Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Trista Quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of The Heat Check, We've got a
Speaker 2: special bonus episode of The Heat Check featuring Bill Ryder,
Speaker 2: friend of show NBA Insider as a CBS sports radio
Speaker 2: show as well on honesty. The interview was conducted on
Speaker 2: my other show bet MGM tonight, So thank you to
Speaker 2: my co host Ryan Horvat and Nick Ashew for playing along.
Speaker 3: So let's get right into it and drop that beat.
Speaker 2: I asked Bill if the Lakers adjustments in the second
Speaker 2: half gave.
Speaker 3: The Lakers hope in the future. His answer to me
Speaker 3: was fascinating.
Speaker 1: I mean, my takeaway is I wish I had a
Speaker 1: yokicch Finals MVP. Do you want to sell them pennies
Speaker 1: on the dollars? Look, I thought, it just continues this
Speaker 1: incredibly interesting and in some ways at least half the
Speaker 1: teams that are left unpredictable NBA playoff run And for me, guys,
Speaker 1: is the main thing is what you said Jokic amazing.
Speaker 1: But also we'll see what the adjustments are, we'll see
Speaker 1: sort of what other players step up. But if you
Speaker 1: can't win a basketball game, if you're the Lakers, when
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis has that kind of a night, And despite
Speaker 1: the numbers that Yogic put up, it's not like ad
Speaker 1: was playing lacks of daisical defense on Nikola. For me,
Speaker 1: the takeaway is Denver is so good and it's going
Speaker 1: to take a whole lot from La to win this thing.
Speaker 2: Bill, do you feel like what we're seeing with Boston
Speaker 2: with Denver that we are getting into a new era
Speaker 2: where teams are going to just stop with the idea,
Speaker 2: especially considering how Phoenix flamed out and basically had to
Speaker 2: fire their coach.
Speaker 3: Like, do you feel like.
Speaker 2: We're in a place where, you know, gms and roster
Speaker 2: builders are going to be thinking about slow, organic builds
Speaker 2: versus you know, gutting their team for stars.
Speaker 1: It's such a great question, and they should be. But
Speaker 1: I still have buddies who think they're gonna find you know,
Speaker 1: happy marriages, happily ever after at the bar after midnight, right,
Speaker 1: So there's always gonna be a few out there who
Speaker 1: are going to try to speed up the process. But
Speaker 1: I think you're onto something. I think the inside is
Speaker 1: really smart because the way the CBA was supposed to
Speaker 1: work last time around, but because of all the money
Speaker 1: that flooded in from TV rights going up. It allowed
Speaker 1: the Warriors to get durant, and that it really sort
Speaker 1: of confused how the process is supposed to work. If
Speaker 1: that's all corrected itself, they're gonna level in the money now.
Speaker 1: So yes, there's gonna be huge advantages for teams that
Speaker 1: draft properly, that developed talent properly. We've seen superstars willing
Speaker 1: to stay in places more than they used to, like
Speaker 1: Giannis for one of the many examples of Milwaukee, if
Speaker 1: the situation's pretty good or if they have some success.
Speaker 1: I think you're absolutely right there will be some super
Speaker 1: teams that chase sort of that approach. You're gonna have
Speaker 1: certain players who are going to force their way out
Speaker 1: like they always have. But I think you're right that
Speaker 1: the new era is going to lean itself and lend
Speaker 1: itself toward really well run organizations, drafting right players and
Speaker 1: building a team in a very different way.
Speaker 2: Next up, with James Harden officially declining his player option,
Speaker 2: the big question is where Harden will end up next season.
Speaker 2: We also then get into some draft talk. Bill had
Speaker 2: some fascinating thoughts on both subjects.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, so I I think I'm right
Speaker 1: what I'm about to say, but full disclosure, I say
Speaker 1: it a lot, and so not everyone agrees. I think
Speaker 1: Doc Rivers is one of the most overrated basketball coaches
Speaker 1: in the NBA, and I think that the numbers have
Speaker 1: proven out for a long long time. I mean I
Speaker 1: wrote something when he got hired in twenty twenty that
Speaker 1: said Philly had just condemned themselves to mediocrity in the
Speaker 1: postseason until they fired him. So I think it's a
Speaker 1: big step forward, I really do. I know it sounds
Speaker 1: like it's like low hanging through it's I think it's
Speaker 1: I think it's the right sort of beginning point for
Speaker 1: the conversation, hardened by all indications. I'm in Chicago at
Speaker 1: the combine, it was at the lottery the other day.
Speaker 1: The GM's everywhere, so you know, everyone sort of believes
Speaker 1: that Harden's going to be in Houston. That's been the
Speaker 1: perspective even before, really even before they got they got
Speaker 1: blown out of the postseason and beat it'll be there.
Speaker 1: I think Darryl Morey's a pretty good GM. You know,
Speaker 1: there are I would hire Monty Williams for that job,
Speaker 1: but Nick Nurse is an excellent coach and Mike Budenholder
Speaker 1: it is probably not the right fit for me, but
Speaker 1: as an excellent coach, and you've got a bunch of
Speaker 1: great assistants. So I think Philly is gonna be really competitive.
Speaker 1: I think the difficult question is going to be and
Speaker 1: I guess it depends how you view Tyrese Maxie In
Speaker 1: terms of Kenny step up and fill that void offensively.
Speaker 1: I don't know that he can. How did Philly get
Speaker 1: creative in replacing Harden's at least regular season production? Darryl
Speaker 1: Morey's pretty aggressive in that respect, But I'm pretty I'm
Speaker 1: pretty optimistic about Philly for a lot of reasons, the
Speaker 1: main one being I think they got rid of the
Speaker 1: head coach I know people really like, But I don't
Speaker 1: think he was ever going to have the kind of
Speaker 1: success that they're crazing with m beat on the roster.
Speaker 1: Everything that I have heard, and we don't know, right
Speaker 1: because I could never have predicted that Harden, nor I
Speaker 1: think did anyone else. Certainly the poor folks in Brooklyn
Speaker 1: would force his way to the nets and then force
Speaker 1: his way to Philly and then you know, obviously not
Speaker 1: stay in Philadelphia. I mean, this guy has been on
Speaker 1: the move, and I like James, but they answer the question.
Speaker 1: Everybody thinks he's going to Houston, which is a lot
Speaker 1: less ap only place now that they're obviously not going
Speaker 1: to be able to draft Victor webin Yama, they did
Speaker 1: not get the number one overall pick. I don't I
Speaker 1: think he's either gonna go to Houston out of the
Speaker 1: sort of love for it, or he's going to take
Speaker 1: the bag right because he's older and if he wants
Speaker 1: to get paid, this is the time basically get a
Speaker 1: contract from somebody to me. And I could be wrong,
Speaker 1: and this is sort of influenced by the view of
Speaker 1: people around the league, but I think what he's saying
Speaker 1: is his way of trying to set the narrative to
Speaker 1: why he's gonna leave Philadelphia. They weren't happy at the end.
Speaker 1: We saw NB throw guys under the bus. I mean,
Speaker 1: it did not end the way they wanted. I think
Speaker 1: he's just gonna go to Houston, and I think what
Speaker 1: he's saying is probably not his actual heart's desire. I
Speaker 1: think he just wants to leave Philly and he's set
Speaker 1: in the stage for then.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gonna be really interesting too, because I think
Speaker 2: nothing stunts the growth of young developing talent like James
Speaker 2: Harden on the roster, especially.
Speaker 3: With you Mayu Doka.
Speaker 2: So that's gonna be a wild one to watch. You
Speaker 2: mentioned that you were at the combine. I think what's
Speaker 2: fascinating for us outside of the Victor Wambia and now
Speaker 2: to the Spurs, which in time is a flat circle
Speaker 2: and they just get a transcendent generational big Man after
Speaker 2: big Man? Is this difference between Scoot Henderson and Brandon
Speaker 2: Miller and the needs of Charlotte and Portland trading that pick.
Speaker 3: What do you think happens with Charlotte.
Speaker 2: Would you take Brandon Miller to go second overall, which
Speaker 2: is like plus one twenty five, would you take Scoot
Speaker 2: Henderson to go third, which is you know, plus one
Speaker 2: sixty five, or would you think that maybe there's going
Speaker 2: to be a shake up because of all the teams
Speaker 2: trying to trade up into getting into the top three pick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good question. So for people that are
Speaker 1: trying to figure out where they're well out their money
Speaker 1: to go right in that respect, I'll give this information
Speaker 1: and may be had influences to we're taking some more chances.
Speaker 1: I talked to a couple executives and a couple gms
Speaker 1: who in a very candid sort of background conversation where
Speaker 1: they said some other things that were off the record
Speaker 1: but pretty startling, right like just gods if I can't say,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of trust in this conversation. And
Speaker 1: when we got to the draft, they're view and these
Speaker 1: are people I really respect for their ability to analyze talent,
Speaker 1: was that one is obviously set, but they thought even
Speaker 1: two to five, while it's probably a three person drafts,
Speaker 1: they thought certainly at two and even at three and
Speaker 1: four that they think there could be room for a
Speaker 1: lot of things to change, and that there will actually
Speaker 1: be in Charlotte a pretty aggressive debate between those two
Speaker 1: guys and maybe other people. Portland's absolutely going to trade
Speaker 1: out of that position. They're going to move on from
Speaker 1: that spot. Someone's going to trade up. It'll probably depend
Speaker 1: when we sort of know where Charlotte's going. Who values
Speaker 1: the guy of those two that you mentioned that has left.
Speaker 1: But if there are pretty good odds on somebody right
Speaker 1: now and maybe Tenderson, it may not be the worst bet.
Speaker 1: Because my understanding talking to the experts here is that
Speaker 1: it's not a lock. It may not be Brandon Miller.
Speaker 1: It very well could change, and so there might be
Speaker 1: some opportunity today for some value if that perspective is correct,
Speaker 1: that the conventional wisdom now is not going to hold
Speaker 1: whatever it is a month from now.
Speaker 2: Meaning like maybe one of the Thompson twins could go second.
Speaker 1: Maybe or third, right, depending where you think it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: where it's going to be. And obviously there are some
Speaker 1: personal issues that you have to weigh with one of
Speaker 1: the people you mentioned, and that really comes down to
Speaker 1: every individual executive in front office assessing that young man
Speaker 1: and where he's at, and you know all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean the general view of the experts,
Speaker 1: which is different by the way than the people that
Speaker 1: are my media colleagues. But the actual gms in the room,
Speaker 1: they think it's they think there's the possibility of it
Speaker 1: being pretty surprising. After we get past number one.
Speaker 3: That's all the time that we have for the eat check.
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