Speaker 1: Moving forward on the fourth tier of teams that are
Speaker 1: all big name teams with big name question marks Lakers, Hawks, Bulls, Knicks,
Speaker 1: and Blazers. Well, you know how I feel about the Lakers.
Speaker 1: We don't even need to go into it. All I
Speaker 1: know is the top question is did they really just
Speaker 1: run it back with Dennis Shrewder, Like? Did this happen?
Speaker 1: Did he really just get back into the country. His
Speaker 1: visa issue was a big hurdle for him to be
Speaker 1: able to play basketball games. Did he really just turn
Speaker 1: down that much money and then go back to the
Speaker 1: team that he turned down for the veteran minimum? Did
Speaker 1: that really happen? That is sad. They're probably looking at
Speaker 1: him visa departments like, hey, you turned down four years
Speaker 1: for eighty seven million dollars. You're an idiot. You can't
Speaker 1: come in here. You gotta stay in Germany, sir. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: You know what's up with the Lakers. They don't have
Speaker 1: enough shooters. They're old bunch of point guard issues point
Speaker 1: guard in Russell Westbrook who probably doesn't really mesh with
Speaker 1: the system, and they're actively looking to trade him, even
Speaker 1: though they're telling the world that they're not looking to
Speaker 1: trade him because Darvinham loves him. But we're not really
Speaker 1: sure what the truth is. And we're not really sure
Speaker 1: whether Russell Westbrook can adapt because he never has. He's
Speaker 1: never had two am I high on them. Absolutely not.
Speaker 1: You add in Anthony data Davis into the mix, who's
Speaker 1: now gonna be taking on the number one role as scorer,
Speaker 1: and Lebron James actively looking to get his ass into
Speaker 1: ownership mode. This team, this team is a play in team.
Speaker 1: At the best case scenario, they might not even make that.
Speaker 1: They might not even make that Atlanta big question with them,
Speaker 1: John Collins de Jontay Murray. Murray comes over in the
Speaker 1: trade with the Spurs. How do he and Trey Young
Speaker 1: work together? Is Trey Young coming off a ball? Is
Speaker 1: he gonna move around like Steph Curry? Because that could
Speaker 1: be interesting. Trey Young loves to have a ball in
Speaker 1: his hand. What's gonna happen with de Jontay Murray if
Speaker 1: Trey Young does? What's up with John Collins? Does he
Speaker 1: want to be there? This is like giving me big
Speaker 1: big DeAndre eight and slash Myles Turner vibes. Like John
Speaker 1: Collins has been shopped for three years now. People have
Speaker 1: been saying I was in my first year at Barstool
Speaker 1: Sports the first time I ever heard of John Collins
Speaker 1: trade rumor. That's insane, Like I am many years out
Speaker 1: of that John Collins. Does he want to be there?
Speaker 1: I don't know which version of him will we see.
Speaker 1: Are we gonna see the version of him in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty when he averaged like twenty two points a
Speaker 1: game or last year when he was like David Blaine.
Speaker 1: Are they gonna be balanced offensively and defensively? Because defensively
Speaker 1: last year they were in nightmare. I really like my
Speaker 1: guy DeAndre Hunter, but he doesn't seem to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: He's the only defensive wing player that they really have.
Speaker 1: What's gonna happen with Kaevon Herdery being gone? Now, who's
Speaker 1: gonna be that like last minute bucket getter, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of tweet or two to three guy outside of
Speaker 1: Dejonte and Trey. Trey Young took a big step last year.
Speaker 1: He was on a milk carton in the playoffs. He
Speaker 1: literally was an under machine in terms of his player pop.
Speaker 1: If he could be used like Steph Curry, I think
Speaker 1: that makes things interesting. But this is a team that
Speaker 1: again gives me play in vibes. We move on to
Speaker 1: my team, Tisk tisk, the Portland Trailblazers. Gotta be careful
Speaker 1: what I say here because uh, a lot of people
Speaker 1: from Portland still listen to this pod and they get
Speaker 1: mad if I say anything too slanderous because I'm a fan,
Speaker 1: and they say I'm too much of a fan. The
Speaker 1: question is defense. This has been a historically bad defensive
Speaker 1: team for the last four years now. I think that
Speaker 1: one good year in and three historically bad years. They
Speaker 1: were thirtieth in the league out of thirtieth in a
Speaker 1: year that had the worst defensive rating in history, So
Speaker 1: they were historically the worst defensive team in the league. Ever, So,
Speaker 1: how does Jeremy Grant and a serial little help that
Speaker 1: I don't know? Can Josh Hart help the defense? And
Speaker 1: his grittiness and his intensity? These are all very legit questions.
Speaker 1: I just just saw last night they got their doors
Speaker 1: blown off by Sacramento. Sacramento, and I know that it's
Speaker 1: the preseason, but that offense it looks discombobulated. It looks
Speaker 1: like it looks like Scott Brooks is running it. Oh wait,
Speaker 1: check's notes, he is running it. He is maybe one
Speaker 1: of the worst offensive minds, and we kind of give
Speaker 1: him credit. And I hate to say it, because he's
Speaker 1: a very nice man. We kind of give him too
Speaker 1: much credit because he had he had Russell Westbrook in
Speaker 1: his prime, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Like, who couldn't make
Speaker 1: that work? Besides Steve Nash, that's the only one who couldn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, it is just like gonna be bad. It
Speaker 1: feels like Portland has a lot of work to do.
Speaker 1: This team is a ways away from me. I'm very intrigued,
Speaker 1: of course, by Shaden Sharp. Shaden Sharp is a bucket.
Speaker 1: Shaden Sharp can get any shot he wants. Shaden Sharp
Speaker 1: is six six with a seven feet wingspan, can block,
Speaker 1: he can shoot, he can get to the rim, he
Speaker 1: can steal the ball. He is buttersmooth like. He could
Speaker 1: be the guy. He could be the franchise guy. There
Speaker 1: are people texting me right now saying we are ready.
Speaker 1: This is not even the full season yet. Hey, uh,
Speaker 1: you guys might need to move on from Dame. What sir,
Speaker 1: it's the preseason. But there's hope. Hopefully Dame will be healthy,
Speaker 1: Hopefully Anthony Simons will still be good. I don't know
Speaker 1: who's gonna be when he's with Dame and Jeremy Grant
Speaker 1: is here and Nurkic is getting paid and Clutch got
Speaker 1: him a nice new contract, so he should be feeling good.
Speaker 1: He needs to stop being a European bitch. Said it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes sometimes he can be a little too soft. I
Speaker 1: know it's so bad. People are already saying Chauncey Billets
Speaker 1: might need to step down. That's kind of where we're at.
Speaker 1: I'm not there. I don't believe that. I still hope,
Speaker 1: hold out hope because this team couldn't even lose games
Speaker 1: on purpose at points. Last year, those young guys were
Speaker 1: so fun. But this team is not making the play
Speaker 1: in tournament. To me, they're a thirty win team. Unfortunately.
Speaker 1: I hope to be wrong. Big question in Chicago is
Speaker 1: can this team play any defense? They have and have
Speaker 1: been one of the worst defensive teams for much of
Speaker 1: the season outside of Portland. They have to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: The season's already looking like a dumpster fire. Lonzo Ball
Speaker 1: nowhere near playing basketball, Kobe White, who knows what he is.
Speaker 1: It's a huge loss for a team that lacks depth.
Speaker 1: Can not see that this season being better than the
Speaker 1: last season when they made the sixth seed in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They will have Pat Williams for the entire year, so
Speaker 1: that's good. On the other hand, uh, he's currently being
Speaker 1: benched for Javonte Green, So everything that you thought that
Speaker 1: he was with the fourth overall pick, we're not actually sure.
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, this guy actually volunteered for Leonard Hamilton
Speaker 1: to come off the bench when he was in college.
Speaker 1: They did win a bunch of games, but that's not
Speaker 1: exactly the kind of like dog mentality that you think
Speaker 1: of from an alpha like number two, number three score.
Speaker 1: He's a nice guy, maybe a little too nice. Damar
Speaker 1: is still gonna get buckets, but he's not gonna shock anyone.
Speaker 1: Alex Crusoe has to be healthy. He missed a ton
Speaker 1: of time last year. Are they gonna be better than
Speaker 1: sixth place? No, I don't think so. They had a
Speaker 1: bunch of time with Lonzo Ball last year and he
Speaker 1: bawled out. So no, no, I think that this is
Speaker 1: another team that could take a huge step back. Sorry
Speaker 1: to say, wow, no one looking better in preseason than
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks. What hardly surprising, though, because this
Speaker 1: is like This is like Tibbs is Super Bowl. It's
Speaker 1: like when everyone else is not trying, I am going
Speaker 1: to try and we're gonna look amazing. Like he has
Speaker 1: him running wind sprints from August, hopefully for his sake
Speaker 1: to in his mind to June. But by December, January, February,
Speaker 1: like the windsprint energy is starting to wane and questions remain.
Speaker 1: What will Julius Randall look like this season? Is he
Speaker 1: the most improved type player that we saw two years
Speaker 1: ago or is it the same version that we saw
Speaker 1: of him last year where he was just clearly wanting
Speaker 1: to play point guard but just so inept at that
Speaker 1: just dribble, dribble, dribble, step back brick at the end
Speaker 1: of a shot clock. They had no one to get
Speaker 1: a bucket, and now they do. Now they got Jalen Brunson,
Speaker 1: and Jalen Brunson is gonna be initiator now, So how
Speaker 1: does Julius Randall fit in with that? Is he a
Speaker 1: guy that you just gonna be able to dump the
Speaker 1: ball down low to and he's just gonna play bully ball.
Speaker 1: He likes to play on the perimeter. Now, I don't
Speaker 1: know how that's gonna work. I don't know. And he's
Speaker 1: always been the best with the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1: Is he gonna be a spot up shooter on the wing?
Speaker 1: I'm very curious about this. Obi Toppen though, looks amazing.
Speaker 1: Obi Toppin might just take Julius Randold's job now. He
Speaker 1: was electric, He played off the bench, had twenty twenty
Speaker 1: something points, had steals, had blocks, had four threes, had
Speaker 1: a Tomahawk looking dunk that made every highlight reel on
Speaker 1: Twitter and on Instagram and on TikTok. So that should
Speaker 1: be something that you should be excited about. Emmanuel quickly
Speaker 1: looked good. All the young kids look good. Will Tibbs
Speaker 1: play them? That's the main question. Will he played them?
Speaker 1: And the biggest question also too is what role will
Speaker 1: Evan for play. They paid a lot of money to him.
Speaker 1: What is his best role on the bench or on
Speaker 1: another team? I think so we're starting to get to
Speaker 1: the bottom of the glass. Teams hoping to make the
Speaker 1: play in Sacramento, Washington, Charlotte, Detroit, Indiana, a lot of
Speaker 1: gross teams. Obviously, I like Sacramento. I said this last podcast,
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna break through. They smacked the shit
Speaker 1: out of the Blazers with Damian Lillard, they played a
Speaker 1: bunch of team defense. They moved the ball like crazy.
Speaker 1: Someone called it basketball porn, and that was against US
Speaker 1: Keegan Murray looking like a Rookie of the Year. Mike
Speaker 1: Brown has got them at least somewhat interested in defense
Speaker 1: right now. I like that. I like the Sabonis deeron
Speaker 1: Fox Keegan Murray connection. This team's gonna be able to
Speaker 1: score a lot of points. I think they put up
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty or something on Portland, and then
Speaker 1: you've got Davon and you've got Kavon Herder and you've
Speaker 1: got Malik Monk. They have some very very fun guys
Speaker 1: that may come off the bench. For them to succeed,
Speaker 1: they just need to play defense. Really, they need to
Speaker 1: play good team defense, and they need to do it
Speaker 1: night in night out and be consistent. This is a
Speaker 1: team that can go on runs. We've seen that pretty
Speaker 1: much year after year where they are sitting there right
Speaker 1: around the eight seed and then all of a sudden
Speaker 1: they go on a ten game losing streak. That can't happen.
Speaker 1: Can they take a step forward like the Pelicans? They
Speaker 1: sure can will they We're gonna see Charlotte Hornets. They
Speaker 1: are a dumpster fire of a team. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Do I like Steve Clifford, I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: think so. I don't think so. People say nice things
Speaker 1: about them, I know that. Are they founded in evidence
Speaker 1: or facts? You know how it is. It's a nepotitic business.
Speaker 1: People say nice things about just human beings that might
Speaker 1: be nice, but not be very good at their job.
Speaker 1: The Hornets need to be able to protect the rim.
Speaker 1: I don't know how they're going to be able to
Speaker 1: do that. They have Mark Williams now, but he's a rookie.
Speaker 1: Now you've got, you know, Miles Plumbly as the backup.
Speaker 1: He's not doing much Miles Bridges whereas he maybe heading
Speaker 1: for jail. I don't know. How do you replace his
Speaker 1: twenty points per game? Probably going to be hard. Lamello
Speaker 1: and Jello together, very fun story. He made Jello finally
Speaker 1: made LaVar Ball's prophecy come true. All three of his
Speaker 1: kids in the NBA, none at the same time because
Speaker 1: Lonzo is still not playing. But you know, can't have
Speaker 1: it all. Can't have it all. Who are they replacing
Speaker 1: as top ten in the East, probably none, probably no one. Honestly,
Speaker 1: getting Hayward off the books is going to be very important.
Speaker 1: Bringing someone in with some defensive intensity is going to
Speaker 1: be very important as well, to make sure that they
Speaker 1: don't lose like one for four games, because that's what
Speaker 1: it was last year, a ton one thirty eight, one
Speaker 1: thirty seven, Charlotte loses in overtime. But you still have
Speaker 1: LaMelo Ball, you still have PJ. Washington. So you're a
Speaker 1: fun young team. Probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Sorry
Speaker 1: to say. When you hear the words Washington Wizards, don't
Speaker 1: you just immediately repulse, Like, don't you immediately just go?
Speaker 1: I live here and I don't like this team. There's
Speaker 1: nothing fun about this team whatsoever. Bradley Beal, he's a
Speaker 1: bucket getter, but it's just him out on an island
Speaker 1: all by himself. There is no one there. He tried
Speaker 1: to pedal to us that him and Porzingis are gonna
Speaker 1: be some sort of like magical duo. Never played with
Speaker 1: Porzingis before, We've never shared the floor together. Who knows
Speaker 1: what that could be? Me and Monte Morris, what the
Speaker 1: fuck are you talking about? This team sucks? Not only
Speaker 1: do they suck, they don't even suck like the Pacers suck.
Speaker 1: Where it's fun. Like there's nobody on this team. I
Speaker 1: am excited about. Who else do they get Will the
Speaker 1: Thrill Barton like Portland got rid of him, and Portland
Speaker 1: doesn't get rid of anyone good because they can't get
Speaker 1: anyone good. So is Delon Wright, Monte Morris, Will Barton,
Speaker 1: Ruey Hachi Mura, poor zingis ugh good luck? Bradley beill
Speaker 1: enjoy all that money? Oh yeah, Johnny Davis ough Maker maker, No, sir,
Speaker 1: no sir. I hate to be so negative, but it's
Speaker 1: the truth. Detroit Pistons, Man, they're fun. They are still
Speaker 1: getting better, but they are ways away, ways away. Jade
Speaker 1: and Ivy. In order for them to compete, he needs
Speaker 1: to get better at decision making. He needs to get
Speaker 1: better at a lot of things. Caid Cunningham with Jade
Speaker 1: and Ivy. If Ivy was to develop the way that
Speaker 1: Caid did late in the season, they could be fun together.
Speaker 1: They could be really scary together. Jalen Duran he needs
Speaker 1: to be a dynamic player like he was in the
Speaker 1: NCAA tournament for Memphis. It feels like this team's like
Speaker 1: a year or two away. I really like Sadik Bay
Speaker 1: as well. I don't think that they're a playing team.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're a playoff team. I do feel
Speaker 1: like they will be one of those league past teams
Speaker 1: that you go out and watch and they always cover
Speaker 1: the spread because it spread's always nine and a half,
Speaker 1: and like they just always lose by seven. And I
Speaker 1: think for Jade and Ivy, he needs to mature, and
Speaker 1: that's really it. He's a young kid. He's so explosive,
Speaker 1: he's an elite finisher. His decision making as a whole
Speaker 1: just needs to improve. His mid range shooting needs to improve.
Speaker 1: He needs to add this level of poise that you
Speaker 1: have seen from you real floor generals like say Jalen
Speaker 1: Brunson or Tias Jones. He needs to figure out when
Speaker 1: to go full speed and when to slow down. Even
Speaker 1: John Moran needs to learn that. And he's a kid
Speaker 1: who could win an MVP, So like, being out of
Speaker 1: control is his biggest downfall and he needs to be
Speaker 1: able to fix that in order for them to be
Speaker 1: able to win games. Indiana Pacers, they know, they know
Speaker 1: what time it is. They're not winning and they're not
Speaker 1: winning anything this year. They're not winning like many games.
Speaker 1: They're not going to the playoffs, but they are fun.
Speaker 1: Ben Mathern, what a great pickup. He's gonna be a star.
Speaker 1: He is so good. He can do everything. He's big,
Speaker 1: He's the kind of guy everyone wants. Six five six
Speaker 1: six long wingspin can get his hands and arms into
Speaker 1: the passing lanes, can shoot, can dribble, can just be intense.
Speaker 1: Has that dog in him to be able to hit
Speaker 1: crucial shots down the stretch when he's down. When he
Speaker 1: was at Arizona and they I remember watching them versus Illinois,
Speaker 1: and man, every time they went down he pulled them
Speaker 1: out the out of the bottom and got him back up.
Speaker 1: Miles Turner is probably gonna get moved. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1: He's been on the chopping block for a while now,
Speaker 1: and let's be real, the team doesn't like him very much.
Speaker 1: How is he gonna look with him and Tyrese Haliburton.
Speaker 1: Maybe it looks good, maybe he turns into a better player,
Speaker 1: But it feels like they're gonna move him. They really do.
Speaker 1: I does really feel like they're gonna move him. I
Speaker 1: think for them to compete, they need to get DeAndre Ayton.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton is available in January. He wanted to go there.
Speaker 1: He was open to go to Indiana. Just go and
Speaker 1: get him Hill a good in yellow trade Myles Turner
Speaker 1: there to Phoenix and let them deal with him on
Speaker 1: their own. The final teams of groups who are in
Speaker 1: the greatest game in thirty years, which is tanking for
Speaker 1: Victor Wuanbiyama, brickin for Vican San Antonio, Orlando. OK, see
Speaker 1: Utah in Houston. Yeah, we talked about tanking working. It works.
Speaker 1: The lottery system has made it tougher, but it works.
Speaker 1: You know, Shack was number one, but let's face it,
Speaker 1: the team that got Alonzo morning, they were pretty happy too.
Speaker 1: So that's what's gonna happen with Scoot in Victor Wanbiyama
Speaker 1: as well. As long as Victor's on the board, I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any path out of there. And I
Speaker 1: think Utah and Santa and Antonio are fully fully invested
Speaker 1: in tank mode. Let's talk about just these teams. Orlando
Speaker 1: is gonna be very fun to watch from I would
Speaker 1: say game one through Game twenty five until they are
Speaker 1: no longer in any way relevant. Palo's gonna be a
Speaker 1: highlight machine, but Suggs is already banged up. Franz Wagner's
Speaker 1: very fun to watch, but that's pretty much it. Other
Speaker 1: than hoping Mark el Foltz can be healthy. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that there's much to watch, Like maybe Mobamba just
Speaker 1: to see if we can play that song again, but
Speaker 1: not a team that is going anywhere or going to compete.
Speaker 1: They're a team to fade. Rocket's always a good team
Speaker 1: to keep things close always. Jalen Green's gonna try. He's
Speaker 1: gonna put up like thirty five points a night, mostly
Speaker 1: on threes. You're gonna have KPJ who's a bucket, gonna
Speaker 1: be a highlight machine as well. Alprin Shengon's gonna continue
Speaker 1: to improve. You've got the emergence of Jabari Smith, the
Speaker 1: rookie there. He's gonna be a nice addition and a
Speaker 1: replacement for Chrish Would and Tari Easton. I think is
Speaker 1: a sleeper. He's a very like young player who should
Speaker 1: be able to make an impact right away. Josh Christopher
Speaker 1: also very good, very bouncy, but they are also a
Speaker 1: tanking team. This team is winning twenty games, twenty five games.
Speaker 1: Max San Antonio fifteen win team purposefully. They play very
Speaker 1: fast though they are gonna be a very unusual team
Speaker 1: for Greg Popovich to manage, but it seems to be working.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have Josh Primo there, He's a fun young
Speaker 1: player from Alabama that is kind of snuck up on everyone.
Speaker 1: You have my guy, Malachi Branham and Jeremy Sohan, You've
Speaker 1: got Blake Wesley. All those guys are very brand new,
Speaker 1: you know, rookies or second year players. And then you
Speaker 1: throw that on top of Keldon Johnson who played in
Speaker 1: the Olympics, you know, Devin Vassel. You know, are really fun.
Speaker 1: I don't win many games, but they are gonna be
Speaker 1: fun to watch, especially just for the individual player play,
Speaker 1: not for the team player play. And they even have
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson for some unknown reason, not sure why. Only
Speaker 1: Okay See has in this group has any real hope
Speaker 1: of getting out, and that really depends on if they
Speaker 1: want to, if they want to be a team to compete,
Speaker 1: or whether they are committed to tanking. Still, Josh, Giddy
Speaker 1: and Shay and Dort they are improving in terms of
Speaker 1: their jump shots, all three of them. They've hired the
Speaker 1: shot doctor that we've talked about, and you know Presty,
Speaker 1: We'll see how committed he is to continuing to try
Speaker 1: to continue to I don't know, accumulate first round pick
Speaker 1: after first round pick. The last question that folks Unlocked
Speaker 1: on asked me was who was the one player that
Speaker 1: I wanted to watch and this year my answer was
Speaker 1: the birthday boy himself, Josh Giddy. He dazzled last year.
Speaker 1: He got hurt due to tanking. But I think he's
Speaker 1: a star. He's going to be very fun. Let's throw
Speaker 1: some other names in there that we didn't talk about
Speaker 1: last week. I like Paolo Benkaro. I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be surprising a lot of people in just in
Speaker 1: terms of how big, how dominant, how good of a
Speaker 1: passer he is. He's gonna be really fun. Tarry Eason
Speaker 1: will be fun. I can't wait to watch him. We've
Speaker 1: got a whole list. We'll coming out next week with
Speaker 1: the top ten players to watch list, but those are
Speaker 1: my first off, top off the top of my mind,
Speaker 1: players that you're gonna want to see night in, night out.
Speaker 1: That's all the time though that we have for the
Speaker 1: heat check. Hope that there was enough curse words and
Speaker 1: hose in there. We'll be back Thursday with a new episode.
Speaker 1: Check out the feed for past episodes. We're also, I believe,
Speaker 1: going to try to drop a more bonus episode on
Speaker 1: Draymond Green and all that stuff with Jordan Poole. We'll
Speaker 1: see if I have time for it. Check out those
Speaker 1: locked on podcasts they just dropped today, all the way
Speaker 1: through the seventeenth. I'm gonna be appearing on them all
Speaker 1: this week. Not sure how that format will look, very curious.
Speaker 1: Do not forget to download, Please subscribe, Please tell all
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Speaker 1: fucking debt uh,