Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in you rule.
Speaker 2: A twenty four hour NBA news.
Speaker 3: This is you, Chris Haynes.
Speaker 1: It's time, Mark's time.
Speaker 2: It's some time.
Speaker 1: This league Uncut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 2: This should be a good one.
Speaker 4: Hey, everyone, welcome in to another edition of this League Uncut.
Speaker 4: Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes. Hope everybody had a
Speaker 4: great Saint Patrick's Day. I have to say it is
Speaker 4: not a holiday that this probably won't surprise you, not
Speaker 4: a holiday that I typically participate in in any meaningful way.
Speaker 4: I'm way too old to get wild and crazy on
Speaker 4: a Saint Patrick's Day. Did not wear any green, Chris Haynes,
Speaker 4: did you wear any green yesterday?
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 5: I didn't even know it was Saint Patrick's Day till
Speaker 5: I went downtown, went to church.
Speaker 1: And then when I got outside of church, I saw.
Speaker 5: A bunch of people wearing green and they were stumbling
Speaker 5: to walk, so they were already drunk around noon, one
Speaker 5: o'clock PM.
Speaker 2: That was your conclusive medical diagnosis.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, it didn't take much. You know, you don't
Speaker 5: need a degree to be able to tell if somebody's drunk.
Speaker 5: You know, the church, I go to. It's, like you said,
Speaker 5: right downtown, so there's a bunch of bars and everything,
Speaker 5: so you could you can see people bar hopping and
Speaker 5: wearing green.
Speaker 1: I know that was such a big deal.
Speaker 5: So but no, I don't, you know, I've never I
Speaker 5: don't know if he knows stein, but you know, I
Speaker 5: don't drink, never drink, never smoked.
Speaker 1: I don't you know.
Speaker 5: I took a sip of some wine of some people
Speaker 5: that made me, made me consume it because I was
Speaker 5: around them, but I don't so from that, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't drink, so I wouldn't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, neither one of us does. He never asked, no, Okay.
Speaker 4: On my twenty first birthday, I was forced to consume
Speaker 4: some rum and coke.
Speaker 2: Did not go well. I couldn't do it. I didn't
Speaker 2: taste it. Awful. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1: I'm crazy as it is, starn so I felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, I.
Speaker 5: Don't need liquor anything else to make me even crazier.
Speaker 1: So you know, I've been you know, so far, so good.
Speaker 5: I don't think and hopefully there's nothing that causes me
Speaker 5: to drink. There's timestinying, times in your life where you
Speaker 5: feel like you need a drink.
Speaker 1: I don't you know what I mean. I don't know
Speaker 1: what that feeling is after you have one, but you
Speaker 1: know it'd be sometimes from like, hey, maybe this.
Speaker 5: Is a good time for a drink, this good time
Speaker 5: for smoke. But I've never I've never done done.
Speaker 4: Them so well, we probably should have worn something green
Speaker 4: one of us, just to say we like. Even your
Speaker 4: guy Tim McMahon showed up for the Mavericks Nuggets game
Speaker 4: Sunday afternoon, an incredible Mattene game in Dallas. Even your
Speaker 4: guy McMahon had on a pair of green Adidas gazelles
Speaker 4: that I had to say, looked pretty They looked pretty good.
Speaker 5: If there was anybody that you can tell me who
Speaker 5: will probably be the most excited about yesterday in the
Speaker 5: media corps, Tim will probably be a the top of
Speaker 5: my list.
Speaker 4: I don't know how excited he. I don't know if
Speaker 4: he gets to you know, he's so grumpy. I don't
Speaker 4: know if he ever gets excited. But all of this
Speaker 4: was my preamble to say that I did nothing wild
Speaker 4: and crazy, but I certainly saw something absolutely wild and
Speaker 4: still hard to believe. Almost twenty four hours later that
Speaker 4: Kyrie Irving game winner, leave up looking.
Speaker 3: In curving, curving for the wind, just ups.
Speaker 4: Going to his left running floater hook shot. I'm still
Speaker 4: not sure what to call it, but with his left
Speaker 4: hand a buzzer beater.
Speaker 2: And for Dallas, huge redemption.
Speaker 4: Because it was just a few weeks ago that they
Speaker 4: lost an absolute heartbreaker in Cleveland when Max Struce drained
Speaker 4: a sixty footer at the buzzer. I thought that was
Speaker 4: crazy this because it was left handed, just as wild
Speaker 4: and stunning as what Struce did on February twenty seventh,
Speaker 4: and crazily. Kyrie Irving has not been a Maverick for
Speaker 4: a long time. It's only been about thirteen months. But
Speaker 4: if you're a calendar nerd like me, you know that
Speaker 4: on March seventeenth, twenty twenty three, Maxi Klieba beat the
Speaker 4: Lakers at the buzzer off a cross court Kyrie Irving pass,
Speaker 4: and then March seventeenth, twenty twenty four, Saint Patrick's Day
Speaker 4: twenty twenty four, Kyrie Irving only the second career buzzer
Speaker 4: beater for Kyrie Irving. But man, what a shot I mean,
Speaker 4: and he is I mean he is known as a
Speaker 4: shot maker. Your guy Damian Lillard took right to Twitter
Speaker 4: to call him the most skilled player ever. I talk
Speaker 4: about the Mavericks all the time, so I want to
Speaker 4: hear your thoughts not just on the game, but what
Speaker 4: do you think of this Mavericks team? What do you
Speaker 4: think people in the West think of this Mavericks team.
Speaker 4: I'll weigh in after you. But how good are these guys?
Speaker 4: How dangerous are the Mavericks of Dallas.
Speaker 5: They're definitely a dangerous opponent for anybody, particularly in that
Speaker 5: first round. You cannot sleep on any time you got
Speaker 5: a guy like Luka Dakich, who's going to be in
Speaker 5: the MVP conversation year after year as long as he's healthy.
Speaker 5: And Kyrie Irvin, who we know the heroics, you know,
Speaker 5: the skill said that he brings to a team. Anytime
Speaker 5: you got those two guys in the fold and they're healthy,
Speaker 5: you got a shot.
Speaker 1: Just like you know, it's a similar situation with the
Speaker 1: Phoenix Signs.
Speaker 5: Anytime you got healthy KD Devin Booker, Bradley beal, you're
Speaker 5: going to give yourself a shot and you're going to
Speaker 5: be dangerous.
Speaker 1: Now are they going to be the favorites?
Speaker 5: That's a different question and most of the times I
Speaker 5: would probably say probably not probably won't be be the favorites.
Speaker 5: But you know, you look at a team like the Mavericks,
Speaker 5: if they can get that seventh seed, like if they
Speaker 5: can lock into that seventh seed, you know obviously.
Speaker 2: They need six not seven, but go ahead.
Speaker 1: They need six. Now, Okay, I get you there.
Speaker 5: Well, you're assuming the Nuggets are going to Nuggets or
Speaker 5: Thunder is going to stay at one or two.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean to me, you know, I think Minnesota,
Speaker 4: because they don't have Karl Anthony Towns, is gonna end
Speaker 4: up third and as great as season as the Wolves
Speaker 4: have had, as good defensively as the Wolves are, And look,
Speaker 4: when the Timberwolves woke up on this Monday morning, they
Speaker 4: were still number one in the NBA in defensive rating,
Speaker 4: allowing only one hundred and eight point two points per
Speaker 4: one hundred possessions, still ahead of the Boston Celtics, who
Speaker 4: have truly been the team of the regular season. So look,
Speaker 4: I'm not saying that you want to see the Minnesota Timberwolves,
Speaker 4: but if my choices are the Denver Nuggets, the defending champions,
Speaker 4: the very frisky Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota which is
Speaker 4: probably gonna have to play without Karl Anthony Towns for
Speaker 4: the rest of the regular season, and then if they're
Speaker 4: fortunate enough to get Cat back, work him in on
Speaker 4: the fly for the playoffs. And if they don't get
Speaker 4: Cat back from his recent mniscus surgery, that puts a huge,
Speaker 4: huge burden offensively on Anthony Edwards. Karl Anthony Towns was
Speaker 4: having a great season offensively, so to me, Dallas and
Speaker 4: the team closest to where you reside, Sacramento, these two
Speaker 4: teams are locked in this battle for number six and
Speaker 4: both desperately want it because I think both would rather
Speaker 4: see a less than full strength Minnesota in Round one
Speaker 4: than either Denver or Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would agree with you on that.
Speaker 5: I'm just not sure Minnesota is gonna slide like that
Speaker 5: without cap. That would be my only concern if I'm
Speaker 5: Dallas or any other team that's trying to lock into
Speaker 5: that sixth seed. But even with that being said, I
Speaker 5: still think Dallas would like their chances against Minnesota and Oka.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 5: You know, I think that you're in pretty good shape
Speaker 5: if you could get that six or seven seed. And
Speaker 5: I do think Denver. I'm not a betting Man. But
Speaker 5: I would think denver By seasons in will we'll get
Speaker 5: that number one seed.
Speaker 1: That's what they're going after, and you know.
Speaker 5: They had the championship pedigree, they experience to to do
Speaker 5: what it takes to get to that spot.
Speaker 1: So that's the way I see things going. Do I
Speaker 1: know for sure? Hell no, I don't.
Speaker 4: I'd really like to hear more of your take on
Speaker 4: this because I'm always talking about the MAVs. As you know,
Speaker 4: I have a Saturday radio show in Dallas which is
Speaker 4: super MAVs heavy.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to follow up after you.
Speaker 4: But I got to ask you now, thirteen months into this,
Speaker 4: when the Mavericks first traded for Kyrie Irving, what did
Speaker 4: you think?
Speaker 2: Did you think he and Luca would be a good pairing.
Speaker 1: I didn't know. I honestly didn't know.
Speaker 5: You know, this is you know, Kyrie coming from his
Speaker 5: other two stops in Boston.
Speaker 1: And Brooklyn, and you know it didn't go too well there.
Speaker 5: But what I did did it feel like is that
Speaker 5: Dallas did the best that they could and it was
Speaker 5: a good pickup considering they lost Jalen Brunson. So from
Speaker 5: that standpoint, I looked at it as it was definitely
Speaker 5: a great pickup.
Speaker 1: How would he and Luca fair and messed together?
Speaker 5: I didn't know, but they were definitely talented enough to
Speaker 5: get it done.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's always something starting.
Speaker 5: You know, it's like when two stars, even three stars
Speaker 5: team up together. You know, people will automatically look at,
Speaker 5: you know, their connection on the court. Can they play
Speaker 5: well when a lot of times these coaches they staggered
Speaker 5: their minutes anyways, And so even if they're not that
Speaker 5: good chemistry wise between the two, you can, you know,
Speaker 5: you can give one of the stars time to shine
Speaker 5: on the floor together singularly and let them go at it.
Speaker 1: And that way both both stars.
Speaker 5: Can be in the rhythm, be in the groove, because
Speaker 5: that's why they really do it, son each being the rhythm,
Speaker 5: in the groove.
Speaker 1: Knowing that they're they're at least going to have.
Speaker 5: To play together the last six seven minutes of the game,
Speaker 5: and then you're hoping like them being in the groove
Speaker 5: is going to help them play better together. And so
Speaker 5: you know, I thought, look, you know, they this is Kyrie.
Speaker 5: You know, we know what he brings to a team,
Speaker 5: and you know, I felt like it was definitely worthwhile
Speaker 5: pick up considering they lost Jalen Brusson, and so I still,
Speaker 5: you know today it was definitely worth it. Kyrie has
Speaker 5: been a model citizen over there. He I mean, like
Speaker 5: he's doing a good shot. Now. I'm not with that
Speaker 5: team all day, like I mean all day every day,
Speaker 5: like you How has Kyrie been with the team, the
Speaker 5: locker room and everything since he's been over there.
Speaker 2: He's beloved in this locker room.
Speaker 4: I mean, you could see it the way this team celebrated,
Speaker 4: how happy it was after he made this ridiculous shot.
Speaker 4: And look when he first Scott here. The Mavericks tried
Speaker 4: to throw this thing together on the fly. Luca and
Speaker 4: Kyrie were five and eleven last season in games when
Speaker 4: both were in uniform. It didn't click on the fly.
Speaker 4: But also, you look at the state of the team
Speaker 4: last year.
Speaker 2: You look at the.
Speaker 4: State of the roster, it was so much weaker than
Speaker 4: compared to now. But honestly, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving
Speaker 4: have been functioning fantastically well as a duo all season long.
Speaker 4: And what's crazy about it is the thought was, Okay,
Speaker 4: they're going to get a training camp this time. That's
Speaker 4: gonna make the big difference. They didn't get a training camp.
Speaker 4: They played seven ish minutes together in the exhibition season.
Speaker 4: They took the really long trip two games in Abu
Speaker 4: Dhabi and then a game in Spain so Luca could
Speaker 4: go back to Real Madrid, the club that really helped
Speaker 4: launch him to prominence and where he became a EuroLeague MVP,
Speaker 4: and where he began his pro career at sixteen with
Speaker 4: the senior national team. After that long trip, both Luca
Speaker 4: and Kyrie came back with injuries, so basically they had
Speaker 4: no training camp. The only issue for them as a
Speaker 4: duo this season has been getting them on a court.
Speaker 1: Enough.
Speaker 4: Kyrie has had two pretty long injury absences, but in
Speaker 4: both cases they were freakish injuries. Dwight Powell, his teammate,
Speaker 4: landed on his leg and knocked him out early in
Speaker 4: the season, and then he had a thumb injury when
Speaker 4: he got hit on a swipe down. I mean, those
Speaker 4: are both not normal situations. When Kyrie Irving has been
Speaker 4: on the floor with Luka Dancic, they have been an
Speaker 4: absolute handful. I don't think anybody wants to see these
Speaker 4: two in the playoffs. But what is so notable about
Speaker 4: this win over Denver. Denver is a very physical team,
Speaker 4: much more physical than the Mavericks, and what has been
Speaker 4: the challenge. You know, people want to make the comparison
Speaker 4: Luca and Kyrie have echoes of Lebron's partnership with Kyrie,
Speaker 4: but when Lebron was playing with Kyrie, Lebron was at
Speaker 4: the height of his powers in terms of being a
Speaker 4: two way defensive force. If you've got Luca and Kyrie,
Speaker 4: they are both going to be offensive dynamos. The challenges
Speaker 4: can you build a workable sustainable defense around the two
Speaker 4: of them when both of them are going to be
Speaker 4: on the court for.
Speaker 2: So many minutes per game.
Speaker 4: Sunday afternoon on Saint Patrick's Day afternoon, the Mavericks played physical.
Speaker 4: They pounded Denver on the boards. I think it was
Speaker 4: sixty to thirty nine on the boards. The Mavericks are
Speaker 4: not known for out rebounding teams to that degree, but
Speaker 4: it's they have much more size now since the trade deadline,
Speaker 4: bringing in Anuel Gafford to play with Derek Lively, and
Speaker 4: you got PJ. Washington, Lively, Gafford, Maxi Kleiba as a foursome.
Speaker 4: You know, they did as good a job on Jokic
Speaker 4: as you can do. And now some of it Jokicic
Speaker 4: just didn't look into it yesterday.
Speaker 2: He was very sleepy in the first.
Speaker 4: Half, and you know, sometimes afternoon games are weird because
Speaker 4: of the different start time. But you know that game
Speaker 4: was in primetime in both Slovenia and Serbia. So I'm
Speaker 4: sure Jokic did not want to deliver a sluggish performance
Speaker 4: because you know that game's in primetime back home in
Speaker 4: Serbia for him. But I you know, I thought that
Speaker 4: you could actually say the Mavericks defenders were a factor
Speaker 4: in a pretty so so game for Jokic. So I
Speaker 4: think that's what has to encourage Dallas the most because
Speaker 4: their defense has been bottom ten all season. I always
Speaker 4: say this with the Mavericks and the Kings, and you
Speaker 4: could probably throw this into the same discussion. The challenge
Speaker 4: for these teams, can you have a league average defense.
Speaker 4: If the defense is just league you know, middle of
Speaker 4: the pack, the offense is gonna be so good that
Speaker 4: you have a chance. And all credit to the Phoenix Suns,
Speaker 4: even after a horrendous showing in Milwaukee on Sunday, even
Speaker 4: after giving up one hundred and forty points to the Bucks.
Speaker 4: With no Giannis Antetokumpo in the lineup, the Suns are
Speaker 4: thirteenth in defense as of this Monday. That's pretty impressive
Speaker 4: considering they don't have a team full of defenders. I
Speaker 4: think Frank Vogel to get that team to thirteenth in
Speaker 4: the defensive rating charts, he's probably taking that. But Sacramento
Speaker 4: was twentieth and the MAVs are twenty first. So the
Speaker 4: MAVs are in the bottom ten. And the goal is
Speaker 4: for the Kings and the MAVs, can you get to
Speaker 4: fifteen ish defensively, then you know you're gonna have a
Speaker 4: chance in the playoffs. And so for Dallas to play
Speaker 4: such good defense and play with such physicality against the
Speaker 4: defending champions and a team that has bullied them many
Speaker 4: many times in the past, I think that was as
Speaker 4: encouraging for Dallas as the ending was exhilarating.
Speaker 1: And that's why they're a serious threat.
Speaker 5: You know, I look at this team, aside from you know,
Speaker 5: the defensive woes, offensively, they have it all. Playmakers, they
Speaker 5: have shooters, they have size, they have guys that can
Speaker 5: guard up multiple defenders out on the perimeter. You know
Speaker 5: you got the lob threats. You know they got they
Speaker 5: have everything you know that you would need. It's not
Speaker 5: the best team, but again that's why I say that
Speaker 5: they are a threat. And for one thing about these
Speaker 5: teams you want to be you know, we're gonna talk
Speaker 5: about the Bucks let their own. But it's one thing
Speaker 5: to catch a stride, but it's better when you catch
Speaker 5: your stride at the right time. And when you're catching
Speaker 5: your stride on the cusp of entering po season play,
Speaker 5: that's probably the best feeling you can have because now
Speaker 5: you're going into the playoffs feeling good. You're going into
Speaker 5: the playoffs knowing what you're going to get from everybody.
Speaker 5: You know, there's certain teams that peak in December and
Speaker 5: then they collapse after that. They still make it to
Speaker 5: the playoffs, but they're still searching for an identity or
Speaker 5: trying to find that identity that they had months ago.
Speaker 5: It's a good time to be trying to click. So
Speaker 5: if Dallas, if they can use this as motivation is
Speaker 5: fueled to inspire them to go to go on the
Speaker 5: streak here heading in the right direction.
Speaker 4: Ending the postseason, I promise we are going to talk
Speaker 4: some East we are going to talk for sure about
Speaker 4: the Bucks a little bit here, but I can't take
Speaker 4: my eyes off the West because no, again, there are
Speaker 4: really three different races going on. You've got the race
Speaker 4: for number one OKC Awoke Monday with a half game
Speaker 4: lead on the Nuggets and Minnesota only a game behind.
Speaker 4: So even without Cat, the Wolves have hung in there
Speaker 4: and they're still very firmly in the race for the
Speaker 4: number one seed in the West. After you know again
Speaker 4: that I referenced in a recent podcast that ridiculous stat
Speaker 4: from Alan Horton, the Wolves radio guy who keeps this
Speaker 4: stat that in franchise history, the Wolves had only led
Speaker 4: the West for ten days in the first thirty four
Speaker 4: years of the franchise, and this season it's right around
Speaker 4: one hundred days. So Minnesota is still there. So that's
Speaker 4: race number one. Race number two. New Orleans the surging Pelicans,
Speaker 4: who've been probably the best team in the West since
Speaker 4: February first, with Zion Williamson looking absolutely rejuvenated and Trey
Speaker 4: Murphy also stretching the floor, and the Pelicans have just
Speaker 4: been on an absolute tear the last six weeks. The
Speaker 4: Pelicans are within a game now of bumping the Clippers
Speaker 4: down to number five. So there's the race for four
Speaker 4: or five with the Clippers and the Pelicans, and honestly,
Speaker 4: the Clippers without Russell Westbrook, they have not had the
Speaker 4: same zip. Kawhi Leonard came back from this worrisome back
Speaker 4: injury that he suffered, and you know he was there.
Speaker 4: They had Kawhi Leonard and losing Sunday to Atlanta, a
Speaker 4: team with really not much to play for at this point.
Speaker 4: Atlanta is stuck in a playing spot in the East,
Speaker 4: and I think the Hawks will hold on to number
Speaker 4: ten at worse, but it's not like they're gonna climb
Speaker 4: much higher in the standings and they're going to be
Speaker 4: a playing team and really that that's all the Hawks
Speaker 4: are working on right now. So that was you know,
Speaker 4: the Clippers have lost four of five. That was pretty brutal.
Speaker 4: So you got that race, and then there's the you know,
Speaker 4: six through ten in the West. Sacramento on Monday morning
Speaker 4: leading that race by percentage points. And you know, we've
Speaker 4: talked about why number six is so valuable if Denver
Speaker 4: ends up winning the top seed in the West, which
Speaker 4: again is not assured, but not only does number six
Speaker 4: put you potentially in line to play Minnesota in the
Speaker 4: first round, and it might keep you away from the
Speaker 4: Denver Nuggets until the conference finals.
Speaker 2: That's all TBD.
Speaker 4: But this race six through ten, the Kings leaded by
Speaker 4: percentage points as we're recording this, Dallas at seven, Phoenix
Speaker 4: at eight. Those teams are tied, but the Mavericks hold
Speaker 4: the tiebreaker. Golden State at nine, the Lakers at ten.
Speaker 4: And so again, if the play in tournament where to
Speaker 4: start today, the names that would be in the play
Speaker 4: in tournament, it is ridiculous to think about Luka, Doncic,
Speaker 4: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Stephen Curry,
Speaker 4: Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis as
Speaker 4: of Monday, all are play in tournament bound.
Speaker 2: And you know, we could.
Speaker 4: Talk about the Lakers as well, because I mean, it's
Speaker 4: just horrible luck for Anthony Davis to get a corneal abrasion,
Speaker 4: which is obviously another freakish injury. And you know, he
Speaker 4: has been so ever present for the Lakers, and he's
Speaker 4: done what people have asked. He stayed on the floor
Speaker 4: and he's led this team defensively. All right, I've rambled
Speaker 4: on way too long. Let me ask you. Let's start
Speaker 4: with the Sons, because I think you mentioned recently that
Speaker 4: they should be the ones to sign Isaiah Thomas, and
Speaker 4: now it looks like they are going to sign Isaiah
Speaker 4: Thomas to attend Day. But how worried should the Sons
Speaker 4: be to go to Milwaukee and get blasted like they
Speaker 4: did when the Bucks didn't have Giannis.
Speaker 5: Let me tell you something about that Stein. So when
Speaker 5: when was that? Was it last week I did the
Speaker 5: Phoenix game? Might have been a week and a half ago.
Speaker 5: When I did that Phoenix game, it was Phoenix Denver,
Speaker 5: and I reported during the game the Sons are looking
Speaker 5: to They're looking to add a player for the latter
Speaker 5: part of the season that could potentially go into the
Speaker 5: playoffs with you know, looking for a veteran, somebody who
Speaker 5: has some experience, not necessarily somebody that's going to play
Speaker 5: a lot, but just a good locker room, postseason experience
Speaker 5: god type of guy. And immediately when I said that
Speaker 5: on air, Isaiah Thomas gave me a text, Hey tell
Speaker 5: the Suns to come get me. So it me So
Speaker 5: he was watching the Gay Edie said that, and so
Speaker 5: he was the first one that put that on my radar.
Speaker 5: I'm like, man, I might you know, we all we've
Speaker 5: been talking about sons. He the point guard anyways, and
Speaker 5: I'm like, that might make sense. And so that's when
Speaker 5: I said. Then I did our podcast and then I
Speaker 5: mentioned Isaiah's name. It's Isaiah might be.
Speaker 1: But Isaiah was the one who gave me that suggestion
Speaker 1: of Isaiah. So and now it's good.
Speaker 5: He's about to get a ten day with the Suns,
Speaker 5: and so I'm glad it all worked out for him.
Speaker 4: So based on what you were hearing, do you think,
Speaker 4: I mean, are they looking for someone who's gonna go
Speaker 4: with it?
Speaker 1: You know not.
Speaker 4: I'm sure Isaiah Thomas wants more than a ten day.
Speaker 4: He's trying to convince them to sign him for the
Speaker 4: rest of the season and bring him along for the
Speaker 4: playoff ride. What kind of chances do you think he
Speaker 4: has of latching on and staying there for the rest
Speaker 4: of the season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it ultimately depends on what he does
Speaker 5: in this ten day. I don't know that it's going
Speaker 5: to I don't know if that he has to go
Speaker 5: out there and just ball out but locker room guy. Obviously,
Speaker 5: they want to see if he can steal play. I mean,
Speaker 5: he tore up the G League in a handful of
Speaker 5: that they play this season, so he can still play,
Speaker 5: but the Sons want to get a glimpse up close
Speaker 5: and personal.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 5: I don't know how much playing time he's going to
Speaker 5: get during it during his stint, but I think most
Speaker 5: importantly it's going to be about what type of locker
Speaker 5: room presence is he going to provide. Can he help
Speaker 5: out since Phoenix Suns are not really playing the traditional
Speaker 5: point guard, is there anything he can instill in Bradley Beal,
Speaker 5: Devin Booker to kind of help them see certain things
Speaker 5: that maybe a conventional point guard would see. You know,
Speaker 5: I think that's where he's going to probably help more
Speaker 5: so now if he could go out there and if
Speaker 5: he gets a couple of play playing stints and he
Speaker 5: goes out there and balls out, that's that's just extra
Speaker 5: for him. But he has he has an opportunity to
Speaker 5: get signed for the rest of the season and going
Speaker 5: to the playoffs. That's definitely what he wants. But the
Speaker 5: Sons are still giving themselves an out just in case
Speaker 5: if they see that this is probably not the best fit.
Speaker 1: They can try to go in another direction.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I feel like I say it on
Speaker 4: every single podcast. I have no doubts that Isaiah Thomas
Speaker 4: will fit in locker room wise. I mean, he's always
Speaker 4: been a popular teammate pretty much everywhere he's played, and
Speaker 4: I think a lot of people are rooting for him
Speaker 4: on this comeback now, So I mean, I can't see
Speaker 4: any issues there.
Speaker 2: But it's just the Suns this.
Speaker 4: You know, It's not like there's anything they could do
Speaker 4: about it. The injuries are what they are. But you know,
Speaker 4: that game in Milwaukee was just the twenty seventh time
Speaker 4: that Durant, Beal, and Booker have all played together, and
Speaker 4: it's just not enough.
Speaker 2: They just have not played.
Speaker 4: Together enough, and so they don't have continuity. Defense is
Speaker 4: an issue with this team. Yes, Nurkic is going to
Speaker 4: rack up rebounds, but as a defensive center, I mean
Speaker 4: there are question marks there, and so I think the
Speaker 4: sixth spot is going to Sacramento or Dallas. The Sons
Speaker 4: also have a brutal schedule the rest of the way.
Speaker 4: According to Tankathon on this Monday, Phoenix's fourteen games left
Speaker 4: the opponent winning percentage is five sixty three, so the
Speaker 4: second hardest remaining schedule in the league in terms of
Speaker 4: opponent winning percentage, whereas Dallas, for example, Dallas is looking
Speaker 4: at the second easiest remaining schedule opponent winning percentage of
Speaker 4: four point fifty five. Sacramento's top ten in terms of
Speaker 4: remaining schedule. The Kings, their sixteen remaining opponents, have a
Speaker 4: composite winning percentage of five oh seven on this Monday.
Speaker 4: But the point is the Suns don't have a lot
Speaker 4: of continuity. They've got a really tough schedule the rest
Speaker 4: of the way, and even if they're fortunate enough to
Speaker 4: get up to number six, that would get them out
Speaker 4: of the plane. But they're going to have to play
Speaker 4: on the road every round in the playoff. And so
Speaker 4: that's why the Sun seem to be a popular choice
Speaker 4: of they're the scariest of the lower seeds in the West.
Speaker 4: But I just don't feel that way, and it's for
Speaker 4: me just because I haven't seen enough of them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, mam b I think you know there's teams that
Speaker 5: fit in that boat where the continuity isn't there, and
Speaker 5: you know, they don't win games at a consistent clip
Speaker 5: but the players scare you. You know, you got a
Speaker 5: KD who if the game is close, KD can get
Speaker 5: you a bucket when you need it. Except similar to
Speaker 5: the Los Angeles Lakers. Nobody wants to see the Lakers. Really,
Speaker 5: I'm not saying anybody's scared of them, but you got
Speaker 5: Lebron there and then you know ad depending on how
Speaker 5: with this eye injury, how effect that he's going to
Speaker 5: be once he returns, I would assume he'll have to
Speaker 5: wear some type of eye protection. I don't know, I
Speaker 5: haven't heard anything, you haven't checked in on it to
Speaker 5: be exact, but you know they did Lakers Warriors. These
Speaker 5: are scary team Stephen Curry, you know, like these teams
Speaker 5: that have been there. So but stein that play in Man,
Speaker 5: I maybe going out on a limb, but I think
Speaker 5: the player is going to feature Golden State and the Lakers,
Speaker 5: and that's big. That's huge now for for even more drama,
Speaker 5: more star power. Phoenixes. They're acting like they want to
Speaker 5: be a part of it. They're they're acting like they
Speaker 5: want it. They want to get in that mix. And
Speaker 5: you know, so you know there's still time, but you
Speaker 5: know that playing is going to have a lot of
Speaker 5: star power, and I think it's going to start with
Speaker 5: the Lakers and the Warriors, and I think you can't
Speaker 5: ask for a better scenario. Since this playing has been
Speaker 5: implemented over the last few years, it has been some
Speaker 5: entertaining matchups and this could has the potential to be
Speaker 5: the best set of games in that play in format.
Speaker 2: Well I mentioned it.
Speaker 4: I genuinely feel sorry for Anthony Davis because a corneal
Speaker 4: abrasion is just a brutal, freakish injury. To take a
Speaker 4: scratch to the eye, and again he's had to endure
Speaker 4: a ton of criticism, all the street closed nonsense from
Speaker 4: previous seasons. But the man has he has played. He
Speaker 4: has been a rock for this team. He's going to
Speaker 4: qualify for all NBA and MVP consideration based on games played.
Speaker 4: But it's look the most worrisome thing for the Lakers.
Speaker 4: Lebron James has defied Father Time and had the best
Speaker 4: season we've ever seen from a player his age, and
Speaker 4: Anthony Davis has been there far more often than not.
Speaker 4: And the Lakers are even with lots of Lebron and
Speaker 4: lots of ad. On this Monday, they woke up number
Speaker 4: ten in the West number eighteenth in the league in defense,
Speaker 4: I mean that is stunning when you have a defensive
Speaker 4: anchor of Anthony Davis's caliber. And yeah, I mean there
Speaker 4: are a bazillion question marks. Again, there are three races
Speaker 4: in the West for me, but six through ten is
Speaker 4: my favorite race anywhere in the NBA standings.
Speaker 2: To see who's.
Speaker 4: Gonna sneak out with that number six spot in the West,
Speaker 4: and then how the play in round shapes up, because
Speaker 4: the playing round is going to be an absolute steel
Speaker 4: cage match. Let's switch now to the East because the
Speaker 4: team that blasted the Suns, a certain Damian Lillard had
Speaker 4: a field day without yannas Ante Decompo.
Speaker 2: What was it thirty one and sixteen Dame had in Milwaukee.
Speaker 5: Franchise best thirty plus fifteen plus assist.
Speaker 2: And look by all counts.
Speaker 4: Doc Rivers has tried to make it clear since he
Speaker 4: has taken over that team that the offense needs to
Speaker 4: start with Damian Lillard. That's obviously going to be the
Speaker 4: case when janis on Titokumpo is not on the floor.
Speaker 4: But the Bucks also welcome back Chris Middleton. In Sunday's game,
Speaker 4: they went ten to six, without Middleton sixteen games lost.
Speaker 2: To an ankle injury, serious ankle injury. But Chris Middleton
Speaker 2: came back a.
Speaker 4: Very sharp twenty two points in his return, And once
Speaker 4: they get Giannis Antetokounmpo back, the Bucks will be trending
Speaker 4: towards full strength.
Speaker 2: They're not going to catch the Boston Celtics. The East
Speaker 2: is gone. The Celtics are going to get the top
Speaker 2: seed in the East. Man the Celtics lead.
Speaker 4: The Celtics, the first fifty win team in this season's NBA,
Speaker 4: and the Celtics on this Monday nine and a half
Speaker 4: game lead in the East over the Bucks entering Monday
Speaker 4: Nights game. So the number one seed is gone. But
Speaker 4: give me your pulse check on the Bucks, who you.
Speaker 2: Know as well as anyone.
Speaker 1: Well, so let me correct you a little bit. You said.
Speaker 5: Doc has made sure the offense runs through Dame. I
Speaker 5: don't know if it should be phrased that way. I
Speaker 5: would say that he's empowered Dame to be the point
Speaker 5: guard to bring the ball up more. Before Doc came aboard,
Speaker 5: it was like a point guard by committee. Giannis would
Speaker 5: bring the ball up a lot initiate the offense. Chris
Speaker 5: Middleton would do the same, and so Doc has changed
Speaker 5: that where he's allowing Dame to be the point guard
Speaker 5: of the team and you know, primarily handled the ball.
Speaker 5: The office is still going through Giannis. That's always going
Speaker 5: to be the case. The Bucks beat they beat the Sons,
Speaker 5: took care of them without Giannis, and then the Bucks
Speaker 5: took care of him a week ago, took care of
Speaker 5: the Clippers without Giannis.
Speaker 1: As well, and Dame had a big game. And you know,
Speaker 1: I see people kind of overreacting to you know, Damians
Speaker 1: can't play together Dame.
Speaker 5: You well, yeah, Dame is, you know, comfortable being the
Speaker 5: league guy, and he is comfortable running the team and
Speaker 5: getting guys going that that is true. But if you
Speaker 5: look over the last couple of weeks between Dame and Giannis,
Speaker 5: Dame has thrown more love passes that have connected with
Speaker 5: Giannis than he has in all this season prior to
Speaker 5: these past couple of weeks. So the chemistry is getting there,
Speaker 5: the continuity is getting there. There's more pick and rolls
Speaker 5: now they're playing together. There's more two man action, there's
Speaker 5: more dribble handoffs now. They've had a couple of hiccups
Speaker 5: in between, but for the most part, they're playing probably
Speaker 5: the best basketball team wise that they played in all
Speaker 5: year over the stretch. So Doc River is doing a
Speaker 5: good job of holding guys accountable and establishing roles, redefining roles,
Speaker 5: I should say, and clarifying what what it is that
Speaker 5: he needs from the players and the coaching staff. So
Speaker 5: when Giannis gets back, Chris Milton, they're they're they're they're
Speaker 5: going to be a threat. You know, we want to
Speaker 5: see you want to see more dominance for sure with
Speaker 5: Dame and Giannis together. But you know, it's it's been
Speaker 5: you know, it's been a struggle. It's been uh, you know,
Speaker 5: Dame is still adapting, and but that I think I
Speaker 5: think they're starting to slowly turn that corner.
Speaker 4: All right, then I stand corrected. The better way to
Speaker 4: phrase it, what I should have said, is Damian Lillard
Speaker 4: orchestrating the offense more instead of the offense running through him.
Speaker 1: Yeah for sure. All right.
Speaker 4: Well, look, and you know, we talk so much about
Speaker 4: the West, and I think part of it is because
Speaker 4: both you and I live in West Stern conference cities.
Speaker 4: I don't want to completely sleep on what's happening in
Speaker 4: the East standings either, because there is plenty of intrigue
Speaker 4: there as well the fact that Orlando is flirting with
Speaker 4: the number four spot. Nobody saw that coming, and that's
Speaker 4: why Jamal Moseley is firmly entrenched in the Coach of
Speaker 4: the Year race and again starting a new week basically
Speaker 4: four weeks to go.
Speaker 2: A month ago.
Speaker 4: In the regular season, Orlando and Indiana in the five
Speaker 4: and six slots, Miami and Philly in the play in zone.
Speaker 4: Nick Nurse said over the weekend that he does think,
Speaker 4: or he does have a level of optimism that Joel
Speaker 4: Embiid is going to make it back into the Sixers
Speaker 4: lineup before the end of the regular season.
Speaker 2: They desperately need that badly. The Sixers need that.
Speaker 4: I think they're eleven and twenty two without Joel Embiid.
Speaker 4: So the Sixers love, of course to haul themselves out
Speaker 4: of the playing zone so they can at least ensure
Speaker 4: that they're in the playoffs when Joel Embiid gets back.
Speaker 4: But as it stands, I mean Miami and Philly very
Speaker 4: unexpectedly in the playing seven to ten range, along with
Speaker 4: Chicago and Atlanta. I got to hang on Stein Cry
Speaker 4: So that means I need to pitch the ball back
Speaker 4: to Fresno's finest.
Speaker 5: I cannot let you go without getting your thoughts, your
Speaker 5: reaction to the jersey swap that caught everybody by surprise
Speaker 5: over the weekend.
Speaker 1: Are you familiar with what I'm talking about?
Speaker 4: Stein, is that the Grady Dick Anthony Black scenario? Yes, yes,
Speaker 4: I might have heard about it.
Speaker 1: You might have heard about it.
Speaker 2: I might have seen a few I might have seen
Speaker 2: a few clips. Why are you bringing that up?
Speaker 1: I'll bring it. I wouldn't know what you thought about
Speaker 1: what you think this was. Obviously it was organized, and.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna I'm gonna go out in a very very
Speaker 4: sturdy limit say that it might have been premeditated.
Speaker 5: You know what I mean, because they could have They
Speaker 5: could have, you know, switched the order of which which
Speaker 5: they were standing. It could have been Dick then Black,
Speaker 5: but it was the other way.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was.
Speaker 5: Premeditated, so that their positioning and everything was premeditated.
Speaker 1: It all, okay, I just want to get your thoughts started.
Speaker 4: I mean, you don't agree, you think it was just
Speaker 4: you think it was just a coincidence.
Speaker 5: So you're telling me these rookies when they knew they
Speaker 5: were about to play, so they called each other up.
Speaker 4: Well, nah, I mean no, I didn't say all that,
Speaker 4: But I mean I think I don't know, baby, who knows?
Speaker 4: I guess it's a story we need to dig into
Speaker 4: and get some answers.
Speaker 1: So my question to you is, start, can the league
Speaker 1: do anything? Because this is why?
Speaker 5: Who has What's another name that can go with Dick
Speaker 5: that that can cause some problems?
Speaker 1: What's another name out there?
Speaker 4: I mean, I have some ideas, but I'm not I
Speaker 4: don't think I'm gonna throw it out there.
Speaker 1: You can't, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: You can't see a scenario where everybody start wanting to
Speaker 5: swamp jerseys with mister Grady here, and they may have
Speaker 5: some crazy name and it just becomes a phenomenon.
Speaker 1: I you don't think the league will be like a
Speaker 1: hold old all right? All right?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 4: You got me thinking I need to lob a call
Speaker 4: into the league office to see if they're monitoring this situation.
Speaker 5: Is there any is there anybody out there with the
Speaker 5: last name, oh, Kobe White?
Speaker 1: What if Kobe White and Grady Dick swamp jerseys.
Speaker 4: Like I said, I've got other ideas. I was not
Speaker 4: going to nominate Kobe white, but I'm not. I'm going
Speaker 4: to keep them to myself.
Speaker 1: Oh, anybody last name Long out.
Speaker 2: There, Grant Long can make a comeback.
Speaker 1: I'll stop starting thoughts. I'll stop.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we I think.
Speaker 4: I think, with an abundance of caution, we're going to
Speaker 4: stop and put a bow on this edition.
Speaker 2: Although on this.
Speaker 4: There are supposed to be no topics off limits, but
Speaker 4: I think again, I'm going to be extra cautions. Let's
Speaker 4: wrap this. Let's wrap this show up before we get
Speaker 4: in any more trouble.
Speaker 1: I'm fine with that, all right.
Speaker 4: That will do it for this edition of this League
Speaker 4: uncut Mark Stein with Chris Haynes.
Speaker 2: We will be back with you again soon.
Speaker 4: The next time we do this, I think it's time
Speaker 4: to start getting into the final few weeks of the
Speaker 4: MVP race. My sources say that Chris Haynes will be
Speaker 4: casting an official NBA Season ending Awards ballot. I do not,
Speaker 4: but Chris Haynes does, so we will get into that
Speaker 4: the next time. As always, friends, please follow us, rate, review, Spotify, podcast,
Speaker 4: Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And again, we
Speaker 4: will do this again very very soon. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 4: and that'll do it. For us see you next time.
Speaker 4: This League Uncuttage and iHeartRadio production
Speaker 3: Chris Haynes, den Marktime