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Speaker 2: to hoops tonight. You're at the volume heavy Friday.
Speaker 3: Everybody.
Speaker 2: If all of you guys have had a great week,
Speaker 2: We're doing a mail bag today. We're gonna be bouncing
Speaker 2: all around the world of basketball. We're gonna hit some
Speaker 2: tm USA stuff off the top. We're gonna bounce around
Speaker 2: to about like ten ish NBA teams around the league
Speaker 2: in various capacities. Even got a Star Wars question in there,
Speaker 2: So we're gonna be going all over the place.
Speaker 3: You guys know the joke.
Speaker 2: Before we get started, Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels.
Speaker 2: You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
Speaker 2: on Twitter, Underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss you announcements.
Speaker 2: So forget about our podcast feed. Wherever you get your
Speaker 2: podcast under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's really helpful if
Speaker 2: you leave a rating and a review on that front.
Speaker 2: And the last minute, least, keep dropping mail back questions
Speaker 2: in those YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them
Speaker 2: throughout the rest of the summer. And then, last but
Speaker 2: not least, before we get started, just a little note
Speaker 2: on how the schedule is going to look for the
Speaker 2: next month or so. During the Olympics, we're gonna be
Speaker 2: covering all of those games, certainly all of the USA Games,
Speaker 2: probably a handful of other games involving some of the
Speaker 2: other major national teams, and then it's gonna be kind
Speaker 2: of mixed in with player rankings. We're starting player rankings
Speaker 2: next week, and again I'm still trying to figure out
Speaker 2: a way to kind of market the two different lists,
Speaker 2: because the way I see it, there's kind of two
Speaker 2: different ways to rank players. There's ranking them in a
Speaker 2: vacuum and ranking them based on theircomplishments of the last season,
Speaker 2: kind of like bragging rights in a vacuum. And I'm
Speaker 2: trying to just kind of come up with a way
Speaker 2: to kind of express that something catchy. So if you
Speaker 2: guys got any ideas, drop them in the comments underneath
Speaker 2: these videos. But we're gonna hit in an Olympics. We're gonna
Speaker 2: hitting player rankings that should pretty much take us through
Speaker 2: the month of August, and then when we get to September,
Speaker 2: it's time to get started with season previews, and then
Speaker 2: we're gonna start diving into each individual team, all of
Speaker 2: their player acquisitions, so on and so forth, diving into
Speaker 2: some different expectations for them heading into next season. But
Speaker 2: on that note, let's hop into this mail bag. We're
Speaker 2: gonna be going all around the league. It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2: First question, and these questions. Some of them came from Twitter,
Speaker 2: some of them came from YouTube. It's kind of a
Speaker 2: shmortgage sport. We had a ton of questions. Obviously, couldn't
Speaker 2: get to all of them, but I do, as always
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys for participating and giving us all those questions.
Speaker 2: Question number one, it's crazy that USA had to be
Speaker 2: rescued by Grandpa James. Yet again, wasn't this supposed to
Speaker 2: be the new Dream team that would beat the ninety
Speaker 2: two squad. Either way, this team isn't that good or
Speaker 2: the rest of the world has caught up.
Speaker 3: Either way, I'd.
Speaker 2: Be concerned if I was an American, so I did
Speaker 2: not see this team as good as the Dream Team.
Speaker 2: I think this is the third best national team that
Speaker 2: I've seen. I should say I should actually say the
Speaker 2: fourth best. It's tough to say that two thousand and
Speaker 2: eight and twenty twelve team. There were some similarities, but
Speaker 2: I think I think ninety two, two thousand and eight,
Speaker 2: and twenty twelve all of those teams had the undisputed
Speaker 2: best player in the world at that point in time,
Speaker 2: like in ninety two. Obviously with Michael Jordan, you could
Speaker 2: argue Scottie Pippen was in that conversation as well at
Speaker 2: that point in time. I shouldn't say in conversation for
Speaker 2: number one, but a lot of people have viewed Scotty
Speaker 2: as the second best player in the world during that time,
Speaker 2: coming into two thousand and eight, I think Kobe was
Speaker 2: the best player in the world at that time. Lebron
Speaker 2: was right on his heels. They were both on that team.
Speaker 2: Twenty twelve, Lebron undisputed best player in the world, Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant hot on his heels. Those two guys were all
Speaker 2: on the team. This team doesn't have a single player
Speaker 2: that's going to be considered in the same conversation as
Speaker 2: Giannis or Luka Doncic or Nicole Jokic. So I don't
Speaker 2: think they're as top end talented, but I do think
Speaker 2: that they are a very well rounded basketball team. Now,
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr has done some janky stuff with the lineups
Speaker 2: that's made it tricky. I want to get more into
Speaker 2: that in just a second, But I don't think this
Speaker 2: is like an absolute world beating type of squad like
Speaker 2: the ninety two, two, eight, twenty twelve teams in terms
Speaker 2: of the absolute apex talent. It's more of like a
Speaker 2: depth of talent kind of thing. They're not going to
Speaker 2: just absolutely demolish everybody like the ninety two Dream Team
Speaker 2: did simply because there's more international NBA talent now. I
Speaker 2: saw an instagram kind of like graphic the other day
Speaker 2: that showed that in the nineteen ninety two Olympic run,
Speaker 2: there were fewer than ten NBA players playing for FOBA teams.
Speaker 2: Now there's more than sixty. So that just gives you
Speaker 2: a basic demonstration of how much NBA talent there is
Speaker 2: playing overseas. And one of the things I talk about
Speaker 2: a lot, I shouldn't say playing overseas playing for FOBA teams,
Speaker 2: but I talk a lot about the concept of diminishing returns, right,
Speaker 2: Like if every player has to fulfill responsibilities on the floor,
Speaker 2: and superstars are famous for being able to take these
Speaker 2: like big chunks of responsibilities, a lot of times you
Speaker 2: need guys to fill in small roles. And when you
Speaker 2: take a star level player and ask him to fill
Speaker 2: a small role, like there's just not gonna be that
Speaker 2: much of a gap. Like, for instance, Devin Booker and
Speaker 2: what he does for Team USA is not that much
Speaker 2: better than what other two guards are doing for other
Speaker 2: FOBA teams, even though Devin Booker is a way better player.
Speaker 2: It just has to do with the diminishing returns of
Speaker 2: Devin Booker being in the type of role that he
Speaker 2: is with tim Usa that said, they are underachieving to
Speaker 2: this point. I do think that they are good enough
Speaker 2: to go over there and win every game by around
Speaker 2: ten to fifteen points. That's what I predicted last summer.
Speaker 2: That's what I think should happen. That's what this team's
Speaker 2: potential is. With the talent they have. They should go
Speaker 2: over there and they shouldn't blow everybody out, but they
Speaker 2: should at least win convincingly. They should win comfortably every
Speaker 2: single one of these games. But that's not been the case.
Speaker 2: They've been in a couple of knockdown, drag out fights,
Speaker 2: namely with Germany and with South Sudan. Right now, that
Speaker 2: is where we have to get to Steve Kerr in
Speaker 2: the lineup structure, because the end of this question is
Speaker 2: either way, i'd be concerned if I was an American.
Speaker 2: My concern surrounding the team's performance, I'm holding off until
Speaker 2: we actually see them play in some foeba uh these
Speaker 2: Olympic games because in the showcase there's more of a
Speaker 2: lack of urgency when it comes to Steve Kerr and
Speaker 2: trying to figure out line of combinations that work, for instance,
Speaker 2: doing line shifts that's not usually how basketball works. Usually
Speaker 2: like yes up, two or three guys out, maybe one
Speaker 2: or two guys out at a time, and you're kind
Speaker 2: of like guys play longer shifts and it's more of
Speaker 2: like a flow from unit to unit. Steve Kerr has
Speaker 2: been doing line shifts. He's been going five in, five
Speaker 2: out and just swapping guys out and then maybe mixing
Speaker 2: up a little bit towards the tail end of these games.
Speaker 2: And so I really just want to see the types
Speaker 2: of lineups that Steve Kerr uses in the real games,
Speaker 2: if he's still doing line shifts, if he still has
Speaker 2: EMBIID with the starters. That's where I think there's some
Speaker 2: vulnerability here, because with EMBIID with the starters and with
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis and bam Adebayo with that bench group, there's
Speaker 2: a little bit of like an imbalance. I talked about
Speaker 2: this a lot in our last show, so I won't
Speaker 2: go into as much detail, but the short version is
Speaker 2: the starters really struggle to rebound and really struggle to
Speaker 2: chase over the top of screens with embat in his
Speaker 2: drop coverage. Well, look at the lineup. This guy, a
Speaker 2: thirty six year old Steph who's turning thirty seven next year,
Speaker 2: thirty nine year old Lebron is turning forty next year,
Speaker 2: and Devin Booker that you're asking to chase over screens
Speaker 2: with Drew Holliday, with Drew Holliday being the only guy
Speaker 2: in that lineup that's a professional screen navigator, and you're
Speaker 2: asking them to chase over with Joel Embiden drop coverage.
Speaker 2: That's just a poor use of those players in their
Speaker 2: skill sets. In addition to that, you're not rebounding well
Speaker 2: with that group well for all the same reasons Devin
Speaker 2: Booker average athlete at the NBA level, Steph Curry gonna
Speaker 2: be thirty seven next year, Lebron gonna be forty next year.
Speaker 2: Of course, you're not a great rebounding team. So, like
Speaker 2: a lot of this is by simply adding making some
Speaker 2: basic tweaks to the lineup structure, for instance, like swap
Speaker 2: Devin Booker out with a guy like Jason Tatum, make
Speaker 2: yourself a substantially better rebounding team. Jason Tatum can do
Speaker 2: what Devin Booker does, move Anthony Davis into the starting lineup.
Speaker 2: By the way, as far as Tatum with the starters goes,
Speaker 2: that could also be Kevin Durant. Put Kevin Durant in
Speaker 2: for Devin Booker, right, then if I have let's just say,
Speaker 2: let's just say Tatum for the sake of this particular discussion.
Speaker 2: If I go Steph, Drew, Tatum, Lebron ad and I'm switching,
Speaker 2: I'm a substantially better defensive rebounding team and I'm substantially
Speaker 2: more cohesive defensive unit because I'm running a scheme that
Speaker 2: makes sense with those particular guys. I don't want Steph
Speaker 2: chasing over screens. I don't want Lebron chasing over screens.
Speaker 2: I don't want kd or. I want those guys switching.
Speaker 2: And those guys all can switch pretty well. Drew can
Speaker 2: guard up Steph. He's not the most athletic guy in
Speaker 2: the world, but he's sixty three and he's pretty big
Speaker 2: and strong, and he's pretty good at forcing guys to
Speaker 2: take pull up jump shots over the top. Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: can defend guards, Lebron James can switch those guys. That's
Speaker 2: a switching unit in my opinion. Then you put Embid
Speaker 2: with the bench group where they're struggling to score in
Speaker 2: the half court, and embiids another offensive hub, a guy
Speaker 2: that can really add some offensive firepower to that unit,
Speaker 2: and so I want to see what they look like
Speaker 2: in the real games, to see if Steve Kerr applies
Speaker 2: those specific concepts, because if he does, I do think
Speaker 2: Toosa is gonna win by ten fifteen every single game
Speaker 2: and get out of there relatively comfortably. But I'm really
Speaker 2: curious to see the strategy that they employ when they
Speaker 2: get out there. Next question, what political reason would cause
Speaker 2: him be to start? He's not a Nike athlete, he
Speaker 2: plays for the Sixers and is not even born in America.
Speaker 2: Were sure it's just not Steve Kirby stupid. I think
Speaker 2: this has most mostly probably has to do with some
Speaker 2: sort of under the table deal to try to get
Speaker 2: MB to not play for France instead, right, like that
Speaker 2: was the whole thing, was easy going to play for France.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if it had to do with
Speaker 2: the fact that tm USA needed a big and you know,
Speaker 2: because like even you could argue if the TMOSA only
Speaker 2: had a D and band, they might be a little
Speaker 2: undersized on the front line, right, So like Tmosa kind
Speaker 2: of needed a big France had Webbin Yama and Gobert, right, So,
Speaker 2: like it's a little bit. Uh, but that probably had
Speaker 2: something to do with it. But it's very possible that
Speaker 2: there was some sort of deal underneath the table where
Speaker 2: it's like, hey, I will leave the team France and
Speaker 2: play for Team USA as long as you let me start.
Speaker 2: That very well might have been worked out. I think
Speaker 2: that's stupid. I think promised to play agreements are a
Speaker 2: loser mentality, and I've seen them all over the place.
Speaker 2: Obviously we've heard about it in the NBA in terms
Speaker 2: of agency politics, but like I've seen it at the
Speaker 2: college level. I've coaches promise starting spots. I've seen coach
Speaker 2: I saw a juco coach once promise to guard at
Speaker 2: twenty shot attempts a game. Like to talk about talk
Speaker 2: about a loser mentality, right like, instead of like having
Speaker 2: a player earn that right or having a player demonstrate
Speaker 2: that he's deserving of that type of offensive workload. There
Speaker 2: are these deals being cut that basketball games aren't won
Speaker 2: by deals getting cut, They're they're won by basketball teams
Speaker 2: organically taking shape by virtue of what is earned on
Speaker 2: the floor. And so I'm not a huge fan of that.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if that's what happened, but that would
Speaker 2: be an example of a political reason that would lead
Speaker 2: and be to start like, hey, we'll start you, but
Speaker 2: that's your kind of like, you know, the the dangling
Speaker 2: bait to get you to leave Team France. Is Lebron
Speaker 2: really the best player on Team USA or just the
Speaker 2: most experienced playing with the star studded team. I do
Speaker 2: think through through these five games to this point that
Speaker 2: Lebron has demons in a small sample size, he is
Speaker 2: the best all around basketball player in that group with
Speaker 2: his size, strength, athleticism, playmaking ability, shooting ability, his downhill ability,
Speaker 2: his ability to play bully ball around the basket. He's
Speaker 2: demonstrated that to this point. Do I want Lebron or
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum to start training camp tomorrow? I want Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2: Do I Lebron or Anthony Davis to start training camp tomorrow?
Speaker 2: I want Anthony Davis. Right, Like, at a certain point,
Speaker 2: Lebron's age becomes a factor in the grand scheme of
Speaker 2: an NBA campaign, from the tip off of training camp
Speaker 2: to the Larry O'Brien Trophy in mid June, You're gonna
Speaker 2: want a younger player, and I don't think Lebron belongs
Speaker 2: in those conversations, because I just I all you have
Speaker 2: to do is watch the Lakers. He's conserving energy in
Speaker 2: a lot of areas throughout the eighty two just to
Speaker 2: try to survive, right, But that's not the case for
Speaker 2: this Team USA example. Right, like in these games, Lebron
Speaker 2: is the best player in this small sample size because
Speaker 2: he is healthy right now. He is in great shape
Speaker 2: right now. He is you know, well rounded and ready
Speaker 2: to go right now. And so, yeah, is Lebron the
Speaker 2: best player on TMOSA?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Is he the best American basketball player to start a
Speaker 2: franchise with? Probably not, He's probably considerably further down on
Speaker 2: that list. Do you think the Olympics are a precursor
Speaker 2: of what's to come in the regular season? Like Lebron
Speaker 2: and Kobe seasons after the Oaen Olympics. I'll just put
Speaker 2: it this simple. There's no version of this where you
Speaker 2: go and play against the best American basketball players in
Speaker 2: practice and the best players in the world in games
Speaker 2: over the summer. That doesn't make you a better basketball player.
Speaker 2: It's really that simple. Every single player that went to
Speaker 2: this tam USA camp is going to come out a
Speaker 2: better basketball player, which would inherently lead them into more
Speaker 2: productive NBA campaigns next year, provided their bodies hold up.
Speaker 2: But like, as long as their bodies hold up, Like
Speaker 2: there's nothing but good that comes from this, not even
Speaker 2: to mention, just the conditioning element that you know, by
Speaker 2: the time this is done, it's going to be what
Speaker 2: mid August or late August, and and at that point
Speaker 2: in time, they're a month and a half from training camp.
Speaker 2: So like at that point you maybe take a week
Speaker 2: or two off, but then you're gearing up for the season. Anyway,
Speaker 2: I bet you there are gonna be guys who come
Speaker 2: out of Team USA and just stay in the gym
Speaker 2: and make sure they're ready by the time they get there.
Speaker 2: A couple Lakers questions, next, do you think Max Christie
Speaker 2: can be that athletic starting two guard that we need?
Speaker 2: So you guys know how I feel about young basketball players.
Speaker 2: The main thing I worry about with Max Christie is
Speaker 2: his decision making, like when to pass, when to shoot,
Speaker 2: what to do when he drives past his man in
Speaker 2: a closeout situation, making reads in those situations. Those are
Speaker 2: the areas that I worry about Max Christie. I think
Speaker 2: he can shoot the ball fine, and I think he
Speaker 2: can defend, But the question is can he make those decisions.
Speaker 2: One of the things that sucks for Max is Darvin
Speaker 2: Ham horribly misutilized him last year and played an inferior
Speaker 2: player in cam Reddish over him all season long. And
Speaker 2: so from that standpoint, like Max and get the reps
Speaker 2: that you would have hoped that he would have gotten
Speaker 2: over the course of last season. But I would imagine
Speaker 2: that they'll start him at the two to start the season,
Speaker 2: or maybe not start because of the d LO situation,
Speaker 2: but they'll play him a lot at the two to
Speaker 2: start the season, and it will be up and down,
Speaker 2: and they are going to be highs and they're gonna
Speaker 2: be lows, where he's a young player making young player mistakes.
Speaker 2: That said, one of the things I think a lot
Speaker 2: about with the Lakers, as it pertains to them needing
Speaker 2: to make a deal last year. Their biggest weakness, as
Speaker 2: I've said on and on, is having athletes on the perimeter.
Speaker 2: So if Austin Reeves is a skill guard and Lebron
Speaker 2: James is a forty year old forward and Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: is a center, you really need athletes at the two
Speaker 2: and three. And last year was d LO and Torrium
Speaker 2: Prince bad athletes d Lo and Ruy Ruey who's big
Speaker 2: but not particularly quick on the perimeter. And so this
Speaker 2: is where it gets interesting because you have three players
Speaker 2: that are kind of sort of getting added to the
Speaker 2: roster even though they were on the roster last year.
Speaker 2: Bex Chrissy was on the roster last year, didn't get used.
Speaker 2: That's an athletic two guard. Gabe Vincent was hurt all
Speaker 2: year last year. He is a guy that is a
Speaker 2: pretty solid point of attack defender. Jared Vanderbilt is one
Speaker 2: of the best point of attack defenders in the league
Speaker 2: and is super versatile and can guard many different types
Speaker 2: of ball handlers. Those guys were all Gabe and Vando
Speaker 2: were unavailable for injury. Max Christy obviously was in the
Speaker 2: Darvin Ham doghouse because Darwinham just just playing bad basketball
Speaker 2: players or lesser basketball players for no reason. Right, So,
Speaker 2: like those guys getting added to the mix, if they're
Speaker 2: all healthy and ready to go, will help facilitate easier
Speaker 2: regular season basketball for the Lakers, right However, can Gabe start?
Speaker 2: I think he can next to Austin as long as
Speaker 2: your three is awesome, and right now, your three is
Speaker 2: not awesome. Can Vandos start? I think he can as
Speaker 2: long as your two is awesome, But right now I
Speaker 2: don't think there two is awesome, and so in the
Speaker 2: long run, I still think the Lakers need up raids
Speaker 2: of those types of roles. However, Max Gabe and Vando
Speaker 2: just being healthy and ready to go at the start
Speaker 2: of training camp will buy the Lakers the time to
Speaker 2: make that deal at the deadline. Again, if you think
Speaker 2: of it very simply, the Lakers have two draft picks
Speaker 2: to use, and you probably have two seasons left of
Speaker 2: Lebron playing at a pretty high level this year and
Speaker 2: maybe next year. What that means is whatever your next
Speaker 2: trade is, that has to be a hit that you
Speaker 2: gotta get the right guys with that deal, right, and
Speaker 2: so being patient, I'm not against it as long as
Speaker 2: they actually do something at the deadline this year. What
Speaker 2: they cannot afford is to make the mistake they did
Speaker 2: last year, which is like, oh, d lo, he's playing
Speaker 2: really really well, we're fine, we don't need to do anything,
Speaker 2: and then you roll into the Nugget Series with the
Speaker 2: exact same players and lose the exact same way. That
Speaker 2: can't happen, right, And So I'm okay with taking that
Speaker 2: group into the season because I do think a van
Speaker 2: down Max can help in the eighty two to facilitate
Speaker 2: some of that perimeter athleticism that they need. But at
Speaker 2: the deadline, I think you have to do something, and
Speaker 2: if they don't, I would be I'd be really disappointed.
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Speaker 2: Next question Lakers' trades do the following move the needle
Speaker 2: for you. Gabe Vincent in two seconds for Dennis Schroeder, Delo,
Speaker 2: Jalen Houchepino, Cam Reddish in a first round pick swap
Speaker 2: for Bruce Brown, Christian Wood in a twenty twenty nine
Speaker 2: unprotected pick for Walker Kessler. I think that Bruce Brown
Speaker 2: could end up costing a legit first round pick.
Speaker 3: We'll see. And with Danny Ainge.
Speaker 2: I'm always worried about what it's going to cost to
Speaker 2: get a player from him. Let's take it a little bit.
Speaker 2: Let's take it one at a time. Here, Gay Vincent
Speaker 2: in two seconds for Dennis Schroeder. So part of me
Speaker 2: really wants to see Gay Vincent with this team like
Speaker 2: healthy for a long time, because I think there's a
Speaker 2: lot of upside there with this point of attack, defense,
Speaker 2: his ability to play off the ball. But one of
Speaker 2: the things that I underrated about Dennis Schroder last summer,
Speaker 2: I said that when they swapped out Dennis for Gabe,
Speaker 2: I was like, I like this because this is a
Speaker 2: player that's not quite as good as Dennis, but maybe
Speaker 2: a better fit with the Lakers because he can play
Speaker 2: off the ball. That was the main reason why I
Speaker 2: was kind of pro that direction last summer. Where it
Speaker 2: became aware that I was wrong about that was the
Speaker 2: Laker roster had nobody that could beat anybody off the
Speaker 2: dribble other than Lebron James, and that becomes a problem
Speaker 2: in the half court when you're trying to get the
Speaker 2: defense in rotation and generate quality shots. If Dlo needs
Speaker 2: a screen and if Austin needs a screen and Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis needs a post up, then you're in trouble, especially
Speaker 2: against switching teams, because now you're asking forty year old
Speaker 2: Lebron to do everything. And yeah, there were these moments
Speaker 2: like against the Clippers where they were switching everything and
Speaker 2: it got kind of bogged down, but then Lebron hit
Speaker 2: a bunch of threes and it was fine, Right, But like,
Speaker 2: that's a lot to ask, And so I've gained another
Speaker 2: layer of appreciation for Dennis as just a speed demon
Speaker 2: that can beat people off the dribble and how that
Speaker 2: can be of value in the half court to generate
Speaker 2: quality shots. So if I could turn gave to Dennis Schroeder,
Speaker 2: I would personally, But that's just because I've gained a
Speaker 2: new appreciation for Dennis, And again I'll own up to
Speaker 2: the fact that that's the exact opposite of what I
Speaker 2: said last summer. But again, every year I've covered the league,
Speaker 2: I learned more and more about the game. Secondly, the
Speaker 2: d lo Jalen Ri Chafino Cam Brittish for Bruce Brown.
Speaker 2: Bruce Brown, for me, is the classic example of an
Speaker 2: upgraded version of the Vanderbilt gave Vincent kind of Max
Speaker 2: Christy trio, the perimeter athletes that play the two or
Speaker 2: the three right. To me, Bruce Brown is a guy
Speaker 2: that can bring a lot of like the Alex Crusoe
Speaker 2: esque like big athletic guard, point of attack, defense, rebounding elements,
Speaker 2: transition elements, while also being a plus offensive player, which
Speaker 2: is something that you don't get out of Jared Vanderbilt,
Speaker 2: which is something that that I think could be an
Speaker 2: issue with Max Christi even in terms of his decision making.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So, like, really really like Bruce Brown. Don't think you
Speaker 2: could do it for a first round swap, But that
Speaker 2: to me is really the direction that I would look
Speaker 2: to go. I would split the first round hicks and
Speaker 2: use them separately and try to get two upgrades either
Speaker 2: a really good backup center in a two or three,
Speaker 2: or maybe a two and a three, right like, those
Speaker 2: are the directions that I would look to go Christian
Speaker 2: Wood twenty twenty nine first round, unprotected first round pick
Speaker 2: for Walker Kessler. I would like Walker Kessler if I
Speaker 2: could get him for one pick. I just think that's
Speaker 2: kind of unrealistic. But I really really liked the idea
Speaker 2: of Anthony Davis playing alongside another rim protector for the
Speaker 2: very same reason that you're watching these Team USA second
Speaker 2: units be so good defensively. If you put Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: next to another rangy athlete, it allows him to play
Speaker 2: the low man position and to be underneath the basket,
Speaker 2: helping on pick and roll, closing out to shooters on
Speaker 2: the week's side, cleaning up the defensive glass. It's the
Speaker 2: classic look we saw in twenty twenty and twenty twenty
Speaker 2: one with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee and Marcassol and
Speaker 2: Andre Drummond and those guys. Right like that, to me
Speaker 2: is a look that would benefit the Lakers. I just
Speaker 2: wouldn't give more than one pick for that type of deal,
Speaker 2: And if I was giving up pick, I'd want to
Speaker 2: really good player, someone that I think Walker Kessler fits
Speaker 2: that bill, but there aren't many that fit that bill.
Speaker 2: I would prioritize using the first round picks to upgrade
Speaker 2: the perimeter athletes. Lebron and Ade have been the two
Speaker 2: top performers on Team USA. KCP came out and said
Speaker 2: he felt the Lakers should have beaten them as they
Speaker 2: were up every game. Is this roster good enough to
Speaker 2: at least make the Western Conference Finals? And what is
Speaker 2: one move that can make to improve their fourth quarter execution?
Speaker 2: So we went over a lot of moves earlier. I
Speaker 2: thought the KCP quote was interesting because one of the
Speaker 2: big things that stood out to me about Denver is
Speaker 2: they just looked really tired throughout that entire playoff run.
Speaker 2: And I think that that was interesting to see them
Speaker 2: kind of own up to that. The one other thing
Speaker 2: I wanted to respond to in this question is the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter execution piece.
Speaker 3: The Laker fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: Offense is fine. That was like a strength of theirs
Speaker 2: last year. Actually, Lebron did a really good job making
Speaker 2: and taking shots in those situations. They had good flow,
Speaker 2: a rank, good action. Crunch time. Offense was not an
Speaker 2: issue for the Lakers. It's actually been really strange for
Speaker 2: me to see JJ Reddick and so many other people
Speaker 2: talking about the Lakers fourth quarter offense. The number one
Speaker 2: issue with the Lakers in the fourth quarter, especially in
Speaker 2: the Nugget series, was defense. Like, what was that one game,
Speaker 2: the Jamal Murray game winner? The first one? I think
Speaker 2: it was game two. I want to say that they
Speaker 2: scored on like nine of their last ten possessions, Like
Speaker 2: they scored every single time down the floor. The Lakers
Speaker 2: were scoring two. That wasn't the issue. The Lakers can score.
Speaker 2: The Lakers were one of the best offenses in the
Speaker 2: league the entire second half of the season that translated
Speaker 2: into the postseason. Their issue is they don't have perimeter athletes,
Speaker 2: so they always put an underqualified defender on Jamal Murray
Speaker 2: or whoever the best perimeter player is on the other team,
Speaker 2: and they can't get stops. That's why they lose. And
Speaker 2: so like the focus on the fourth quarter execution piece
Speaker 2: like JJ Reddick will help it the Lass more wrinkles.
Speaker 2: They may even go up a level from where they
Speaker 2: were last year, but they're not going to start reaching
Speaker 2: another level as a fourth quarter execution team until they
Speaker 2: improve defensively. In terms of their personnel. Last Lakers question
Speaker 2: for we move on, what do you think JJ can
Speaker 2: bring to the table that Darvinham couldn't even with the
Speaker 2: flawed team they had last year. If you swap JJ
Speaker 2: and at coach first Denver, could you see a different outcome.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it would have been enough versus Denver. Again,
Speaker 2: I still think their defensive personnel was the main issue there. However,
Speaker 2: I put down three things that I think JJ could
Speaker 2: help with one improved offensive execution. One of the things
Speaker 2: that I've really grown to appreciate over the last year
Speaker 2: is the importance of actually running action versus just freelancing.
Speaker 2: You Laker fans know Krngis he works for Tim Cranis
Speaker 2: does that b Ball Index a statistical platform. But he
Speaker 2: did an amazing job last year cataloging the difference between
Speaker 2: the way the Laker offense function when they ran sets
Speaker 2: versus when they freelance, and it was a big gap.
Speaker 2: And clearly that data ended up making its way to
Speaker 2: JJ Reddick because he's made specific mention of it, I'm
Speaker 2: not surprised at all. Cranis do is great work and
Speaker 2: he probably should be working for a team somewhere right now,
Speaker 2: and hopefully he does eventually at some point. But I
Speaker 2: agree with him. I think he's hitting the nail on
Speaker 2: the head. I'm glad that JJ knows it. The Lakers
Speaker 2: need to stop freelancing so damn much, and they need
Speaker 2: to run more organized offense.
Speaker 3: JJ Reddick will help with that.
Speaker 2: Secondly, listening to data, all of that information about playing
Speaker 2: Ruey or Vando at the three instead of Torrean Prince
Speaker 2: was abundantly clear in the data from the early portions
Speaker 2: of the season, and in spite of repeated data statistical
Speaker 2: evidence that showed that Darvingham stuck with Torrean prints way
Speaker 2: too long and it cost them dearly as they went
Speaker 2: three and ten after the n season tournament and ended
Speaker 2: up in the play in tournament. So like, just having
Speaker 2: a guy who's willing to look at the evidence and
Speaker 2: make the appropriate adjustments accordingly is going to be a
Speaker 2: huge asset. And then lastly, coaching possession by possession. Famously,
Speaker 2: Lakers fans refer to Darvinham as hot pockets because he
Speaker 2: would just stand on the sideline with his hands in
Speaker 2: his pockets. You watch all the great coaches, you watch
Speaker 2: Eric Spolstra, you watch Tylu, you watch Mike Malone, you
Speaker 2: watch Steve Kurr. These guys are up, They're animated. They
Speaker 2: coach every possession, They demand excellence every possession. There is
Speaker 2: an emphasis on attention to detail, and if JJ Redditt
Speaker 2: can bring that, I think that would be a substantial
Speaker 2: improvement for this team. Got Warriors question. If the Warriors
Speaker 2: don't end up getting Lori markinin and then in parentheses puts,
Speaker 2: I don't think the Warriors will want to give up
Speaker 2: pods and or kaminga plus multiple picks plus multiple swaps.
Speaker 2: What is another option for them to potentially target this
Speaker 2: offseason to give Steph a true number two option to
Speaker 2: contend for a title. Not a lot of great options
Speaker 2: right now. I think that you never know what could
Speaker 2: happen when you get to the deadline. But now you're
Speaker 2: kind of looking in that after after marketing, you're kind
Speaker 2: of looking in that like brandon Ingram Zach Lavine area,
Speaker 2: and it's like, Brandon Ingram is a guy that I
Speaker 2: think would be a terrible fit in their five out offense.
Speaker 2: Brandon Ingram is a guy that, like when you put
Speaker 2: the ball in his hands and you let him run
Speaker 2: spread pick and roll. He's a gifted pull up shooter,
Speaker 2: can get to the rim. He's one of the branding
Speaker 2: Ingram is a sneaky, excellent passer, but I just don't
Speaker 2: think he's a good fit in like a ball in
Speaker 2: player movement motion heavy like read and react type of offense.
Speaker 2: And then obviously with Levine, it's about money and health
Speaker 2: and there's just a lot of risk there, and so
Speaker 2: I think if they miss out on market and they'll
Speaker 2: probably end up holding tight and seeing if they can
Speaker 2: find something that develops closer to the deadline. Are the
Speaker 2: Nuggets a worse starting five, but an overall better team
Speaker 2: with the addition of Sarich Westbrook and developing Strawther and
Speaker 2: Peyton Watson compared to last season.
Speaker 3: Thanks for the great coverage. I hope your summer is
Speaker 3: going well. Thank you.
Speaker 2: My summer has been great. I just booked another trip
Speaker 2: to Vegas with my wife to go see Dead End Company,
Speaker 2: to go see him two more times. She's that's actually
Speaker 2: for my birthday, which is gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: But my wife and I haven't gone on a vacation
Speaker 2: alone in a while, which is which will be fun.
Speaker 2: And then we're going. We're turning around and leaving like
Speaker 2: the very next day to go to Seattle, and we
Speaker 2: got like an airbnb that overlooks Mount Rainier, and we're
Speaker 2: just gonna kind of relax and get out of the heat.
Speaker 2: It's been hotter in hell here in Tucson every single day.
Speaker 2: So I'm looking forward to some time in the p
Speaker 2: ANDWP the Pacific Northwest. The few times that have been
Speaker 2: there recently, it's it's becoming quickly one of my favorite
Speaker 2: places to visit in the summertime, and so I'm excited
Speaker 2: to get up there. We're going up there for a week,
Speaker 2: all right, So the Nuggets. Here's the thing I look at.
Speaker 2: Everyone's kind of being slotted into different roles, right, So
Speaker 2: the role that used to be Christian Brown, that's the
Speaker 2: role that you're looking at for Julian Straw the right
Speaker 2: like first guard off the bench, right, the backup point guard.
Speaker 2: You're looking at Westbrook instead of Reggie Jackson, right, and
Speaker 2: then at the two guard, you're looking at Christian Brown
Speaker 2: instead of Contavious Colwell Pope. To be clear, I think
Speaker 2: going from KCP to Christian Brown is a downgrade. I
Speaker 2: really like Christian Brown. I think he's actually a better
Speaker 2: defender than KCP, a more versatile defender because he's bigger
Speaker 2: and stronger, but like offensively, there's a chasm between those
Speaker 2: two guys, right, So I think that's a downgrade. We're
Speaker 2: gonna talk Reggie Jackson Russell Westbrook here in a minute,
Speaker 2: but I think that's a downgrade. But there's another question
Speaker 2: there that we'll get to. And then Julian Strather is
Speaker 2: a very interesting player. It's got good size, really silky smooth,
Speaker 2: touched a lot of like interesting stuff in terms of
Speaker 2: his skill development, I just don't think Julian Strather's ready
Speaker 2: to be like a huge rotation piece next season. So
Speaker 2: I'm a little concerned about that. I do think Peyton
Speaker 2: Watson will be better, and that'll be good for him.
Speaker 2: I think that's Peyton Watson just getting better year over
Speaker 2: year is an improvement. But I do think as we
Speaker 2: zoom out from that, I think we have to admit
Speaker 2: that the Nuggets are a little worse this year than
Speaker 2: they were last year. That said, I thought last year
Speaker 2: they lost a little bit of their competitive fire. Micha
Speaker 2: Malone said before last season that winning takes talent, repeating
Speaker 2: takes character, and I don't want to say they failed
Speaker 2: that test, because I mean, they were still up in
Speaker 2: Game seven in the second round. But like, I think
Speaker 2: we can all agree that they just didn't quite have
Speaker 2: the juice last year, didn't quite have that extra bit
Speaker 2: of like mph to them, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I think they'll have that this year. I think
Speaker 2: that Jamal Murray's pissed off. I think that Nikola Jokic
Speaker 2: is pissed off. I think the Nuggets are going to
Speaker 2: be really, really good again next season. And so even
Speaker 2: with those downgrades, and again I think we have to
Speaker 2: acknowledge that Caseyp's not as good as Christian Brown. I
Speaker 2: personally don't think Reggie I don't think Russell Westbrook is
Speaker 2: as good as Reggie Jackson, which we'll get into in
Speaker 2: a minute. And I don't think Julian Strather can do
Speaker 2: what Christian Brown could do as a bench guard. Obviously, right,
Speaker 2: different types of players, but still in terms of overall impact,
Speaker 2: I think Christian Brown is better as a bench player
Speaker 2: than Peyton Watson. Would that be in the case or
Speaker 2: not Peyton watsondn't excuse me, Julian Strather, I'm confusing them.
Speaker 2: I don't think Julian Strather is capable of impacting winning
Speaker 2: off the bench as well as Christian Brown did last year.
Speaker 2: Peyton wants it is a little bit better, but I
Speaker 2: think if we zoom out, I think we have to
Speaker 2: acknowledge that they got a little bit worse with personnel. However,
Speaker 2: back with the chip on their shoulder, a little bit
Speaker 2: of a revenge campaign. I actually think the Nuggets are
Speaker 2: my pick to win the West next season. We'll see
Speaker 2: as we get into training camp if I end up
Speaker 2: changing my mind, but as it stands right now, I
Speaker 2: still think the Nuggets are the best team in the
Speaker 2: Western Conference. Next question, do you really think Reggie Jackson
Speaker 2: is better than Russell Westbrook? I do, And here's why.
Speaker 2: I covered Russell Westbrook very closely, and I watched a
Speaker 2: lot of him with the Clippers last year, and I
Speaker 2: have a feeling Nuggets fans will kind of come around
Speaker 2: to my perspective on this. With Russell Westbrook, it's not
Speaker 2: about what he can do well, and he does a
Speaker 2: lot of things well. He's not a good regular season
Speaker 2: defensive player, but he's a very like he kind of
Speaker 2: becomes a freaky disruptive defensive player. In the postseason on
Speaker 2: the ball, and then he'll make plays defensively off the ball.
Speaker 2: But most of it with Russell Westbrook comes down to mistakes.
Speaker 2: And I want to get to one more positive before
Speaker 2: we get there, before we go to the negatives on offense.
Speaker 2: In the regular season, he's gonna provide real rim pressure,
Speaker 2: real transition pace, real playmaking. And he brought all of
Speaker 2: those things with the Lakers, except for the high level defense.
Speaker 2: But the Lakers didn't make the playoffs with Russ and
Speaker 2: I believe he would have done that with the Lakers
Speaker 2: as well. Here's the thing with Russell Westbrook, It's never
Speaker 2: been about the good. It's been about the bad. I
Speaker 2: have never seen a player make as many mistakes in
Speaker 2: basketball games as Russell Westbrook does, and you Nuggets fans
Speaker 2: will find this out pretty quickly. It's the kind of
Speaker 2: leaking in to try to get a defensive rebound and
Speaker 2: leaving a shooter open. It's the standing straight leged not
Speaker 2: paying attention to someone just cuts right behind him for
Speaker 2: an easy layup on the baseline. It's the missed box outs.
Speaker 2: It's the poor decisions where like he'll randomly just in
Speaker 2: transition see a three on three and twenty sixteen, Russ
Speaker 2: woul dunk it, but twenty twenty three, Russ doesn't have
Speaker 2: that juice, but tries it anyway and ends up missing
Speaker 2: a layup and it leads to a transition opportunity. The
Speaker 2: other way, it's the settling for bad jump shots. It's
Speaker 2: the team's completely ignoring him and him not weaponizing that.
Speaker 2: Like a lot of players get ignored.
Speaker 3: You know what they do.
Speaker 2: They constantly screen, they constantly cut, they constantly crash. Russ
Speaker 2: doesn't do those things, and so it's not about the upside.
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook's upside is substantially higher than Reggie Jackson. Reggie
Speaker 2: Jackson also makes some mistakes. Reggie Jackson doesn't make nearly
Speaker 2: as many mistakes as Russell Westbrook does in basketball games.
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook think of it like this. Reggie Jackson is
Speaker 2: the guy that in a game is going to do
Speaker 2: six or seven good things and two or three bad things. Right,
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook is gonna do twenty twenty five good things
Speaker 2: in like twenty five thirty bad things. Like it is
Speaker 2: this like crazy oscillating back and forth, like oh my god,
Speaker 2: that was incredible, to what the hell are you doing
Speaker 2: to oh my god, that was incredible, to what the
Speaker 2: hell are you doing? And sometimes it'll stack up like
Speaker 2: mark my wordsuggets fans, there will be a game in
Speaker 2: November where it's the end of the third quarter and
Speaker 2: you're on the road in a big like you're on
Speaker 2: the road in Oklahoma City and Jokic checks out with
Speaker 2: five minutes left, and or maybe it's the start of
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter that Jokich checks out or whatever it
Speaker 2: might be. When you're gonna you're gonna have Russell Westbrook
Speaker 2: come in, and there will be a sequence where, like
Speaker 2: in a ninety second span, he does like five stupid
Speaker 2: things and next thing you know, you look at the
Speaker 2: scoreboard and instead of being down four, you're down fourteen.
Speaker 2: Like that's that's the Russell Westbrook experience. It's these Sometimes
Speaker 2: the mistakes come in waves too, And like I'm not
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to hate on the guy, Like this
Speaker 2: was literally what it was like when I was rooting
Speaker 2: for him two years ago when he was a better athlete,
Speaker 2: and he's gonna be an even lesser athlete at this
Speaker 2: point in his career. So like I I will say
Speaker 2: this and Zach Low from ESPN did a really nice
Speaker 2: jot breaking this down. It's a low risk proposition for
Speaker 2: Denver because if the fit doesn't work, you just bench
Speaker 2: him or you cut it right like the Denver doesn't
Speaker 2: need Russell Westbrook, so it's.
Speaker 3: Worth a shot.
Speaker 2: But do I think that Russell Westbrook is going to
Speaker 2: solve the problems for Denver? I don't, and maybe we'll
Speaker 2: say maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jokic and Mike Malone are
Speaker 2: the first two basketball minds that can focus Russell Westbrook
Speaker 2: in a way that works and makes sense. But I'm skeptical.
Speaker 1: The NFL seasons right around the corner. Will be breaking
Speaker 1: down all the off season storylines on the Colin Cowherd
Speaker 1: podcast My best takes guests like.
Speaker 3: My buddy Nick Wright.
Speaker 1: Check out the Colin Coward podcast, part of the Volume Network,
Speaker 1: available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Where is Jalen Brown rank in the top fifteen NBA players?
Speaker 2: We're about to do our player ranking starting next week,
Speaker 2: so I will let you guys know what does a
Speaker 2: repeat do for Jason Tatum and Jylen Brown's legacy individually
Speaker 2: and as a duo. It depends on who they beat,
Speaker 2: Like if they let's say, like, for instance, like they
Speaker 2: had a relatively easy pathway through the playoffs this year.
Speaker 2: Let's say next year, it's like they beat that, like
Speaker 2: the Orlando Magic in the in the second round, and
Speaker 2: then they beat like the what either the Philly team
Speaker 2: that has Paul George and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxi
Speaker 2: or maybe that Knicks team that added Mikhale Bridges, and
Speaker 2: then they go to the finals and they beat like
Speaker 2: the Denver Nuggets or the Oklahoma City Thunder or someone
Speaker 2: like that. Like, if they do that, I think that
Speaker 2: this Celtics team all of a sudden enters into a
Speaker 2: totally different conversation because there's the first team to repeat
Speaker 2: since the KD Staph Warriors. You're following up a dominant
Speaker 2: season with a more impressive playfforn. There's all sorts of
Speaker 2: things there. Referencing Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum as a
Speaker 2: duo is where it gets a little weird for me
Speaker 2: because there's five thirty million dollar players, and I felt
Speaker 2: the same way about the Warriors. Everyone'd be like, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's Stephan k D. Stephan k D, and it's like, no,
Speaker 2: it's not. It's Stephan kd and Klay Thompson and Draymond
Speaker 2: Green and Andre Guidala.
Speaker 3: Like, these are historically.
Speaker 2: Talented teams we're talking about here, they don't line up
Speaker 2: with like Kyrie and Luca That that's a duo. That's
Speaker 2: a duo, right, Like Lebron James and Anthony Davis on
Speaker 2: the Lakers, that's a duo. What we're talking about with
Speaker 2: this Celtics team, Like they have five players that in
Speaker 2: the open market would command thirty million dollars a year.
Speaker 2: That's that's totally different than a traditional duo. That said, like,
Speaker 2: if Boston repeats next year, I think I think it
Speaker 2: works wonders for both their legacies. For I think it
Speaker 2: adds a whole other layer of legitimacy on last year's team.
Speaker 2: I think a repeat would work wonders for the Seas. Hey, Jason,
Speaker 2: I appreciate the hard work you put into the videos.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like Oklahoma City are going to make
Speaker 2: a big move this season or are we still another
Speaker 2: year away? With the team competing at this level and depth,
Speaker 2: it seems we're done and to let their picks resolve
Speaker 2: into either even younger pieces. I agree, and I do
Speaker 2: think that the Thunder will eventually make more of an
Speaker 2: aggressive all in type of deal where they use a
Speaker 2: lot of draft compensation. My guess is it'll be on
Speaker 2: a forward. We talked going into the summer that there
Speaker 2: was two directions they could go. They could either put
Speaker 2: Shed at the ford next to a center, which is
Speaker 2: what they're going to try with Isai Hartenstein this year.
Speaker 3: Or they could put a big forward.
Speaker 2: Next to Chet, keep him at center right and just
Speaker 2: kind of bolster the strength and physicality the front line
Speaker 2: at that forward position. Going after Hertenstein was a really
Speaker 2: smart move. I really like it as a counter to
Speaker 2: what Denver brings to the table to because now you
Speaker 2: can run a two big look. Really like it, but
Speaker 2: I agree that I think they'll be on the lookout.
Speaker 2: The thing is they don't have to rush. They're going
Speaker 2: to be a dominant regular season team no matter what,
Speaker 2: so they can wait for a really good deal around
Speaker 2: the deadline. There's not even a rush in terms of
Speaker 2: this particular season, in the sense that if they don't
Speaker 2: find what they want at the deadline, they can wait
Speaker 2: till next summer if they want to. I think this
Speaker 2: team is really good and is a bona FIDE top
Speaker 2: tier championship contender. Just go down the list. How is
Speaker 2: their offensive shot creation? Well, can't do much better than
Speaker 2: shake kills Alexander one of the best offensive engines in
Speaker 2: the league. Jalen Williams is one of my favorite young
Speaker 2: players in the league and awesome Number two. Chet Holmgren
Speaker 2: brings a whole bunch of offensive firepower to this situation.
Speaker 2: Isaiah Hartenstein is like a prototypical five outdribble handoff big
Speaker 2: I think he's an excellent fit there. Okay, what do
Speaker 2: they look like in terms of their physicality on the frontline? Well,
Speaker 2: last year they sucked. Isaiah Hardenstein is a monster on
Speaker 2: the glass and a guy that completely raises the physical
Speaker 2: profile of the team. What do they like defensively, Well,
Speaker 2: they got real rim protection and chet Holmgren. What do
Speaker 2: they like at the point of attack? Lou Dord is
Speaker 2: one of the best options in the league at the
Speaker 2: point of attack. He's like the only guy I've ever
Speaker 2: seen really truly frustrate Luka Doncic in a playoff series. Like,
Speaker 2: they've got it all and the one thing they don't
Speaker 2: have is a bigger chet at the five look and
Speaker 2: the only way they're going to get that is by
Speaker 2: trading for a forward, and my guess is that is
Speaker 2: going to be what they keep their eye on throughout
Speaker 2: the rest of this season heading into the trade deadline. Well,
Speaker 2: this was a I asked after I gave my Lakers
Speaker 2: Celtics take the other day for people to provide basketball
Speaker 2: reasons why they disagree. And there was a bunch of
Speaker 2: you guys who gave reasons, but I wanted to shout
Speaker 2: out one of you guys. This is from Steven Smith. Hey, Jason,
Speaker 2: love the show. Admittedly by a Celtics fan here, but
Speaker 2: I can give you a few basketball reasons why I
Speaker 2: think the twenty twenty four Celtics could beat the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty Lakers. I know Anthony Davis was probably the best
Speaker 2: defensive player in the league at the time, but the
Speaker 2: way Boston spreads teams out with Porzingis would be hard
Speaker 2: for the Lakers to guard. Jason or Jalen could run
Speaker 2: two man game with kp at the top of the
Speaker 2: key and give and have KP Pott forcing ad out
Speaker 2: of the paint and giving Jason or Jalen driving lanes
Speaker 2: to score or kick it to Drew or d White.
Speaker 2: At that point, it becomes somewhat of a shooting contest.
Speaker 2: Given this Celtics team was the most prolific three point
Speaker 2: shooting team in NBA history, I believe we'd win that battle.
Speaker 3: Two.
Speaker 2: Speaking of Drew and Derek White, I think you're discounting
Speaker 2: just how good of a back court they are. Offensively,
Speaker 2: Drew can easily out muscle Crusoe or KCP to get
Speaker 2: to his spots. Derek can hit a catch and shoot
Speaker 2: three from anywhere on the court. Defensively, they can limit
Speaker 2: the Lakers other three starters, not Lebron and Ad, similar
Speaker 2: to how they limit the MAVs other players in the
Speaker 2: finals this year. With the twenty twenty Lakers. While the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty Lakers have a front court advantage, we have
Speaker 2: a back court advantage.
Speaker 3: Three.
Speaker 2: Yes, Lebron and Ad are much better duo than Jason
Speaker 2: and jaln Are, but many believed Luca and Kyrie were
Speaker 2: a better duo given they to Day two rolled over
Speaker 2: a much tougher Western conference and we kicked their ass.
Speaker 2: I think we showed this year that if you have
Speaker 2: a great duo and give them the best supporting cast,
Speaker 2: you can overcome a better player and a better duo.
Speaker 2: In a seven game series, it would be very close.
Speaker 2: But in a hypothetical matchup, I would go with the
Speaker 2: Celtics in seven, although I wouldn't be surprised if the
Speaker 2: Lakers ended up winning. Appreciate the great content, content, and
Speaker 2: I hope this message finds you well. First of all,
Speaker 2: thank you for taking the time to spell out your
Speaker 2: basketball thoughts. One of the things that I talk about
Speaker 2: all the time is that bothers me. It's like a
Speaker 2: pet peeve. Is like I offer a basketball opinion and
Speaker 2: the people that are just like that are just like,
Speaker 2: fuck you, You're stupid, you rummy, you know, and it's
Speaker 2: just like and it just turns into like a like
Speaker 2: a shit talking contest, and that's just not productive. It
Speaker 2: doesn't solve anything. I got into doing this for a
Speaker 2: living because I love talking basketball. Like I used to
Speaker 2: literally like walk through basketball and have these debates with
Speaker 2: my college teammates when we were growing up, either on
Speaker 2: buses or in hotels or after practice when we were
Speaker 2: untying our shoes and stuff like. I love talking basketball.
Speaker 2: What that means is I want to hear what you
Speaker 2: guys think and taking the time to actually write out
Speaker 2: why you think I'm wrong is something that is way
Speaker 2: more productive and something I'm willing to engage with, and
Speaker 2: so I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 3: Steven.
Speaker 2: The only points that I'd pushed back on, and you
Speaker 2: make a lot of good points. That group, that ad
Speaker 2: Lebron Crusoe, KCP, Danny Green unit probably more of a
Speaker 2: switching unit against Boston, so that would be how they'd
Speaker 2: mitigate pick and pop. And what specifically what made that
Speaker 2: Laker team good was their smaller players were really hard
Speaker 2: to post up KCP. You guys watched KCP defending Karl
Speaker 2: Anthony Towns in the post and just stripping him clean
Speaker 2: because he's so good at waiting for you to expose
Speaker 2: the basketball. Alex Cruso is like something crazy like two
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty five pounds of solid muscle at six six,
Speaker 2: Like he's a really difficult guy to bully. And Danny
Speaker 2: Green's even bigger than him. So like they are big
Speaker 2: on the perimeter, that twenty twenty Lakers team, and so
Speaker 2: it's more of a switching look. And the idea there
Speaker 2: is you switch and you contain the basketball. And again
Speaker 2: I'm not saying you won't ever get dribble penetration, but
Speaker 2: it's about flattening dribble penetration. A straight line drive past
Speaker 2: Luka Doncic forces hard help, which leads to wide open
Speaker 2: closeout opportunities. A good perimeter defender is going to make
Speaker 2: those drives more of like a banana route, like a
Speaker 2: flattened out drive, which makes it so the guys can
Speaker 2: dig down instead of hard helping, which makes for easier closeouts.
Speaker 2: It just allows you to kind of avoid that drive.
Speaker 3: And kick chain.
Speaker 2: So specifically, I think the Laker defense was really well
Speaker 2: built for that Boston driving kick. I do agree with
Speaker 2: you though, that the Boston backcourt was better. One of
Speaker 2: the note on the duo thing, like Luka is probably
Speaker 2: the second best player in the world behind Jokic, and
Speaker 2: Kyrie's somewhere around the twenty to twenty fifth best player
Speaker 2: in the world. Lebron was the best player in the
Speaker 2: world in twenty twenty, and I had Anthony Davis at
Speaker 2: number four that year. So like, it's not just that
Speaker 2: they're a better duo than Tatum and Brown. They're a
Speaker 2: way better duo even than Luca and Kyrie were. And
Speaker 2: that's a big part. Like those two were just an
Speaker 2: absolute wrecking ball that entire season. But I appreciate the comment.
Speaker 2: You did a really good job breaking it down. I
Speaker 2: think your take was super reasonable. Hey, Jason, love the show.
Speaker 2: I'm a fan from Trinidad in the Caribbean. You have
Speaker 2: a following here. I know you have said that usually
Speaker 2: a basketball player is who they are around the age
Speaker 2: of twenty six twenty seven, But isn't it possible for
Speaker 2: del to improve his defensive skills and athleticism during the offseason.
Speaker 2: I think he's a high level offensive talent aside from
Speaker 2: when he gets in his own head. But I just
Speaker 2: don't buy him saying I'm just not athletic at this
Speaker 2: phase in his career. He's been trying. Trust me, there
Speaker 2: is like a there's like a range of potential athletic
Speaker 2: outcomes for every player, and likee, Delo has a range,
Speaker 2: meaning he can get better, but there's a ceiling there,
Speaker 2: and his ceiling is still too low to impact the
Speaker 2: game as a role player the way guys like Derek
Speaker 2: White do, for instance. All right, let's see Pistons question.
Speaker 2: Hi Jason, thanks as always for your content. As a
Speaker 2: depressed Pistons fan, last season was an absolute shit show.
Speaker 2: Really tested my love of the game. However, I think
Speaker 2: this offseason was quietly one of the best, considering the
Speaker 2: overhaul of the front office and getting Fred Vinson to
Speaker 2: help IVYSR. Holland improve their jump shot. People clown the
Speaker 2: Tobias contract in the Tim Hardaway junior trade. I understand
Speaker 2: when you win fourteen games, we don't deserve the benefit
Speaker 2: of the doubt. But You've always mentioned the importance of
Speaker 2: solid vets that can still play a high level to
Speaker 2: help a young core develop good habits. When you're assessing
Speaker 2: rebuilding teams, what signs apart from the win lost column
Speaker 2: are you looking at to see if a group is
Speaker 2: on the right path to take the next step? And
Speaker 2: do you think this Pistons group can take a Houston
Speaker 2: esque leap towards respectability for example thirty odd wins. I
Speaker 2: do think that the Pistons are poised for that type
Speaker 2: of leap. I'm met much of a believer in Kid Cunningham,
Speaker 2: and quite frankly, last year was Manti Williams was not
Speaker 2: playing their best basketball players and that kind of like
Speaker 2: set them up for failure in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2: I like the additions because they all make sense. Tobias
Speaker 2: Harris is a guy that can play the four or
Speaker 2: the three. I think he's gonna play a lot of
Speaker 2: four for this group. But he's a glue guy at
Speaker 2: this phase in his career. He's a dude that just
Speaker 2: like that just kind of like fits in with other
Speaker 2: basketball players. He can attack mismatches in the post, he
Speaker 2: can go to work off the bounce, but he's a
Speaker 2: guy who can also just kind of play a smaller
Speaker 2: role and then shooting to create spacing. Blik Beasley and
Speaker 2: Tim Hardaway Junior will help in that area, I think
Speaker 2: the most. As far as like the adding vets piece, Like,
Speaker 2: I'm a big believer that if you put a bunch
Speaker 2: of young basketball players that don't know how to play together,
Speaker 2: especially under a like a less than fantastic coaching staff,
Speaker 2: there's not a whole lot for them to improve on
Speaker 2: because they're not learning from any sort of experience, right
Speaker 2: and so especially as long as those veterans don't take
Speaker 2: away from their opportunities to learn. So, for instance, like
Speaker 2: John Wall with Jalen Green doesn't make any sense because
Speaker 2: John Wall is going to directly infringe on Jalen Green's
Speaker 2: ability to kind of like have those opportunities to go
Speaker 2: to work, right, Like what makes sense is you want
Speaker 2: of these veteran players like Tobias Harris, Maliki's tim Ardowa
Speaker 2: Junior that are going to play smaller roles and primarily
Speaker 2: just serve as mentors for players. And Kaid's still gonna
Speaker 2: play it the same way. Ja Nivey is still going
Speaker 2: to play the same way, Jalen durn Is still going
Speaker 2: to play the same way, and you just have the
Speaker 2: ability to just kind of elevate the overall basketball iq
Speaker 2: of those lineups. There are a lot of possessions where
Speaker 2: like Kid Cunningham gets the defense in rotation and then
Speaker 2: the play just dies from there because there are guys
Speaker 2: that don't know how to properly attack closeouts or to
Speaker 2: make the right reads in those situations. These guys will
Speaker 2: help in those ways. As far as next year and
Speaker 2: taking that leap, it's really just about can Kay Cunningham
Speaker 2: continue to be the shot creator that he is, Can
Speaker 2: you get obviously a little bit more competent coaching, and
Speaker 2: then can you be adequate defensively in that front court?
Speaker 2: Right with Jalen Dern and Tobias Harris, I think you're
Speaker 2: a little undersized. I do think we'll see some Isaiah
Speaker 2: Steuart still alongside him. Although I think Isaiah Isaiah Stewart
Speaker 2: has kind of become an interesting trade target out there
Speaker 2: for teams that need The center position is just such
Speaker 2: a high value position, especially with all the up and
Speaker 2: coming centers, guys like Embiid and Anthony Davis and NICOLEA. Jokic, Right,
Speaker 2: and with that being the case, the especially with Isaiah
Speaker 2: Stewart being kind of a little bit of a shooter,
Speaker 2: I wonder if he's the guy that they can look
Speaker 2: to trade at some point. But in the short term,
Speaker 2: I think just adding some vets and just another year
Speaker 2: of improvement from your young players and an improvement a
Speaker 2: head coach could go a long way to putting that
Speaker 2: team into that twenty five to thirty win range. One
Speaker 2: of the top five things to you hope to see
Speaker 2: when Slash if Acolyte is renewed for a season two.
Speaker 2: I actually just broke this down in a lot more
Speaker 2: detail with my buddy Luke on two Suns podcasts. We
Speaker 2: actually just released that episode yesterday, so you can find
Speaker 2: that again wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube
Speaker 2: under two Sons podcasts. But the gist of it is, like,
Speaker 2: I think that we saw Darth Plagas in the season finale, right.
Speaker 2: He's a super interesting character because he's the guy who
Speaker 2: basically set up the entire plan that Palpatine executed in
Speaker 2: the Phantom Menace to get to the Chancellorship and then
Speaker 2: obviously to start the Clone Wars, and so I think
Speaker 2: it'd be really cool to dive into that you've showed Plagas.
Speaker 2: I think it'd be really cool to go season two
Speaker 2: centered around Kymer go way back to his Jedi fallout
Speaker 2: with Vernestra, whatever happened there, and dive into how he
Speaker 2: met Plagas and him becoming a Sith, And then the
Speaker 2: tail end of season two, I would have the showdown
Speaker 2: between Chymie and Plagas as they determine who's going to
Speaker 2: become the Dark Order of the Sith and whatever they
Speaker 2: decide to do with Kymier. At that point they can
Speaker 2: figure out Season three, I would like to see them
Speaker 2: dive into Plagas and Palpatine. I'd cast a young Palpatine
Speaker 2: and I just do a whole I'd do like two
Speaker 2: seasons of prequel content, like a little bit of young Palpatine,
Speaker 2: a little bit of like older Palpatine with Plagas, and
Speaker 2: just really dive into the backstory of how those two
Speaker 2: kind of executed their plan that started in The Phantom Menace.
Speaker 2: That's what I would do if I was running The Acolyte.
Speaker 2: But again, check out our pod. It's a it's a
Speaker 2: totally different format. I'm with my best friend. It's much
Speaker 2: more casual. But we've done I think one hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty six episodes now, so we've actually been around pretty long.
Speaker 2: But we just did an Acolyte episode today or yesterday,
Speaker 2: and then we also do House of the Dragon. Expectations
Speaker 2: for John Morant and the Grizzlies. They have a solid
Speaker 2: core that's still pretty young. I think they're going to
Speaker 2: dominate the regular season next year. I don't know what
Speaker 2: they're gonna look like as a playoff team. I need
Speaker 2: to actually see them play, especially with all these new pieces.
Speaker 2: I want to see where Gigi Jackson fits in all
Speaker 2: of this. I want to see if Zach Edy can help.
Speaker 2: I want to see if John Morank can continue to
Speaker 2: play the way he did when he showed up in
Speaker 2: the middle of the regular season last year. Can Marcus
Speaker 2: Smart stay healthy. There's a lot of question marks there,
Speaker 2: but I do think they're going to dominate the regular season.
Speaker 2: I expect them to be a top four seed or
Speaker 2: the Orlando Magic on the same tier as Philadelphia in
Speaker 2: New York or is it too soon? I still think
Speaker 2: they're behind that tier. I'd put them behind the Bucks too.
Speaker 2: I just think they still need to until Franz Wagner
Speaker 2: and Palo Buncarrol become better jump shooters. I don't think
Speaker 2: they can enter that tier, but I do think that
Speaker 2: they'll be a very good regular season team. Wouldn't be
Speaker 2: surprised if they pass one of those teams in the
Speaker 2: regular season. That said, I still view them as firmly
Speaker 2: in that fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. Let's do
Speaker 2: one more. This is a Pelicans question. Without a center
Speaker 2: and with de Jontay Murray and CJ McCollum on the roster,
Speaker 2: where do the Pelicans go from here? Who should they trade?
Speaker 2: I would trade Brandon Ingram, And really my reasoning is
Speaker 2: this simple. Brandon Ingram has not played sixty five games
Speaker 2: in a season since he was a rookie. He's consistently
Speaker 2: hurt and consistently playing below his peak. I'm a huge
Speaker 2: brandon Ingram fan. When he's healthy, I think he's one
Speaker 2: of the best passing forwards in the league.
Speaker 3: Really really nice.
Speaker 2: Primary shot creator when you can put the ball in
Speaker 2: his hands and have him run, spread, pick and roll
Speaker 2: when he's in shape and in rhythm.
Speaker 3: He's such a.
Speaker 2: Good scorer who can score at all three levels. Big
Speaker 2: fan of BI, but he's constantly hurt, and he's kind
Speaker 2: of a funky fit alongside the drive and kick kind
Speaker 2: of profile that I see from a Dejonte, Murray, Zion
Speaker 2: Williamson type of core. Also, CJ McCollum is a much
Speaker 2: better spot up player than Brandon Ingram. Brandon Ingram was
Speaker 2: an average spot up player. I want to say he
Speaker 2: was at like one point zero seven points per spot
Speaker 2: up possession. C J McCollum was one of the best
Speaker 2: spot up players in the league last year. He was
Speaker 2: up over one point three points per possession, so good
Speaker 2: at shooting and driving closeouts. So like BI is not
Speaker 2: only worth more in terms of getting returned, but CJ's
Speaker 2: a better fit alongside Dejonte and Zion, And so that's
Speaker 2: the direction that I'd look to go from there. Try
Speaker 2: to flip him for a center. There's a bunch of
Speaker 2: different actions directions they can go. You could look at
Speaker 2: like athletic rim running centers, guys like Nick Claxton or
Speaker 2: Clint Capella. There are guys who could shoot it a
Speaker 2: little bit. I talked about Isaiah Stewart with the Pistons earlier.
Speaker 2: He's a guy that you could try to put a
Speaker 2: pry away from Detroit. Wendell Carter Junior from Orlando. You
Speaker 2: could even look at I'm worried about this from a
Speaker 2: defensive perspective, but what if Minnesota decides to move on
Speaker 2: from Karl Anthony Town or if Chicago decides to move
Speaker 2: on from Nikola Vusevitch. Those are a couple of other
Speaker 2: guys as you could look at in terms of shooting
Speaker 2: next to Zion Williamson. But I viewed them as a
Speaker 2: drive and kick team in the future. I really like
Speaker 2: the idea of Zion and dejhon Ta Murray beating people
Speaker 2: off the dribble. Guys like Trey Murphy and CJ. McCollum
Speaker 2: benefiting from that and close out situations because of their
Speaker 2: ability to shoot and make moves in the in the
Speaker 2: mid range. All Right, guys, that is all I have
Speaker 2: for today. As always, a sincerely appreciate you for supporting
Speaker 2: the show. We're gonna take the rest of the weekend off.
Speaker 2: We'll be back on Monday to break down the Olympic
Speaker 2: opener between USA and Serbia as well as we're gonna
Speaker 2: I'm gonna start prepping the player rankings at that point.
Speaker 2: We'll probably end up airing that on Tuesday, but we
Speaker 2: will be back on Monday. I will see you guys then.
Speaker 3: The volume whats so guys.
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
Speaker 2: OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us
Speaker 2: if you guys would take a second and leave a
Speaker 2: rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys
Speaker 2: supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
Speaker 2: do that, I'd really appreciate it.