Speaker 1: like the Lebron is familiar with what it's like to
Speaker 1: play with the ball dominant guard, and people are are
Speaker 1: kind of over and and if you're concerned about spacing
Speaker 1: issues with rust, do you think people regarding Dennis Shrewder
Speaker 1: out by the three point line now? So, like, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, it's going to be a very similar fit
Speaker 1: to last year, just with a much better player. So
Speaker 1: I expect that in Lebron and a d one went
Speaker 1: twenty four and three in their first season together to start,
Speaker 1: So I don't think fit and and that and integration
Speaker 1: is going to be much of a problem. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: at twelve and three, I kind of looked at it
Speaker 1: from percentage point, that's about a sixty five and a
Speaker 1: half win pays um eighty two game regular season in
Speaker 1: twelve and three fourteen and one isn't that crazy much off?
Speaker 1: I'm going off that twenty one and six kind of
Speaker 1: very pessimistic. Um. What's funny though, after after those fifteen games,
Speaker 1: the next two games are actually Milwaukee and Boston, So
Speaker 1: that's a kind of nice little test there, um those
Speaker 1: two games right after that. But you're right, this is
Speaker 1: a really easy schedule and they should win a lot
Speaker 1: of these. You're gonna hear a lot of strength of
Speaker 1: strength of schedule kind of arguments again, ready for that,
Speaker 1: like it did in nineteen. But yeah, a lot of
Speaker 1: these should be wins. Man. The league kind of hooked
Speaker 1: them up a lot of home games against a really
Speaker 1: bad team, So you should be able to rack up wins.
Speaker 1: And I think in the regular season that matters, you know,
Speaker 1: getting some wins, getting some confidence, you know, as a
Speaker 1: good team. Um, when you have a good record, it
Speaker 1: kind of plays out through the year and really helps out.
Speaker 1: So um. I think also with the new team, that's
Speaker 1: a big deal. And Westbrook, Lebron and a d is
Speaker 1: just enough talent to bulldoze um more than percent of
Speaker 1: the league to me, no matter what system or whatever
Speaker 1: chemistry it takes to build with them. So I agree
Speaker 1: with there should be fun. It should be a fun
Speaker 1: season fans back in the stadiums, I think means a lot.
Speaker 1: Um those first regular season games early in the year
Speaker 1: last year just felt dead a lot of the times,
Speaker 1: just no energy, and uh, I think crowdback means a lot,
Speaker 1: so that we should have a good start here. I
Speaker 1: think fifteen games is a nice kind of benchmark that
Speaker 1: we looked at there. Um and yeah, we have them
Speaker 1: winning a lot of games early. So hopefully this doesn't
Speaker 1: backfire and they're like they're like seven and eight or
Speaker 1: something to start. But but but yeah, this should be
Speaker 1: a good, good start this season. I would be absolutely
Speaker 1: flabbergastaid if they lost more than three years and that start. Um,
Speaker 1: So we're gonna move pretty quickly through these next couple
Speaker 1: of topics because we only have about thirteen minutes, so uh,
Speaker 1: really quickly. Frank Vogel did an interview with the Spectrum
Speaker 1: Sports Net, and the two main things that you and
Speaker 1: I took away were him saying that region Rondo was
Speaker 1: going to basically be Jared Dudley. We won't talk about
Speaker 1: that per se, but I think that's good news for
Speaker 1: both you and I because that was one of my
Speaker 1: biggest concerns when they brought him in, was whether or
Speaker 1: not he was gonna take minutes away from some of
Speaker 1: the other cards. Um. The one we will talk about
Speaker 1: is Frank mentioned that he doesn't know if a D
Speaker 1: is gonna play at the center and that it's gonna
Speaker 1: end on training camp in which groups look good together.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you go first, but I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: I'm calling BS on this one. What do you think? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think he was just giving all of you guys
Speaker 1: a bone, you know what I mean. You guys have
Speaker 1: kind of been waiting for this, for this kind of news,
Speaker 1: and he kind of threw it to you. I'm not
Speaker 1: I don't know if i'd call it BS, like I
Speaker 1: do think he goes into training camp like with an
Speaker 1: open mind. Obviously, every coach is going to go in
Speaker 1: with who they think, right Vogel, this is his life,
Speaker 1: so obviously he's been drawing up rotations since you know,
Speaker 1: August or whatever September for what he thinks. But I'm
Speaker 1: sure if he goes in and someone kills one of
Speaker 1: the power four is just kill it. Let's say a
Speaker 1: reason is just amazing in camp. Maybe he starts, you know,
Speaker 1: at the at the three, with Lebron at the four.
Speaker 1: So I think that is an open possibility. I think
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan has or Dwight Howard has to kind of
Speaker 1: lead in this to be the starting uh starting center
Speaker 1: but I think it's open, and I think it's good
Speaker 1: to hear him say that as well. So I don't
Speaker 1: I don't call it BS, but I do think he
Speaker 1: has an idea of his rotation would be. But I
Speaker 1: think training camp things can't change. People can win. I
Speaker 1: think th ht of really impressed in training camp in
Speaker 1: preseason last year and put him in the rotation when
Speaker 1: you know it probably wasn't sure if he was going
Speaker 1: to be So I think there are there are spots
Speaker 1: to be taken in and with the Rondo news, it
Speaker 1: means that like you know, uh, Kendrick Non Maligue Monk
Speaker 1: are probably gonna get those minutes at backup guards. So
Speaker 1: I think that's a that's a good thing as well. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I would say that this is just my prediction
Speaker 1: and we're gonna we're gonna find out here pretty quick.
Speaker 1: I would say that they absolutely know what the starting
Speaker 1: front court is going to be. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be Lebron and a D at the four and the five.
Speaker 1: That's my prediction and we will see um. But regardless
Speaker 1: whether it's a D at the four with Dwight or
Speaker 1: or DeAndre Jordan at the five, or a D at
Speaker 1: the five, whether that's one or two spots. I do
Speaker 1: think that the one or two guard slash wings that
Speaker 1: they're gonna put next to Russ and Lebron and a D.
Speaker 1: I absolutely think that's up in the air. My guess
Speaker 1: is that that will be entirely based on camp and
Speaker 1: I really think it could be anybody if I had to,
Speaker 1: If I had to pick, I would guess that it
Speaker 1: will be Ellington and uh and Aresa. That's start. That's
Speaker 1: just my guests will be Russ, Ellington, Areza, Lebron e D.
Speaker 1: I love that lineup defensively, and I love that lineup
Speaker 1: with the shooting around UH, the A D at the
Speaker 1: five lineup to create driving lanes. That's my favorite starting
Speaker 1: lineup combo. However, you could you could make the case
Speaker 1: for anybody to me. I think Kendrick nun is somebody
Speaker 1: that I don't expect to start. But I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised if Malik Monks somehow got it. I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised if th Ht somehow got it. I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised if Baysmore somehow got it. I think every one
Speaker 1: of those other guys is absolutely in the equation and
Speaker 1: training camp will be when they fight for and earn
Speaker 1: that spot, if that makes sense, right, Ran. There's a
Speaker 1: little other tidbit that vocals hit in there. It kind
Speaker 1: of went unnoticed, a little hit I saw. But he
Speaker 1: was talking about the defense, right, and they told him
Speaker 1: a lot of our defensive guards went out this summer.
Speaker 1: He said, they did, but we did get a lot
Speaker 1: of kind of players back that you know, aren't liabilities,
Speaker 1: is what he called them. And then um, he said
Speaker 1: about the defense, Um, the guards will have help back
Speaker 1: there again like they did in twenty money. So you
Speaker 1: kind of referred to the uh he kind of referred
Speaker 1: to the Yeah, he kind of he kind of slid
Speaker 1: it in there and went kind of unnoticed, but I
Speaker 1: made sure to write that down. You know. He said,
Speaker 1: hell back here again like they did in twin twin,
Speaker 1: referring more to me to the shop blocking, right. I
Speaker 1: think that's the difference. Dwight Howard and uh DeAndre doner
Speaker 1: more shop blocking type of bigs than Harrow and drummondware.
Speaker 1: So the treas and Mark just weren't just Mark vertical exactly.
Speaker 1: So you know, these little TIBs he throws out there
Speaker 1: it could put us in any direction. I'm just I
Speaker 1: thought that was interesting as well, when you, uh, when
Speaker 1: he referred back to that title team. But it's gonna
Speaker 1: be interesting. We'll know really soon, so we'll know in
Speaker 1: a few days anyway, but I just thought those were
Speaker 1: kind of interesting takes from him. Yeah, I'm glad you
Speaker 1: mentioned that part about the defensive liabilities, because that, to
Speaker 1: me is the is the key difference. Like, do the
Speaker 1: so the last year's Lakers lacks defensive liabilities almost entirely, right,
Speaker 1: like maybe aside from Ben McLemore, like, all of their
Speaker 1: guards were good defensive guards and and we however, this year,
Speaker 1: do they have weak defensive cards? Yeah, they do. They
Speaker 1: have some on the roster, like in wings like Carmelo
Speaker 1: that's a weak option. Leaku Monk at this point in
Speaker 1: his career, that's a weak option. Russell Westbrook has shown
Speaker 1: a tendency to be you know, we've talked about it,
Speaker 1: but he's he's he's capable of being a good defensive player,
Speaker 1: but he hasn't been in recent years. Same thing goes
Speaker 1: for Kendrick Nunn. However, they will apt Frank will absolutely
Speaker 1: have access to lineups that can defend at the guard position.
Speaker 1: Will he have options that will be more offensive oriented, Yes,
Speaker 1: but he will be able to go th Ht Russ,
Speaker 1: bays More, Ellington. Those four players are all capable of
Speaker 1: being above average defensive players, and so from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: he will always have options. If if the offense is
Speaker 1: stilted and he needs to get Lebron and a D going,
Speaker 1: He'll be able to put a D at the five,
Speaker 1: put a ton of shooting out there, and Lebron and
Speaker 1: Nadie will build their confidence. If it's a rock fight
Speaker 1: like that game against Miami and it's just like we're
Speaker 1: we're in a in an ugly fist fight, it's two
Speaker 1: eighty two, four minutes left in the fourth quarter, he'll
Speaker 1: be able to go to lineups with more physical point
Speaker 1: of attack guards that will be able to hold their
Speaker 1: own On that end, it's there's a more defense. There
Speaker 1: are more defensive options than people are letting on outside
Speaker 1: of the Laker fan base. I think, yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: agree with that, and they should be able to keep
Speaker 1: a company defense and Vocal seems Um seems ready to
Speaker 1: do that. But I'm really interested to see how it
Speaker 1: looks and how he kind of builds that. Uh, if
Speaker 1: he goes back to that kind of defense, or if
Speaker 1: he starts eight and Lebron at the four or five,
Speaker 1: we kind of switch a little more. So interesting see
Speaker 1: how he goes with it. But we're not pretty soon,
Speaker 1: so we have about seven minutes here. We're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about the Ben Simmons situation, and I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let you go first on this one. So the obviously
Speaker 1: the Ben Simmons situation in and of itself is complicated,
Speaker 1: but it's been kind of attached to this larger narrative
Speaker 1: having to do with player empowerment. So I think I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna ask you the broad question, what are your
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Ben Simmons situation and uh, what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on the player empowerment movement in general? So
Speaker 1: to me, these are two separate entities. Like to me,
Speaker 1: this is a totally different situation because usually in the
Speaker 1: player townament era, players who are at Ben Simmons age,
Speaker 1: he's like twenty four who are star players. Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: a star in the name, he's been an All Star
Speaker 1: and all that, who is on a long contract. The
Speaker 1: reason they want to leave is because it's not a
Speaker 1: winning situation, right, That's usually the way, so they pull
Speaker 1: themselves out of it. It's not a winning situation. They
Speaker 1: want to go somewhere where they can win games and
Speaker 1: make money and live in a nicer area. Right, that's
Speaker 1: kind of the way. This is not what's happening with
Speaker 1: the Ben Simmons situation. He wants to leave a good team.
Speaker 1: Philly was the one seed last year. Like, we lose
Speaker 1: this because they lost to the Hawks in second round,
Speaker 1: but they were the one seed. I think they won
Speaker 1: sixty games or they want close to it. They want
Speaker 1: like fifty maybe they want like fifty seven. Whatever, they're
Speaker 1: a good team. They'll still have their good core, interactive
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons or to have stayed um. But to me,
Speaker 1: this is totally different than the player powermon area. Now
Speaker 1: what's going on in Oklahoma City. I feel like that
Speaker 1: should be more of what people should be looking at,
Speaker 1: like what's going on there. To me, that's a bigger
Speaker 1: issue that the lead should be looking their eyes at.
Speaker 1: Adam similar has totally just you know, took a blind
Speaker 1: eye to that, letting them do whatever they want, let
Speaker 1: their star go home in March because they want to
Speaker 1: lose games. Like, to me, that's that's what we should
Speaker 1: be looking at Ben Simmons situations and totally different. DC
Speaker 1: Rivers should not be going out and saying he doesn't
Speaker 1: know if his star point guard he can win with
Speaker 1: when the star point guard is signed for four more years,
Speaker 1: like he's been the lead too long to say these
Speaker 1: kinds of things. If Joel and Beat says that, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's his teammate, you know, he's not. Really It's not
Speaker 1: his job to kind of have pr relations or whatever.
Speaker 1: DC Rivers, part of his job is to be good
Speaker 1: in the media, Like that's part of his job, he's
Speaker 1: part of. Part of his job is to be paid
Speaker 1: to do that. So I think this is a totally
Speaker 1: different situation. Ben Simmons obviously felt disrespected and wants to leave,
Speaker 1: and I don't really blame him. Now, Ben Simmons deciding
Speaker 1: not to show up to camp, I think that's a
Speaker 1: threat that I'm not sure he'll really go with. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of money to give up. Um. I
Speaker 1: saw like Brian Windhorse said he got paid like half
Speaker 1: his salary are ready or something weird? Um, because you
Speaker 1: know Rich Paul of course, how dare they you know,
Speaker 1: get their clients their money early. But uh, obviously it's
Speaker 1: Rich Paul's fault. But uh but yeah, so I think
Speaker 1: this is just a different situation to me, Like it's
Speaker 1: it's totally new. This is not why star players leave
Speaker 1: or are leaving. Ben Simmons is a totally different situation.
Speaker 1: So that's how I said, how do you see it?
Speaker 1: Do you kind of go with that or you think
Speaker 1: this is all in part of the plant Parliament area
Speaker 1: as well. Also, what's happening in New Orleans to me
Speaker 1: is another thing that like people should be looking at
Speaker 1: with Zion, you know what I mean. I think that's
Speaker 1: a bigger thing the league should be looking at, rather
Speaker 1: than this Ben Simmons situation, which to me is totally different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're preaching, Roger. I agree with literally everything that you're saying.
Speaker 1: I would argue that there are three completely separate situations
Speaker 1: taking place here. There is the Ben Simmons situation and
Speaker 1: the problems that the Sixers should have with the fact
Speaker 1: that he hasn't improved at all, um not not anything
Speaker 1: that they should be able to actionably do anything about.
Speaker 1: But however, there is conversation to be had about Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons and how like, uh, culpable he is in his
Speaker 1: lack of improvement. Then there's an issue with the player
Speaker 1: empowerment era. Right, There's a conversation to have about the
Speaker 1: problems that could manifest in the long run for the
Speaker 1: league with the health of the of the fan bases
Speaker 1: if you continue to let players flex their way out
Speaker 1: of contracts with many years left. However, that is not
Speaker 1: at all related, in my opinion, to this specific situation.
Speaker 1: The Anthony Davis situation with the Pelicans, that's a great example.
Speaker 1: Grass is greener. On the other side, Star just wanted
Speaker 1: to go to a better team in a better city.
Speaker 1: You know. The Khi Leonard situation is very different. He
Speaker 1: had a problem with the athletic training staff, you know. Uh,
Speaker 1: but he did do some flexing when he went to
Speaker 1: the Clippers because he was asking for basically, you know,
Speaker 1: completely uh, you know, outrageous favors from the ownership groups. Like,
Speaker 1: there's a conversation to be had about player empowerment. I
Speaker 1: just don't think it's related to the Ben Simmons case.
Speaker 1: In the Ben Simmons case, you have a player that
Speaker 1: has been like directly attacked in the in the press
Speaker 1: by Joe l Embiid his co star and by his
Speaker 1: head coach and a general manager has gone out and
Speaker 1: openly shot the guy. He has every right to want out,
Speaker 1: and I and I will be I think it would
Speaker 1: be a huge mistake for Darryl Moorey if he decided
Speaker 1: to try to withhold any salary, because I think all
Speaker 1: the players in the league are watching this situation and
Speaker 1: I think it would directly impact their ability to sign
Speaker 1: free agents in the future. But I think it's important
Speaker 1: for us to delineate all those subjects, like Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: deserves criticism for not improving. The Sixers should absolutely pay
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons until they trade him. If they want to
Speaker 1: hold out for a better package, by all means, go ahead,
Speaker 1: but they should absolutely pay him because they are partially
Speaker 1: responsible for for him wanting out. And then the situation
Speaker 1: with UH with player empowerment, there's a conversation to be
Speaker 1: had there, but it's separate. Those are all separate issues
Speaker 1: and they shouldn't kind of bleed into each other. If
Speaker 1: that makes sense. No, it does. And I see people
Speaker 1: talking about Ben Simmons game like, oh, like you know
Speaker 1: he still does this and he's still Like to me,
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, his issue was never his game. It's like this,
Speaker 1: it's a lack of aggression, it's a you know, it's
Speaker 1: a lack of like uh using his talent to where
Speaker 1: he could, like if he just didn't shoot would be
Speaker 1: a bigger issue. So to me, his game he isn't
Speaker 1: even a part of this. Like, this is totally different.
Speaker 1: This is a whole different situation to me, um than
Speaker 1: what people are talking about with this has nothing to
Speaker 1: do with the James Harden situation. Comparing to that just
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me, Like he wants out due
Speaker 1: to externally or factors. Right, most players who want out
Speaker 1: it's because of what's it's because they're not winning. So
Speaker 1: to me, it's a totally different situation. And withholding money,
Speaker 1: like I don't know, we joke about clutch, but I
Speaker 1: mean that's not an enemy you really want in the
Speaker 1: league to me, like like so I'm just I'm just thinking.
Speaker 1: Also it's a bad look as well, just withholding with
Speaker 1: holding money from a player, it's just it's just not
Speaker 1: a good look on your franchise. And to me, I
Speaker 1: would have let Doc go before I go through this
Speaker 1: fire like I mean, like it's just to me, like
Speaker 1: that's the movie here, Like I mean, DC Rivers. I'm
Speaker 1: sure it's a good He's been named as a player's coach,
Speaker 1: which is hilarious about you know, it's kind of funny
Speaker 1: how this worked out. But like just I feel like
Speaker 1: I would have let go before I go through this
Speaker 1: flame with VN Simmons um. And again, this could have
Speaker 1: all been probably avoided if none of these comments were public.
Speaker 1: But you know, what goes in public is probably half
Speaker 1: of what's said in private, right, Like just think about
Speaker 1: what they say in private if if what came out
Speaker 1: publicly came out. So this probably has been brewing him.
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons isn't dumb. He knows they shopped him for
Speaker 1: James Harden and that's part of the NBA. That's not
Speaker 1: that's not That doesn't mean he should have asked for
Speaker 1: a trade. Then I'm just saying like this is stuff
Speaker 1: that's all been building. But it's totally different. Man. Like
Speaker 1: again I said, like, what's happening, Okay, see what's happening
Speaker 1: in New Orleans to me is a thing that Lee
Speaker 1: should be looking at. This is totally separate. This is
Speaker 1: uh something that Philly has done to themselves in my opinion,
Speaker 1: and Ben Simmons is at fault. He shouldn't be passing
Speaker 1: up dunks and that's the fourth quarter of Game Seven's
Speaker 1: like that. He should not be. He needs to be uh,
Speaker 1: he needs to help hold himself accountable for all the
Speaker 1: stuff on the basketball court. But this is totally separate
Speaker 1: from that. And I think I think you've kind of
Speaker 1: talked about this as well. So I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: be traded. I think they waited too long though, like
Speaker 1: the seasons about to start. I don't know what they
Speaker 1: do here. What can you get a D'Angelo Russell trade package?
Speaker 1: Just doesn't really I don't know Doo much. And again,
Speaker 1: it's such a it's such a like one of one
Speaker 1: situation because usually when you're the one seed, like you're
Speaker 1: not giving up your star player for anything. But just
Speaker 1: a different situations that I haven't really seen before that
Speaker 1: can even compare it to. Because you can't just trade
Speaker 1: him for first round picks. That does nothing for Joel
Speaker 1: em Beats. So I don't I don't know where they
Speaker 1: go from here. I don't know what they trade him for.
Speaker 1: But he looks like he's done in Philly. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I think most of this has been posturing to
Speaker 1: try to get as much as they can out of him.
Speaker 1: Um uh. And my guess is Daryl will eventually bite
Speaker 1: the bullet because I don't one in doubt, don't go
Speaker 1: into training camp with drama. Like the Sixers are a
Speaker 1: legitimate contender, make a deal so that you can go
Speaker 1: from day one of media day all the way through
Speaker 1: to the end of the season without turmoil. I think
Speaker 1: that there's some value to that, and that's, for instance,
Speaker 1: why I think the Anthony Davis trade happened in the
Speaker 1: summer and not during the season for example. Um. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so the last thing, the very last thing, and I'll
Speaker 1: be really quick as I need to leave. I don't
Speaker 1: like the comparisons between Ben Simmons and Draymond Green. Um.
Speaker 1: To me, they couldn't be more different, you know, uh
Speaker 1: for starters offensively, every everyone just kind of attaches two
Speaker 1: things to each other, like can't shoot and good passer,
Speaker 1: and then they just use those two things to immediately
Speaker 1: marry the two of them together as as similar basketball players.
Speaker 1: To me, in just strictly between those two skills, they
Speaker 1: could not be more different. Draymond is the best back
Speaker 1: line defender of this era in terms of communication and
Speaker 1: ability to disrupt things around the basket, either vertically or
Speaker 1: using his body to put people off balance, or using
Speaker 1: his hands down around the lane to to disrupt little
Speaker 1: drop off passes and things along those lines. Draymond is
Speaker 1: actually not great out on the perimeter guarding really quick,
Speaker 1: shifty people. It's not a strength of his. Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: exact opposite, just a a wing defender that will just
Speaker 1: swallow up any super elite offensive player out there. It's
Speaker 1: a it's a completely different defensive skill set. And then offensively,
Speaker 1: they're both great passers. But Draymond Green is a great
Speaker 1: passer when the defense is already compromised. He's great at
Speaker 1: making reads. Ben Simmons is someone who breaks down the
Speaker 1: defense and makes great passes, either by shoot the ball
Speaker 1: in transition or beating people at the point of attack
Speaker 1: to get a second defender involved so we can kick
Speaker 1: out to open three point shooters. So I think it's
Speaker 1: important to clearly differentiate between those two guys in that
Speaker 1: regard and the reason why Ben Simmons is so much
Speaker 1: better in my opinion, in terms of a long term
Speaker 1: prospect is the fact that Ben Simmons it can absolutely
Speaker 1: generate advantages and if he can get over some of
Speaker 1: his mental hurdles, he could be a devastating playoff player
Speaker 1: because of his ability to attack mismatches. If that makes sense. No,
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. I think those comparisons are
Speaker 1: way off to me, Like Draymond is one of the
Speaker 1: best competitors ever as well, just their mindset when they
Speaker 1: go into these big games is totally different. Like it's
Speaker 1: just not even fair to compare them to right now,
Speaker 1: where Ben Simmons is, his talent might be more than
Speaker 1: Draymond is, just overall in terms of what he can do.
Speaker 1: It's just trying those players where they're at right now,
Speaker 1: and the careers just wouldn't be fair to Draymond as well.
Speaker 1: I agree, yep, I agree. Al right, everybody, thank you
Speaker 1: so much. We gotta get rage out of here. We
Speaker 1: will get this uploaded to the podcast feed shortly. As always,
Speaker 1: reappreciate your support and we will see you guys next week.
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone,