Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA.
Speaker 2: News misters, you'll Chris Haines.
Speaker 1: It's so time, Mark Stein, It's so time. This League
Speaker 1: Uncut is underway and on fire. This should be a
Speaker 1: good one.
Speaker 2: Everyone, Welcome in to a somewhat international edition of This
Speaker 2: League Uncut podcast. Mark Stein. Here, I am in far
Speaker 2: away Madrid making my way back to the United States
Speaker 2: after spending four days in Spain with the weary and
Speaker 2: battered Dallas Mavericks. Dallas has made its way back home.
Speaker 2: I am a little bit behind them, but I will
Speaker 2: soon soon be back on us Chris Haynes joining me.
Speaker 2: He also was on the road this week his TNT debut,
Speaker 2: shaking the rust off with a preseason game two heavyweights
Speaker 2: in the desert, the reigning champions from Denver in Phoenix
Speaker 2: against the super team that has been assembled to try
Speaker 2: to dethrone the Denver Nuggets. Of course, we didn't get
Speaker 2: to see the Superstars in action because Phoenix didn't play them,
Speaker 2: but Chris Haynes was on the scene anyway. Had an
Speaker 2: interview with Bradley Beal I saw on Twitter or x
Speaker 2: or whatever the hell we call it Now, Chris Haynes,
Speaker 2: how did how did your first TV assignment of the
Speaker 2: season treat you?
Speaker 3: It was cool, a little rusty, but you know, that's
Speaker 3: what the preseason is for.
Speaker 2: Uh new suit though, I think new suit though, I
Speaker 2: think right.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, I haven't No, I haven't put out
Speaker 3: a new suit yet. That is that suit? Actually, that
Speaker 3: that blazer that I wore. That's the first ever blazer,
Speaker 3: that suit that I've worn on a on a TNT assignment.
Speaker 3: It was when I backed in So this three years ago,
Speaker 3: first assignment ever. Lakers spurs and uh jacket yep, Greg
Speaker 3: Popovia jacket right there. So I don't think I've worn
Speaker 3: it since then, But yeah, I mean it was a
Speaker 3: good time. You know. Phoenix, the great weather, great great weather.
Speaker 3: The only problem with Phoenix is like, you know, the
Speaker 3: weather was cool, but the weather is still for me,
Speaker 3: it's still not cool enough where I can just walk
Speaker 3: a half a mile. The problem with Phoenix is there's
Speaker 3: no trees, so when you're walking, you're just exposed. The
Speaker 3: sun is hitting you like you can't hide from the
Speaker 3: sun in Phoenix. And Dwayne Rakins, the the longtime beat
Speaker 3: rider for the Suns over there really good guy. I
Speaker 3: just tell him all the time. Man, He's always posted
Speaker 3: and early in the morning, five six in the morning,
Speaker 3: just posting on Instagram of him drenched in sweat talking
Speaker 3: about I just ran two three four miles. I'm like,
Speaker 3: who in the hell is running two three four miles
Speaker 3: in the desert. It's Dwayne, I tell him, Man, you
Speaker 3: give me anxiety every time I see that post man.
Speaker 3: But Phoenix was cool. I was glad to be back
Speaker 3: on the road. Man. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, you saw two of the what four
Speaker 2: or five most important teams in the league this coming season,
Speaker 2: or maybe important is a poor adjective choice, but of
Speaker 2: the two of the five or six teams that will
Speaker 2: be talking about the most, presumably because Phoenix has assembled
Speaker 2: so much star power, with Bradley Beal brought in to
Speaker 2: join Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and Denver as the
Speaker 2: reigning champs, first title in the Nuggets NBA history, and
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic returns as Finals MVP after losing out on
Speaker 2: the regular season MVP. To Joe l Embiid, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's early, but we all do it. We all overreact
Speaker 2: to what we see in the preseason I was, you know, again,
Speaker 2: far far away when Wemby dual chet the other night.
Speaker 2: But man, people just could not get enough of their
Speaker 2: first showdown. And of course we're gonna draw crazy conclusions
Speaker 2: from preseason games that we probably shouldn't because we're fans,
Speaker 2: we're the public, we are the basketball public. We cannot
Speaker 2: help it. So give me your give me your your
Speaker 2: quick snapshot of your temperature take on where the Nuggets
Speaker 2: are and where the Suns are right now.
Speaker 3: Well, let's talk about the Nuggets. They're in a mode
Speaker 3: where they're just in a chill mode right now. You know,
Speaker 3: I spoke with Calvin boof our God. Calvin Booth came
Speaker 3: on our podcast the general imagine of the Nuggets, and
Speaker 3: he told me like that, they're just in a space
Speaker 3: where they're just ready for the season and they're in
Speaker 3: a tac mode, but it's in a calm space. And
Speaker 3: I think he described it like that because this team,
Speaker 3: like they know, they know their sales, like they understand
Speaker 3: what they have to do. They know they're going to
Speaker 3: be a target. Now, they're not going to sneak up
Speaker 3: on anybody. But this is a group that's been together.
Speaker 3: We talked about that at starting five. It's a group
Speaker 3: that's been together a while, and so they feel like
Speaker 3: they feel like they're in good shape. What he did say,
Speaker 3: Calvin Booth did say, is that they're young, you know,
Speaker 3: so there's rotation minutes to be had. And one guy
Speaker 3: who was very impressive in his rookie preseason day debut,
Speaker 3: Julian Strauter. That guy, he stein he is a quick sharpshooter.
Speaker 3: He and what I mean by that, he has a
Speaker 3: quick release. He catches it and it leaves his hand
Speaker 3: pretty quickly, and he has a beautiful stroke. And I
Speaker 3: believe he had four three's that game, had twenty points.
Speaker 3: And so the Nuggets, they're looking for guys who can
Speaker 3: come in space, space the floor, guys who can compliment
Speaker 3: Joker as well in some of those rotation, rotational spot duties,
Speaker 3: and so you know, that's what they're you know, they're
Speaker 3: expecting a lot more from Christian Brown. You know, he's
Speaker 3: a guy that's poised to have a really good season.
Speaker 3: And so they feel like they this is what they said,
Speaker 3: they said, as long as they're five, as long as
Speaker 3: they're five, are healthy, they feel like they're in really
Speaker 3: good shape throughout the season. Now it's just about adding
Speaker 3: other complimentary pieces the sun Stein you know, KD, Devin Booker,
Speaker 3: Bradley Bill. They did not play in the game that
Speaker 3: I was on assignment on. They played the game before
Speaker 3: in Detroit. Remember the the owner of matt Ishpiah, he's
Speaker 3: out there in Detroit, and so they played out there.
Speaker 3: They actually went to his house after the after the
Speaker 3: game for dinner, and they had practice at his at
Speaker 3: his company's office the next day. So, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: I could say this T and T was very shocked
Speaker 3: to learn that those three were sitting out that game.
Speaker 2: With the NBA's new player participation policy, that's not gonna fly.
Speaker 2: Playing the game in Detroit and sitting in all three
Speaker 2: stars sitting out the national TV game. I don't think that.
Speaker 2: I don't think that happens in the regular season.
Speaker 3: Yes, I love stave Ac Guddy, that's my guy. I
Speaker 3: think it's safe to say Stan did not approve of
Speaker 3: that that move made by the SuDS. But hey, it's preseason,
Speaker 3: and uh you know I'm gonna say this right now.
Speaker 3: You know we all expect so it's it's it's not
Speaker 3: a lot that I can break down on the Suns
Speaker 3: because of those three were out. But those three were out.
Speaker 3: But what I can say, I think is going to
Speaker 3: be really good on the high posts, on the elbow,
Speaker 3: initiating the offense office going through him. I think he's
Speaker 3: going to be really good. I think he's going to
Speaker 3: be a really good big body just in case they
Speaker 3: have to face the Nuggets down the road. And Joker,
Speaker 3: you know, those two were teammates for a little bit
Speaker 3: in Denver. I will say this, Stein, They're they're trying
Speaker 3: to rotate the point guard assignments between Bradley Bill and
Speaker 3: Devin Booker, and that is the plan right now going
Speaker 3: into the season, that those two are going to share
Speaker 3: those roles. They did a point guard, Stein, and I'm
Speaker 3: gonna go as far as I think they need to
Speaker 3: point guard desperately.
Speaker 2: And do they know it? Would they admit it to
Speaker 2: the side if you ask them.
Speaker 3: I think some would, as others wouldn't. So you know,
Speaker 3: take that as you as you will. But yeah, I
Speaker 3: think they're going to need a point guard. And I'm
Speaker 3: and I'll let you I'll let you finish.
Speaker 2: But you had the very interesting report that when when
Speaker 2: the whole Damian Lillard trade went down, Phoenix knew they
Speaker 2: were going to be in it. They wanted use of
Speaker 2: Nurkic that you know, they wanted to send eight into
Speaker 2: the Blazers and take on Nurkic. But had Miami been
Speaker 2: that third team instead of Milwaukee, you reported that Phoenix's
Speaker 2: dream scenario would have been to get both nurk and
Speaker 2: find a way to bring in Kyle Lowry, who obviously
Speaker 2: most definitely would address the point guard issue. And same
Speaker 2: thing when there were rumbles that Indiana might be that
Speaker 2: third team, we know that the Sons have had a
Speaker 2: long standing interest in TJ McConnell, So I mean those
Speaker 2: names were out there. Obviously, Dame did not go to Miami.
Speaker 2: He very much went to the Milwaukee Bucks. And the
Speaker 2: Pacers were not involved in the trade either, So those
Speaker 2: options did not avail themselves to Phoenix. But yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: with you. I think that is that is a that's
Speaker 2: a hole they're going to have to address sooner rather
Speaker 2: than later.
Speaker 3: And the reason I say that, Stime, because you know,
Speaker 3: you could get by with trying to rotate those guys
Speaker 3: in at that point guard spot. And and there's gonna
Speaker 3: be a lot of emphasis with Phoenix on pushing the
Speaker 3: ball up like out letting the ball get it up,
Speaker 3: opposed to having a point guard just bring the ball
Speaker 3: all the way up ninety four feet. So they wanted
Speaker 3: to get the ball up past half court, give himself
Speaker 3: a lot of time in the shot clock to get
Speaker 3: into their sets. The problem is this Stein and I remember,
Speaker 3: you know, talking to Chris Paul a few years ago,
Speaker 3: where it was a few years ago when the Suns
Speaker 3: were they played when they got the playoffs, they played
Speaker 3: New Orleans in the first round. Did they played Dallas
Speaker 3: and New Orleans? They had Alvarado and they had Herb
Speaker 3: Jones just smothering, hounding Chris Paul ninety four feet, and
Speaker 3: it took his toll, you know, it took his toll
Speaker 3: on him getting the ball up with that amount of
Speaker 3: aggressiveness and length and quickness. And then in Dallas he
Speaker 3: faced Bullock and I forgot the other player that he
Speaker 3: said was hounding them ninety four feet. But Phoenix didn't
Speaker 3: have another, really another primary point guard to help Chris
Speaker 3: Paul in that mode. So in the regular season.
Speaker 2: Now I don't even remember, was it Phinney Smith.
Speaker 3: It might have been Phinney Smith, but it was two
Speaker 3: lyngty guys. I know Bullock was one of them. It
Speaker 3: might have been Phinny Smith could have been. But you
Speaker 3: know he didn't see that type of a defensive pressure
Speaker 3: in the regular season. You know, teams don't do they
Speaker 3: don't go all out and do that type of stuff,
Speaker 3: you know, in the regular season. So you can see
Speaker 3: a scenario in Phoenix where Bill and Booker they're pushing
Speaker 3: the ball up out, letting the ball up, or or
Speaker 3: they even they're even bringing the ball up full court
Speaker 3: with very little pressure in the regular season and then
Speaker 3: kind of thinking like, all right, we can get we
Speaker 3: can get away with this. This is fine. But when
Speaker 3: the playoffs hit, when and then when teams start to scheme,
Speaker 3: oh no, let's pressure on full court. Young guy, small guy,
Speaker 3: get up in them, tall lyngthy guy, get up in them.
Speaker 3: That's where problems can be had. And you didn't work
Speaker 3: on it because you didn't think you had to do
Speaker 3: in the regular season because teams are not putting those
Speaker 3: type of schemes into the regular season. So I think
Speaker 3: they desperately need a point guard. Not necessarily for the
Speaker 3: regular season, but I definitely think they need one come
Speaker 3: playoff time and That's just my opinion, just just the
Speaker 3: little basketball that I've watched them against, planned against Detroit,
Speaker 3: and just knowing what they don't have on that roster currently.
Speaker 2: Well, you know Bradley Beal very well. You interviewed him
Speaker 2: during the game, but beyond that, you've known him for
Speaker 2: a long time. How much, though, do you think he
Speaker 2: kind of wants to prove to people, hey, I can
Speaker 2: do this, I can playmake, I can be I can
Speaker 2: be a pseudo point guard for this team, because you
Speaker 2: know he hasn't always done that in Washington.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. You know, I've talked, you know,
Speaker 3: we talked. You know, I had an any game interview
Speaker 3: with him, but we talked before the game as well,
Speaker 3: and he was talking about how excited he is and
Speaker 3: how he's prepared to do whatever he's called to do.
Speaker 3: And then you know, I asked him, you know, about
Speaker 3: the role of I don't know if I'll call him
Speaker 3: the third star. Maybe he is the third star, but
Speaker 3: you know about sacrificing Now, you know, it's always hard
Speaker 3: for that third star a lot of times to get
Speaker 3: accimmitted to what that role entails. And he said all
Speaker 3: the right things, like he's ready for whatever. But stein,
Speaker 3: what I would say about that point guard position. Man,
Speaker 3: that point guard that's like, it's like playing quarterback. You
Speaker 3: don't just step into that role and run everything officially
Speaker 3: like you're kind of born a point guard. You're kind
Speaker 3: of groomed into being a point guard. It's not something
Speaker 3: you could.
Speaker 2: Just and you were born a shooting guard.
Speaker 3: I would, I would my sources say, well, listen, you
Speaker 3: don't need no sources. You can come in from the
Speaker 3: horse's mouth here. I am not a point guard. I am.
Speaker 3: I am not Listen now from the so you got
Speaker 3: they give you a little bit of fake news. I'm
Speaker 3: telling you I'm not a point guard because my handles weren't.
Speaker 3: That was not that tight. But court vision and finding people,
Speaker 3: I got that. But the handles, like and that's another
Speaker 3: thing too. But people need to understand is you can
Speaker 3: have handles or could be considered somebody who has handles
Speaker 3: in half court settings, like somebody who could run pick
Speaker 3: and roll in half court. But bringing that ball up
Speaker 3: being pressured ninety four feet totally different from using two
Speaker 3: or three four dribbles in a half court set to
Speaker 3: get to the basket. Totally different, And so That's why
Speaker 3: I tell people that point guard transition is not easy,
Speaker 3: like it's not and so, and I don't know that
Speaker 3: that's fair to ask Bill to do that. That's why
Speaker 3: I say, I think they're going to need a point guard,
Speaker 3: real point guard service, a point guard point guard down
Speaker 3: the line.
Speaker 2: Well, look, using Bruce Brown and losing Jeff Green, those
Speaker 2: are significant losses for the Denver Nuggets. But they are
Speaker 2: still my favorites in an absolutely stacked Western conference. And
Speaker 2: I can tell you I know it was stacked because
Speaker 2: during my trip here in Spain with the MAVs, with
Speaker 2: more than one MAVs person that I sat down with,
Speaker 2: we did the exercise of let's go through the teams
Speaker 2: in the West and just what you have to who
Speaker 2: you have to finish ahead of to finish top six,
Speaker 2: top eight, and it is just tough, tough, it's brutal.
Speaker 2: And I mean because the teams at the bottom, the
Speaker 2: teams expected to be at the bottom, your Utah's, your Portland's,
Speaker 2: your San Antonio's, your Houston's, they will all be tough outs.
Speaker 2: I mean, Houston is obviously trying to be competitive this
Speaker 2: year with the moves they've made to bring in Fred
Speaker 2: Van Vliet and Dylan Brooks and San Antonio obviously Wemby
Speaker 2: in July. Everybody wanted to write him off after one
Speaker 2: bad Summer League game, and now everybody is going nuts
Speaker 2: after his his preseason debut. So, I mean, san Antonio,
Speaker 2: we're still not exactly sure what we're gonna see from them,
Speaker 2: but I mean, you know they're gonna have a capable team.
Speaker 2: You know, Portland is another tough team to read, very young,
Speaker 2: but I mean you know that they Yeah, again, nobody's
Speaker 2: just just a gimme in the West, and Utah already
Speaker 2: showed us last year when when they were written off
Speaker 2: by everyone after trading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert that
Speaker 2: you know they were they were on course to be
Speaker 2: a five hundred or better team until they finally at
Speaker 2: the end of the season decided to put an eye
Speaker 2: on draft positioning. So, I mean, this West is going
Speaker 2: to be something else. Denver is still my favorite, and
Speaker 2: you know, I guess I would say the Suns are
Speaker 2: probably who I would have at the top of the
Speaker 2: list of challengers, but I'm I'm not sure. I'm I'm
Speaker 2: really not sure that, Like, you know, the Lakers I
Speaker 2: really like the Lakers moves in the off season. And
Speaker 2: ye you know the Clippers aren done. Okac is moving
Speaker 2: up the charts. Sacramento. I was doing my radio show
Speaker 2: last weekend and I was going through all the teams
Speaker 2: in the West. And somehow, despite how much we talk
Speaker 2: about the Kings on this show, I forgot to mention
Speaker 2: the Kings. And I'm waiting for Mike Brown to call
Speaker 2: me because and I guess Mike Brown priably does not
Speaker 2: listened to my radio show in Dallas. But I was
Speaker 2: still waiting for the call. I mean, we need to
Speaker 2: go on and on about the the West. You tell
Speaker 2: me Denver, Phoenix, Lakers, Warriors, who's your favorite in the West?
Speaker 3: Okay, Stan, You have to realize, are we ready to
Speaker 3: do this? Because teams do even you know, teams, players, coaches,
Speaker 3: they all like to say they don't listen to us,
Speaker 3: you know, they don't pay us no mind. But during
Speaker 3: the season they post, they print these articles out, they
Speaker 3: print these headlines out about who we picked to be
Speaker 3: a top eight motivation. Are we ready to do this?
Speaker 2: Listen today is we're recording this on October twelfth. The
Speaker 2: season starts October twenty fifth, if you would rather wait
Speaker 2: too closer to October twenty fifth. You deserve that runway,
Speaker 2: you do not have. You do not have to make
Speaker 2: that declaration right now, Like so I.
Speaker 3: Don't think are you making a declaration.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Denver's my favorite to make Denver's my favorite. To
Speaker 2: win the West, I think is defending champions. They deserve that.
Speaker 2: And yes, they they lost, they lost two key guys
Speaker 2: in their rotation. But Brown I do think is ready
Speaker 2: to step up, and you know, I think they will
Speaker 2: cope with the losses. And just Joker is Joker, I
Speaker 2: mean he is. I just think he's that good and
Speaker 2: has proven to be such a dominant force who pretty
Speaker 2: much never misses games. Yeah, Denver's okay, I would agree
Speaker 2: with you.
Speaker 3: The difference is my favorite as well, Continuity, Like they're
Speaker 3: my favorite. I'm a little you know they Hey, Bruce Brown,
Speaker 3: Bruce Brown losing him that is a big that's a
Speaker 3: big loss right there.
Speaker 2: That is very real. And look, I'm probably not ready
Speaker 2: to do the order after Denver.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, all right, that's what I was getting.
Speaker 2: That's why I was like, no, I can't do that yet.
Speaker 2: I'm still figuring that out too.
Speaker 3: But let me say this, sty I'm looking at the
Speaker 3: top eight from last year who made the playoffs, right, Denver,
Speaker 3: and then I'm going in order Denver, Memphis, Sacramento, Phoenix, Clippers, Warriors, Lakers.
Speaker 3: Minnesota was eight, Stein I had. Out of those eight,
Speaker 3: I have a hard time thinking who can get into
Speaker 3: that eight. No, now, listen, I know there are teams
Speaker 3: that can get to it. Like so New Orleans they
Speaker 3: were nine. Maybe they leap for aud Minnesota, but at
Speaker 3: eight or that nine right there, it's tough. And I
Speaker 3: know Dallas they were they were eleven.
Speaker 2: Like Minnesota thinks they're better, that they will be better
Speaker 2: with a full training camp, and obviously Cat missed a
Speaker 2: zillion games last year. So Minnesota believes they're a better
Speaker 2: team New Orleans if they've got Zion. I mean, obviously
Speaker 2: we're gonna have to look at them differently. But that's
Speaker 2: a huge iff when you know Zion's got to play
Speaker 2: half a season first before we, you know, we even
Speaker 2: start talking about it. So but obviously he you know,
Speaker 2: he played a pre he made his preseason debut and
Speaker 2: people got very excited. I mean, yeah, that again, this
Speaker 2: is the conversation I was having with with various folks
Speaker 2: in Dallas. You guys, if you want to get back
Speaker 2: even in the play in you got a lot of
Speaker 2: work to do to leap frog a lot of good teams.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough. Like I have a hard time, Like
Speaker 3: I think Denver is going to be in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Think Memphis, I think Sacramento, I think Phoenix, I think
Speaker 3: the Clippers, I think the Warriors, I think the Lakers.
Speaker 3: Those seven, those are seven that I'm pretty certain will
Speaker 3: be there. Seven. You know, that's not a lot a
Speaker 3: wiggle room for other teams to jump up in there.
Speaker 3: You know, I know Dallas is better than what they
Speaker 3: were last year. New Orleans is better than what they
Speaker 3: were last year. Minnesota. It's it, man, I'm looking forward
Speaker 3: to It's gonna be tough.
Speaker 2: Well, we can talk about Dallas now a bit, because
Speaker 2: again I did not go to Abu Dhabi with them.
Speaker 2: I met them in Madrid. I got to Madrid a
Speaker 2: few hours before they did. And look, this will go
Speaker 2: down as the longest trip in NBA preseason history, both
Speaker 2: literally and figuratively. They flew nearly seventeen thousand air miles
Speaker 2: combined to do the two games in Abu Dhabi before Madrid,
Speaker 2: and they came home Thursday today with both of their
Speaker 2: stars carrying injuries. Luka Doncic suffered a left calf strain
Speaker 2: in practice on Monday, and that was the only real
Speaker 2: practice that the Mavericks were able to have on the
Speaker 2: whole trip after they lost to the Wolves twice in
Speaker 2: Abu Dhabi. Because you know, when you go to Abu
Speaker 2: Dhabi and it's the league trip, when you're not playing,
Speaker 2: the league's got you doing all kinds of stuff. There's appearances,
Speaker 2: there's clinics, there's special dinners and tours, and it's like
Speaker 2: it is not conducive to practice. So they had six
Speaker 2: practices before they left for Abu Dhabi. Go to Abu Dhabi,
Speaker 2: play the two games, come back. They basically fly from
Speaker 2: Abu Dhabi to Madrid, which is like going coast to
Speaker 2: coast in the States. They have their first real practice
Speaker 2: before the game. Luka calf strain, the same left leg
Speaker 2: that has been bugging him on some level since late
Speaker 2: February early March. You know, they lose to Real Madrid.
Speaker 2: That's the least of their problems because it was their
Speaker 2: third string against the Real Madrid starters. In the fourth quarters,
Speaker 2: so it was the revenge of Facundo Composo. Faco Composo
Speaker 2: with the last nine points for Real Madrid in the
Speaker 2: last eighty five seconds. Composo, of course, spent about six
Speaker 2: weeks as a mav last season. They brought him in
Speaker 2: to be Luca's sidekick and someone he absolutely loved from
Speaker 2: their days as Real Madrid Real Madrid teammates, and then
Speaker 2: Dallas waived him to launch the Kemba Walker experiment, which
Speaker 2: didn't work. So there's all these storylines, but the basics
Speaker 2: of it are Dallas comes back, Kyrie Irving only played
Speaker 2: one of the three games because of left groin soreness,
Speaker 2: Luca has this left leg issue, and those two are
Speaker 2: supposed to be the sure bets for a Mavericks team
Speaker 2: that has ten to eleven new players. Grant Williams is
Speaker 2: the only surefire starter. So okay, I just went through
Speaker 2: all of that. You know, what was your reaction from home?
Speaker 2: Just just kind of watching the MAVs go on this
Speaker 2: crazy long trip and coming back with both of those guys,
Speaker 2: both of their stars in some level of injury distress.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not, I mean, unless you know I've been
Speaker 3: following you know your reports over there, and they're saying,
Speaker 3: you know you reported the injury, especially particularly to Luca,
Speaker 3: is not serious. And I think that's common around preseason,
Speaker 3: like you don't want to take any risks. And one
Speaker 3: thing I will say about the Suns that I didn't
Speaker 3: say about Vogel told me that he planned to play
Speaker 3: KD and Booker and two of the last three preseason games, like,
Speaker 3: so for whatever reason, they're just being really safe and cautious.
Speaker 3: And you know, you can look at the Milwaukee Bucks
Speaker 3: as well, Dame and Giannis. They're about to make their
Speaker 3: preseason debut this weekend Sunday against the Lakers. So I
Speaker 3: think that's normal around the league. I wouldn't get I
Speaker 3: wouldn't get too nervous if I was a fan of
Speaker 3: of those those star players all those teams. So I
Speaker 3: just there's just not a lot to gleanstein from these
Speaker 3: preseasons for the most part, because we were not seeing
Speaker 3: a healthy dose of these guys playing, and so a
Speaker 3: lot of a lot of what we're going to find
Speaker 3: out is going to be when the regular season starts,
Speaker 3: and so I do want to see more, but I
Speaker 3: just don't have There's just not enough sample size for
Speaker 3: me to go off and have.
Speaker 2: Well, this is a MAVs team that needs a good start.
Speaker 2: I mean, they desperately need a good start after the
Speaker 2: way last season ended. And that's kind of the issue,
Speaker 2: is that this trip was supposed to be a renaissance.
Speaker 2: It's a it's you know, a team that's made a
Speaker 2: lot of changes. It's the first training camp that Luka
Speaker 2: Doncic and Kyrie Irving get to spend together. And they
Speaker 2: return home today. They have one exhibition game left a
Speaker 2: week from Friday against Detroit and then an opening night.
Speaker 2: They're at San Antonio in the Wemby Bowl, and I
Speaker 2: do plan to be at that one to see Wemby's
Speaker 2: first game, his first real game. But I mean Luka
Speaker 2: Dancic and Kyrie Irving played in three exhibition games. They
Speaker 2: played together for less than seven minutes, so they still
Speaker 2: have not had a lot of court time together. And
Speaker 2: this is again a duo that last season when both
Speaker 2: were in uniform, the MAVs went five and eleven. So
Speaker 2: I mean, I have certainly taken on an alarmist tone
Speaker 2: here and I'm sure I'll hear about it in my
Speaker 2: home city, But I think it is justified. The trip
Speaker 2: was a grind and now they're basically going to have
Speaker 2: three days off. The gym will be open for some
Speaker 2: voluntary stuff, but the Mavericks can't even have an official
Speaker 2: practice until Monday, and so they got a lot to
Speaker 2: do next week Monday through Thursday before Dallas area star
Speaker 2: Cade Cunningham brings the Detroit Pistons into town for an
Speaker 2: exhibition on October twenty.
Speaker 3: Who did the Mavericks open up with San Antonio? One? Okay?
Speaker 3: In San Antonio?
Speaker 2: In San Antonio on Wednesday? What what's your opening night
Speaker 2: assignments on Tuesday? You'll wear you? Where are you? Are
Speaker 2: you at Ring Knight? Are you at the other.
Speaker 3: Game I actually have? Is that Ring Night? No, that's not.
Speaker 3: Who does Nuggets have for Ring Night?
Speaker 2: So it's Nuggets Lakers Ring Night? And then there's your
Speaker 2: game Sons Warriors, so Western Conference only the first night
Speaker 2: of the season. And you said you got.
Speaker 3: I have Sons Warriors in San Francisco Tuesday. Then I
Speaker 3: take off immediately for Milwaukee. I got the Bucks opening
Speaker 3: night game against the Sixers. That's third, Tuesday and Thursday. Yep,
Speaker 3: that is a strong week.
Speaker 2: I hope you have a lot of good stories for
Speaker 2: those for the podcast that show rolls around.
Speaker 3: I wasn't assigned to that game initially, but you know,
Speaker 3: things have changed over the last couple of weeks in
Speaker 3: the league.
Speaker 2: You're going to be voting. You're going to be voting
Speaker 2: in Milwaukee election.
Speaker 3: A big trade to change some of my assignments. So
Speaker 3: I got I got two games that week, so I'm
Speaker 3: looking for me.
Speaker 2: I'm so jealous. I love Milwaukee. I love visiting Milwaukee.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was beautiful when I was there.
Speaker 2: I was there, and I'm not sure i've been there
Speaker 2: since since. I can't even remember because I don't think
Speaker 2: I went to those finals. Yeah, I can't remember my
Speaker 2: last trip to Milwaukee.
Speaker 3: I have a strong feeling the weather is not going
Speaker 3: to cooperate like it did when I was there a
Speaker 3: few weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't even want to talk about weather because
Speaker 2: I will really make you jealous, because it has been
Speaker 2: spectacular in Madrid, absolutely gorgeous, and I'm told it's finally
Speaker 2: cooling down when I get back home to Dallas.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I've never been stein. Are you one of
Speaker 3: those guys, you know, older people. I used to wonder
Speaker 3: this all the time. Why do people retire in Phoenix? Why?
Speaker 3: I never knew that, but you know, I started to
Speaker 3: see a trend. The older you got, the more attractive
Speaker 3: a place like Phoenix became. And I know, my guy
Speaker 3: Dwight James, the Commas in Portland, he bought a house
Speaker 3: out there in Phoenix. You know, older people like the sun.
Speaker 2: You know what's this is actually some inside baseball on
Speaker 2: our profession. There was a time when and Dwight James
Speaker 2: is part of that generation right before me. In terms
Speaker 2: of writers, a bunch of writers from that era did that.
Speaker 2: Pete VESSI spent tons of time in the desert, Sam Smith,
Speaker 2: your guy Michael Wilbon still has a place in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: I'm quite sure. So all these writers from that generation
Speaker 2: before me and there were probably more like it. Just
Speaker 2: I think housing prices at that time were really, really
Speaker 2: favorable in Phoenix, and and I don't know if that's
Speaker 2: still the case now. I'm gonna guess not. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: guess Phoenix, like Dallas, has gotten a lot more expensive
Speaker 2: than it used to be in terms of real estate.
Speaker 2: But back in the nineties that was a very I
Speaker 2: remember you know, someone like Sam you know, Sam Smith
Speaker 2: spent his whole writing career in Chicago. The chance to
Speaker 2: live in Phoenix sounded pretty damn good.
Speaker 3: So it's not a star.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know you're basically saying, now that I'm old,
Speaker 2: I'm qualified to answer this question. I love Phoenix to visit,
Speaker 2: but I have never had interest in living there. And
Speaker 2: I look, I love the desert, the desert skyline, and
Speaker 2: just I really aesthetically, I really have always loved going
Speaker 2: there and the Steve Nash years from like the Steve
Speaker 2: Nash D'Antoni is from two thousand and four to twenty ten. Now,
Speaker 2: I mean I spent more time in Phoenix than anywhere
Speaker 2: I went, so I've always had great visits there. My
Speaker 2: I want to say, my very first NBA All Star
Speaker 2: Game I covered was in Phoenix. So I've always had
Speaker 2: great experiences there, but I've never had this huge desire
Speaker 2: to live there. I think, as an you know, my
Speaker 2: older self, I could imagine living part time in either
Speaker 2: Palm Springs or Vegas before.
Speaker 3: Feast Vegas yeah oh yeah, huh yeah, Okay.
Speaker 2: I get part time three months a year, but I
Speaker 2: I love the energy of Vegas. Man, I love it
Speaker 2: is it is it is you know, it's just it's sports.
Speaker 2: Everywhere you look, everywhere you turn, it's sports.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but Vegas is like Stein. Like for me, when
Speaker 3: I go to a summer league three days, four days,
Speaker 3: max I started, I start to get irrible, Like I'm
Speaker 3: tied of Vegas, Like I don't know if I can
Speaker 3: live there. And then if you live there, are you
Speaker 3: really visiting the strip that often where all the action is,
Speaker 3: Like I really never spent time outside of strip in Vegas,
Speaker 3: so I don't even know what that's like.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know firsthand, but people who do live
Speaker 2: there always tell me how great it is off the
Speaker 2: strip and you should just come see how A, B
Speaker 2: and C is so fantastic. So I'm not qualified answer
Speaker 2: that question, but maybe people can. Maybe people, maybe some
Speaker 2: of our listeners who do live in Vegas can educate us.
Speaker 3: But in Phoenix, Stein, I know what your favorite steakhouse
Speaker 3: in Milwaukee is? What again? Carson's Carsons Carsons in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: It's a Chicago place, but they have a Milwaukee outlet.
Speaker 3: Okay, Steak forty four in Phoenix the best steakhouse I've
Speaker 3: been to.
Speaker 2: Steak forty four best steakhouse in the League.
Speaker 3: Best best, I've the best I've wanted to I would,
Speaker 3: I would challenge any other steakhouse in the league. Was
Speaker 3: against Stake forty four. Those in Phoenix know what I'm
Speaker 3: talking about. That place is awesome.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, I guess I'm gonna have to meet
Speaker 2: you there and we'll put that to the test. Yes
Speaker 2: before all right, so before we go. You know, last
Speaker 2: the last time we did one of these, you were
Speaker 2: just you were just love getting me all worked up
Speaker 2: about Joe l. Embiid and international basketball, which you did
Speaker 2: on You did it on purpose.
Speaker 3: Of course, I need your pe I want to know
Speaker 3: now that Joel and Bid has picked the United States
Speaker 3: of America, he will play for Team USA. After all,
Speaker 3: I think he heard how you were disparaging him against
Speaker 3: picking team I think I heard that I was.
Speaker 2: I was definitely not disparaging him because Joel Embiid knows
Speaker 2: very well. He's one of my favorite people to speak
Speaker 2: to on planet NBA. I I don't get to see
Speaker 2: him a ton, but there are a few players who
Speaker 2: fill up the proverbial notebook like mister em b So
Speaker 2: there is no disparaging of him. And you know what,
Speaker 2: I can rant all I want. It's his personal choice,
Speaker 2: it's his life. He doesn't have to do what I say. However,
Speaker 2: I have to admit that I did not I did
Speaker 2: not love it. And again you know this. I'm sure
Speaker 2: USAB officials who hear me on this rant don't understand
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, because when they lose to anybody, I'm
Speaker 2: at the front of the line criticizing them. And every
Speaker 2: single loss, no matter who they bring, no matter what
Speaker 2: the roster looks like, media with me at the front
Speaker 2: of the line, treat it like an international incident. So
Speaker 2: their natural reply is, how are you gonna wrap us
Speaker 2: for bringing Joel embiid into fold when if we lose,
Speaker 2: you're gonna crush us? And now you're saying we're too good.
Speaker 2: And all I'm saying is, we've heard so many great
Speaker 2: American players since camps have started talk about wanting to
Speaker 2: join this team, and if the best of our best
Speaker 2: show up, and we've got Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry
Speaker 2: and Lebron James coming back, and Devin Booker and on,
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum, on and on and on, and if there
Speaker 2: are so many guys that it's looking like Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 2: who also wants to play. If it's looking like Kawhi
Speaker 2: Leonard has to settle for being a six man or something,
Speaker 2: then no, they don't need Joel Embiid And it just
Speaker 2: feels like free agency and I just feel like the
Speaker 2: most talent rich country in the world in basketball should
Speaker 2: not be signing the reigning MVP as a free agent.
Speaker 2: And again, this really stems from me being that basketball
Speaker 2: romantic who Cameroon is only one step away from qualifying.
Speaker 2: Cameroon won a pre qualifying tournament to get to the
Speaker 2: final round of qualifying without Joel Embiid and without Pascal Siaka,
Speaker 2: and if those two guys played with the existing Cameroon
Speaker 2: team and qualified for the Olympics under the flag of
Speaker 2: their native country, that would be an absolutely incredible achievement
Speaker 2: and it would not only be huge for Cameroon, but
Speaker 2: it would be massive for African basketball. And so I
Speaker 2: just I would have loved to hear Joel Embiid say
Speaker 2: I loved that France and the United States spend a
Speaker 2: year fighting over me and trying to get me. But
Speaker 2: I am going to get Cameroon to the Olympics through qualifying.
Speaker 2: And I understand It's risky for him to do that
Speaker 2: because if Cameroon doesn't qualify, and international basketball is insane,
Speaker 2: there's twenty four teams that go to qualifying, they get
Speaker 2: broken up into four groups. Only one team out of
Speaker 2: every six team group qualifies for the Olympics, and Cameroon
Speaker 2: would not be the host. Most likely, the Cameroon Federation
Speaker 2: almost assuredly does not have the money it would take
Speaker 2: to win a bid to host one of those tournaments.
Speaker 2: So Cameroon would have to win on the road somewhere,
Speaker 2: and I know that's a tall order, but if you've
Speaker 2: got Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam, they can do it,
Speaker 2: just like the Bahamas are going to try to do
Speaker 2: with DeAndre Ayton and Buddy Healed and Eric Gordon. So
Speaker 2: I know that I'm ranting into the win and nobody cares,
Speaker 2: and you're just doing this to get me all wound
Speaker 2: up because it's fun for you to see me like this.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the basketball romantic in me will not let
Speaker 2: it go. I would have loved to see Embiid choose
Speaker 2: Cameroon because again, I just think with or without him,
Speaker 2: the United States is going to be stacked. I really
Speaker 2: hope for your sake that you are assigned to cover
Speaker 2: the Paris Olympics, because the US team is going to
Speaker 2: be If all these guys play, who say they're gonna play,
Speaker 2: it's going to be the closest thing in talent to
Speaker 2: the original Dream Team that we've ever seen.
Speaker 3: I will say this, and yeah, I get your point,
Speaker 3: all valid points, all valid points. I will say this.
Speaker 3: I was watching and I know this is not the
Speaker 3: an equal equivalent, but I watched a Bruce Brown clip
Speaker 3: that was forgive me, I forgot what pod he was on.
Speaker 3: It's a Bruce Brown clips talking about when he was
Speaker 3: with Brooklyn how he did not play a single minute
Speaker 3: in preseason when they had KD, Kyrie and James Harden
Speaker 3: and he talked about wanting to be traded, wanted to
Speaker 3: go somewhere else, go somewhere else because he knew he
Speaker 3: wasn't going to play. That's the same Bruce Brown who
Speaker 3: did all the dirty work for the Denver Nuggets that
Speaker 3: helped them win a championship. So what I what I'm
Speaker 3: what I'm saying is this, Yes, the United States is
Speaker 3: going to be the ods on favorite. Yes, but every
Speaker 3: stars always talk about South and doing the dirty work.
Speaker 3: But very few of them really know how to do
Speaker 3: that because they they haven't had to do that ever.
Speaker 3: They think sacrifices is, you know, taking fewer shots, no
Speaker 3: diving on balls, what Kobe did his last team, USA
Speaker 3: stin what Kobe did. And so what I'm saying is
Speaker 3: you always need a Bruce Brown. You need a championship
Speaker 3: team needs a guy like that. That's really that's what
Speaker 3: his role is to be is to be a guy
Speaker 3: that's going to dive for the ball, be a houndless defender,
Speaker 3: guy's gonna cause havoc, be a spot up, you know,
Speaker 3: spot up shooter and do that. And that's every night.
Speaker 3: And so while they're gonna have all the talent, it's
Speaker 3: still they still is going to be a lot of
Speaker 3: pressure now because they gotta win.
Speaker 2: They have to win, and there will be a lot
Speaker 2: of eyeballs on them, and France is gonna have home
Speaker 2: court advantage. But again, if you look at all the
Speaker 2: guys who put their hand up and said they want
Speaker 2: to play, they they are gonna have way more than
Speaker 2: twelve good players to choose from. The harder part for
Speaker 2: them is going to be who you know, how do
Speaker 2: you say no to some of these guys. But again
Speaker 2: I'm not even listing. I mean, I can't even remember
Speaker 2: everybody who wants to play. And you know they'll have
Speaker 2: someone like Drew Holliday to do some of that dirty
Speaker 2: work stuff that you're talking about. I'm sure Drew's going
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 3: On the team again.
Speaker 2: They this team is going to be stacked a lot
Speaker 2: these guys. They want to go to the Paris Olympics.
Speaker 2: That you know, in our basketball culture, they love the Olympics.
Speaker 2: They don't care about the World Cup. The United States
Speaker 2: and the last two World Cups has finished seventh and fourth,
Speaker 2: and it's been an almighty struggle for USA basketball to
Speaker 2: get that roster filled with players who could who could
Speaker 2: do it, and you know, two times in a row
Speaker 2: they couldn't. But for these Olympics in Paris. Again, the
Speaker 2: last two World Cups were in China and then this
Speaker 2: past summer in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines. I think
Speaker 2: that was a harder sell for either of those competitions
Speaker 2: than getting guys to go to Paris for the Olympics
Speaker 2: that they are going. You know they are going to
Speaker 2: be This team is going to be so strong and
Speaker 2: they've got Joel Embiid now, but even if they didn't
Speaker 2: even had Embiid chose to play for Cameroon or France,
Speaker 2: They're going to be fine. They're going to be stacked.
Speaker 2: And like I said, I hope, I hope for you
Speaker 2: your sake that it gets to be your first Olympics,
Speaker 2: because I think it's going to be. They are going
Speaker 2: to that team. I mean, if it has Lebron, Curry
Speaker 2: and Durant on it, they are going to be the
Speaker 2: talk of the Summer Games.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Paris, they love the Olympics. They love Paris too.
Speaker 2: Have you been to Paris yet?
Speaker 3: Never? Never have never have never have.
Speaker 2: Man, I wonder if our guy, Brad Turner, America's ambassador
Speaker 2: to Paris, is he going to get himself to Paris
Speaker 2: for the Paris Olympics. I hope. I mean, he basically
Speaker 2: lives there at this point, but I like, I would
Speaker 2: like to think that the La Times will send him
Speaker 2: to cover Team USA and he might just he might
Speaker 2: just burst into flames.
Speaker 3: Oh man, it's good to hear from you. Stein. Hopeful
Speaker 3: next next pot we do, hopefully you'll be back in
Speaker 3: the state side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's good to connect with you good to be back.
Speaker 2: Glad we're back. We're both back at it and we
Speaker 2: do have Like you said, we still have tennis days
Speaker 2: to get our predicted order for the East and West set.
Speaker 2: So the season is fast approaching. Are you ready?
Speaker 3: Basically, I actually am, I actually am star, I am.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to this season. Man, there's really I'll
Speaker 3: leave it at that. I'm looking very forward to this season.
Speaker 2: All right, everyone that's gonna do it for this edition
Speaker 2: of This League Uncut. Chris and I will be back
Speaker 2: together soon. I think we actually have a special interview
Speaker 2: on the docket very soon. And we got lots more
Speaker 2: to cover and lots more to discuss in these next
Speaker 2: couple of weeks before the season actually starts. But the
Speaker 2: NBA's seventy eighth season, it will be here for real
Speaker 2: before you know it, and we'll be covering it with
Speaker 2: you every week twice a week here on This League Uncut.
Speaker 2: Please remember rate review, subscribe to the show if you
Speaker 2: haven't already for Haynes, this is stein. We'll do it
Speaker 2: again soon and that'll do it for us.
Speaker 1: See you next time. This League Uncut is and iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: production at Chris Haynes and mark Stein
Speaker 3: It took at