Speaker 1: On this episode of The Heat Check, we finish our
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference preview with the IKEA of Divisions, the Southeast
Speaker 1: Division worse than the IKEA of Divisions actually like IKEA's
Speaker 1: coffee tables. You know, they try to pretend like there would,
Speaker 1: but it's actually just made out of cardboard that's been
Speaker 1: like disintegrated and packed into like some glue form. So
Speaker 1: I guess it is the IKEA Divisions. We're looking at Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Look, Orlando,
Speaker 1: and the Washington Wizards. We also have a great interview
Speaker 1: with Kurt Healing from NBC Sports to prepare you for
Speaker 1: all the things about the new season. It is a
Speaker 1: loaded show. Welcome, let's get into it. William drop that
Speaker 1: generic gas beat that should be reh.
Speaker 2: Honest breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines.
Speaker 3: Heat Check.
Speaker 2: The Heat Check was just a CRA's the best podcast
Speaker 2: covering all the drama around the association.
Speaker 1: Our final preview Southeast Division. I'd like to say last,
Speaker 1: but not least. We saved the best for last, but
Speaker 1: we didn't. I waited as long as I possibly could
Speaker 1: to talk about this shitty ass division. The yellow starburst
Speaker 1: of NBA divisions is the Southeast. It's like the candy
Speaker 1: corn in the Halloween Bowl, whereas like nobody wants this shit.
Speaker 1: It's sticking to everything else. You can't get rid of it.
Speaker 1: They put it on sale for nine to nine cents
Speaker 1: for an entire pound at your local Fred Myers. But
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into it anyway because there's still NBA
Speaker 1: teams here that we have to cover. That's how much
Speaker 1: I love you. I want to talk about other things
Speaker 1: the tea, like the Chicago Bulls players meeting only first
Speaker 1: game of the season has to get waxed by the
Speaker 1: Okase thunder. But no, no, sir, we must fulfill our commitments,
Speaker 1: and we start with the Atlanta Hawks. Key additions. They
Speaker 1: get Kobe Buffin in the draft out of Michigan. They
Speaker 1: get Patty Mills from free agency. What is Patty Mills
Speaker 1: doing there? By the way, what the fuck? Why? First
Speaker 1: of all, aren't you ready to retire? And second of all,
Speaker 1: why do you want to be with that dog shit organization? Subtractions.
Speaker 1: John Collins Finally, he's been in the news trade rumors
Speaker 1: so long. Finally happened. He gets himself into a better situation.
Speaker 1: Congratulations to John Collins. Anyway, we move forward about the Hawks.
Speaker 1: So though last year the Hawks imploded, they fired their
Speaker 1: coach of the deadline, they went out and hired a
Speaker 1: coach midway through the season in Quinn Snyder for so
Speaker 1: much money, all the money. Spectacularly, also fired their GM,
Speaker 1: hired a whole new front office. Remember then they tried
Speaker 1: to say the GM wasn't really fired, he was just
Speaker 1: in an advisory role. Now I mean they fired him
Speaker 1: and he just kept him on site on step. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Travis Schlank. Now he's working for the Washington Wizards, part
Speaker 1: of the same same sort of umbrella, yellow starburst. But
Speaker 1: we'll move forward. The explanation of hiring Quinn Snyder and
Speaker 1: then not waiting out the year was just so that
Speaker 1: Snyder could assess, he could wait and see what he had.
Speaker 1: He could get a head start for this season. And
Speaker 1: he found out pretty early that this old John Collins
Speaker 1: Trey Young thing it's not working. It's never gonna work.
Speaker 1: John Collins doesn't like Trey Young. So this summer they
Speaker 1: sent out John Collins the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gay
Speaker 1: and his second round pick. Remember they were at one
Speaker 1: point I refusing to trade John Collins unless they got
Speaker 1: multiple first round picks for him back That was a
Speaker 1: real article. Those were the real news rumors. Sounds like
Speaker 1: they couldn't get that first round pick for him, and
Speaker 1: now they got a dirty muffin which was Rudy Gay
Speaker 1: and his second round pick. They turned down much better
Speaker 1: packages for him in the past. I like where John
Speaker 1: Collins landed for a team that was pretty trash. Last year,
Speaker 1: the Hawks didn't really do much. They're still trying to
Speaker 1: roll out this whole Dejontey Murray and Trey Young experiments.
Speaker 1: I preferred to Jontay Murray. They add Patty Mills and
Speaker 1: Kobe Buffkin. Neither are going to be very much factors.
Speaker 1: This team is going to fall again on whether Dejonte
Speaker 1: and Trey could play together. And I don't know, honestly.
Speaker 1: I like DeAndre Hunter a lot. I am not sure
Speaker 1: honestly if this roster makes any sense. They refused to
Speaker 1: extend Sidik Bay, which they traded for, which means he's
Speaker 1: probably getting moved at the deadline or they'll lose him
Speaker 1: for nothing. We're looking at a starting five of Clint Capella,
Speaker 1: who looked horrible in their opening game. He's been rumored
Speaker 1: to be traded for the last sixteen months, Trey Young,
Speaker 1: de Jontey Murray just signed an extension, DeAndre hurt Hunter,
Speaker 1: and bog Don Bogdanovic. Does anybody think that this team
Speaker 1: is gonna win their division? No, this is a team
Speaker 1: that went to the Eastern Conference finals. Does anyone actually
Speaker 1: like this team? The Washington Wizards circle Atlanta on their calendars, like, yep,
Speaker 1: that's the game. That's the game we low manage stars for.
Speaker 1: That's the game we low manage Jordan Pool for. They're
Speaker 1: gonna probably win forty forty two games. They're gonna be
Speaker 1: a playing team as like a twelve seed? Was it seven, eight, nine, ten?
Speaker 1: So it's a ten seed? Ten seed? It feels like
Speaker 1: so many damn teams get in. This is the kind
Speaker 1: of team really is like wins the NBA in season
Speaker 1: tournament and they just call that season his success because
Speaker 1: the owner's son is now running the team, and you
Speaker 1: know how that whole thing goes. And then we're gonna
Speaker 1: have another mediocres to season and Quinn Snyder will have
Speaker 1: to decide whether Trey Young can be on this team
Speaker 1: any longer in order for them to move on and succeed,
Speaker 1: and I think he'll get to the point where he
Speaker 1: realizes maybe he's been the problem the whole time. We
Speaker 1: move forward another team in this division. My vote for
Speaker 1: the team that had the absolutely worst off season by far,
Speaker 1: by far was the Miami Heat. How do you go
Speaker 1: to the finals and still have the worst off season
Speaker 1: of anyone? Love their draft picks, Haimi Hawkez love him,
Speaker 1: you end up getting Thomas Bryant. Don't hate it, Josh Richardson,
Speaker 1: you pick him up. That's terrible, John. I might be
Speaker 1: the leader of the Josh Richardson dis fan club, like
Speaker 1: the non fan club like. I don't hate him as
Speaker 1: a person. He is not a piece. Though he is
Speaker 1: not a piece. I would have rather they got Kelly
Speaker 1: than Josh Richardson. That's not a lie. They lose Max Struz,
Speaker 1: who by the way, had seven threes for the Caves
Speaker 1: the other night, just loading up buckets after buckets. They
Speaker 1: lose Gabe Vincent. They lose Victor Oladipa. They were just waiting.
Speaker 1: They knew they were getting Damian Lillar, didn't they. They
Speaker 1: just knew they were getting Dame. They thought they were
Speaker 1: getting Bradley Beal for a song. This team could have
Speaker 1: had Dame brad Beal, Jimmy Butler, bam Adebayo. Jesus, what
Speaker 1: are they doing? Pat Riley? Pat Riley, I don't know
Speaker 1: what to say other than he just doesn't want to
Speaker 1: spend money. He's done, he's decided, like the Chicago Bulls,
Speaker 1: We're gonna put together a good product and in the
Speaker 1: playoffs we'll see. But I'm not gonna go into the
Speaker 1: luxury tags for a thirty something star who's gonna make
Speaker 1: like sixty five million dollars next year. They lost out
Speaker 1: on Bradley Beal, who was his first choice, was going
Speaker 1: to Miami. Even this week. Something came out where he
Speaker 1: was like, I thought it was a done deal, and
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, they did not want to make a move.
Speaker 1: It's the no trade clause, Bradley, It's the no trade clause,
Speaker 1: and they dragged their feet. No clue what happened. I
Speaker 1: know what happened. You know what happened, pat Riley. Happened.
Speaker 1: He wanted to basically get another star for free and
Speaker 1: have Bradley Beal wave his no trade clause, and instead
Speaker 1: Bradley Burele goes to Phoenix for basically nothing. Literally, I
Speaker 1: think it was like what how many? Like a handful
Speaker 1: of second round picks? And Beale is still like, how
Speaker 1: did I end up in Phoenix? I don't know how
Speaker 1: this happened. It wasn't even on my board. It didn't
Speaker 1: even register as a team for me to go to. Then,
Speaker 1: of course they lose Dame because they didn't want to
Speaker 1: make a real offer. What did that leave them thinking
Speaker 1: maybe they could get into the Drew Holiday Sweepstakes? But
Speaker 1: by then it was like Portland's I don't call us
Speaker 1: lose our number. Then now they're thinking maybe they can
Speaker 1: get into the Heart and Sweep steaks because Harden is
Speaker 1: now opening up the possibilities of trade partners for Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: He just wants to compete, doesn't matter if he's in La.
Speaker 1: It's a disaster. Their backup plan, Kelly Oubre went to
Speaker 1: the Sixers. Then Jannis, who was their backup, backup, backup plan,
Speaker 1: just signed a massive three year extension. All they can
Speaker 1: hope for now is Joel Embiid. That's it. I'd say
Speaker 1: pat Riley is coming to a close of what he's
Speaker 1: willing to do in terms of his aggressiveness. They find
Speaker 1: these guys out of the bottom of the barrel. They
Speaker 1: want these role players who can contribute with very little
Speaker 1: money attached to them, and that helps them, you know,
Speaker 1: with their financial situation. That's fine, but ultimately that's not
Speaker 1: what you want to do when you are a championship
Speaker 1: caliber franchise. He's a junk ball pitcher now, pat Riley,
Speaker 1: his command has failed. The Heat were three minutes from
Speaker 1: getting bounced last year in the player and then what
Speaker 1: do they do? They said, well, well, just instead of
Speaker 1: using that data to make our decision, we're going to
Speaker 1: use the data that's less likely, which is the fact
Speaker 1: that we went to the finals and then you lose
Speaker 1: two guys that were on the team that were key contributors.
Speaker 1: What do I like about this team? Obviously Jimmy Butler,
Speaker 1: He's fucking beast. He's one of my favorite players in
Speaker 1: the league. I love bam Adebayo. Those two are enough
Speaker 1: to do a lot for you in a postseason. Tyler
Speaker 1: hero is an absolute bucket. He's like the white Anthony Simons.
Speaker 1: He's going to be able to get your buckets from
Speaker 1: the perimeter. He's going to probably have a chip on
Speaker 1: his shoulder and Chuck I don't know eighteen times a game.
Speaker 1: He's been rumored to be in every trade Miami's ever had. Recently,
Speaker 1: he deleted Miami from his Instagram. Remember, at one point
Speaker 1: this beach could probably revenge season for Tyler Hero. Duncan
Speaker 1: Robinson I think is back into the rotation. I think
Speaker 1: they hate him less because he proved himself when Tyler
Speaker 1: Hero was out. In the playoffs, they're starting guards though,
Speaker 1: are Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin. This is a bad team, folks.
Speaker 1: This is a bad team. This is the same team
Speaker 1: as last year, only worse. If Heimi Hawkaz doesn't produce
Speaker 1: or Nikola Yovich, who was a healthy scratch last night
Speaker 1: doesn't produce ah and they don't make the playoffs, I
Speaker 1: would not be shocked if they don't make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Everyone else except for Atlanta got better in their division
Speaker 1: and they got worse. It's Mas school, folks. They are
Speaker 1: taking a downturn. The biggest asset that the Heat have
Speaker 1: is obviously Eric Spolstra. He continues to make gold out
Speaker 1: of garbage, so I would be also not shocked if
Speaker 1: they made the finals again. Best case scenario is playing,
Speaker 1: but you never know what's gonna happen when you get
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler in the postseason, the heat though, or a
Speaker 1: team in decline. I am not ruining for them. I
Speaker 1: do not feel like they are a team that you
Speaker 1: can believe in, and pat Riley must take the blame.
Speaker 1: We now take our attention to the Orlando Magic. You
Speaker 1: know it's bad, right, You know it's bad when the
Speaker 1: one bright spot of your division is Orlando Magic. That's
Speaker 1: where we're at. The Orlando Magic are the best team
Speaker 1: potentially in this dog shit division. Key additions Anthony Black,
Speaker 1: Jet Howard, Joe Ingles Key subtraction Bowl Bull. This is
Speaker 1: the only team in modern memory with ten guards on
Speaker 1: a twenty men roster. That's this is insane. I don't
Speaker 1: know what they're doing. Even guys that were rumored to
Speaker 1: be traded, like Cole Anthony just signed a three year,
Speaker 1: thirty nine million dollar extension in the draft. They went
Speaker 1: out and got I don't know, two more guards just
Speaker 1: for safe measure. Anthony Black, he's not really in the rotation.
Speaker 1: Jet Howard not really in the rotation. We're just gonna
Speaker 1: let him sit there and marinate like good chicken. You
Speaker 1: go with markl Foltz and Gary Harris and Jalen Suggs
Speaker 1: and Caleb Houston and Kevon Harris and trevl and Queen.
Speaker 1: You get the picture, folks. A lot of guards, a
Speaker 1: lot of guards. But I think that kind of diminishes
Speaker 1: how good this roster can be. Polo ban Caro will
Speaker 1: come off of the Rookie of the Year season that
Speaker 1: he had and he's gonna even be better. I think
Speaker 1: he could legitimately, once he finds his stride, he could
Speaker 1: average twenty five points a season a game. Franz Wagner,
Speaker 1: I think he could be most improved player this year.
Speaker 1: He was incredible in World Cup play, leading Germany to
Speaker 1: a gold medal, but also they were undefeated, and I
Speaker 1: like Markel Foltz. I like Cole Anthony to lead this
Speaker 1: group of guards, which means I think the Magic are
Speaker 1: probably gonna have a very very deep team, twelve fourteen
Speaker 1: guys in a game. They should be fresher than a
Speaker 1: lot of teams. What is their upside, that's the question.
Speaker 1: I think this is a playing team. I think this
Speaker 1: is a team that could legitimately win the division. This
Speaker 1: is a sneaky playoff team. The Magic in March. From
Speaker 1: March on were five hundred, So I think that's what
Speaker 1: they're gonna be going forward. I really do. The nice
Speaker 1: part though, of the magic is I think they have
Speaker 1: a lot of pieces that they can make some moves
Speaker 1: if they wanted to. At the deadline. They have enough assets.
Speaker 1: You could probably package Anthony Black. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: teams that would like a six to seven guard. You
Speaker 1: have draft capital, you have young players. You can get
Speaker 1: probably anything you want. You can probably get Pascal sa
Speaker 1: Uckham if you want it. You got a starting five
Speaker 1: of Wendell Carter, Franz Wagner, marcl Foltz, Paolo and Jalen
Speaker 1: Suggs with Cole Anthony first man off the bench. What
Speaker 1: you need, or what they need, is veteran leadership. Of course,
Speaker 1: that's why Malcolm I think Malcolm Rognen really makes a
Speaker 1: lot of sense for them. Do a deal with Portland Orlando,
Speaker 1: do a deal. We could use some wings. You guys
Speaker 1: got a lot, get us window. They also have Jonathan
Speaker 1: Isaac there, who's supposed to be good when he's healthy.
Speaker 1: You need somebody, probably with veteran mentorship who can slow
Speaker 1: these guards down. Do they need another guard? Probably not.
Speaker 1: They could actually use a guy like Jeremy Grant. Do
Speaker 1: a deal with Portland, Orlando, do a deal with Portland.
Speaker 1: I like these Magic I think they have a very
Speaker 1: bright future. I think they win forty to forty four games.
Speaker 1: It's time to chop it up with the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 1: Oh gross, just a team that has a lot of
Speaker 1: issues culturally with that roster. You've had some turnover, You've
Speaker 1: had a lack of turnover with players you probably should
Speaker 1: have turned over. Key Losses, Kelly oubre Kai Jones, the Mahollick,
Speaker 1: Dennis Smith junior, Key additions Brendan Miller in the draft,
Speaker 1: Nick Smith Junior who I like in the draft. Miles
Speaker 1: Bridges signs his contract officially announced. That's the one where
Speaker 1: you wonder, why is this man still on the roster?
Speaker 1: LaMelo Ball agrees to a multi year extension. Frank Nilikina
Speaker 1: signed an extension. PJ. Washington agreed to an extension. I
Speaker 1: don't really know what to make of this team. Sometimes,
Speaker 1: things that they do in this franchise in general just
Speaker 1: leave me speechless. Why why you ask? Just why? Why?
Speaker 1: Let me count the ways?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 1: Okay, So instead of cutting ties with Miles Bridges when
Speaker 1: they had the chance. I don't know, in like the
Speaker 1: last ten months, you re sign him and then guess what,
Speaker 1: you resign him and he breaks his probation and is
Speaker 1: accused of domestic violence once again, throwing pool balls at
Speaker 1: his girlfriend's car window while his babies are in the car. Shocking,
Speaker 1: shocking stuff from Miles Bridges. I tell you the Hornets,
Speaker 1: I don't know why they can't just get out of
Speaker 1: their own way. Michael Jordan has sold his majority share
Speaker 1: at the franchise. The team has a chance to draft
Speaker 1: a once in a generation player, which is Scoot Henderson,
Speaker 1: and yet you pass on him for Brandon Miller, who
Speaker 1: by the way, also has his own off the court issues.
Speaker 1: Has struggled that summer League. Isn't some guy that you
Speaker 1: think can immediately respond as a franchise altering player. He
Speaker 1: just gets named I think a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: maybe even less, in a wrongful death suit. Kaya Jones'
Speaker 1: former first round draft pick ig lived himself out of
Speaker 1: the league. Half of Twitter joked that this team was
Speaker 1: going to sign Kevin Porter Junior. That's how bad things
Speaker 1: are in Charlotte is that people think you're gonna make
Speaker 1: the disastrously wrong move when given the chance. What do
Speaker 1: you have left? You got LaMelo five years, two sixty
Speaker 1: million dollar extension. I think he's worth it. You've got
Speaker 1: a great point guard surrounded by a sea of toxic mididity. Yeah,
Speaker 1: toxic mididity. I said it. A bunch of mid guys
Speaker 1: who are toxic. Miles Bridges. I like PJ. Washington. He's
Speaker 1: just been at the wrong place in the wrong time.
Speaker 1: I think he was the last major free agent to sign,
Speaker 1: and he found almost no interest anywhere else for the price,
Speaker 1: which I think is is weird because he's a good piece.
Speaker 1: I like him. A lot three for forty eight is
Speaker 1: very good deal. I like Mark Williams. He's a nice
Speaker 1: little p had him last year sophomore season. He's already
Speaker 1: snatched blocking people. Gordon Hayward. Is he gonna be healthy?
Speaker 1: Terry Rozier, does he even want to be there? You
Speaker 1: lost Kelly Ubre, which I mean, I don't think that
Speaker 1: was such a huge loss. Dennis Smith Junior. No one
Speaker 1: knows who can reliably hit a three pointer on this team. Besides,
Speaker 1: I don't know Terry Rozier. This is just not a
Speaker 1: good roster folks. This has got flashes of excitement, but
Speaker 1: not a team that you want to watch on a
Speaker 1: night to night basis. They'll sneak up, they'll win some
Speaker 1: games when you're not watching right, They'll beat a team
Speaker 1: that you have no idea how they beat. They'll beat
Speaker 1: the box on a Wednesday. That's what they'll do. But
Speaker 1: short of a rebuild, I can't see how this team
Speaker 1: gets better anytime soon. We end our preview with the
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards, who I think are my pick for the
Speaker 1: worst team in the NBA. I watched him last night
Speaker 1: the whole game played the Indiana Pacers. The Indiana Pacers
Speaker 1: blew hm out by like twenty. Key additions Jordan Poole
Speaker 1: in the trade, Tias Jones, who I love, Balao Kulibali
Speaker 1: who they got in the draft, and Landry Shaman who's
Speaker 1: in street clothes in game one. So that tells you
Speaker 1: everything you need to know. Key subtractions Bradley Beal, Poor Zingis,
Speaker 1: and Monty Morris. The Wizards are gonna be bad, folks.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be I don't know even what the plan
Speaker 1: is because you've got guys like Pool and Tias Jones
Speaker 1: who are grown who are in the middle of them
Speaker 1: of their career, and that's not changing, right. This is
Speaker 1: the team you want to be rebuilding around. You blew
Speaker 1: up the bridge, you get rid of Porzingis and beale
Speaker 1: your two max players for a boatload of picks and
Speaker 1: some interesting players. So that's not bad. This team, though,
Speaker 1: is gonna lose. They're the East Coast in terms of
Speaker 1: the equivalent amount of games lost. I don't think a
Speaker 1: team is gonna be as bad as them, except for
Speaker 1: maybe the Portland Trailblazers. A lot of games losing. You
Speaker 1: add Jordan Pool, which means you're gonna be chucking a lot.
Speaker 1: Jordan Poole went zero for six from three last night.
Speaker 1: My man Kyle Kusman put up twenty five, but he
Speaker 1: was chucking. We already saw that. Denny Abdya is pissed
Speaker 1: off at how little these guys want to pass him
Speaker 1: the ball, just casually launching thirty footer after thirty footer
Speaker 1: four seconds into the shot clock. That, of course, is
Speaker 1: the Jordan Poole experience, so get used to that. What
Speaker 1: is left on this roster. They got Patrick Baldwin Junior
Speaker 1: from the Warriors, a nice little piece I like Danilo Gallinari,
Speaker 1: Danilo Gallinari. If you're a better he's gonna be putting
Speaker 1: up ten fifteen points a game. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: be looking to get moved at the deadline. I think
Speaker 1: Landry Sham is terrible. Tyus Jones is a good piece.
Speaker 1: He is. I like COO's Coos. I just don't know
Speaker 1: the team. I like ballall Coolibali a lot, but he's
Speaker 1: a brand new baby. He's a rookie. Over the next
Speaker 1: three years, Washington has four first and five seconds. They
Speaker 1: can gain even more draft capital by moving guys like Jones, Gallinari,
Speaker 1: Daniel Gafford, deln Wright. Maybe they're good in twenty thirty.
Speaker 1: Until then, enjoy Jordan Poole chuckin eighteen shots a game.
Speaker 1: Now we're in for a big treat. We got Kurt
Speaker 1: Healing on. Kurt is the blogger in chief of Pro
Speaker 1: Basketball Talk dot com, but also nbcsports dot com and
Speaker 1: the managing editor in NBC. We had a wide ranging interview.
Speaker 1: It touched on a lot of inner storylines that come
Speaker 1: up for the season. So let's get into it. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the show, my man, Kurt Healin, lead NBA Rider
Speaker 1: managing editor NBC Sports dot Com, just one of the
Speaker 1: I would say more honest guys in their assessments of
Speaker 1: what's happening around the NBA. I've got a ton of questions.
Speaker 1: There's a lot developing, and we could spend all day,
Speaker 1: but I figured I would call it down to the
Speaker 1: teams that I personally am the most interested in based
Speaker 1: on what we saw opening night, but also some of
Speaker 1: the sleeper teams too. So I am really intrigued by Phoenix.
Speaker 1: I think that's a team that could potentially break the
Speaker 1: mentality of the super team right being dead. And Bradley
Speaker 1: Beal obviously is a guy that they got for absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1: They made moves at in the summer with Nurkic, which
Speaker 1: I think is super interesting, got a lot of depth.
Speaker 1: They get a bunch of guys from the Blazers, and
Speaker 1: I think when they went to Chase last night or
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night, we were wondering how they would look
Speaker 1: against a team that has largely been a contender anytime
Speaker 1: Steph is healthy. So the thing that stuck out to
Speaker 1: me was Devin Booker. You watch him and it looked
Speaker 1: like he was the best player on the floor pretty
Speaker 1: much the entire night thirty two six and eight one steal,
Speaker 1: and that was with Steph doing you know, Steph things.
Speaker 1: Do you think Devin Booker is a legit MVP candidate
Speaker 1: if he plays on a team that Kevin Durant plays on.
Speaker 2: I think it'd be hard to be MVP with Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant sitting there because unless he does this like every night.
Speaker 2: But Durant was cold shooting, and by the way, everybody
Speaker 2: not named Booker like great put up numbers, but he
Speaker 2: was like eight of twenty and everybody else was just
Speaker 2: ice cold for both teams.
Speaker 3: I think it solidifies his all NBA spot. Probably. I
Speaker 3: picked the Suns to go to the finals. I am.
Speaker 3: I'm like, I am, I'm big on them. I don't
Speaker 3: know that they're like, I don't think they're there right.
Speaker 2: Now, even though they you know, they got a nice
Speaker 2: win the other night, and they got some promising signs
Speaker 2: because you had I got questions about Nurkic and his
Speaker 2: health and whatever, but he looked pretty good in the opener.
Speaker 2: I got questions about like Josha Kogie, but he's hitting
Speaker 2: key corner threes and making plays. So I just think
Speaker 2: over the course of eighty two and maybe with a
Speaker 2: move at the deadline, a smaller move like a role
Speaker 2: playery move.
Speaker 3: The question isn't the top end.
Speaker 2: The question is like depth defense all that, and I
Speaker 2: think they'll figure it out. But I still think, look
Speaker 2: as much as Booker's going to stand out.
Speaker 3: I think it'd be hard. You're just hard pressed to.
Speaker 2: Do that against next to Kevin Durant, who wasn't great
Speaker 2: in that first game. But you you know, I know,
Speaker 2: like we all know, like there was a big Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant stretch coming.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he always produces, and that's what we
Speaker 1: know he's going to be able to do. The Bradley
Speaker 1: Beal thing is weird. I wondered why how he ends
Speaker 1: up recovering and rehabbing all offseason and then we don't
Speaker 1: see him with back spasms, especially with this NBA new
Speaker 1: rule about load management. Obviously that's not load's management. Is
Speaker 1: Bradley Bule's help a concern or a factor for you
Speaker 1: at all in terms of you thinking that this is
Speaker 1: a finals team, I don't really.
Speaker 2: I think the only way to judge of preseason is
Speaker 2: to say a team is healthy unless proven, Like do
Speaker 2: I think Kawhi Leonard is going to play eighty two games.
Speaker 3: Probably not right, Like I think.
Speaker 2: We're going to safely say no, But I kind of
Speaker 2: presume going into the season that he's healthy for the
Speaker 2: playoffs or you start playing a really random game, and so.
Speaker 3: I'm going to assume that he's healthy.
Speaker 2: But I think it's with his history and Kevin Durant's history,
Speaker 2: it is absolutely one of the things that can derail
Speaker 2: the Suns. It is a legitimate concern that he's not
Speaker 2: there opening night, but you're right, it's it's not load management.
Speaker 2: But also, just between you and me, do you know
Speaker 2: how many guys are gonna have like we're gonna take
Speaker 2: our time bringing Freemont Green back from this ankle thing.
Speaker 3: Because we can get him a little rest.
Speaker 2: Right now, we get like the guys are gonna go
Speaker 2: down with these injuries all season long that are just
Speaker 2: rest nights.
Speaker 1: So you think there's gonna be manipulating of that, then yeah.
Speaker 2: Yes, the league says they're gonna come in, But it's
Speaker 2: the thing about the NBA, and frankly, you know anybody
Speaker 2: watching who's an NFL fan.
Speaker 3: By week what three?
Speaker 2: Any guy in the NFL can take a week off
Speaker 2: for an injury if they want to, right, like they're
Speaker 2: all they've all got enough bumps and bruises whatever. The
Speaker 2: NBA is pretty much that way a month into the season,
Speaker 2: like everybody's got knee tendonitis or their achilles aches a
Speaker 2: little bit, whatever it is. There's all sorts of things
Speaker 2: that you can come up with to get a guy
Speaker 2: a night off if they really want to. It's not
Speaker 2: gonna be hard. And I'm really curious to see how
Speaker 2: that shakes out with the new league rule on sixty
Speaker 2: five games to get your you know, to be eligible
Speaker 2: for end of season awards, and like, i think we're
Speaker 2: gonna see a whole lot of guys play sixty six games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and just because the line is sixty five in
Speaker 1: order to get all a NBA and MVP and all
Speaker 1: these awards. Eric Gordon was really good in that game.
Speaker 1: He didn't produce offensively, but he was still like plus
Speaker 1: whenever he was on the floor. I think he was
Speaker 1: a huge pickup. Not a lot of people are talking
Speaker 1: about him. Utah Wattonabe obviously came over just because he
Speaker 1: wanted to play with Kevin Durant. I'm curious from your
Speaker 1: perspective and what you see who is that number one
Speaker 1: X factor role player that you think is gonna bring
Speaker 1: the Suns over the top to get them to the
Speaker 1: finals and beat a team like Denver.
Speaker 2: Eric Gordon's gonna have a big role. I kind of
Speaker 2: think it's a Kogi just because they're gonna need his defense.
Speaker 2: They're going to need somebody out. I mean, he's got
Speaker 2: to be offensively good enough to stay on the floor,
Speaker 2: but ultimately, I mean, Kevin Durant's a pretty good defender
Speaker 2: when he is geared up for it and wants to be,
Speaker 2: but he's not going to do it over eighty time.
Speaker 3: Nurkic is a big body in the middle.
Speaker 2: They don't have a lot of great defenders, and it's
Speaker 2: on a very defensive minded coach and Frank Fogel to
Speaker 2: find a way to get enough defense out of this team.
Speaker 2: Playing a lot of drop coverage with the big body
Speaker 2: of Nurkici, I imagine. But I think a Kogie comes clear,
Speaker 2: and then I think you're right. I think Eric Gordon
Speaker 2: is the one guy on that bench right now going
Speaker 2: into the season like, yeah, he's going to be rock
Speaker 2: solid for eighty two. He's going to be rock solid
Speaker 2: for the Final sixteen. You know in the playoffs, he's
Speaker 2: not the guy I'm worried about. They just need, you know,
Speaker 2: who are the other guys to step up?
Speaker 3: Really?
Speaker 2: I mean, they've just got to find at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, don't you. Basically you got to get
Speaker 2: to a seven man rotation you trust by April.
Speaker 3: And my guess is they get there. But we'll see.
Speaker 1: Are you sleeping on Denver? Like tell me the truth,
Speaker 1: because I feel you're kind of doing what everyone's doing
Speaker 1: right now, which is like, oh, they lost Jeff Green,
Speaker 1: they lost Bruce Brown, who will come in and save
Speaker 1: them off the bench? And last night Opening Night, it
Speaker 1: really didn't even matter. Reggie Jackson looked like he was
Speaker 1: that guy. But I mean it was spread all the
Speaker 1: way through. Everybody was producing, and they still scored over
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty points and it was like not
Speaker 1: a lot of bench production.
Speaker 2: I felt like Game five of the Western Conference Finals
Speaker 2: from last year, didn't it look just like It's like
Speaker 2: it's just a continuation of what we saw. I thought
Speaker 2: their bench played okay too. Christian Brown was a Brown.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't call him Braun because it's Christian Brown. Christian
Speaker 2: Brown that's he played really well. I thought that they're
Speaker 2: bench in general. Reggie Jackson. You can count on Reggie
Speaker 2: Jackson for some points, a few highlights on some trash talk.
Speaker 3: I think their bench isn't bad. I don't. I just do.
Speaker 2: I trust it as much as Bruce Brown. I just
Speaker 2: let's put this away. I think they're very, very good.
Speaker 2: I think they're the bar for the entire NBA. If
Speaker 2: your Phoenix or Frankly, if you're Boston or Milwaukee or
Speaker 2: any other team with championship designs, you got to be
Speaker 2: better than Nikola Yoki, Jamal Murray and Denver. And at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, maybe nobody is. I just
Speaker 2: got a feeling somebody's gonna pass them this year, and
Speaker 2: we'll see. I think they will miss Bruce Brown in
Speaker 2: the Platts as much as I like Christian Brown and
Speaker 2: everybody else.
Speaker 3: Like Bruce Brown was huge in the postseason.
Speaker 2: But you can't blame the man for go get the bag.
Speaker 2: Like you know, they don't got it for you in Denver.
Speaker 2: You gotta go get it. And by the way, I
Speaker 2: like the Pacers too.
Speaker 1: Love the Pacers, love what they're doing. We'll definitely hit
Speaker 1: on that. I think Nikola j could actually win the
Speaker 1: MVP again. If that's oh, that sounds crazy because he
Speaker 1: he had three assists at halftime something like that, still
Speaker 1: finished with eleven, and it feels like maybe more aggressive
Speaker 1: offensively than he's been to start the year. He was
Speaker 1: just bullying Ad down in the post. It was come
Speaker 1: and stop me. I'm going into the paint. I'm going
Speaker 1: to score every time if I want, I'll grab my
Speaker 1: own put back and get the points as well. So
Speaker 1: it feels like maybe there's even another level production wise
Speaker 1: from a points perspective than Nicolekic was even doing the
Speaker 1: year before when he won MVP two years ago or
Speaker 1: the year before that, or even last year when MB
Speaker 1: won it. What are you seeing or what did you
Speaker 1: see from him? Did you see what I saw?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's really become good at that at And I
Speaker 2: think that's interesting because we were talking earlier like, hey,
Speaker 2: the Sons go get use of Nurkic in play it
Speaker 2: out in place of the issues they had with another
Speaker 2: big body guy in DeAndre Ay. But I think if
Speaker 2: you're looking at the West and you want to get
Speaker 2: through the West, one of your questions has to be, hey,
Speaker 2: how do we how do we match up with him?
Speaker 2: How do we even slow him? And Anthony Davis last
Speaker 2: year I think was as good or better a defender,
Speaker 2: probably the best defender in the playoffs. He was phenomenal,
Speaker 2: and Jokic just destroyed him and and then did it again,
Speaker 2: and like, you've got to have one of those big bodies.
Speaker 2: I wonder if again, I think with the Suns, did
Speaker 2: they get Nurkic thinking back, thinking we've got to have
Speaker 2: somebody to put a body on him, who's somewhat more
Speaker 2: If he can just stay healthy, he's decision making and
Speaker 2: just iq R off the charts.
Speaker 3: That's the thing that just hey, all right, I can
Speaker 3: go through Anthony.
Speaker 2: Davis and get mine. Oh they've adjusted the defense. I'm
Speaker 2: going to keep finding guys. I mean, I think the
Speaker 2: most telling play of the game was late. It's actually
Speaker 2: I think the play he got the triple double assist
Speaker 2: on you just set.
Speaker 3: A pick for Jamal Murray.
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray was hot, so both defenders kind of went
Speaker 2: to him. He went to the little Draymond Green short roll,
Speaker 2: got the ball at the free throw line, saw the
Speaker 2: defense start to rotate, and just whipped it to MPJ
Speaker 2: in the corner wide open three.
Speaker 3: It was like, I don't know how you.
Speaker 2: Defend the team when they're playing like that and all
Speaker 2: those guys are cooking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it makes it feel like the role players
Speaker 1: don't even matter, right, like you, Yes, starting five can
Speaker 1: do what they did. I mean they absolutely gassed Ad.
Speaker 1: Nicola Jokic turned Ad into an absolute zero in the
Speaker 1: second half. He's getting crushed on first take, he's getting
Speaker 1: crushed on social media. I actually like, fine with it.
Speaker 1: I don't think you can really take anything from AD's
Speaker 1: lack of production in the second half because he's tasked
Speaker 1: with guarding a guy who's decided he's going to score
Speaker 1: thirty thirteen and eleven or whatever it was, right, Like, so,
Speaker 1: do you think that was unfair criticism?
Speaker 2: Not as much, just because Anthony David, Look what you
Speaker 2: saw from Lebron is what you get from Lebron right now, right,
Speaker 2: You're gonna get.
Speaker 3: Thirty minutes to night out of him.
Speaker 2: It would have been thirty if they had garbage time
Speaker 2: the last minute and a half thirty minutes tonight and
Speaker 2: he was plus seven. He put up numbers, But the
Speaker 2: end of the day, if this Laker team is going
Speaker 2: to go where they want to go. Anthony Davis has
Speaker 2: to be elite. He has to be on both ends.
Speaker 2: He has to be this high level All NBA player.
Speaker 2: And one of the issues has long been good game,
Speaker 2: bad game, good half, bad half, which we saw last night.
Speaker 2: And I don't think it's all on him, because Trista,
Speaker 2: I hope you are passionate about and believe in something
Speaker 2: in your life. As much as D'Angel Russell believes in
Speaker 2: his shot, he's going to take it regardless. But and
Speaker 2: I don't think they got Anthony Davis the ball. And
Speaker 2: he had all these ISOs and posts up in the
Speaker 2: first half, he just literally wasn't getting them.
Speaker 3: But he's also got to demand those. He's got to
Speaker 3: take charge.
Speaker 2: He's got to like you don't see him be like
Speaker 2: not getting the ball after a while, Like no, get
Speaker 2: the guy the ball. He's got to show up every night.
Speaker 2: It's the only it's the only way they can be
Speaker 2: where they want to be.
Speaker 1: I took him for MVP. He was my pick for
Speaker 1: MVP as a sleeper at forty to one, and that
Speaker 1: that just did not just did not line up with
Speaker 1: what I was expecting. I also thought he could have
Speaker 1: a legit to chance to if he didn't win MVP,
Speaker 1: to be one of the defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: Cans how he is, that's how he is when he's healthy,
Speaker 1: and it's just a disappointing first game against really a
Speaker 1: team that you know you have to go against to
Speaker 1: get through to the finals. I'm curious about a couple
Speaker 1: of dudes, though, Why sign someone like Christian Wood and
Speaker 1: Cam Reddish when those guys have clearly, throughout the course
Speaker 1: of their career been not locker room cancers, but certainly
Speaker 1: cultural negatives.
Speaker 2: Because you have Lebron James. I think it's literally it.
Speaker 2: It's just that's the Lebron James locker room. That's He's
Speaker 2: going to set the tone. He's not going to put
Speaker 2: up with guys who aren't focused. So I think there's
Speaker 2: a sense of like you can get away with that
Speaker 2: when Lebron's on your team in a way with there
Speaker 2: maybe a couple other guys in the league, but there's
Speaker 2: not many who can set that tone. And the other part,
Speaker 2: especially in Christian well actually both those cases, Christian who's
Speaker 2: better than a minimum contract player. Yez, whatever I think
Speaker 2: of him, Like, why I might talk myself out of
Speaker 2: wanting him on my team.
Speaker 3: He gets buckets.
Speaker 2: He is better than a minimum contract, and if I
Speaker 2: can get him for a year at the minimum, then
Speaker 2: I've got to take that because that's still a really
Speaker 2: good deal. And another guy that, Hey, depending on the situation,
Speaker 2: you might be able to throw into a trade later
Speaker 2: as an enticing piece because some other team knows he's
Speaker 2: more valuable than that too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, dude, I was so high on this Lakers and
Speaker 1: I don't even like the Lakers as a Portland Trailboizer fan.
Speaker 1: I was like, man, this to be a team who
Speaker 1: is like top three in the West, and if you're
Speaker 1: not getting production out of your team without Lebron on
Speaker 1: the floor, this this could honestly be a seventh seed.
Speaker 2: Again, I think the West is so bunched up that
Speaker 2: after look, Denver's Denver Phoenix, not just last night. I
Speaker 2: just Phoenix is gonna win a ton of regular season
Speaker 2: games because they have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and
Speaker 2: Bradley Beal and they're just they're gonna outscore teams. I
Speaker 2: think they're one to two in whatever order after that.
Speaker 2: Three through frankly twelve are teams that think they should
Speaker 2: be in the playoffs and it's not gonna be this
Speaker 2: huge difference, and that's what's gonna make the West wild.
Speaker 2: It's like, I don't have Utah in the playoffs, dude,
Speaker 2: they still got John Collins and and Laurie marking in
Speaker 2: and like we're good last year and surprised people.
Speaker 3: The Kings. Everybody's kind of sleeping on the Kings a
Speaker 3: little bit. I agree, they're gonna score. They're not gonna
Speaker 3: stop anybody.
Speaker 2: They're gonna score a ton of points and be tough
Speaker 2: to be Like, so, I think three through out of
Speaker 2: the post, you know, missing the play in out West
Speaker 2: is everything's in play for those teams, and the Lakers
Speaker 2: can't afford to get caught in the middle of that
Speaker 2: and try to be breaking out mid season because it's
Speaker 2: gonna be It's gonna be tough. Minnesota's good every and
Speaker 2: even look, I think the bad teams, Houston.
Speaker 1: Pretty good, pretty good.
Speaker 2: They've got Fred Vanfleet and Dalen Brooks and Jared Jalen
Speaker 2: Green is gonna be good, and Jabari Junior looked awesome
Speaker 2: at Summer League. And the Spurs are gonna suck except
Speaker 2: man Wenby and Devin Bisel are gonna be entertaining and
Speaker 2: they're gonna win a few games, because like there's just
Speaker 2: not gonna be off nights in the West, except maybe
Speaker 2: against Lasers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know it's so bad. We're I don't even
Speaker 1: really know what that team is doing. I like the
Speaker 1: Dame trade a lot. Yeah, but I'm very curious why
Speaker 1: holding on to Malcolm Brogden and Williams are a thing.
Speaker 1: The only thing that I can think of is that
Speaker 1: they they're waiting for a team that needs them at
Speaker 1: the deadline, and they think that they can extract more
Speaker 1: value from them in January than they can in September.
Speaker 1: Is that kind of what you think is happening.
Speaker 2: To I might even put Jeremy Grant in that list. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think all those guys, look you're rebuilding right now,
Speaker 2: are on Scoot and Anthony Simons, who are, by the way,
Speaker 2: going to be entertaining, Like it's gonna be a good show.
Speaker 2: But I think everybody not those two guys is available.
Speaker 2: Maybe I'm curious. I'm really curious to see how DeAndre
Speaker 2: Ayton fits with them and in a system where he
Speaker 2: gets some of the freedom and touches he wants probably
Speaker 2: that he wasn't going to get his option number four
Speaker 2: in Phoenix even last year. I mean, it's just better
Speaker 2: options than him down there. But you know, hey, he'll
Speaker 2: get he'll get more looks up there. So they're going
Speaker 2: to be a fun, interesting team and they're not going
Speaker 2: to be a pushover. There's you know, I don't think
Speaker 2: they're the worst team in the league. I was gonna
Speaker 2: say there is the Wizards.
Speaker 1: Wizards going to be a tough watch too. Ty I
Speaker 1: love Tyus Jones, So I'm I'm very curious how they're
Speaker 1: gonna be building that roster. Let's talk about this sixer
Speaker 1: team though, because they are right on the brink, dude,
Speaker 1: they are on the brink of a full scale roster meltdown.
Speaker 1: The only player that I think is safe is Tyrese Maxi.
Speaker 1: I think everyone else could potentially either both on their
Speaker 1: own or get kicked out the door. Now, we got
Speaker 1: James Harden coming back to Philly past opening night and
Speaker 1: they're like, no, we don't want you traveling with the team.
Speaker 1: What does that mean, I don't want you traveling with
Speaker 1: the team. Does that mean that a deal is imminent
Speaker 1: or does that mean that we don't want you around
Speaker 1: our players muddying the water and poisoning the well.
Speaker 2: More that more more the distraction, right like, and just
Speaker 2: if he's there, then is he making things messy and
Speaker 2: harder and just being just him on the trip and being.
Speaker 3: On the bench, who's going to lead to questions?
Speaker 2: And so I think they think it's just better they
Speaker 2: go from they play in for people who don't know,
Speaker 2: they play in Milwaukee opening night, and then uh Toronto
Speaker 2: two nights later before going back home. I think that
Speaker 2: he won't play in either of those games. And that
Speaker 2: doesn't mean I'll just say I doesn't mean.
Speaker 3: To trade as imminent.
Speaker 2: My people I've talked to and people out with closer
Speaker 2: to the Clippers have been like, the offers the offer.
Speaker 2: Maybe that changes if they get ten games into the
Speaker 2: season and think, oh crap, like we got to do
Speaker 2: maybe then Terrence Man or a second pick or whatever goes.
Speaker 3: Into the deal.
Speaker 2: But right now they've got the Clippers have a lot
Speaker 2: more to think about too, just because if you trade
Speaker 2: for James Harden, who's going to be a free agency,
Speaker 2: you kind of got to lock him up and then
Speaker 2: you could extend Kawhi Leonard and Paul George a couple
Speaker 2: of years and hey, do you want more?
Speaker 3: Do you want three more years of those guys as
Speaker 3: your core?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: So yeah, I just don't think they're that eager. It's there.
Speaker 2: They're walking a weird line because they move into a
Speaker 2: new building next year, and they're not going to want
Speaker 2: to move a rebuilding team into a new building. But
Speaker 2: I don't like the path they're on is not sustainable.
Speaker 2: So I'm not sure what happens, but they're they're unlikely
Speaker 2: in the short term to up their offers.
Speaker 3: So the bottom line, it's really fucking up.
Speaker 1: They fucked up letting Shae Yogis Alexander go, and I
Speaker 1: think that's got to be the most egregiously bad decision
Speaker 1: an NBA team, in hindsight. Has made a young player
Speaker 1: not even close to his peak, who's now legit he's
Speaker 1: a first team All NBA guy, and you let him
Speaker 1: go because Kawhi wanted Paul George.
Speaker 2: When they let him go, I'll tell you that people
Speaker 2: with the Clippers were not happy, but they didn't see this.
Speaker 2: What they said was, man, she's going to be an
Speaker 2: All Star somebody. He's gonna make a few All Star teams.
Speaker 2: He's gonna be pretty. He's gonna be good. They didn't
Speaker 2: see Shae being this good.
Speaker 1: You like the secers this year with Nick Nurse, are
Speaker 1: you buying into his system?
Speaker 2: I think they're good. I think with or without Harden,
Speaker 2: I think they're a good team that finishes. I don't
Speaker 2: even want to say top three, top five, top six
Speaker 2: for sure in the East.
Speaker 3: Like, I think they're a good team.
Speaker 2: I'm higher on Cleveland than everybody else, but really if yeah,
Speaker 2: but if if they finished you know, third, fourth, fifth,
Speaker 2: something like that.
Speaker 3: Maybe you know, I think that that's they're good.
Speaker 2: And I don't want to see them in the playoffs
Speaker 2: if he beat is healthy, like they're gonna be a
Speaker 2: tough out. I think tyreech Maxi's gonna be fantastic this year.
Speaker 2: Like that's a good team. It's just the two teams
Speaker 2: that if the goal is to win a championship. I
Speaker 2: don't know what you do because I don't even know
Speaker 2: with hard What do you think Tristan with Harden, do
Speaker 2: they compete with Boston and Milwaukee?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I mean, unless you're getting what
Speaker 1: you got from Harden in those good games where he's
Speaker 1: putting up forty. Yeah, but you have to have that
Speaker 1: every game. You need that. They had the chance to
Speaker 1: beat Boston, right, and they probably should have if they
Speaker 1: wouldn't have collassed. So they're they're like close ish. But
Speaker 1: now you've got another year of Harden declining and he's
Speaker 1: He's not someone that was ever really reliable in the postseason.
Speaker 1: Joel Embie's never been healthy in a postseason in his
Speaker 1: entire career. He's always dealing with something strange or a
Speaker 1: bone fracture, ankle, knee. It's like a mister, you know,
Speaker 1: it's like operation over there. And now you have a
Speaker 1: new coach. I'm just very suspicious in general about the
Speaker 1: ability for a team to really compete Milwaukee, included with
Speaker 1: a brand new head coach. I'm moving forward to teams
Speaker 1: that you're the most excited about, teams that did not
Speaker 1: make the playoffs last year that you think are legit
Speaker 1: playoff teams this year.
Speaker 2: We mentioned one. I'm just really high on the Pacers.
Speaker 2: I think that the Indiana Pacers are taking a step forward.
Speaker 2: Part of that is Tyrese Haliburton was already kind of
Speaker 2: taking that step as one of the best passers and
Speaker 2: facilitators in the league.
Speaker 3: They play fast.
Speaker 2: I thought they underachieved last year, but their offseason edition
Speaker 2: of Bruce Brown. What they lacked was point of attack,
Speaker 2: defense and somebody basically who could fill a role like that.
Speaker 3: They've got plenty of shooting. They got Buddy Heal.
Speaker 2: I love Miles Turner, and I may not agree with
Speaker 2: his self assessment of being a top five center in
Speaker 2: the league, but he is a very good center.
Speaker 3: I don't know if they make top six or if
Speaker 3: they get in through.
Speaker 2: The plan, but I think this is a playoff team
Speaker 2: that's going to surprise a lot of people and continue
Speaker 2: to surprise a lot of people because they're like never
Speaker 2: on national television. That's probably the team I'm highest on
Speaker 2: that missed the playoffs last year.
Speaker 1: Does that mean then that because I actually love him too,
Speaker 1: because I think they're very deep. Because you've got Jerris Walker.
Speaker 3: Who was looked great.
Speaker 1: He most great at Summer League. Just look like the best,
Speaker 1: most dominant man on the floor, can do so many
Speaker 1: different things. He just had that thing that popped off
Speaker 1: while popped off the court while you watched him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then you add him to a team with already
Speaker 1: as Miles Turner, and you Obi Toppin and you've got
Speaker 1: Bennett Matherin taking another step right, and so I'm super
Speaker 1: excited about them. Is that then meaning that Rick Carlile
Speaker 1: could maybe win Coach of the Year.
Speaker 3: It's funny.
Speaker 2: I when I was putting up predictions for Coach of
Speaker 2: the Year and I picked bicker Staff just because I'm
Speaker 2: again like I'm high on the calves. I thought about it,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, guys, don't really love Rick Carlisle quickly
Speaker 2: with the media who votes? So like, even if he
Speaker 2: does the job and deserves the nomination, deserves the award, Like,
Speaker 2: how many media members are gonna be like sleep Rick
Speaker 2: Carlisle give it him that award?
Speaker 1: What do you expect from wemby.
Speaker 3: MVP thirty eight points?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: Does that n reasonable?
Speaker 1: I think though he could be an MVP candidate earlier
Speaker 1: than anyone even imagine.
Speaker 2: I think rookie again, it's the Spurs. They're gonna slow
Speaker 2: play this. They are not gonna They're not gonna make
Speaker 2: the big mistake. Too many teams make.
Speaker 3: Of like, hey, this guy's really good, let's jumping in
Speaker 3: the process. Well, no, let's trades.
Speaker 2: For a bunch of veterans. Let's try to win now,
Speaker 2: like the Spurs are not going to do that. They're
Speaker 2: going to take some lumps. But I still think he's
Speaker 2: eighteen and eight this year is like not out of
Speaker 2: the question with like two one of the borderline, if
Speaker 2: not all defensive team level play out of the gate.
Speaker 2: And that's again with him probably getting some rest nights
Speaker 2: or nights off. Because the jump from Europe to college,
Speaker 2: I don't think people could people can really grasp like
Speaker 2: playing forty games a night, forty games a season, low
Speaker 2: forties if you count a deep run in the NCAA
Speaker 2: tournament eighty two game regulars. He said, like the jump
Speaker 2: is just ridiculous, and the war a terearor is ridiculous.
Speaker 2: In Europe, you play two games a week. It's just
Speaker 2: the travel. The travel isn't as bad because you're just
Speaker 2: traveling around France.
Speaker 3: In his case, if.
Speaker 2: He's going to get some nights off, but that said,
Speaker 2: by year three, that would I like, that's not crazy,
Speaker 2: depending on where the team is.
Speaker 1: He's rookie of the Year, do you.
Speaker 2: I did a podcast in a couple of videos up
Speaker 2: at NBC with Drew Dinsik, who's our betting analyst. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Andrew Drew's Roy Ward was. Every other bet in this
Speaker 2: category is dead money. It's just as much as I
Speaker 2: could try to make a case for why Chet Holmgren
Speaker 2: might because he's playing more meaningful minutes on a playoff
Speaker 2: team like we talked about with a thunder and is
Speaker 2: exactly what they need facing the floor and defense in
Speaker 2: the paint. Like as good as that is, I still
Speaker 2: wouldn't bet on it. Like I still I still just
Speaker 2: think it's it's Wemby's to lose.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. Finally, team that did make the playoffs
Speaker 1: last year that will not make the playoffs this year.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say the Clippers, but Miami's. Miami's a possibility,
Speaker 2: but it would involve Jimmy. Jimmy Butler's too good if
Speaker 2: he plays, even as I know he likes to say
Speaker 2: he has said to you to everyone, playoff Jimmy is
Speaker 2: not a thing.
Speaker 3: It's not yet. It is like he definitely is better
Speaker 3: in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: That said, if he feels the pressure like in that,
Speaker 2: like he can crank it up in the East is
Speaker 2: in his deep.
Speaker 3: But if he.
Speaker 2: Misses a chunk of games for whatever reason, I mean,
Speaker 2: you're there, didn't it feel like they built their whole
Speaker 2: offseason around getting They just expected to get Lillard, and
Speaker 2: when that didn't happen, they expected to get Drew or
Speaker 2: somebody else, and nobody fills that gap. And you can
Speaker 2: sort of replace Gabe and you do get and Max
Speaker 2: Struce by the way, and who Love Who I Love
Speaker 2: in Cleveland is a fit. Those aren't like individually huge losses,
Speaker 2: but together it's just yeah, I can make I could
Speaker 2: see them falling, but I don't know if they were
Speaker 2: on the edge of that last year. They were trailing
Speaker 2: the balls hundering in the fourth quarter of the playing
Speaker 2: games if I remember that, probably playing a second playing game,
Speaker 2: so like they came that close last year, So it's possible.
Speaker 3: But I think the Clippers.
Speaker 1: You're right, the Clippers could very easily fall out too.
Speaker 2: That's a team where it could look like one of
Speaker 2: those bad, old silent movie cars where everything just falls apart,
Speaker 2: like like absolutely happen to them. The whole wheels could
Speaker 2: come off this thing.
Speaker 1: All right, before I let you run, give me your
Speaker 1: finals projection on Day one of the NBA season and
Speaker 1: your champion.
Speaker 2: The Orlando Magic over the Houston No, I really think
Speaker 2: it's gonna come from one of four teams. So I
Speaker 2: went with Boston over Phoenix in the finals. I've got
Speaker 2: Boston as your champions, and I think they're the one team.
Speaker 2: By the way, if one team is gonna click, it's
Speaker 2: all gonna come together. They're gonna win sixty five games
Speaker 2: in steamroll of the league.
Speaker 3: It's them.
Speaker 2: Like I just I think Boston could be very, very good.
Speaker 2: But I have Boston beating Phoenix in the finals. If
Speaker 2: you told me it was either Denver or Milwaukee or
Speaker 2: in that mix.
Speaker 1: Kurt Elan, thanks so much. It's always a pleasure. We'll
Speaker 1: have to have you back on more. Lead NBA writer
Speaker 1: and managing editor nbcsports dot Com. This man is always
Speaker 1: giving us some nuggets, some facts. We'll have to have
Speaker 1: you on BENMGM tonight as well soon.
Speaker 3: I look forward to it. Man. Thanks brother, Take care.
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