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Speaker 1: see d KNG dot co slash audio. All right, welcome

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Speaker 1: to Hohop tonight. You're at the volume heavy Thursday. Everybody

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Speaker 1: hope all you guys are having a great week so far.

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Speaker 1: As of right now, we are twenty two minutes away.

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Speaker 1: As of the time of me recording this, we are

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Speaker 1: twenty two minutes away from the NBA trade deadline. We

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Speaker 1: are going to have a full trade day deadline reaction

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Speaker 1: breaking down all of the incredible deals from the last

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Speaker 1: couple of days. I did want to take like ten

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Speaker 1: to fifteen minutes right now to just talk about the

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Speaker 1: Lakers getting Mark Williams. Do you guys are the joke?

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Speaker 1: Before we started? Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels.

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Speaker 1: You don't miss any more of our videos following me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at underscore jcnlts, you guys don't miss you announcements.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget about a podcast feed where you get your

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Speaker 1: podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful for he

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Speaker 1: leave a rating and a review on that front. We

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Speaker 1: also brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and

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Speaker 1: Facebook where you can follow us for content throughout the year,

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Speaker 1: and then keep dropping mail back questions in the YouTube

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Speaker 1: comments so that we can hit them on Fridays throughout

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Speaker 1: the remainder of the season. So the Lakers get Mark Williams.

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Speaker 1: Here are the details of the trade. Charlotte is getting

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Speaker 1: Dalton Connect Cam Reddish. By the way, for your Hornets fans,

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Speaker 1: Dalton Connect, you'll like him. Really good movement shooter. I

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Speaker 1: think he hasn't shot the ball overly well this year,

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Speaker 1: but his rotation minutes have been super inconsistent and he

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Speaker 1: hasn't been very prominently featured in the offense. I think

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Speaker 1: that Charlotte's going to give him much more of that

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Speaker 1: kind of opportunity. The dude can shoot the ball. He's

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Speaker 1: a complete mess on defense, and there's a bunch of

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Speaker 1: stuff that has to get worked out there. But he's

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Speaker 1: super young, and he's big, and he's athletic, so he

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Speaker 1: should be able to, at least in the long run,

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Speaker 1: become a serviceable defensive player who's a movement shooter, a

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Speaker 1: guy who can run action, a transition weapon. You guys

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Speaker 1: will like Dalton Connect. He just wasn't somebody that fit

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Speaker 1: into the Lakers timeline. You guys, let you Laker fans

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Speaker 1: who followed the show. You'll notice I didn't spend a

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Speaker 1: ton of time talking about Dalton Connect and my big

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Speaker 1: picture Lakers stuff this year because I just didn't think

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Speaker 1: he was ready. It's no disrespect to Dalton. He's just

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Speaker 1: a young player that needs to have some stuff worked out,

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Speaker 1: and the Lakers aren't a more urgent timeline. So within Charlotte,

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Speaker 1: I actually like Dalton Connect much more as a player

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Speaker 1: that can develop into the high level offensive player that

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Speaker 1: he can be on his own pace and learn how

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Speaker 1: to play defense over time. Cam Reddish also is in

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Speaker 1: the deal the Lakers twenty thirty one unprotected first round pick.

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Speaker 1: Those twenty twenty nine to twenty thirty one first round

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Speaker 1: picks were more valuable before Luca came to town, but

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Speaker 1: still here in the year twenty twenty five, that's six

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Speaker 1: years from now. A lot can change by then, So

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Speaker 1: an unprotected Laker thirty one first round pick is a

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Speaker 1: good piece of value, and they're getting a swap with

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Speaker 1: the Lakes in twenty thirty so they can get the

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Speaker 1: better of those two draft picks. The Lakers in the

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Speaker 1: deal get Mark Williams. This is a move to go

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Speaker 1: all in on offense. The Lakers could have gone several

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Speaker 1: different directions with this center spot. They could have gotten

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Speaker 1: like a big bruising guy, someone who's mostly unavailable, like

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Speaker 1: a Walker Kessler, someone like a Yaka partle Yonis Malancun

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Speaker 1: has ended up going to Sacramento, but like that kind

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Speaker 1: of guy. You could get like a bigger, bodied, bruising center.

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Speaker 1: You could get a defensive anchor, someone like Nick Claxton.

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Speaker 1: This is the direction I thought they would go, considering

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Speaker 1: just the reality of some of the limitations of Luka,

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Speaker 1: Doncic and just Lebron being older and losing Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: and some of the stuff we've learned in NBA history

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Speaker 1: about how your ability to protect the rim in the

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Speaker 1: front court is such an important part of playoff defense.

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Speaker 1: I thought that would be the direction they would go. Now.

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Speaker 1: To be clear, I want to get a little further

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Speaker 1: into the Lakers on defense later on in the show,

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Speaker 1: because I do think the Lakers are going to be

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Speaker 1: better defensively than people think. But we'll talk about that

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Speaker 1: in a minute. They didn't go either of those directions,

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Speaker 1: though they went with the dynamic screen and roll threat.

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Speaker 1: They gave Luca and Lebron one of the best young

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Speaker 1: screen and roll prospects in the NBA. This is the

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Speaker 1: first part of Mark Williams that Lakers fans need to

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Speaker 1: familiarize themselves with. He is just an awesome weapon in

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Speaker 1: the screen and roll game. He sets good screens, he

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Speaker 1: seeks out content, He makes good hard hits on people

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Speaker 1: in screens. But he also has a good feel for

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Speaker 1: one to slip out of screens when the action dictates that,

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Speaker 1: when the when that's the read in that situation. He

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Speaker 1: has absolute magnet hands, catches everything in traffic doesn't turn

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Speaker 1: the ball over very much. For a center, he provides

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Speaker 1: a huge vertical spacing window, which is just a vital

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Speaker 1: part of what Luca and Lebron do in Pick and Roll.

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Speaker 1: I talked about this a lot, but there's like a

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Speaker 1: there's like a progression in ball screens. I'm gonna do

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Speaker 1: a full breakdown of it in a minute, and one

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Speaker 1: of those important reads in that progression is that vertical

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Speaker 1: spacing window in the lot like a lob as you're

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Speaker 1: coming downhill in the ball screens, and Mark Williams just

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Speaker 1: perfectly fits into that. Into that mold, He's got like

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Speaker 1: a super high stain reach. I think it's like nine

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Speaker 1: feet nine inches, and change just gets. But he also

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Speaker 1: can catch everything. It's not just dunks either, Like if

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Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a bad pass, he can

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Speaker 1: kind of guide it into the basket at a really

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Speaker 1: high level. No matter what you want to talk about

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Speaker 1: with Mark Williams, even when you started to get into

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Speaker 1: his defensive limitations, which we'll talk about in a minute,

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Speaker 1: the dude is an incredible offensive weapon and he's going

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Speaker 1: to make life easier for the Lakers on the offensive end.

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Speaker 1: So let's zoom in on that for a minute. We'll

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Speaker 1: get to the defensive stuff in a little bit. If

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Speaker 1: your goal was to make the Lakers completely unguardable on offense,

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Speaker 1: this was the kind of move you had to make

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Speaker 1: because in order for a Luca or Lebron led offense

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Speaker 1: to be unguardable, you need several things. I have four

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Speaker 1: things on this list. One, ideally you need a legit

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Speaker 1: number two so that Luca or Lebron don't have to

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Speaker 1: do everything, so they don't wear down over the course

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Speaker 1: of games and overseasons. While I'd argue Lebron and Luca

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Speaker 1: together compliment each other in that way, giving each other

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Speaker 1: the ability to rest, take it easy when the other

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Speaker 1: is on the floor and they need a break. And

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Speaker 1: with Austin they have plenty of depth in that regard.

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Speaker 1: I'd argue they're the best shot creation trio in the

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Speaker 1: entire NBA right now, when you get down to it,

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Speaker 1: to Austin for weeks now has been like twenty points

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Speaker 1: per game on fifty to forty ninety. That's what you're

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Speaker 1: complimenting Lebron and Luca with. Secondly, you need a legit

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Speaker 1: vertical spacing threat, a dynamic above the rim, kind of

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Speaker 1: thing that the defense has to account for. Here's why

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Speaker 1: the vast majority of teams are going to guard Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Luca up at the level because they don't want

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Speaker 1: to let them get downhill. Even when they don't, the

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Speaker 1: role man is going to have to excuse me, the

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Speaker 1: screen defender, the guy guarding Mark Williams is going to

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Speaker 1: have to come up to at least account for Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Luca as scores. You guys have all seen it before.

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Speaker 1: If you let Luca have the defender chase him over

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Speaker 1: the top of the screen and he could pin him

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Speaker 1: on his backside, and if you let him just methodically

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Speaker 1: roll down the lane, he's gonna get to one of

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Speaker 1: those little five to seven foot push shots that he

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Speaker 1: just never misses. Right. So, like you have to account

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Speaker 1: for Luca on the role, and Lebron is like the

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Speaker 1: downhill threat. If you let Mark Williams screen for Lebron

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Speaker 1: and you let Lebron go screaming down, he's going to

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Speaker 1: break your defense down. So you have to account for

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Speaker 1: Lebron by meeting him, meeting him up high so that

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Speaker 1: he doesn't get ahead of steam. You need Lebron to

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Speaker 1: come off of those ball screens slowly right, And the

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Speaker 1: only way you're going to do that is by bringing

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Speaker 1: a big up to the level so Lebron doesn't see

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Speaker 1: a runway to go downhill. Right. So in those two situations,

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Speaker 1: if the screen defender has to account for Luca, if

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Speaker 1: Mark Williams defender has to account for Luca, if Mark Williams'

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Speaker 1: defender has to account for Lebron, Now Mark Williams is

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Speaker 1: open rolling to the basket in that lob window, right,

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Speaker 1: how do teams account for that? They account for that

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Speaker 1: by bringing a guy over from the weak side to

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Speaker 1: tag the roller, right. But the only way they're going

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Speaker 1: to do that, the only way they're going to account

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Speaker 1: for that role man, is if they view him as

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Speaker 1: a real vertical spacing threat. So that's the second most

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Speaker 1: important part to making a Lebron or Luca led offense unguardable.

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Speaker 1: You've got to have depth of shot creation. You've got

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Speaker 1: to have a vertical spacing threat so that you can

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Speaker 1: throw the lob when the screen defender comes up. Thirdly,

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Speaker 1: you need to have guys who can finish plays by

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Speaker 1: capitalizing on the advantages that are created as the defense

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Speaker 1: shades towards Lebron and Luca and towards Mark Williams. Right,

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Speaker 1: So imagine we have a guy who's guarding Ruey hatchra

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Speaker 1: Mura in the weak side corner. That guy is going

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Speaker 1: to come over and basically box out Mark Williams so

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Speaker 1: that he can't roll to the rim for a dunk,

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Speaker 1: for that easy lob dunk. Right, this is where those

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Speaker 1: skip passes are open. Two of the best passers in

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Speaker 1: the history of the NBA in ball screens to that

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Speaker 1: skip to the corner are Luca and Lebron. You have

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Speaker 1: to have guys that can score the basketball on the

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Speaker 1: weak side of the floor, and this team will constantly

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Speaker 1: have when Luca has the ball, Lebron off the ball,

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Speaker 1: Austin reeves off the ball, during Finney Smith, who's knocked

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Speaker 1: down three point shooter off the ball, Ruey Hatchimura a

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Speaker 1: guy who can score the basketball. Even Gabe can both

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Speaker 1: hit shots, but can put the ball on the floor

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Speaker 1: and make extra moves in the mid range score in

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Speaker 1: close out situations. Right, Like when you play playoff defense,

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Speaker 1: a really good playoff defense, it's not a lot of

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot jump shots. It's not a lot of

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Speaker 1: easy stuff at the rim, it's a lot more of

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Speaker 1: like you get an advantage, this guy has to score.

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Speaker 1: This guy might have to put the ball on the

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Speaker 1: floor and hit a mid range jumper. This guy might

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Speaker 1: have to put the ball on the floor and make

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Speaker 1: that next read to further break down the defense. This

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Speaker 1: is a strength on this roster. Now, the Lakers always

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Speaker 1: had these guys that can do a little bit more offensively,

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Speaker 1: guys like Austin, guys like Rui, guys like Gabe, but

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Speaker 1: they couldn't create good enough advantages for them consistently. Now,

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Speaker 1: because Lebron is slotted as your second best shot creator,

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Speaker 1: because Austin is slotted as your third best shot creator,

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Speaker 1: because you have the lob threat, the legitimate lob threat

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Speaker 1: that Mark Williams brings to the table, you are going

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Speaker 1: to provide guys like Ruy, guys like Austin, Guys like Lebron,

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Speaker 1: even Luca when he's off the ball, Guys like Gabe.

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Speaker 1: You're going to be providing them really high quality advantage

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Speaker 1: situations as defenses have to account for more Mark Williams

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Speaker 1: on the roll, and if they don't, if that Loman

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Speaker 1: doesn't come over, if they stay glued up to Ruey, Austin, Lebron,

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Speaker 1: whoever it is on the weak side, Mark Williams is

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Speaker 1: gonna get a dunk every single time down the floor.

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Speaker 1: It like every team in the NBA is going to

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Speaker 1: have to make a decision with how to guard the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: because that's the last piece. If first it's depth of

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Speaker 1: chock creation, second a vertical spacing thread, third week side scoring.

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Speaker 1: The last thing is what if they switch? If they switch,

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Speaker 1: you gotta have guys who can beat a switching defense,

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Speaker 1: and Luca just puts you into much better position to

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Speaker 1: handle that type of defensive look. You will have more

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Speaker 1: favorable matchups all over the floor as defenses have to

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Speaker 1: account for Luca. What decision are you gonna make as

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Speaker 1: a defense guard in the Lakers? Do you want to

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Speaker 1: let Lebron and Luca just pick on your weakest defender

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Speaker 1: and switches. That's probably not gonna go. Well, do you

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Speaker 1: want to let Lebron and Luca get downhill in ball

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Speaker 1: screens and pick you apart. That's probably not gonna work. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So then you're gonna have to come up to the

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Speaker 1: level that's gonna open those skip passes and lob passes

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Speaker 1: or you're gonna have to double when they're picking on switches,

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Speaker 1: which is just gonna lead to more of those advantages

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Speaker 1: which the Lakers have guys to capitalize on. I think

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Speaker 1: this team has the potential to be the most resilient

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Speaker 1: playoff offense in the NBA, aside from maybe the Nikola

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Speaker 1: Jokich Denver Nuggets. I think they're on that tier now. Jokic,

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Speaker 1: I think is the best tight space playoff shot creator

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. But Luca is right there at number two,

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Speaker 1: and they have Lebron James, and they have Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: and so like, I don't even want to overthink things.

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Speaker 1: This team is going to score the basketball. But let's

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Speaker 1: talk about defense. Mark Williams is flat lee not a

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Speaker 1: good defensive player right now. He produces statistically, he's very

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Speaker 1: good rebounder. We'll talk about that in a Minute's important

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Speaker 1: part of defense. He does block a good amount of shots.

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Speaker 1: He blocks one point seven shots for thirty six minutes,

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Speaker 1: which is not bad. It's not great for a guy

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Speaker 1: his size, but it's not terrible. But he's not particularly

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Speaker 1: good at anything on defense. He has really bad technique

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Speaker 1: on the perimeter, does a lot of opening his stance,

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Speaker 1: so like try to contest shots by going sideways, which

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Speaker 1: just leaves his stance open so guys can drive by.

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Speaker 1: He leaves his feet on ball fakes and gets out

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Speaker 1: of position really really bad on the perimeter. So Charlotte

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Speaker 1: tried to account for this by just exclusively using Mark

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Speaker 1: Williams in like a super deep drop coverage, meaning like

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Speaker 1: as the ball screen was taking place, he would just

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Speaker 1: sit back in the paint and try to keep him

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Speaker 1: around the rim. And he does have some value there again,

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Speaker 1: like he's a great defensive rebounder. This is a Laker

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Speaker 1: team that has struggled to rebound at times this year.

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Speaker 1: He has good length, He's going to be an asset

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Speaker 1: down there. But even around the rim, he goes for ballfakes,

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Speaker 1: he gets out of position. He's not a good defensive

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Speaker 1: player right now. So, like, whether or not Mark Williams

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Speaker 1: can be a high level rotation piece for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: will come down to JJ Reddick's ability to find a

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Speaker 1: way to make Mark useful on the defensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. But I just think when we're having that conversation,

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Speaker 1: we have to at least acknowledge what he brings on

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Speaker 1: the offensive end. And that's why I actually look at

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Speaker 1: this trade as more of a way just to give

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Speaker 1: the Lakers a different configuration that they can go to.

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Speaker 1: We saw this look really good playing small balls in

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Speaker 1: the last week without Anthony Davis. They did have Max

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Speaker 1: Christy in the next game, but they didn't have Max

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Speaker 1: Christi in the Clippers game. Against the Clippers and against

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Speaker 1: the Knicks, they executed their small ball looks really well.

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Speaker 1: A lot of like Lebron Ruey van Do Dorian Finney Smith.

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Speaker 1: Just these big rangey six 's eight six ' nine,

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Speaker 1: big strong forwards all over the floor that are switching

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Speaker 1: and swarming around and rebounding and doing all the things

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Speaker 1: they knew to do need to do that. John I

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Speaker 1: talked a lot early in the season about how like

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Speaker 1: JJ Reddicks switching scheme can work, the Lakers just weren't

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Speaker 1: doing it well. They they've been doing it in the

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Speaker 1: last week. I actually think this team will have small

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Speaker 1: ball looks that can defend. There's a lot of talk

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Speaker 1: about like, how are the Lakers going to get any stops.

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Speaker 1: They've been getting stops with the same guys over the

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Speaker 1: course of the last week. I don't think the Mark

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Speaker 1: Williams looks are with like the lineups with Mark Williams

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Speaker 1: and Luke on the floor are going to struggle to guard.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna be a problem, but they're also going to

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Speaker 1: score really, really well. There are good defenders in rotation.

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Speaker 1: Lebron James when he's engaged in the last week, has

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Speaker 1: been an excellent defender. Dawren Phinney Smith good defender, Jared

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Speaker 1: Vanderbilt excellent defender, gave Vincent good defender. They have good

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Speaker 1: defensive players in this rotation, and I just kind of

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Speaker 1: see them having these different configurations. I think they'll have

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Speaker 1: small ball looks primarily anchored by Lebron, where it's Lebron

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Speaker 1: in a bunch of forwards and they're guarding and they're

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Speaker 1: doing everything that they did against the Clippers and the Knicks,

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Speaker 1: and then they'll have these other looks, especially like Luca

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Speaker 1: on the floor Lebron off, where it's like, hey, let's

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Speaker 1: just try to outscore teams. It's gonna be Luca, it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be you know, Austin, It's gonna be Mark Williams,

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Speaker 1: it might be Ruy Hatchamura in that look, and maybe

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Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt to guard the other team's best player or

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Speaker 1: something like that. They're gonna have looks for all of

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Speaker 1: these different parts of the game, and you're right, like,

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Speaker 1: there might be a time when it's like, oh shit,

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Speaker 1: we can't play Mark Williams against these guys. He's getting

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Speaker 1: absolutely fried on defense. They can go to small ball looks.

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Speaker 1: They have the personnel for that now because instead of

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Speaker 1: having a bunch of small guys, they've got six or

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Speaker 1: seven dudes that are between six ' eight and six '

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Speaker 1: nine and two hundred and forty pounds plus, Like, they

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Speaker 1: just have a lot of bodies to be able to

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Speaker 1: defend in small ball looks, to be able to rebound

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Speaker 1: in small ball looks in a way that they didn't

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Speaker 1: earlier in the season because of bringing in Dorian Finney

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Speaker 1: Smith because of the health of Jared Vanderbilt. I think

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Speaker 1: having multiple looks is a good thing. The main concern

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Speaker 1: that I have is like, are they going to be

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Speaker 1: able to hang with like a team like Denver And

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Speaker 1: that's where it's gonna get tricky. Do they need to

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Speaker 1: get in the next seven minutes here? Do they need

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Speaker 1: to try to get a bigger center that can bang

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Speaker 1: with Jokic? A little bit and give them at least

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Speaker 1: a little bit more matchup or versatility in that regard.

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Speaker 1: But as I look out from the Mark Williams thing,

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Speaker 1: this team has the potential to be the most unguardable

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Speaker 1: playoff offense in the NBA. But they're going to have

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Speaker 1: defensive holes that they have to fill. Let's just acknowledge

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Speaker 1: that they have more good defensive personnel than I think

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Speaker 1: the public opinion would lead you to believe at this point.

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Speaker 1: The Cleveland Cavaliers get DeAndre Hunter in the arms race

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference. Details on the trade. The Calves

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Speaker 1: get DeAndre Hunter, the Hawks get Karis Lavert, Georgia Niang,

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Speaker 1: three second round picks and two swaps. I love this

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Speaker 1: deal for the Cavs. The Calves had hit a little

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Speaker 1: bit of an offensive low. They're eight and six in

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Speaker 1: their last fourteen games, and there have been games where

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Speaker 1: the offense looks great, but in the six losses they

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Speaker 1: only logged an offensive rating of one hundred and thirteen

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Speaker 1: and cooled off a little bit from three. They were

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Speaker 1: only thirty four point five percent on catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: threes in those six losses. DeAndre Hunter represents two value

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Speaker 1: adds for the calves offense. First of all, he's just

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Speaker 1: a knockdown catch and shoot guy. Shoots forty five percent

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Speaker 1: on unguarded catch and shoot threes, so that will help

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Speaker 1: in that specific regard. But he's also just an overall

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Speaker 1: talent ad on the offensive side of the ball. You

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Speaker 1: can shoot off the dribble really well. Shoots forty six

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Speaker 1: percent field goal percentage on pull up jump shots. When

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Speaker 1: you wait for threes, it comes down to one point

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Speaker 1: zero seven points per shot. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: out of the ninety three players in the NBA this

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Speaker 1: year that have attempted at least one hundred pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots, DeAndre Hunter ranks eleventh out of ninety three

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Speaker 1: in efficiency. So I got a little bit of off

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Speaker 1: the dribble pop. He has a decent floater that he

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Speaker 1: hits at about forty two percent, and he's just got

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Speaker 1: some real scoring chops. He's run one hundred and thirty

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Speaker 1: three pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups this year

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Speaker 1: right at about a point per possession, especially good shooting

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Speaker 1: out of ball screens as the handler. And so what

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Speaker 1: I think about when I look at this deal is

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Speaker 1: the reality of breaking down playoff defense. Is this is

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Speaker 1: a concept I've talked about a lot over the course

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Speaker 1: of the last few years, which is like, during the

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Speaker 1: regular season, you're gonna get a lot of wide open

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes, You're gonna get a lot of

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Speaker 1: layups things like that out of defensive breakdowns. But then

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Speaker 1: what ends up happening inevitably is you get into a

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Speaker 1: playoff series, the intensity and the quality of the opponents

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Speaker 1: you're playing goes up, and you're not getting those super

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Speaker 1: easy trainsansition opportunities as often. The defensive breakdowns aren't happening

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Speaker 1: nearly as often the rotations are super sharp, the game

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Speaker 1: planning is so intense. The best you can hope for

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Speaker 1: a lot of the times is a little bit of

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Speaker 1: an advantage on the other side of the floor, Like

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Speaker 1: maybe we can get this skip passed because they load

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Speaker 1: up on the ball screen on Garland or Mitchell or

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Speaker 1: wherever it is, and they're loading up on the roll man,

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Speaker 1: and we wit the cross pass across the court, and

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Speaker 1: we can get a guy a chance to catch with

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Speaker 1: a defender sprinting at him, a good elite playoff defender

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Speaker 1: sprinting at him. And that's where it helps to have

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Speaker 1: scoring chops off the ball, and the Cavs do have

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Speaker 1: a lot of guys that can shoot, that can knock

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Speaker 1: down catch and shoot threes. But DeAndre Hunter is a

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Speaker 1: guy that brings just another layer to those advantage creation

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Speaker 1: situations where he's gonna be able to hit some of

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Speaker 1: the playoff shots. He's gonna be able to do more

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Speaker 1: off the bounce on the skip than a guy like

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Speaker 1: Dean Wade. He's gonna be able to do more off

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Speaker 1: the bounce off the skip than a guy like George's

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Speaker 1: Niang was able to do. Right, And so it's just

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Speaker 1: a talent ad. It gives them another guy that a

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Speaker 1: lot that with more offensive firepower to break down playoff defenses.

430
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,640
Speaker 1: I was literally talking about this on the the I

431
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,480
Speaker 1: appeared briefly on the Athletics Big Trade Deadline special today

432
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,240
Speaker 1: and I was talking about it there, like your aggregate

433
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,439
Speaker 1: ball handling, your aggregate skill, your aggregate shooting ability, your

434
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,520
Speaker 1: aggregates scoring chops. I always talking about scoring as a

435
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,600
Speaker 1: separate category from shooting, because scoring to me is about

436
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,720
Speaker 1: like audacity and confidence, the willingness to take tougher shots

437
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,639
Speaker 1: and then having like the creativity, the footwork and the

438
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,600
Speaker 1: dribble combinations and the tweaking your release angles and shooting

439
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 1: with a little more arc, a little less arc, whatever

440
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,760
Speaker 1: it is you need to do to make a bucket

441
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 1: happen in kind of a weird fluid situation that's not

442
00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 1: like just you standing still or doing some sort of

443
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: basic drill. That's scoring in my opinion, and so aggregate scoring,

444
00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,840
Speaker 1: aggregate shooting, aggregate passing, those things matter more now than

445
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 1: they used to because of the way defenses have gotten

446
00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,840
Speaker 1: so good at loading up on the strong side, taking

447
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,119
Speaker 1: the ball out of your primary ball handler's hands. So

448
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,399
Speaker 1: to me, DeAndre Hunter is just an influx of talent

449
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 1: that gives them a better chance to survive as things

450
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,119
Speaker 1: get tougher in the postseason. He also gives them more

451
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,440
Speaker 1: size on the perimeter, which will help them match physicality

452
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,679
Speaker 1: with teams like Boston. That's really what this was to me.

453
00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,679
Speaker 1: They're trying to close the talent gap with Boston as

454
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,520
Speaker 1: much as they can, and this was a big step

455
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,359
Speaker 1: in that direction. I like Niang, he did some stuff,

456
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,360
Speaker 1: but DeAndre Hunter's just better. And the emergence of Ty

457
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,240
Speaker 1: Jerome as one of the best backup guards in the

458
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,399
Speaker 1: league made Karris Lavert a little bit redundant, and I

459
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 1: like Harris, and I thought he had some value, especially

460
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,160
Speaker 1: like I thought he was the best calves defender on

461
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,359
Speaker 1: shake yos as Alexander in the matchups that they had,

462
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:45,920
Speaker 1: And so yeah, if they got to the finals, that

463
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 1: could be something that is a little bit of an issue.

464
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: But it's just such a small little bit of utility

465
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:52,679
Speaker 1: in the big picture that actually think this was a

466
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,360
Speaker 1: smart trade. Cleveland is approaching this season with some real urgency,

467
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: and I like it. They have a five game lead

468
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,440
Speaker 1: on the Boston Celtics. If they can maintain that, they'll

469
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,920
Speaker 1: have home court advantage in the conference finals and they'll

470
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,000
Speaker 1: have their chance to eliminate the Celtics. The second trade

471
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,360
Speaker 1: we're getting today dearon Fox, to the San Antonio Spurs.

472
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,200
Speaker 1: I've been asking for this trade ever since Sacramento got

473
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,919
Speaker 1: off to such a terrible start this season. This is

474
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 1: like the half dozen time we've talked about it, so

475
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,760
Speaker 1: I won't go two into detail, but I've been hung

476
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 1: up on this specific concept, which is that San Antonio

477
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: has a lot of young, developing talent, but that one

478
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 1: of those guys is just so far ahead of his

479
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,959
Speaker 1: teammates in that development trajectory that you can't afford to

480
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 1: just let them slowly grow together. By this time next year,

481
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,640
Speaker 1: Victor Weman Yama will probably be a consensus top six

482
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 1: player in the NBA Jokich, Luca, Jannis, Shay Tatum, and

483
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,440
Speaker 1: Victor some order, and some folks might even add Victor

484
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,960
Speaker 1: higher than six. When the time comes and you can't

485
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 1: just let a hyper competitive, super talented dude who's one

486
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,879
Speaker 1: of the top six basketball players in the world just

487
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,760
Speaker 1: sit around and wait for his young teammates to slowly improve.

488
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,160
Speaker 1: I thought Deeron Fox was the perfect player to address

489
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,240
Speaker 1: that conundrum three reasons. One, he's older than Wemby, but

490
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 1: he's just starting his prime. I think he has at

491
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: least five years left playing at the level that he's

492
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 1: currently at. That is a good long window to justify

493
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,639
Speaker 1: this type of investment. Two, he's legitimately good enough to

494
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: be Wemby's number two. I had Darren Fox in my

495
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: top twenty five this summer. I think his combination of

496
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: downhill speed and over the top scoring ability. And again,

497
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 1: he hasn't shot as well from the perimeter this year,

498
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,879
Speaker 1: but he's got such good short range shot making ability

499
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,879
Speaker 1: to short lean back jumpers, floaters, things along those lines.

500
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: It's just such a devastating combo to be able to

501
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,120
Speaker 1: be a real threat downhill, but to always be able

502
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:37,880
Speaker 1: to stop on a dime and shoot over the top.

503
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: It's just a devastating combo. There are a lot of

504
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:42,920
Speaker 1: fast guys in the NBA. There are a lot of

505
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: guys who can make shots. There are very few that

506
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,000
Speaker 1: can do both at an extremely high level. And even

507
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: with his shooting being down a bit this year, he's

508
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,160
Speaker 1: still over forty percent on pull up jump shots. He's

509
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,879
Speaker 1: still over fifty percent on floaters on high volume, and

510
00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 1: he logs in terms of the downhill ability. He logs

511
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,240
Speaker 1: the same of drives per game as jam Morant to

512
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: give you guys some perspective on how much deeron Fox

513
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: can get downhill. Which brings me to the third reason

514
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,480
Speaker 1: that I liked deeron Fox for the Spurs. The basketball

515
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 1: fit is utterly perfect. The ideal fit for a pick

516
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 1: and pop big is a downhill guard. Wemby obviously does

517
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 1: a lot on ball for the Spurs. They'll run action

518
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,639
Speaker 1: for him around the foul line where he'll catch and

519
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 1: turn and face you know, eighteen twenty feet from the basket,

520
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,080
Speaker 1: ISO that kind of stuff. But when he's operating as

521
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:31,760
Speaker 1: a screener in action, he's almost always popping out to

522
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: the perimeter, right like, that's what he does. He's a

523
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 1: pick and pop big in terms of his utility in

524
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 1: the flow of the offense. The reason why a downhill

525
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 1: guard is so valuable with the pick and pop big

526
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 1: has to do with the way that speed can break

527
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 1: down traditional ballscreen coverages for starters. You can't switch right

528
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,199
Speaker 1: like if you switch with a downhill guard and a

529
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: guy like Wemby. The best thing that you can do

530
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 1: when you're a big switching out onto the perimeter onto

531
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 1: a guard is to force him to settle for a

532
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,679
Speaker 1: jump shot. And there are a lot lot of skill

533
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,440
Speaker 1: guards in the league that will get bigs on switches,

534
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,440
Speaker 1: and they'll settle for jump shots, and don't get me wrong,

535
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 1: sometimes they go in. But there's a good amount of

536
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,359
Speaker 1: variants there. The death sentence for a big on a

537
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,400
Speaker 1: switch is speed, because they really struggle to move laterally

538
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,400
Speaker 1: and contain the ball. Deeron Fox can beat biggs off

539
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 1: the dribble for much more reliable offense. Beating switches so

540
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 1: that's a bad idea, and putting a small guard on

541
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: a shot maker like Victor women Yama is not not

542
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 1: a good idea either. Right now, let's take a look

543
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 1: at a traditional coverage, meaning the defense does not switch

544
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,199
Speaker 1: if you use the screeners man, so Victor's man to

545
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 1: contain the ball, which you have to right because if

546
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: you're not switching and Wemby sets a pick on the

547
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,400
Speaker 1: guy guarding Daron Fox and Wemby's man doesn't help at all.

548
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 1: Deer's going right downhill. He's flying downhill in your defense, bricks,

549
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 1: So you got to have that screen defender there to

550
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 1: contain the ball. Right. But here's the problem. As Victor

551
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,640
Speaker 1: pops above the break, that defender who's containing the ball

552
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 1: now a closeout. He's got to close out from where

553
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 1: the ball handler is all the way back out to

554
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: Wemby where he's popping. This is where the downhill element

555
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 1: of Daron Fox's game is so valuable. The longer that

556
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: closeout is for that screen defender to get back to Wemby,

557
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,000
Speaker 1: the better opportunities that Wenby's gonna get. Right. The more

558
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: athletic the guard is, the further he gets downhill, the

559
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,879
Speaker 1: more it forces the entire defense to drop back to

560
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 1: contain the even longer that closeout's going to be. Right,

561
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: A skill guard who kind of meanders off the ball

562
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,639
Speaker 1: screen and pitches it back to Wemby might only be

563
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 1: a ten to fifteen foot closeout. But if Dearon Fox

564
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 1: comes screaming down that ball screen and the guy's meeting

565
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 1: him more by the semi circle instead of up by

566
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 1: the top of the key, as an extra ten feet

567
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,320
Speaker 1: that the big guy has to close out. And so

568
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 1: I just imagine like just a ton of these really

569
00:26:55,359 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 1: really open looks and high advantage situations for in a

570
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: wide open top of the key type of situation, I

571
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,640
Speaker 1: just think I think it's just a perfect fundamental basketball

572
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: fit in two man game to have a guy like

573
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,960
Speaker 1: Victor Weminyama that can pick and pop with a devastating

574
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,679
Speaker 1: downhill guard like Deeron Fox, and he's also a very

575
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 1: complimentary defensive fit. I've talked about this a lot over

576
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 1: the course of the season. Fox is an attacking, aggressive,

577
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: disrupt the ball type of perimeter defender rather than the

578
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,280
Speaker 1: sit back and contain the ball type of perimeter defender.

579
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 1: Containing is most important when you don't have strong rim protection.

580
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: Attacking can actually be really useful with strong rim protection

581
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,320
Speaker 1: because ball pressure usually forces the ball handler to speed up.

582
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,880
Speaker 1: It forces them to drive, because that's how you beat

583
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: ball pressure. You beat ball pressure by driving. If you

584
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,639
Speaker 1: try to retreat, they're just going to keep pressuring you

585
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,640
Speaker 1: until you lose control of the basketball. You attack ball pressure,

586
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: and so in those situations where you force them to

587
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,720
Speaker 1: drive and you pressure well and you rush them, they

588
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 1: go downhill without a plan, and that's where mistakes can happen.

589
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 1: Cleaning up that type of dribble penetration is a thing

590
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 1: that Wemby's better at than literally anyone that's ever played

591
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,399
Speaker 1: the game of basketball. So like I viewed as a

592
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: really complimentary defensive fit as well. So you've got a

593
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 1: player who won is good enough to help Wemby compete

594
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,159
Speaker 1: for championships right away, but is also young enough to

595
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: fit the longer term Wemby timeline, while also being the

596
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 1: perfect basketball fit on both ends of the floor. And

597
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,919
Speaker 1: you did it without having to give up any of

598
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,640
Speaker 1: your most exciting young players. I think it's an absolute

599
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 1: home run move for the Spurs. That's why I've been

600
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 1: pushing for it all season. I haven't watched their debut.

601
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:31,719
Speaker 1: I think they played for the first time together last night.

602
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 1: I've been so focused on the deadline, haven't had a

603
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: chance to watch it yet. But super super for all

604
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,400
Speaker 1: these guys, by the way, Super excited to dive into

605
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,360
Speaker 1: in the next couple of weeks the basketball of these

606
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 1: dudes playing on their new teams. That's why I got

607
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: to come back to hoops tonight. On the daily basis,

608
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: we do a lot of game breakdowns in the mornings

609
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: after these games. Zach Levine to the Sacramento Kings. I

610
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,200
Speaker 1: really like Zach Levine, but I think this was probably

611
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 1: by far the most boring place for him to end up. Like.

612
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 1: Zach's really good. He's athletic, can get to the rim

613
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: and jump shooter with real scoring chops. He can create

614
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: shots for himself out of many different types of footwork,

615
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: dribble combinations. He's bucket getter. He's got solid playmaking chops.

616
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 1: He's been an efficient shot creator in every play type

617
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: this year. And he's healthier than you would think. His

618
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: reputation is that he's never healthy. He had a really

619
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: bad year last year, but he played like seventy seven

620
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 1: games the year before but it's boring because we already

621
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 1: know what it looks like. We've literally seen a team

622
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 1: led by Demarta Rozen and Zack Lavine as their two

623
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,480
Speaker 1: primary shot creators. I talked about this, but two years ago,

624
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,960
Speaker 1: the Bulls had a year where de Levigne, Derozen, and

625
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: Vucevich were healthy all year long, and they were bad.

626
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 1: If I remember correctly, the starters had a negative net

627
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,640
Speaker 1: rating even though they had super fortunate health that year.

628
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,000
Speaker 1: We've seen what this looks like looks like now. I

629
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,080
Speaker 1: know that Demonia Sabonis is a much better player than

630
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 1: Nicola Vusovich and that they have him Malik Monk. I

631
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 1: know it's not a perfect comparison, but it's also a

632
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: tougher conference at West. But at the very least, we

633
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,320
Speaker 1: do know that Demarta Rozen and zach Levine is not

634
00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 1: enough offense to be a truly elite game break offense.

635
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 1: And we also know that this King's team is never

636
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: going to overwhelm teams with defense, not with the lineups

637
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 1: build around some bonus zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan. You're

638
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 1: not so like. I don't need to see much or

639
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 1: to overthink this to know that the Kings just continued

640
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: to maintain their mediocrity. This felt to me like the

641
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 1: Kings just trying to remain relevant while also acquiescing to

642
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: darn Fox trade demand. And they'll be fun. The Kings

643
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: will go on some win streaks on some nights, they'll

644
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,479
Speaker 1: look really good on offense, and they'll beat really good teams,

645
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: but they are going to accomplish anything of significance. And

646
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 1: that's why I thought this was the most boring destination

647
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: for Zach Lavine. The Milwaukee Bucks get Kevin Porter, Junior,

648
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: Jericho Simms, and Kyle Kuzma for Marjon Bouchamp, Chris Middleton,

649
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,680
Speaker 1: AJ Johnson and a pick swap, and I think the

650
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 1: Bucks also might have gotten a second round pick back

651
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 1: in that deal as well, if I remember correctly. I

652
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: saw a lot of negativity surrounding this trade from Bucks fans,

653
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 1: and I get it to a certain extent. Like Chris,

654
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: when he's at his best, is a better basketball player

655
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,760
Speaker 1: than Kyle Kuzma. But Chris Middleton hasn't shown his top

656
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: end in a long time. His ball handling has been

657
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 1: valuable to the Bucks this year in the half court.

658
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: He's been able to create advantages and just kind of

659
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,960
Speaker 1: grease the wheels for them in their offense. But he's

660
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 1: been back for twenty three games and he's averaging twelve

661
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 1: points six points per game. This is not the same

662
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 1: twenty point per game Chris Middleton anymore. He had a

663
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 1: couple twenty point games in the last couple of weeks,

664
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 1: but they were in like losses where the team didn't

665
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 1: look good or I think he had won in Utah

666
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 1: as well. Like, this is not the same Chris Middleton

667
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 1: that was such an important part of the championship team

668
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 1: a few years ago. Now, whether or not this trade

669
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,120
Speaker 1: makes any sense will come down to what Kyle Kuzma

670
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 1: turns into. The Bucks need to be able to convert

671
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma back into their winning culture because he's been

672
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: playing losing basketball down in Washington for a few years now.

673
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: And Kyle Kuzma's last year with the Lakers before his

674
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,080
Speaker 1: trade to Washington, he had actually turned himself into a

675
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,760
Speaker 1: really good role player. First of all, he's a very

676
00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: good rebounder. Towards the end with the Lakers in the

677
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,640
Speaker 1: last year or two, he had become so good off ball, playing,

678
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 1: passing lanes, rotating and just being such a good defensive

679
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,440
Speaker 1: rebounder that he actually had turned himself into a really

680
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: useful role player. The key will be bringing that out

681
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: of him. Again, that's on Yannis, that's on Brook, that's

682
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 1: on Doc Rivers Dame and all the leaders of that

683
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,760
Speaker 1: team to refocus Kyle Kuzma's energy in the directions that

684
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: made him such a useful player for the Lakers towards

685
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: the end. He's got good size, he is a good athlete.

686
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,440
Speaker 1: He can win contested rebound battles, he can fly around

687
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: in rotation and play passing lanes. He's big, Like this

688
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 1: is a size move for Milwaukee. That Kuzma yanis Brook

689
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: Lopez front line is just way more physically imposing than

690
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 1: a like even then a Bobby portis like too big

691
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 1: kind of look because Bobby doesn't move as well as

692
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma does. But like certainly like Torrian Prince is

693
00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:01,160
Speaker 1: a bad rebounder, like this is a big his eyes, athleticism,

694
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 1: off ball defense and rebounding upgrade for the Bucks if

695
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: they can bring that back out of Kyle Kusma, which

696
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,320
Speaker 1: again that's the big kind of variable here, right And

697
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 1: then on offense, Kuzma's an interesting case study in how

698
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: little efficiency actually matters relative to your reputation in the league.

699
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,920
Speaker 1: Like Kyle Kuzma's an inefficient offensive player. His best shooting

700
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 1: year was actually his last year with the Lakers, and

701
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: he only shot thirty six percent. He's a career fifty

702
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: four percent in true shooting, which is nothing to celebrate.

703
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 1: But he is constantly aggressive. It's actually funny how aggressive

704
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 1: he is. He's a career seventeen field goal attempts per

705
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,479
Speaker 1: thirty six minutes in his career. Even his last year

706
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 1: in LA, when he was in his smallest role there,

707
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,880
Speaker 1: he still took fourteen shots per thirty six minutes. This

708
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: is an aggressive score. He averages seven three point attempts

709
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 1: per thirty six minutes in his career. He shoots so much,

710
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,160
Speaker 1: and he always he has this threat that he might

711
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,719
Speaker 1: go off. Like Obviously he's been more of a scoring

712
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 1: role with Washington, but even going back to the Lakers,

713
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,640
Speaker 1: any giving night he could go for twenty. Any given

714
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,480
Speaker 1: night he could go for thirty. The threat was there.

715
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:16,920
Speaker 1: He has ninety seven career games with over twenty five points.

716
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,960
Speaker 1: He has eleven career games with over thirty five points.

717
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 1: This has led to and this stood out to me

718
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 1: in such an interesting way when he was with the Lakers.

719
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: This led to teams accounting for him on the scouting

720
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,800
Speaker 1: report the same way you would for a more efficient scorer.

721
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 1: The way he's guarded is like that of a more

722
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: efficient scorer. So his value on offense is greater than

723
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,839
Speaker 1: his efficiency would lead you to believe because teams will

724
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,280
Speaker 1: account for him. I think he slots in really nicely

725
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:46,960
Speaker 1: as the starting three increases their size and rebounding ability

726
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:50,560
Speaker 1: gives them more scoring pop. The big variable here is

727
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 1: can they get him to commit back to playing winning basketball.

728
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: The Bucks also got Kevin Porter Junior. He's just a

729
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: bench bucket getter. Nothing too crazy there. He has all

730
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,640
Speaker 1: the footwork in dribble comp nations to get his own shot,

731
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,400
Speaker 1: but he just isn't particularly good at making shots, for

732
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,800
Speaker 1: whatever that's worth. Jericho Sims is just a hyper athletic

733
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 1: center who plays really hard but isn't really good at

734
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 1: anything on either end of the floor. I do think

735
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 1: the Bucks got a little better in this trade cycle.

736
00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: It certainly would have been better if they could have

737
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 1: pulled off something like a Jimmy Butler deal or Zach

738
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 1: Lavine deal, but they didn't win in those bidding wars,

739
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,359
Speaker 1: and so they ended up having to pivot to something else.

740
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: And again, like with the urgency surrounding Dame's age and

741
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 1: Gianni's commitment to the franchise, like you had to do something.

742
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 1: It's not perfect, there's risk involved. Kyle Kuzma shares a

743
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: certain amount of variability here with his commitment to winning.

744
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,279
Speaker 1: But you had to do something, and this is this

745
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 1: at least has the potential to bring real upside for

746
00:35:44,560 --> 00:36:01,520
Speaker 1: the Bucks. All right, weving new segments that we're debuting

747
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,359
Speaker 1: today from our new partner, Microsoft. So let's get into that.

748
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:07,880
Speaker 1: Welcome to course correction brought to you by Microsoft. Just

749
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 1: like star players and teams navigating performance hurdles, business decision

750
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 1: makers today are under immense pressure to get things right.

751
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,439
Speaker 1: They must rise to the occasion, turning challenges into opportunities.

752
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, simplified cloud and

753
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,880
Speaker 1: data management and trustworthy, responsible AI. And when you're in

754
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,719
Speaker 1: the NBA, you have your own hurdles to face. In

755
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 1: this segment, we're going to be exploring the challenges faced

756
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,680
Speaker 1: by teams or star players and how they can turn

757
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,840
Speaker 1: things around. Whatever challenge you're facing. Microsoft empowers you with

758
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: the expertise to say bring it on. This week, we're

759
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,040
Speaker 1: discussing the challenge faced by Rob Polinka and the Los

760
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,880
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers. Rob Blink and the Lakers were in a

761
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:50,880
Speaker 1: little bit of a bind. They were built around a

762
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: forty year old Lebron James and a soon to be

763
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,600
Speaker 1: thirty two year old Anthony Davis, who's a little older

764
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: than his age would lead you to believe, and they

765
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,120
Speaker 1: looked like a team that clearly did not have a

766
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 1: championship ceiling, in large part because of mistakes that this

767
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: front office made, the catastrophe of the Russell Westbrook trade,

768
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 1: roster imbalances brought by a failure to prioritize motor and

769
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 1: athleticism around their aging stars. It looked really bleak, But

770
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:19,879
Speaker 1: at the same time, the team this year was showing

771
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,360
Speaker 1: some real promise. The Lakers are seventeen and eight in

772
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:24,920
Speaker 1: their last twenty five games, to seventh best record in

773
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,400
Speaker 1: the league. Over that span. They've shown some real promise

774
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: with their small ball groups on both ends of the floor,

775
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,760
Speaker 1: impressive wins against the Boston Celtics, the Knicks without Anthony Davis,

776
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:38,360
Speaker 1: a small ball group the Clippers without They beat the

777
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,960
Speaker 1: Clippers without Anthony Davis or without Max Christy, a lot

778
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 1: of small ball groups in those games. Lebron has looked fantastic.

779
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,720
Speaker 1: But then Nico Harrison calls with an opportunity involving Luka Doncic.

780
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 1: This is where I thought Rob rose to the occasion

781
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:56,480
Speaker 1: and turned a challenge into an opportunity. Started with self awareness.

782
00:37:57,640 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 1: Everything in life starts with you being willing to admit

783
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,480
Speaker 1: you're good at and admit what you're bad at. There

784
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 1: was a moment there where Rob had to take a

785
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,680
Speaker 1: look at this and realize that they're not good enough,

786
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,600
Speaker 1: even though they've been playing well, even though it looks

787
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: like there's an upside, even though you could argue that

788
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,920
Speaker 1: team might have been a trade away. But it was

789
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 1: about looking at that and making a tough decision with

790
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: self awareness about where this team was actually going. This

791
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,400
Speaker 1: was a high point in Lakers history, this recent stretch

792
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 1: of games that they've been playing in recent Lakers history.

793
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,680
Speaker 1: I should say there was a lot of optimism floating around,

794
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:35,359
Speaker 1: but the reality was they weren't good enough to beat Oka.

795
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 1: See they weren't good enough to beat Boston. They might

796
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,520
Speaker 1: not have even been good enough to beat Denver. So

797
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,040
Speaker 1: first Rob makes the big decision, We're moving on from

798
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis to Luca. But from there he had to

799
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,800
Speaker 1: navigate the massive problem that presents for the rest of

800
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 1: the roster when you send out Anthony Davis and you

801
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: don't even have a viable replacement at center. From there,

802
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 1: Rob did a really nice job of negotiating with Nico

803
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,640
Speaker 1: Harrison holding on to his twenty fie thirty one first

804
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,480
Speaker 1: round pick holding on to Dalton connect Those are two

805
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,279
Speaker 1: assets that you could argue Nico Harrison should have just

806
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,880
Speaker 1: demanded like Dalton should be a mav that pick should

807
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,600
Speaker 1: be the MAVs. And Rob held his ground and hung

808
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,799
Speaker 1: onto those picks that gave him the ability to make

809
00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 1: another trade to find the center of the future in

810
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 1: Mark Williams. And to top it all off, you managed

811
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 1: to clear a roster spot in the process, which is

812
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,960
Speaker 1: huge because I think the Lakers are going to be

813
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: the premier buyout destination in the entire NBA in the

814
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 1: next month. Any center that signs with the Lakers can

815
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 1: get a pretty much guaranteed rotation spot. Any wing or

816
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,560
Speaker 1: swingman that can play some defense and shoot has guaranteed

817
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:41,120
Speaker 1: minutes available. They are the premier buyout destination, and they

818
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 1: cleared out a roster spot. One of the things I

819
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 1: always talk about on this show with respect to players

820
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 1: is the idea of just making a play. It doesn't

821
00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 1: matter how bad of a game you're having, it doesn't

822
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:52,680
Speaker 1: matter how bad of a season you're having. If you

823
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 1: just start playing better, then your circumstances will improve. And

824
00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:58,279
Speaker 1: it's been a really rough tenure for Rob Polinka as

825
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 1: GM of the Lakers, but he just pulled off the unthinkable.

826
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,720
Speaker 1: He just reopened a championship contending window, one that seemed

827
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,719
Speaker 1: almost shut, and now it could be open for the

828
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:10,880
Speaker 1: next decade. Now, as basketball fans, we get to do

829
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:12,680
Speaker 1: the fun part, which is watching Lebron James and Luka

830
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:15,280
Speaker 1: Doncic play basketball together. So shout out to Rob Polinka.

831
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 1: He made a play, so to speak, and now he's

832
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:24,080
Speaker 1: completely rewritten the story of his tenure as general manager

833
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:26,760
Speaker 1: of the Los Angeles Lakers. That's it for this week's

834
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 1: course correction. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take

835
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new ideas to

836
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,400
Speaker 1: help you drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your

837
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,960
Speaker 1: trusted partner. You can navigate your journey with confidence. Your

838
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions in reaching new possibilities.

839
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:50,040
Speaker 1: Visit Microsoft dot com Slash Challengers to learn more. All right, guys,

840
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:51,239
Speaker 1: before we get out of here, we're going to do

841
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,160
Speaker 1: a rapid fire segment hitting through a bunch of other

842
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:56,560
Speaker 1: stuff around the league. First of all, Kevin Durant refusing

843
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:59,759
Speaker 1: Golden State. I wanted Kevin Durant to go to Golden State.

844
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:01,399
Speaker 1: I straight up think he would have had a better

845
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 1: chance to win there than he did in Phoenix. I

846
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 1: talked about this in the Jimmy Butler Show yesterday, but

847
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 1: I think there's a misconception about the Warriors that they're bad,

848
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 1: when really they're just horribly imbalanced. Even after that Jimmy

849
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,759
Speaker 1: Butler trade, they still have like eleven rotation players that

850
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:17,200
Speaker 1: can play meaningful basketball, at least within the context of

851
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 1: the regular season, and they were able to bring in

852
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 1: a guy in Jimmy Butler that immediately balances the roster out.

853
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: You don't need fifteen guys that can play minutes in

854
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,359
Speaker 1: the NBA. You don't need fifteen of them. You can

855
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,680
Speaker 1: do it with eleven and give yourself, more firepower off

856
00:41:30,719 --> 00:41:32,920
Speaker 1: the top right. I thought KD would have very cleanly

857
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,239
Speaker 1: kind of slotted into that Jimmy Butler type of role

858
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:38,400
Speaker 1: that we talked about last night, same concepts that I

859
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:42,759
Speaker 1: talked about last night with respect to playing alongside Steph.

860
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: I did have a warrior though, even when all that

861
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:49,680
Speaker 1: buzz was kind of building on Tuesday. This week, I've

862
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 1: just heard from so many different sources like that Kevin

863
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:56,879
Speaker 1: Durant really didn't like the way the whole Golden State

864
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:59,239
Speaker 1: thing went down, and that he looks back at that

865
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,080
Speaker 1: era with a little more contempt than people are willing

866
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:05,879
Speaker 1: to realize. And so I was hoping that enough time

867
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: had passed and you know, like maybe it would have

868
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,120
Speaker 1: been able to Like I'd heard a report too that

869
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,680
Speaker 1: like Phoenix was coverting Draymond in that deal. Like I

870
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:16,960
Speaker 1: thought maybe there was some way to work it out

871
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:20,560
Speaker 1: towards Kevin Durant going that direction. But he stepped in

872
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 1: there and he said, I don't want to do it.

873
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 1: I don't want to go back to the Bay. And

874
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,239
Speaker 1: I do think that that comes down to the way

875
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:26,960
Speaker 1: everything that went down when he left, and so it's

876
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,400
Speaker 1: kind of a bummer and now Katie's stuck on that

877
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 1: Sun's team, which I mean, I guess we're gonna talk

878
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:33,080
Speaker 1: about it in a minute. Maybe they got a little

879
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,080
Speaker 1: bit better bringing in Cody Martin, but like, I don't

880
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,560
Speaker 1: see anything really substantial there that looks like an opportunity,

881
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,840
Speaker 1: So at least Vin doesn't have to move, I guess.

882
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,480
Speaker 1: But it was interesting the way he stepped in and

883
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 1: nixed that deal from taking place. Marcus Smart to the

884
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,880
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards kind of crazy that they traded two picks,

885
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:53,560
Speaker 1: two first round picks to get him and then had

886
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:55,120
Speaker 1: to pay another first round pick to get off of him.

887
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,520
Speaker 1: It's a weird sequence for a front office that's otherwise

888
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 1: been excellent. But the upside for the rest of the

889
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:02,080
Speaker 1: league is that if you are not in the first

890
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,919
Speaker 1: Aprin or second Apron, you could potentially get Marcus Smart

891
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:06,719
Speaker 1: in a buyout if he gets bought out before the

892
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,080
Speaker 1: end of the season, and I think he would be

893
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:11,719
Speaker 1: a really interesting buyout guy to raise the ceiling for

894
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,000
Speaker 1: a team. Golden State would be an interesting spot if

895
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:18,680
Speaker 1: Marcus Martin becomes available. Detroit, the Pistons get Dennis Schroeder.

896
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:20,919
Speaker 1: I actually really like Dennis Schroeder. He had a little

897
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:22,480
Speaker 1: bit of a rough go there with Golden State, but

898
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,360
Speaker 1: he was miscast as like the secondary star on the team.

899
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,440
Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder, to me, is an extremely useful player in

900
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: that he can guard point guards from the other teams.

901
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,880
Speaker 1: He is a savage competitor like legitimately just gives it

902
00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:37,480
Speaker 1: his all every single night. I loved rooting for that guy.

903
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:40,239
Speaker 1: Pistons fans, you will love rooting for him. He just

904
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 1: needs to be in a position where he's not depended

905
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:45,200
Speaker 1: on to a great deal to run offense. Now within Detroit,

906
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:48,080
Speaker 1: because of the injury to Jaden Ivy, he is going

907
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:49,840
Speaker 1: to kind of be in that position where he's expected

908
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:51,279
Speaker 1: to do a lot and there will be a lot

909
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 1: of highs and lows for Dennis Schroeder on the offense

910
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:54,680
Speaker 1: at the end of the floor. You need to be

911
00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:56,400
Speaker 1: aware of that. But I do like the idea of

912
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: at least just giving kid another guy that can help,

913
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,719
Speaker 1: other guy that can help handle the ball, another guy

914
00:44:01,719 --> 00:44:03,640
Speaker 1: that can handle ball pressure, another guy that can just

915
00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 1: carry shifts when he's off the floor. Again, you didn't

916
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:08,920
Speaker 1: want to do anything too crazy because you don't want

917
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: to do anything to mess with Detroit's timeline. But at

918
00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 1: the same time, this is like a nice inexpensive move

919
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:16,759
Speaker 1: that just gives you a little bit more firepower to

920
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 1: get a more interesting look at Detroit when they get

921
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,080
Speaker 1: to the postseason. The Clippers get bogged on mcdonovitch for

922
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 1: Terrence Man and bones Highland, another shot creator for the Clippers.

923
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:28,360
Speaker 1: That's a team that's light on shot creation. Any injury

924
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 1: that takes place all of a sudden, normOn powells your

925
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:32,680
Speaker 1: secondary shot creator and he's been great this year, but

926
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:36,920
Speaker 1: getting ball handling there is definitely an ad for the Clippers.

927
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:39,279
Speaker 1: Terrence Man had been kind of pushed to the edge

928
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,040
Speaker 1: of their rotation, which is weird. I actually really like Terrence.

929
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,240
Speaker 1: But he fits Atlanta's goal really well, which is Atlanta

930
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:47,879
Speaker 1: has been trying to surround Trey Young with athletes, young

931
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,000
Speaker 1: athletes that can cover for his size and limitations and

932
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:54,839
Speaker 1: benefit from his playmaking talent. That is a nice get

933
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: for Atlanta there. The Suns turned use of Narkic and

934
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:00,759
Speaker 1: a first round pick into Cody Martin the sila Ja

935
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:03,399
Speaker 1: Mishic and a second round pick. Now Mitchich probably won't

936
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:05,520
Speaker 1: play with the point guards that they already have but

937
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:08,880
Speaker 1: Cody Martin is a useful wing athlete on a team

938
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 1: that doesn't have many useful wing athletes, and use Off

939
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: Nurkic was useless, so it cost you to protected first.

940
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 1: But it was a nice moderate improvement and there was

941
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:22,440
Speaker 1: some real urgency here. Again, it's better than nothing, I guess,

942
00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:25,480
Speaker 1: but I still don't feel like the Suns are going anywhere.

943
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:28,560
Speaker 1: Mini heat turned PJ. Tucker into Davion Mitchell, a guard

944
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 1: who can really defend, and again this always brings value

945
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,520
Speaker 1: in the modern MBA, the ability to guard the ball,

946
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,200
Speaker 1: and I like Davion is like a kind of guy

947
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:39,160
Speaker 1: that you can deploy that just changes the flow of

948
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,320
Speaker 1: a game. You get into a game and you're playing

949
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 1: against you know, the Nuggets or something like that, or

950
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:46,919
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of, like just let's just take

951
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,719
Speaker 1: any team in the Eastern Conference that has high level

952
00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:54,160
Speaker 1: guard plays. Let's play say Milwaukee. Play Milwaukee and Damian

953
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,640
Speaker 1: Lillard just lighting up your starters like he's killing Terry Rogier,

954
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,720
Speaker 1: he's killing Tyler Harro on switches, and it's not looking

955
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,200
Speaker 1: pretty and you just need to do something to change

956
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:04,960
Speaker 1: the flow of the game. You take Davey on Mitchell out.

957
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 1: You put him out there and you say pick up

958
00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:08,359
Speaker 1: Dame full court. It can change the tenor of a game.

959
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:10,480
Speaker 1: It can disrupt rhythm. Again, he's not the kind of

960
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:11,879
Speaker 1: guy who's going to be in your closing five. He's

961
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:13,600
Speaker 1: not the kind of guy that you want playing thirty

962
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:16,800
Speaker 1: minutes a night. But it's a useful rotation player. Is

963
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:18,319
Speaker 1: a guard who can defend a kind of guy that

964
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,279
Speaker 1: can come in and bring ball pressure and change the

965
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,880
Speaker 1: flow of a game. And last trade we're getting into today,

966
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 1: brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors. I actually really like

967
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:29,920
Speaker 1: brandon Ingram. I've talked about this before, but I think

968
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:31,960
Speaker 1: he is at his best when you put the ball

969
00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:33,800
Speaker 1: in his hands and you allow him to run a

970
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: lot of spread, pick and roll. He compared to most

971
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:38,120
Speaker 1: forwards in the league, is actually a really gifted passer.

972
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,560
Speaker 1: I think he's a guy that can raise your offensive

973
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,919
Speaker 1: floor to a great extent. He actually fits really nice

974
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 1: next to Scotty. Like I look at Scotty is like

975
00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:52,000
Speaker 1: the hammer to the brandon Ingram scalpel So to speak Scotty.

976
00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 1: It's interesting because like he's just so physically imposing. At times.

977
00:46:56,440 --> 00:47:00,799
Speaker 1: I was watching which game was I watching the other day?

978
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:04,279
Speaker 1: I think it was Toronto for Chicago, and he was

979
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,600
Speaker 1: doing a lot of work like posting mismatches. He had

980
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:08,280
Speaker 1: a run in the third quarter where he like scored

981
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:11,400
Speaker 1: bucket after bucket after bucket attacking from the post. But

982
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:13,440
Speaker 1: like he just can run into a little bit of

983
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,840
Speaker 1: a wall on offense sometimes he has a tendency to

984
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:19,520
Speaker 1: settle for fadeaways in the post quite a bit. Like

985
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,960
Speaker 1: I think bringing in Ingram to make Scotty's life easier

986
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:27,000
Speaker 1: on offense is at least a worthwhile endeavor for Toronto

987
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,680
Speaker 1: to try. And then guess what you can decide at

988
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:31,080
Speaker 1: the end of this year if you want to resign

989
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:33,160
Speaker 1: brandon Ingram with some sort of long term deal, and

990
00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:35,319
Speaker 1: whether or not the deal makes any sense really comes

991
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:37,239
Speaker 1: down to what you end up signing brandon Ingram too.

992
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:38,839
Speaker 1: It depends if you get him at a fair deal

993
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:40,919
Speaker 1: or if you end up having to overpay. And time

994
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:43,240
Speaker 1: will tell in that regard. The team isn't going anywhere,

995
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:45,960
Speaker 1: but it's certainly a hell of a lot more fun

996
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:48,360
Speaker 1: after this. All right, guys, That's all I have for

997
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,960
Speaker 1: today is always to sincerely appreciate you guys. For supporting

998
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,960
Speaker 1: me and supporting the show. I am very excited to

999
00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:57,080
Speaker 1: get back into it, breaking down some games, talking about

1000
00:47:57,080 --> 00:47:59,399
Speaker 1: these players on their new teams. As of right now,

1001
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:02,000
Speaker 1: we might be going live tonight after Warriors Lakers, depending

1002
00:48:02,040 --> 00:48:04,239
Speaker 1: on whether or not it's Steah plays, so keep an

1003
00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:06,320
Speaker 1: eye on my Twitter feed. We might have another episode tonight.

1004
00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 1: If not, we'll be coming out tomorrow. Then we always

1005
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:10,640
Speaker 1: have our mail bags like we usually do on Friday,

1006
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:12,359
Speaker 1: and then time to start breaking down games. We plan

1007
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,120
Speaker 1: on covering the Pacers Lakers Luka Doncic his debut on Saturday.

1008
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,279
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to that as well. Again, I really

1009
00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:20,759
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for rocking with me and I will

1010
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:26,200
Speaker 1: see you either tonight or tomorrow morning the volume What's

1011
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:28,560
Speaker 1: Up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to

1012
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:31,760
Speaker 1: and supporting OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful

1013
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:33,400
Speaker 1: for us if you guys would take a second and

1014
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,360
Speaker 1: leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate

1015
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:37,840
Speaker 1: you guys supporting us, but if you could take a

1016
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:40,120
Speaker 1: minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.