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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Jason tim Podcast. Thank you guys so

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Speaker 1: much for taking time out of your day to come

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Speaker 1: hang out for part two of our season preview with Tommy. Tommy,

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Speaker 1: what's up man? How are you doing? Same old man?

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm back on the step of bandwagon. I got

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Speaker 1: my the System shirt on. Not a System player at

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Speaker 1: the System. Shoutout Warriors World, shout out Cheat the Man.

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Speaker 1: We're all back, man, We're back. I need the last

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Speaker 1: two games, so I'm all in. I'm back in MVP candidate.

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Speaker 1: Let's go. He looks good. I it was funny. It's

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Speaker 1: funny because I couldn't actually watch the entire games. I

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Speaker 1: saw a couple of minutes of one when I was

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Speaker 1: in a restaurant, and then I would just periodically check

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Speaker 1: on the box scores. And it was a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a roller coaster ride for you, because it started

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Speaker 1: awesome in the first game and then went off the

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Speaker 1: rails a little a bit late, and then all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden last night, it was like the exact is

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Speaker 1: the exact opposite. It started rough, and then he just

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Speaker 1: had one of his vintage Steph quarters there in the

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Speaker 1: third quarter that looked like the old staph, which was awesome. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's I mean, that's a step Curry experience. You know,

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Speaker 1: he can beat three for thirteen and then all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, he makes six straight shots in the third

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Speaker 1: quarter and the game puts on its head. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: he looks like the same old guy. I'm still slightly

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Speaker 1: slightly concerned about his off the dribble shooting, but I'm

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Speaker 1: assuming it's a rhythm thing at this point and it

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Speaker 1: will come back. So it's funny because I remember, now

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Speaker 1: you and I used to have like debates a long

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Speaker 1: time ago about because remember I remember having this big

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Speaker 1: thing that thirty It was like twenty nine of his

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Speaker 1: first ninety playoff games, so roughly like thirty percent of

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Speaker 1: his first nine playoff games he shot below and and

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Speaker 1: my one of my biggest things that I talked about

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Speaker 1: was like, he's just prone to having cold shooting spells,

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Speaker 1: and I believe that's what got him beat in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen. The reality is is that will inevitably

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Speaker 1: that's the beauty of a seven game series, as you

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Speaker 1: can afford to have bad shooting games because it'll the

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Speaker 1: math will just inevitably work out in your favor. But

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Speaker 1: I always looked at that as something that was just

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Speaker 1: kind of a characteristic of his game, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean. But as long as the good is still

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Speaker 1: there and as long as it happens at least twice

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Speaker 1: for every one time he's bad, I'm I'm still a

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Speaker 1: believer in what he can do. Me too. Yeah, And

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Speaker 1: he's just, you know, out of the top twenty guys

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Speaker 1: of all time. He's probably the most Hiberians player there is,

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Speaker 1: hotter than anybody, but we've see it can also get

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Speaker 1: colder than anybody because he's still reliant on jump shooting.

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Speaker 1: That's what jump shooting. That's what jump shooting is exactly exactly,

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Speaker 1: So it is what it is. But he looked good

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Speaker 1: the last couple of games, So I'm I'm optimistic. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm excited to see how it goes, especially once he

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Speaker 1: gets all of his guys on board there. So we're

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Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna be doing the Eastern Conference today. We're

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Speaker 1: primarily going to be focusing on Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Philly,

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Speaker 1: but we'll kind of do like what we did on Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: will rapid fire through some of the other teams in

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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. Um, but you know, when we get

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Speaker 1: to talking about Brooklyn, we're gonna be harping on defense

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Speaker 1: just the most the thing that gets brought up with Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: But it's one of those classic kind of cliche things

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Speaker 1: that gets said so much that I think it almost

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Speaker 1: loses some of its meaning. And I don't think people

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Speaker 1: realize that, as is the case with most cliches their

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Speaker 1: cliche for a reason. The reason why people preach defense

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Speaker 1: wins wins championships is because it literally does. And so

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Speaker 1: I was doing some digging into the numbers, and it's

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Speaker 1: crazy because the stat that everybody hears is that if

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Speaker 1: you're not a top ten defense can't win a title.

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Speaker 1: And it goes back like that goes back decades. Basically,

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Speaker 1: the only outliers are teams Rockets, and I believe ninety

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Speaker 1: five I remember correctly. I think he is one of

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Speaker 1: the greatest defensive players of all time, so that makes sense, right,

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Speaker 1: He could probably turn it on and shut down the

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Speaker 1: RIM for an entire series exactly. And then there was

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Speaker 1: the Shaq Kobe Lakers, and then there was the uh

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Speaker 1: the Warriors in two thousand eighteen, all out like just

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Speaker 1: outlier talent teams at least that came not so much,

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Speaker 1: but it was a different era and MJ was out

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Speaker 1: of the league, so there was kind of like an

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Speaker 1: opportunity there that opened up for him. But so what's

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Speaker 1: crazy is I dug I dug a little bit deeper

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Speaker 1: in the numbers, And what's wild is just going back

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Speaker 1: in this centuries so from there's been twenty one champions,

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Speaker 1: and yes, the all of them made the top ten,

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Speaker 1: except for the three that I mentioned or the two

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Speaker 1: that I mentioned a second ago. But what's even crazier

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Speaker 1: is fourteen of the twenty one weren't just top ten defenses.

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Speaker 1: They were top five defenses. They were defenses that, uh

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Speaker 1: that weren't just capable of having stretches where they defended well.

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Speaker 1: They were the elite of the elite on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor. And I looked at what I

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Speaker 1: thought was really interesting to your point earlier about like

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Speaker 1: having a defensive identity to fall back on, even if

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Speaker 1: it was from previous seasons. The two thousand eighteen Warriors

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Speaker 1: were eleventh in defense, but the previous season they were second,

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Speaker 1: so you could attribute a lot of their defensive slippage

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Speaker 1: to just normal regular season apathy. Same thing with the

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Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen heat they were ninth, which is outside

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Speaker 1: of the top five, which, like I said, was somewhat

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Speaker 1: rare as well. But the previous year they were fourth,

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Speaker 1: so they had a defensive ended identity that they could

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Speaker 1: fall back on, and I believe they were even higher

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Speaker 1: than fourth. In two thousand and eleven. The two thousand

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Speaker 1: nine Lakers one as a sixth best defense in the league.

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Speaker 1: They were top five the previous season even though they lost,

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Speaker 1: so there was a defensive identity they built up. And

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Speaker 1: then famously, the shot Kobe Lakers in two thousand one

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Speaker 1: were twenty second in defense, which is just absolutely atrocious,

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Speaker 1: but that I thought it was like they weren't there

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Speaker 1: were twenty second if I'll double check, but I'm pretty

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Speaker 1: sure that's what I had. And what's crazy about that

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Speaker 1: they were number one the previous year, They were the

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Speaker 1: best defense in the entire league in two thousand one,

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Speaker 1: and then they you know, fell off the rails the

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Speaker 1: next season. Point point being though, is that they were

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Speaker 1: able to, you know, fall back on a defensive identity

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Speaker 1: that they had at some point in the past that

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Speaker 1: allowed them to kind of regain some momentum on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end in the playoffs. And you know, it's funny

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Speaker 1: because I remember vividly watching this Laker team, because this

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Speaker 1: is like one of the first teams I've readed for

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Speaker 1: were since the Miami Heat, that had uh such a

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Speaker 1: strong defensive identity, and I believe that was why they

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Speaker 1: were winning games. And there were a couple of stretches

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Speaker 1: that I wrote down Game two against Portland after they

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Speaker 1: dropped Game one, the Lakers didn't allow over twenty one

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Speaker 1: or they didn't allow over twenty points in a quarter

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Speaker 1: until the fourth quarter, so they literally just shut them

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Speaker 1: down in the first three quarters of the game, as

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Speaker 1: like as they tied up that series. Um Game two

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Speaker 1: against Houston after they dropped Game one and Russ was

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Speaker 1: flexing to the non crowd and all that stuff, uh,

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Speaker 1: seventeen points in the fourth quarter they allowed, and then

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Speaker 1: famously at the There's a bunch of other examples over

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Speaker 1: the course of the next few rounds, but famously, in

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Speaker 1: Game six against Miami, they gave up only fifty eight

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Speaker 1: points through three quarters, which is arguably one of the

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Speaker 1: more dominant defensive performances in NBA playoff history. The point

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Speaker 1: being is that you know that we get fixated on highlights,

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Speaker 1: we get fixated on skill sets, we get fixated on

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Speaker 1: the things that that are more you know, appealing to

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Speaker 1: the eye when it comes to winning basketball games. But

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Speaker 1: you have to be a very good defense to have

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Speaker 1: any chance of winning the title, and chances are roughly

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Speaker 1: two out of three in this century. You have to

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Speaker 1: be the elite of the elite on the defensive end

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Speaker 1: of the floor. And even if you don't put up

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Speaker 1: the statistics, you have to have some sort of previous

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Speaker 1: iteration of your current roster that can defend with the

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Speaker 1: elite of the elite. And so that's what I'm going

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Speaker 1: to use to bring us to Brooklyn, because what I

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Speaker 1: would ask you, Tommy, is what in the world can

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Speaker 1: we lean on there, not just to think that they

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Speaker 1: might be an okay defensive team, but that they could

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Speaker 1: defend well enough to win in a league where all

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Speaker 1: of their contenders that they're going to be going against

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Speaker 1: can absolutely for extended stretches of the game lock in

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Speaker 1: and give you absolutely nothing easy. Um, well, I think

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Speaker 1: what you have to look at is Kyrie Irving consistently

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Speaker 1: playing like he did in the finals on the defensive ender.

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Speaker 1: He was physical, he used his hands well, he kept

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Speaker 1: his body in front of his man, he was relatively

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Speaker 1: alert and didn't get lost off ball. You'd have to

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Speaker 1: have Katie tap into the guy that he was in seventeen,

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Speaker 1: and you'd have to do that consistently, because he has

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Speaker 1: the potential to be UM. Maybe not an Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: level room protector, but somewhere near that. When he's really

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Speaker 1: locked in UM, and then you have to hope that

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Speaker 1: that DeAndre Jordan is DeAndre Jordan from again instead of

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Speaker 1: the guy that just puts his hands in the air

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Speaker 1: as guys drive at him and just kind of plays

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Speaker 1: ol a defense UM. And then there's just not a

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Speaker 1: lot of defensive personnel on that roster. You have have

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Speaker 1: to hope Spencer dinwoodi UM really takes a step forward

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Speaker 1: in that direction. Same with Carris Lavert. Landry Shammont isn't

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Speaker 1: a bad on ball defender, but he's small. Mm hmm.

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Speaker 1: You just have you would have to have the best

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Speaker 1: defensive season for a lot of guys on that roster,

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Speaker 1: either in their career or in a long time, so

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Speaker 1: their path is basically bucking trends that have existed and

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Speaker 1: becoming an entirely new team, which, as you're kind of

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Speaker 1: pointing out, isn't common in the NBA. It's it's not

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Speaker 1: common for people just to change who they are overnight,

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Speaker 1: especially when they've been in the league for a long time.

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Speaker 1: So I've said this before. I think Brooklyn has the

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Speaker 1: highest ceiling in the league, possibly because of the offensive

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Speaker 1: talent on that roster. They have the two best ISO

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Speaker 1: scorers in the league potentially in Kyrie and Katie, and

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Speaker 1: then they have really nice pieces to go around them.

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Speaker 1: And on offense, really good shooters and Shamut and Harris,

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Speaker 1: good secondary handlers with Dinwoodie and Lebert who can even

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Speaker 1: be primary handlers. They have lob threats with Jordan and

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Speaker 1: Allen Um. But the defense is obviously the concerning part,

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Speaker 1: and that's where the floor could just fall out, and

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Speaker 1: this team could if wrong injury happens. They missed the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: so like a lot of the East, to me, they're

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Speaker 1: a super interesting team that has a wide range of outcomes.

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Speaker 1: And I would assume you you kind of stand somewhere

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Speaker 1: near this because I've heard your skepticism too. Well. It's

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Speaker 1: funny because, like you know, as I was digging into

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Speaker 1: this like even the teams that slipped outside of the

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Speaker 1: top five head near missing, like the two thousand eighteen

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Speaker 1: Warriors who slipped to eleventh, they damn near lost to Houston.

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Speaker 1: Like that was that was a real possibility. Now you

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Speaker 1: know we have that's a much more complicated topic what

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Speaker 1: happened in that series. But the point is is like

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Speaker 1: they didn't dominate their way through and the and they

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Speaker 1: had no business even being remotely competitive with those with

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Speaker 1: that Cavalier team. But the reason why it was close

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Speaker 1: as they were not cohesive defensively and Lebron literally ripped

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Speaker 1: them to shreds in that finals. The two thousand sixteen

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Speaker 1: Calves slipped the tent literally like they won by the

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Speaker 1: slimmest of possible margins. The two thousand thirteen Heats slipped

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Speaker 1: to night They got pushed to seven twice in the

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Speaker 1: last two rounds. The point being is that, like it's

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Speaker 1: just extremely difficult to UH to to win in long

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Speaker 1: drawn out playoff series without the ability to do that,

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Speaker 1: and and and you know it's crazy because you know

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Speaker 1: when you look at UH that that Brooklyn Nets team,

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Speaker 1: the truth is is that they have a foundation UH

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Speaker 1: were that that's capable of being built on defensively as

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Speaker 1: crazy as as crazy as the sounds, and a lot

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Speaker 1: of people don't know this, but the Brooklyn Nets were

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Speaker 1: a top ten defense last year. They were right at

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Speaker 1: number ten. But and some of that has to do

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Speaker 1: with Eastern Conference lack of offensive talent, whatever you want

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Speaker 1: to call it. But the truth is is that's not nothing.

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Speaker 1: That's that is an identity within the existing role players

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Speaker 1: on that team that they are committed on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor. So the question becomes, as you're

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Speaker 1: swapping in minutes with Kyrie Irving and as you're bringing

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant to the table, is it fair for us

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Speaker 1: as basketball fans to ask them to do the same

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Speaker 1: things that we ask of other top ten players in

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Speaker 1: the n b A, because you know, we constantly are

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Speaker 1: on stuff about how dedicated he is on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end and whether or not he can impact that end

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Speaker 1: of the floor. Like Lebron has been slandered at stretches for,

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Speaker 1: you know, for being lazy during the regular season, and

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Speaker 1: James Harden obviously as a world famous reputation for that.

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Speaker 1: But like all these guys that are considered Kevin Durance

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Speaker 1: peers are all defense level defensive defensive players for whenever

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Speaker 1: their team needs them to be that, you know, that's

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Speaker 1: what they bring to the table. And so my concern

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Speaker 1: would be, what what would possess us to think that,

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Speaker 1: what's Kevin duran in his fourteenth season now? Something? It's

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Speaker 1: not that? How it might be because steps twelve, it's

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Speaker 1: thirteen or fourteen, Yeah, which doesn't even seem possible. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: how so, so Kevin Durant and I've had this long

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Speaker 1: standing theory that he very well should have been the

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Speaker 1: greatest basketball player ever because he was that good on

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Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor. But the problem was

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Speaker 1: is despite his ridiculous uh skill set, athletically like he

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Speaker 1: he is Anthony Davis as a physical specimen, He's not

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Speaker 1: quite as strong, but it was just because he stayed

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Speaker 1: out on the perimeter. The truth is is he's got

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Speaker 1: the length, in the size, and the movement and all

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Speaker 1: that stuff to be that type of impact defensive player.

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Speaker 1: He just never cared about it over the course of

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Speaker 1: his career. You and I talked about this a lot

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Speaker 1: in our NBA Hierarchy pod. But the truth, the truth

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Speaker 1: of the matter is is for whatever reason, for thirteen

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Speaker 1: or fourteen seasons. Now, he's never really put that together

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Speaker 1: for an extended stretch. So what would be the indicator

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Speaker 1: that now after an achilles tear, you know, playing on

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Speaker 1: a team that has less defensive talent than he had

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Speaker 1: in his other In his other settings, because Oklahoma City

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Speaker 1: could lock down and Golden State could lockdown, they had

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Speaker 1: athletes that had the versatility on the wing, They had

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Speaker 1: all of that stuff, And so my concern would just

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Speaker 1: be there, like, is it possible that those two figure

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Speaker 1: it out and Kyrie resumes what he was in two

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Speaker 1: thousand sixteen and Kevin Durant kind of resumes what he

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Speaker 1: was in two thousand seventeen. Sure, but like the evidence

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Speaker 1: that would that would lead us to believe that that's

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Speaker 1: a likely outcome just isn't there in my opinion. So, like,

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Speaker 1: I don't think it's likely, But I think what we

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Speaker 1: could maybe point to is Kde being more motivated than

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Speaker 1: he has been almost at any point in his career.

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Speaker 1: U He obviously reads a lot of the press about himself. Um,

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Speaker 1: he lets it bother him at times, But that being said,

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Speaker 1: he hears all the noise. So he heard that his

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Speaker 1: titles were fake or fraudulent thousands, probably millions of times.

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Speaker 1: So if anything, maybe that points to him being the

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Speaker 1: most motivated he's ever been in his career, and he

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Speaker 1: taps into something that really we've seen in the two

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Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen Western Conference Finals and then the following

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Speaker 1: year when he joined the Warriors, like I referenced before

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Speaker 1: seventeen regular season in playoffs, when he was probably an

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Speaker 1: all defensive level player. And what it really is, it's

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Speaker 1: just the it's the effort stuff. And it's the same

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Speaker 1: thing with Katie and Kyrie. And that's what you're pointing

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Speaker 1: to as well. It's are they going to bring effort

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Speaker 1: consistently because the tools are there for both of them

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Speaker 1: to be either you know, solid to good or great defenders.

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Speaker 1: It's just committing to doing it. So maybe them being

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Speaker 1: together and and being happy helps motivate them to do that.

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Speaker 1: But I wouldn't say it's a likely outcome, but I

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Speaker 1: think it is possible. I think it's very possible that

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Speaker 1: they do it and they're, um the best team in

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Speaker 1: the East if they do that. Honestly, if both those

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Speaker 1: guys commit defensively all year, um, they will be the

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Speaker 1: best team in the East in my opinion. So the

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Speaker 1: reason why I put Brooklyn first in our list of

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Speaker 1: topics was because I believe they will win the Eastern Conference.

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Speaker 1: And I'm more when the when the Eastern Conference in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs, they're gonna win the Eastern Conference in the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: I believe they're gonna make it to the NBA Finals.

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Speaker 1: And the really the reason why is just simply that

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Speaker 1: you know, for as much of a flaw as high

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Speaker 1: end you know, elite defense, and you know, the defensive

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Speaker 1: versatility and all the all of those things lead to uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, contending for a championship, you also need to

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Speaker 1: have elite, high end offensive talent, something that you and

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Speaker 1: I have talked about a lot. And the truth of

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Speaker 1: the matter is when I go down the list, you know,

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Speaker 1: especially as I was prepping for this podcast, there's just

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Speaker 1: there's just nothing else out there among these other teams

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Speaker 1: that brings enough on the offensive end for me to

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Speaker 1: you know, really feel confident that they could overcome what

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn brings on the offensive end. And you know, there

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Speaker 1: to win the Eastern Conference. If you're Brooklyn and you

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Speaker 1: bring what Kevin Durant and Kyrie do on the offensive end,

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Speaker 1: of the floor. I don't think you need to be

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Speaker 1: a top ten defense now. You absolutely have to to

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Speaker 1: be whoever comes out of the West in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: But in the Eastern Conference because of the like you're

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Speaker 1: looking at Milwaukee. We know everything we've talked about with

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk about it later with johannest and

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Speaker 1: his offensive shortcomings Philly, the clunkiness of Ben Simmons and

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Speaker 1: Joel Embiad. It's it's hard to imagine them necessarily being

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Speaker 1: hard to guard in a playoff series. And you know,

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Speaker 1: Atlanta and Boston, they their flawed teams, and there's just

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Speaker 1: a lot of like potential for those teams to end

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Speaker 1: up in a situation where regardless of who's guarding them,

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Speaker 1: they're just gonna they're just not gonna have any sort

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Speaker 1: of offensive creation when it gets to a tight moment

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Speaker 1: late in a key playoff series. So I think Brooklyn

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Speaker 1: has enough to get it done in that regard. It's

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Speaker 1: just this is all just about like basically what the

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Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen calves. You know, it's it's you know,

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Speaker 1: as as cool as it is to make it to

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Speaker 1: the finals, you know that team got absolutely destroyed when

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Speaker 1: they made it to the finals, and it was because

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Speaker 1: of the fact that they couldn't guard anybody, you know,

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Speaker 1: and and obviously, like the Warriors, brought a lot of

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Speaker 1: talent in that regard. But the point is is, like

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Speaker 1: I do think in the circumstances that are at play

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn can get away with being

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Speaker 1: a little less effective defensively to get through the East.

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Speaker 1: Now here's where it gets tricky. So can I push

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Speaker 1: back real quick on that? Just a little bit ahead?

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Speaker 1: Not even pushed back. But it's funny that Brooklyn is

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Speaker 1: the favorite to win the East in a lot of ways,

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Speaker 1: especially in the playoffs. But I also don't think they

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Speaker 1: would be the best matchup against the Lakers in the finals.

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Speaker 1: I think Philly or even Milwaukee would be a better

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Speaker 1: matchup because they are better defensively and if they can

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Speaker 1: bog that Lakers team down in the half court, then

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Speaker 1: you have a better team chance of beating them. But Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: for the reasons you pointed out, still might be the favorite,

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Speaker 1: just because their offensive talent is so much higher than

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Speaker 1: any other him in that conference. But I wouldn't I

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Speaker 1: would not be high on them having any chance to

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Speaker 1: meet the Lakers. I would probably higher on Philly or

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Speaker 1: or even Milwaukee or even maybe Miami for that matter,

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Speaker 1: But yeah, go ahead. So I understand the idea behind that,

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Speaker 1: I guess. I guess for me, Like it's what I

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Speaker 1: said about the Lakers going into the finals last year,

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Speaker 1: which was the challenge of guarding these high end Western

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Speaker 1: Conference offenses like Yo Kitchen Murray, like you know, James Harden.

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Speaker 1: I I thought that they presented challenges that that made

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Speaker 1: it difficult for the Lakers to you know, stop them.

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Speaker 1: They still were able to for enough stretches to win

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Speaker 1: the series. Is but my thing is that when you've

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Speaker 1: got a defense as he lead as the Lakers are,

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Speaker 1: and again just the other night against Phoenix, they went

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Speaker 1: through like a it was like a fifteen or seventeen

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Speaker 1: minute stretch where they gave up like sixteen points. Like

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Speaker 1: the Lakers still have this absolutely suffocating defense when they

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Speaker 1: lock in. And so from that standpoint, I think that

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Speaker 1: that would expose limited offenses, which I which I believe

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Speaker 1: came out to be true, Like they absolutely laid eggs

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Speaker 1: in the finals against Miami when they when they tricked

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Speaker 1: off a couple of games, but when they really dialed

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Speaker 1: in there in Game six, Miami just literally couldn't find

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Speaker 1: an inch of space, whereas super high end offensive players

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Speaker 1: like Yo Kitchen Murray are able to kind of soften

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Speaker 1: up the Laker defense enough, like a guy like Steph

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Speaker 1: would be able to soften up the Laker defense enough

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Speaker 1: to find some openings. And for the record, I think

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and Kyrie would have moments against the Laker

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Speaker 1: defense where they're gonna light them up, but more than moments.

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Speaker 1: They're so talented they have more than moments. In my opinion,

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Speaker 1: they'll be able to take over whole games and whole

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Speaker 1: stretches of the series, but it might not be enough.

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Speaker 1: If they can't get stops exactly over the course of

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Speaker 1: seven games, it would probably bear out in the Lakers

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Speaker 1: favorite the Ironically, the best example would be the two

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Speaker 1: thousand sixteen Calves. You're kind of a fringe top ten defense.

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Speaker 1: You're going against a team that has that has all

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Speaker 1: the boxes checked, but your top two guys just go

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Speaker 1: absolutely supernova for a series and you steal it. That

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Speaker 1: would be what that what their path is. But anyway,

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Speaker 1: so let's bring in the prospect of a James Harden trade,

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Speaker 1: because this is where it gets interesting, because James Harden

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Speaker 1: is a guy that, in my opinion, look at two

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Speaker 1: thousand eighteen, if you give him a situation where he

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Speaker 1: has an alpha dog personality next to him, I et

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul or in this case, Kevin Durant or or

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Speaker 1: Joe l Embid, because we're gonna be talking about Philly

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Speaker 1: and Brooklyn. If you put an alpha dog personality next

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Speaker 1: to him that won't shrink from the moment the way

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Speaker 1: that James has in his career. And if you put

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Speaker 1: him alongside any a truly high end E leade defense

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Speaker 1: like the two eighteen Rockets were, they can win as

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Speaker 1: even as flawed as James Harden is, because he does

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Speaker 1: even with his offensive flaws, he's he's still one of

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Speaker 1: the very best offensive players in the league. So you know,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about how I think that the James

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Speaker 1: Harden trade makes a lot of sense for Philly here

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Speaker 1: in a minute. But I think that him going to Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: which appears to still be on the table, although I'm

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Speaker 1: reporting from last night said that uh Houston is basically

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Speaker 1: asked Brooklyn to bring a third team into the trade

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Speaker 1: because they don't want Brooklyn's pieces in particular, so requires

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Speaker 1: siphoning a star from another team in Brooklyn sending pieces

432
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,800
Speaker 1: over there. It gets complicated. It almost sounds like Billy

433
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,399
Speaker 1: or nothing at this point, but for sure, Yeah, but

434
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,800
Speaker 1: the point being like all of the like any hope

435
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,040
Speaker 1: of that top ten defense from last year that Brooklyn

436
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 1: can build on, that goes out the window if you

437
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,840
Speaker 1: bring in James Harden just in the complicated nature of

438
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,919
Speaker 1: matching salaries, and you're you're probably gonna have to give

439
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 1: up Jared Allen, You're probably gonna have to give up

440
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: you know, maybe Joe Harris, Like who knows, You're gonna

441
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,160
Speaker 1: have to give up a lot of the core pieces

442
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,640
Speaker 1: that major defense at least a fringe top ten last year.

443
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:40,600
Speaker 1: And I do think there's so much of a I

444
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 1: talked about this with the Clippers last year when when

445
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 1: Lou Williams wasn't or when Paul George was out because

446
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,359
Speaker 1: he was rehabbing his shoulders. I was everyone was like,

447
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: oh man, wait till Paul George gets added to this,

448
00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 1: And I wanted to be like, actually, you know, when

449
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 1: you're humming on all cylinders offensively, there's kind of like

450
00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,720
Speaker 1: a like a plateau there, there's something turns at some point,

451
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,240
Speaker 1: there's a and if you have three guys that need

452
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 1: the ball as much as Hardened, Kyrie and Katie, one

453
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,080
Speaker 1: guy is getting left out. And we've seen this play

454
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,200
Speaker 1: out time and again. The Calves are a perfect example

455
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:15,400
Speaker 1: with with Lebron, Kyrie and Katie. You had too heavy Yeah, sorry, Kevin,

456
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,240
Speaker 1: you had two heavy eyes. So guys, and Kevin Love

457
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,480
Speaker 1: got relegated a lot to being a spot up shooter.

458
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:21,840
Speaker 1: They give him looks early in the game, they give

459
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: him some post touches, keep him happy, and then he

460
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,159
Speaker 1: would be a spot up shooter for the rest of

461
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: the night. It is just unless two of your three

462
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: stars are off ball supernovas like Steph and Clay are,

463
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 1: it is really hard to mix three stars in that

464
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: are going to score twenty plus points and have it

465
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,399
Speaker 1: have any type of continuity offensively. It's just gonna be

466
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: really clunky on on a lot of nights. Yeah, exactly,

467
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 1: and and and and again. I think it's all about

468
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,679
Speaker 1: shot quality. So, for instance, like the what worked for

469
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,159
Speaker 1: the Lakers, even though their role players were flawed, was

470
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:57,359
Speaker 1: the fact that their primary too offensive threats generated such

471
00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:02,399
Speaker 1: high quality looks that guy's Rondo and Danny Green and

472
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: KCP and Alex Caruso and Markis Morris, guys who are

473
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 1: all considered like below average closeout threats. KCP was pretty good,

474
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:12,960
Speaker 1: but the rest of them were considered like close out

475
00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: you know, like guys you kind of not want to

476
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: leave open, but you're not like super worried about worried

477
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 1: about it. But they were making shots. And it's because

478
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 1: of the fact that like there is like you said,

479
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 1: there's diminishing returns. The gap between you know, a guy

480
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: like Alex Caruso and a much better spot up shooter

481
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 1: is limited when you factor in that they're always gonna

482
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,679
Speaker 1: be wide open, and and and and and it just

483
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 1: it just changes, you know, your prospects in that regard.

484
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 1: So with James Harden, you gotta ask yourself, like, the

485
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: are the Brooklyn Nets as currently constructed, gonna have any

486
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: issue scoring the basketball, not even not even one bit.

487
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 1: They're not gonna have any issue. Two great players and

488
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: two great other secondary creators scoring is not going to

489
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 1: be an issue exactly. So the so the question simply

490
00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 1: becomes what what are you and how like what percentage

491
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: are you increasing your offensive ceiling by adding James Harden

492
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,199
Speaker 1: in conjunction with how much if you're because you're not

493
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: only are you losing a bunch of bodies to match salaries,

494
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 1: but you're gonna have to replace them with veteran minimum

495
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,119
Speaker 1: players who are still available for some reason. So not

496
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 1: the Wesley Matthews veteran minimum guy. You're gonna have to

497
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 1: find the like the literally the junk at the bottom

498
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: of the barrel. Then you're gonna have to Scott Anders

499
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 1: and a guy trying to make the Warriors ruster right now,

500
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,160
Speaker 1: he's probably gonna be on a two way. He would

501
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,199
Speaker 1: be a guy that would maybe go to Brooklyn that

502
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,720
Speaker 1: happens just because they need minimum guys and he's he'd

503
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,919
Speaker 1: come cheat h exactly. And So from that standpoint, like

504
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,640
Speaker 1: I just I personally as a basketball fan, hope they

505
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,479
Speaker 1: don't make this move because if they do, I think

506
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: it's gonna end up horrible for all three stars involved.

507
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: They're gonna get absolutely slandered all summer long because they're

508
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 1: gonna end up losing in some stupid fashion. Because once

509
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 1: you start getting into some late round playoff series and

510
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: you're playing your stars forty two minutes a game. Yeah,

511
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: Like it makes a lot of sense in the regular season,

512
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 1: just in the sense that you can do the perfect

513
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,479
Speaker 1: stagger of two stars and any given time, so like

514
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 1: you're always having this like like there's one guy on

515
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,199
Speaker 1: the bench while the other two are playing, and it

516
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 1: kind of works and makes sense like that, But when

517
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: you get to the playoffs, they're all on the floor

518
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: all the time because you're just not resting that much.

519
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 1: And I don't know, I just you know, when I

520
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 1: when I look at Philly as we as we transition here,

521
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: when I look at Philly, the there's this clear need

522
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,600
Speaker 1: for what James Harden brings to the table. He is

523
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: he is the the perfect puzzle piece for the holes

524
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 1: that currently exist in Philly's title like title contention path

525
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,199
Speaker 1: this season. And they have the they have the necessary

526
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,080
Speaker 1: pieces to fill in his weaknesses, which is like we

527
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,400
Speaker 1: talked about a really really high end defense. Like they're

528
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 1: still gonna have Atias Table, They're still gonna have Tobias Hairs,

529
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 1: They're still gonna have Joel Embi, They're still gonna have

530
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 1: you know, uh Simmons. Well, yeah, well they might have

531
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,760
Speaker 1: to give up bets. Are we assuming they give up Simmons. Yeah,

532
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,160
Speaker 1: I think the cleanest open Like, I think they're gonna

533
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,880
Speaker 1: have to give up Ben Simmons to get him. And

534
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: and but the point is is that like it's it's

535
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: kind of a partnership that makes sense. And then now

536
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 1: you can stare Brooklyn in the face and be like,

537
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 1: I've got James Harden and Joe el embiide in a

538
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,479
Speaker 1: top five defense, and you've got Kyrie Irving, who's you know,

539
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 1: resting on back to backs, and Kevin Durant who's not

540
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,040
Speaker 1: really focused on the defensive end, and you guys have

541
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 1: had a lot of crazy highlights this year. But we're

542
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,119
Speaker 1: a we are a surefire proven method to win a

543
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: title on paper, at least we'll see how it actually

544
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: would would would turn out. But that is a that

545
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,400
Speaker 1: is a that is a proven pathway. We've seen that

546
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,199
Speaker 1: that exact pathway time and time again win championships in

547
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,919
Speaker 1: this league. And it may it just makes sense. And

548
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 1: so and then if you're Houston, I want Ben Simmons

549
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,919
Speaker 1: or like like like over Brooklyn. So I am I

550
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:57,720
Speaker 1: am excited for Philly to potentially get James Harden because

551
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,080
Speaker 1: I think it completely changes the prospect of how the

552
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:03,320
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference is going to shake out over the next

553
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: uh six months. Yeah, And and to be honest, I

554
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,879
Speaker 1: think Philly has a shot at winning the conference without

555
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,159
Speaker 1: heart of I think I'm a little bit higher on

556
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,960
Speaker 1: them than maybe a lot of people are, because they've

557
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,119
Speaker 1: kind of replicated, at least somewhat similarly the lineup that

558
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,920
Speaker 1: they had in when they had both when they had Reddick, Butler,

559
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 1: Simmons and Eimbid and whoever the fifth wasn't that Covingtons.

560
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,119
Speaker 1: That lineup I believe had the best net rating in

561
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 1: the league that you're of any five man lineup. They

562
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,439
Speaker 1: haven't recreated it perfectly, but they've created something similar with

563
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 1: the lineup of Simmons, Curry, Harris Embiid and Danny Green.

564
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: So that's gonna be a super high level defense. They

565
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,199
Speaker 1: have one of the best shooters in the league in

566
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: Seth Curry, who I don't know if he's quite a

567
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 1: starter level player, but if you put him with a

568
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 1: bunch of guys like that, he is a starter level player,

569
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: he'll be just fine. And he's actually a pretty good

570
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: on ball defender too. Um So I think they actually

571
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 1: have a chance to win the East even without hardened.

572
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: But if they get hardened, then I think they become

573
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 1: the favorites for sure, because you have deploy candidate and embiid.

574
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 1: Danny Green is still a solid defender, even though he's

575
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 1: falling off a little bit on that end. Tobias Harris solid.

576
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,159
Speaker 1: They wouldn't need the Lakers needed Dan danny Green to

577
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: guard on the ball, which he was just terrible at

578
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 1: the Between thible And and Tobias Harris and uh and

579
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, they have so much on the ball talent

580
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 1: that Danny Green will be off the ball all the time. Yeah, exactly,

581
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,359
Speaker 1: exactly exactly. So I think this Philly team is definitely

582
00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 1: a team that could when they when these they have

583
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,199
Speaker 1: seven really good players once you add Dive Bole and

584
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: Howard into that starting five mix that I just named,

585
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: and then I like Shake Milton too. He's a guy

586
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 1: that can bring some offensive creation jobs. He looked good

587
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: at times last year, and if he takes another step,

588
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 1: he he provides some of that on ball creator stuff.

589
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: Obviously nowhere near the level of the hardened, but some

590
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: of that stuff that they are missing in the starting lineup. Um,

591
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: So I think they really do have a chance to

592
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 1: win the East if it all comes together correctly, and

593
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 1: we had seen in the past Doc Rivers with the

594
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,400
Speaker 1: right team have some offensive creativity. It wasn't great last year,

595
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: but I'm who was at a function of the personnel

596
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,600
Speaker 1: and the personnel kind of being funky on the offensive end.

597
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: Or is that a function of Doc Rivers the year before.

598
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 1: I thought he was super creative offensively the year before

599
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 1: they got Kauai. So I think a new voice in

600
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,040
Speaker 1: the room is really going to help them. Brett Brown,

601
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,360
Speaker 1: by all accounts a great guy, but Phillip Pans has

602
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 1: been complaining about him for years, so in the room

603
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 1: probably helps um. Doc can definitely captain a great defense.

604
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 1: They have all the personnel there to do that. If

605
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: they can figure out things on the offensive end, I

606
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 1: think they actually will win the East, even though Brooklyn

607
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,360
Speaker 1: is the favorites for now. If Philly's offense is top

608
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,959
Speaker 1: ten level and Ben Simmons takes another step as kind

609
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: of a career on ball creator, if Shake Milton takes

610
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 1: another step, if embied and who was a top seven

611
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 1: top six player consensus Lee a year and a half

612
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: two years ago and has fallen off just because that

613
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 1: situation became messy. But if he takes another step just

614
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 1: as kind of an isoscore and a post up threat

615
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: and stops floating on the perimeter so much, I think

616
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 1: they will win the East, and then I think they

617
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 1: can give the Lakers some problems. I would still pick

618
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: the Lakers in a potential match up with Philly and

619
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: l A, but I think they have the size to

620
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: bother l A, which most teams do not. They have

621
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 1: bodies to throw it iron and they have bodies to

622
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: throw it a dat multiple of each, So I think

623
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,040
Speaker 1: if the ball bounce right for them, they could absolutely

624
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: be a title team. We just haven't seen it yet.

625
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: They have that they've taken some playoff lumps, which is

626
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,480
Speaker 1: kind of one of the the traditions for any team

627
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 1: who does end up winning a title. You don't just

628
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: go from zero to hero, like they had a Tesugh

629
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 1: series of Boston a couple of years ago. Last year,

630
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,480
Speaker 1: they had some injuries so they lost in the first round.

631
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: But like I said, I am higher on Philly than most.

632
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 1: I think they can. They're going to be a really

633
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: good team. They're a top three seed in the East.

634
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: As long as they don't have any injury concerns, And

635
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 1: I think they can definitely beat Broken that can definitely

636
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,040
Speaker 1: beat Milwaukee, and they can give the Lakers a series

637
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 1: or whoever comes out of the West in the follow

638
00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:54,880
Speaker 1: So I think they're they're gonna be a really really

639
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 1: good team. Well, I you're right, I probably should have

640
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,040
Speaker 1: I should pay the their proper respects as currently constructed

641
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 1: as a hard harden changes the whole equation. But yeah, exactly.

642
00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 1: And and just bringing into you know, Danny Green had

643
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 1: a rough shooting season last year, but it wasn't as

644
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,560
Speaker 1: bad as people like Laker Twitter. Lakers Twitter can be

645
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 1: very hard on people, and and I was hard on

646
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 1: Danny Green two, but primarily for what he did on

647
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,920
Speaker 1: the defensive end. But the truth of the matter is that,

648
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 1: you know, bringing in Curry and Green just open things up.

649
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 1: Ditching Horford out of their rotations are gonna open things

650
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: up for Mbeed. That was huge. I I agree with

651
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: you that they have a legitimate chance to win the East.

652
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 1: I would pick Brooklyn now, but I agree with you

653
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: that they have a chance. Where I where I fall

654
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 1: where I give where I would push back on the

655
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: idea of keeping Ben Simmons and not going after someone

656
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 1: like Harden is my classic ideology as it pertains to gambling.

657
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,239
Speaker 1: You know, like if I was betting on, you know,

658
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,479
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys this weekend and I put two bucks

659
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 1: on the game, I'm just I'm not gonna get rich.

660
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 1: I don't know what to tell you like that. You're

661
00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 1: you're only gonna get rich if you push your chips

662
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 1: into middle. And all I know is as good as

663
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons is, and as as good and as bright

664
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,040
Speaker 1: as his feature, as bright as his future looks, the

665
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 1: reality is as as currently constructed. I don't think they

666
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: can beat the Lakers. I'm not even sure they could

667
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: beat the Clippers. So as far as I'm concerned, and

668
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,640
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a toss up with Brooklyn so

669
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,760
Speaker 1: but as far as I'm concerned, bringing in James Harden,

670
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 1: who you and I disagree because you think he's outside

671
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: the top ten, but I think he's around the eighth

672
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 1: best player in the league. Bringing in a bona fide

673
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: top a top ten player with Joel Embid, who I

674
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 1: think I had at thirteen in my on my list,

675
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: and then with all of the surrounding pieces, because it's

676
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: a it's a straight up swap, Like, even if you

677
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:39,440
Speaker 1: have to give up draft draft picks, which we'll talk

678
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,760
Speaker 1: about in a second, I'm a big believer of the

679
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:46,040
Speaker 1: fact that that, as crazy as it sounds, And even

680
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:47,640
Speaker 1: though it seems like you're giving up some of your

681
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,880
Speaker 1: long term prospects and and you know, Ben Simmons is

682
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: future and future and stuff like that, I think it's

683
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,480
Speaker 1: an opportunity to steal a ring. And and and and

684
00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,080
Speaker 1: I think that as good as their prospects are this

685
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,959
Speaker 1: season with the with Ben Simmons is currently constructed, I

686
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 1: think they're discernibly better with James Harden in that role,

687
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 1: filling in that elite offensive creation that they need and

688
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: allowing them to have a clear cut pathway to potentially

689
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,200
Speaker 1: be the best team in the league. And and and

690
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 1: here's the other thing too, Like, over a couple of weeks,

691
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 1: guy watched that All Star game again, um, the one,

692
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:29,360
Speaker 1: the one where they played with the elm ending Oh yeah,

693
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 1: and Joel Embiide with the game on the line, is

694
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 1: posting up Lebron and it's not game point yet, but

695
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 1: it's almost game point, and he just hits Lebron with

696
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 1: this vicious dream shake and drains like a ten footer

697
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,320
Speaker 1: or over the top. And I don't know if you

698
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 1: remember that game. That game was like super high pressure

699
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 1: for intense. It was the first intense form of basketball.

700
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: There is no more intense. It was insane. Every single

701
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 1: player was sweaty palms, like losing their mind, like like

702
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:00,240
Speaker 1: like Joanna said, the greatest block I've ever seen in

703
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 1: my life when he payed the bronze lap on the

704
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: class like it was insane. And in the reality is

705
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,839
Speaker 1: is Joel Embiid has not had a chance to go

706
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,280
Speaker 1: toe to toe with the game's greats at the highest

707
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 1: level because of the fact that Ben Simmons has had

708
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 1: some flaws and he's had some bad injury luck over

709
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 1: the years. He's not you know, I mean, and he's

710
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 1: he's not a hundred percent blameless. But my point is is,

711
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,839
Speaker 1: like James Harden can gets you to that spot. James

712
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 1: Harden can get Joel Embiid to a high game in

713
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,240
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference Finals against Kevin Durant,

714
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,000
Speaker 1: and joe El Embiid can can just rely on his

715
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:40,520
Speaker 1: ridiculously like his alpha mentality is up there with the

716
00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 1: best players in the league. And James Harden could help

717
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 1: unlock that. And so I think it's such a no

718
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:48,920
Speaker 1: brainer and and and honestly I hope they do it

719
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: sooner than later. But I mean I to to kind

720
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,840
Speaker 1: of put a bow on this. They should absolutely do it.

721
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,760
Speaker 1: If it's if it's on the table and it's basically

722
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 1: just a hardened Simmons swap, you gotta do it. Like

723
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 1: as much flak as I give Harden, I do always

724
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:05,960
Speaker 1: preface that by saying he is one of the most

725
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,720
Speaker 1: talented offensive players in the league. It's all the other stuff.

726
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,560
Speaker 1: And if you can trust Dalc enough, um, if you

727
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,359
Speaker 1: can trust like you're saying and beating up, and then

728
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:16,240
Speaker 1: some of the veteran leadership on that team, uh, Mike Scott,

729
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 1: Danny Green, Tobias Harris, all really good guys with really

730
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,919
Speaker 1: strong leadership qualities to bring out the best and Harden

731
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:23,920
Speaker 1: and get rid of some of that stuff that that

732
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 1: makes him kind of a franchise tanker at times. And Yeah,

733
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,959
Speaker 1: they definitely go to They would instantly probably be number

734
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 1: one or number two in terms of UM title favorites.

735
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,439
Speaker 1: And they brought in the right guy in the front

736
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:37,400
Speaker 1: office to push in all the chips. Well, I've definitely

737
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: been critical of Mori in some respects, and that's more

738
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,400
Speaker 1: related to how he views offensive basketball and kind of

739
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 1: the math equasion of the whole thing and how that

740
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,239
Speaker 1: plays out in the playoffs. The guy absolutely pushes all

741
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,640
Speaker 1: of his chips in and he's an incredible GM when

742
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:52,800
Speaker 1: it comes to just acquiring talents, um, you know, working

743
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: salaries to make sure every everything goes right. And I

744
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:57,799
Speaker 1: mean we saw that this offseason. He changed that entire

745
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 1: roster in like three weeks. It was incredible. Um. I

746
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 1: mean he has a chance if he pulls off the

747
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 1: Harden Dealds too, he'll be executive the year for sure. Um.

748
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,239
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean the Harden deal is a no

749
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 1: brainer if it's on the table, and they should absolutely

750
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 1: do it today if they can get James hardened, because

751
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 1: they become at worst the second favorite to win the title.

752
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: So let's uh really quickly, I think, because this is

753
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 1: something that I think is one of my ideologies too,

754
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 1: that it gets lost from time to time. The the

755
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: and Darryl More happens to be from the ideology of

756
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,919
Speaker 1: not overvaluing first round picks, especially not late round first

757
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 1: round picks, because just like what happened with the Lakers

758
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:42,719
Speaker 1: this year. Yeah, they had like I think they had

759
00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:45,399
Speaker 1: like the pick or something like that. But I mean

760
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,920
Speaker 1: in terms of what it's league value was worth, it

761
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,600
Speaker 1: was considered worth Danny Green for Dennis Shrewder. That's what

762
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 1: it was considered to be worth. And and whoever that

763
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:54,960
Speaker 1: draft pick could be used on is not going to

764
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:57,839
Speaker 1: be used on anybody of enough quality to really help

765
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 1: you in your rotation anyway. And Philly's really really deep.

766
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,719
Speaker 1: So this is where I this is where I would

767
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:08,480
Speaker 1: say pull the trigger. What is continuity worth? Because if

768
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,600
Speaker 1: I could get James Harden in here tomorrow, I basically

769
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,839
Speaker 1: have a full season to build this with him. And

770
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,920
Speaker 1: of course, if they hold out to the trade deadline,

771
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,640
Speaker 1: they can probably get it to be a clean swap

772
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: with Ben Simmons for James Harden, just as all the

773
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,239
Speaker 1: other trade offers kind of disappear into the ether. But

774
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 1: the reality is is like, if they want two first

775
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,839
Speaker 1: round picks, give them two first round picks, give them

776
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 1: your next two first round picks. They're not worth anything

777
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,640
Speaker 1: to you. They're worth very little to you, I guess.

778
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,400
Speaker 1: And the and the reality is is that Continuity is

779
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,319
Speaker 1: going to be what gives you that chance, especially since

780
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,400
Speaker 1: James Harden coming in gives you a small window to contend.

781
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:45,200
Speaker 1: I know he's got a couple of years left on

782
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 1: his contract, but he's getting a little bit older too.

783
00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:49,440
Speaker 1: So the reality is you've got this two or three

784
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 1: year window here where you can go after it get

785
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,440
Speaker 1: some continuity. This year's punky, weird season anyway, The team

786
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 1: that is considered the best in the league has a

787
00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 1: thirty six year old, thirty six year old superstar who

788
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 1: two years ago got hurt and missed the playoffs. So

789
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,520
Speaker 1: the point is, it's like, like I am of the

790
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,319
Speaker 1: persuasion that they need to do this now and that

791
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,719
Speaker 1: bartering over this this stupid stuff. Not only will it

792
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: hurt them in continuity, but who knows what team could

793
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,280
Speaker 1: come flying in out of nowhere and make a James

794
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,440
Speaker 1: Harden trade. I mean, like like it could have been.

795
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:20,800
Speaker 1: It could be Minnesota could just lose their mind tomorrow

796
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,840
Speaker 1: and give Anthony Edwards and and and D'Angelo Russell and

797
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:25,759
Speaker 1: go we're gonna do you know, Carl, Anthony Towns and

798
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:27,839
Speaker 1: James Harden for a few years, Like you don't know

799
00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 1: what could happen I think they need to go after it. Yeah, no,

800
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,720
Speaker 1: they should. But the only thing I'd say is Maury

801
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:35,719
Speaker 1: doesn't like the optics of ever losing a trade, and

802
00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 1: he just gave up some picks to get off the

803
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: Horpord money. And also he doesn't value things like continuity

804
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,360
Speaker 1: or chemistry. He said it like on record before that

805
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: he really just doesn't value that stuff. So I don't

806
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 1: think that will factor into too much of a mathematician, No,

807
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:52,720
Speaker 1: he totally, He totally is. That's his issue. That's his issue.

808
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:54,120
Speaker 1: He said, you know, just get as many stars as

809
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,080
Speaker 1: you can then figure it out and without really looking

810
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:58,960
Speaker 1: at Okay, how did the team dynamics playing this? And

811
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:00,480
Speaker 1: maybe he's learned a little bit. I think he has,

812
00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 1: probably through losing to the Warriors over and over and

813
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: over again, he's he's probably learned his lesson a little bit.

814
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,239
Speaker 1: But if that's like the deciding factor whether the conduity's

815
00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:10,600
Speaker 1: gonna matter or not, I think he's gonna hold out

816
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 1: and wait until the deadline. But they should do it now,

817
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 1: like no question. I agree. I would get him in

818
00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,040
Speaker 1: there and and just start because there's gonna be also

819
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 1: this extended process where he's got to get in shape

820
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,239
Speaker 1: and stuff like, might as well have him learned in

821
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,919
Speaker 1: the playbook pictures real of course not there, of course

822
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,320
Speaker 1: they've been edited one but the one from the Bubble

823
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:31,600
Speaker 1: was faked, but I think the one from the other

824
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:33,920
Speaker 1: night was supposed to be real. He he looks huge

825
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:36,560
Speaker 1: even in like game the game action. He looks really big,

826
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 1: even for James Harden. I, I definitely have an unending

827
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,759
Speaker 1: amount of skepticism for pictures of people's physical fitness after

828
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:48,840
Speaker 1: what I thought was I on last year before the

829
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,239
Speaker 1: Pubble and then he was fat and slow. But but

830
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:54,800
Speaker 1: that said, like, you know, the the thing with James,

831
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,800
Speaker 1: and he actually came out and said in his interview, um,

832
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,560
Speaker 1: yesterday after the game, or it might have yesterday or

833
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,680
Speaker 1: the day for but he basically said, like, I haven't

834
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,640
Speaker 1: played five and five and forever. All I've done is

835
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:08,319
Speaker 1: individual workouts, and NBA players will tell you that, you know,

836
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 1: the only real conditioning is five on five, which I

837
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: think is NBA players speak for. I put on a

838
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,920
Speaker 1: few but like, but of course that's what happened. But

839
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:19,560
Speaker 1: my I I he's famously durable. He's gonna get back

840
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:23,000
Speaker 1: in shape a lot of and you know, never get injured.

841
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 1: He never ever gets injured. It's pretty crazy. Yeah, and like,

842
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,480
Speaker 1: and don't get me wrong, like he's been a literally

843
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: a whiny little bit for lack of a better term,

844
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,120
Speaker 1: this last season. But the truth of the matter is

845
00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:36,960
Speaker 1: he's gonna get into Philly. He'll be reinvigorated. The Philly

846
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:38,600
Speaker 1: fans won't let him get away with his bullshit by

847
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 1: the way. That well, I don't. I don't think dok

848
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,960
Speaker 1: will even I think the situation in LA was just

849
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 1: weird last year for whatever reason, just because the the

850
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 1: roster dynamic and some of the stuff the PG and

851
00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:51,839
Speaker 1: docks pass whatever. But yeah, I don't think he would

852
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 1: take crapromarten either, really, So yeah, no, I think they

853
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,680
Speaker 1: would definitely whip him into shape more than almost any

854
00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:01,000
Speaker 1: franchise cut outside of like Miami for sure. Alright, so

855
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,399
Speaker 1: we have four rapid fire teams to go through before

856
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:12,120
Speaker 1: we get Owau the forgotten number one seed. Well, just

857
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:16,680
Speaker 1: I think the honest extension is good for basketball in

858
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:18,520
Speaker 1: a couple of ways. Not to get too crazy about,

859
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,279
Speaker 1: like player empowerment, player movement, all that stuff, but I

860
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,840
Speaker 1: think it it helps the casual fan feel like every

861
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 1: superstar isn't just going to go to the next super

862
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,120
Speaker 1: team and team up with three superstars. And even though

863
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: we see the ratings increase when that stuff happens, people

864
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,879
Speaker 1: complain more. So there's less of like bad energy around

865
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 1: the league, which I think does matter, even though all

866
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 1: that stuff is kind of fake in a way, but

867
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,200
Speaker 1: it does matter that there's less bad energy around the league.

868
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,959
Speaker 1: But I think the more important point is it makes

869
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: small markets feel like they actually have a chance again.

870
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: The last couple of superstars who have like really been

871
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 1: extension eligible, and like Lebron and Katie, basically the guys

872
00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 1: who were two of the three best players of the

873
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: last fifteen years are ten years. Let's say they both

874
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:08,160
Speaker 1: left smaller markets to pursue bigger markets super teams. Lebron

875
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: did it a couple of times, Katie's done it, I

876
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,320
Speaker 1: guess twice now. Even though the Warriors are a big market,

877
00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,840
Speaker 1: but Booklyn's even a bigger market. So I think it

878
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 1: it it's gonna help during the next c B a

879
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,040
Speaker 1: UM from a perspective of the small market owners aren't

880
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:25,760
Speaker 1: just gonna, you know, demand all kinds of crazy stuff

881
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:30,160
Speaker 1: as protections against superstars leaving. And I think what this

882
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,360
Speaker 1: really does, though, is it puts the onus on the

883
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:34,960
Speaker 1: honest to bring a championship to Milwaukee. He could demandag

884
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 1: right in twenty four Buns, I think you have to

885
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 1: be at least one year into the extension before you

886
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:42,360
Speaker 1: can actually get traded if you sign the super max UM.

887
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:44,839
Speaker 1: But I think he's taken responsibility for saying, look, I'm

888
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: gonna bring a championship to this city, which is a

889
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,160
Speaker 1: huge burden. We all know that's a huge burden. But

890
00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: he can definitely be better to to kind of go

891
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,040
Speaker 1: into the the buck situation here. He can become a

892
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:58,239
Speaker 1: better player, Like there are there are massive holes in

893
00:42:58,239 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 1: this game. And I know you agree with me on this.

894
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,000
Speaker 1: There are massive holes in his game that keeps showing

895
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,319
Speaker 1: up during the playoffs and he's still unbelievable. Nobody's saying

896
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:06,480
Speaker 1: he's not a great player. Um, But the lack of

897
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,160
Speaker 1: a jump shot, the lack of super high level decision making,

898
00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:13,160
Speaker 1: which is harder developed than I think the jump shot, UM.

899
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,239
Speaker 1: That that stuff that he has to improve on. And

900
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:16,600
Speaker 1: if he does, then I think they have a chance

901
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:18,080
Speaker 1: to win a championship. But he has to go to

902
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 1: an entirely another level against the best teams in the league,

903
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:25,920
Speaker 1: not against the Charlotte Hornets on a Tuesday at five pm.

904
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,600
Speaker 1: But yeah, old to my basic thoughts on the Gaunt extension.

905
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:33,320
Speaker 1: So for to be clear upfront, I hope the honest

906
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 1: days for the entire contract. I truly do for all

907
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:41,200
Speaker 1: the same reasons you just mentioned. However, I am fearful

908
00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 1: that this is the new NBA free agency for a superstar.

909
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:47,520
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is, if you look

910
00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:49,880
Speaker 1: back in NBA history, recent NBA history, there are a

911
00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:54,279
Speaker 1: lot of examples of of a team being informed that

912
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:56,640
Speaker 1: a player was leaving and so they conduct a sign

913
00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 1: and trade. So essentially, you know, for you know, when

914
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,440
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant went, or when Kevin Durant went to Brooklyn,

915
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:07,520
Speaker 1: they shift back to Angelo Russell. When when Chris Paul

916
00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 1: decided to go back to go to Houston, they shipped

917
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 1: back you know, Montrese, Harrold and Williams and Patrick Beverley.

918
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:16,839
Speaker 1: When Lebron went from Cleveland to Miami, Miami sent back

919
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,200
Speaker 1: some draft picks and train exception, right, and he didn't

920
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,360
Speaker 1: trade exception. The point is is like once they decided

921
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 1: they were going to lose him, for nothing. Once they

922
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 1: understood they were going to lose those players for nothing,

923
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:31,200
Speaker 1: they were willing to accept whatever came. And so what

924
00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:34,000
Speaker 1: I'm fearful of is that similar to what happened with

925
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:38,279
Speaker 1: Paul George Um because there's been some reporting done that

926
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:40,640
Speaker 1: there was an under the table agreement with him and

927
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:44,399
Speaker 1: Sam Presty about him potentially wanting to leave, which makes

928
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,200
Speaker 1: sense when you think about it, because it was confusing

929
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,959
Speaker 1: that he signed that three year extension when he did

930
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:55,480
Speaker 1: after a night free agency started, like immediately right away,

931
00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:58,360
Speaker 1: when when when they lost in the first round in

932
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:01,640
Speaker 1: horrific fashion, when his co star basically shot them out

933
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:04,840
Speaker 1: of the series, Like, it was really confusing when that happened.

934
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:09,680
Speaker 1: And so my concern would be that that Janice went

935
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:11,279
Speaker 1: up to them and was like, here's the deal. You

936
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 1: have two options. I could go into free agency this

937
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,080
Speaker 1: year and decide where I want to go, or you

938
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,719
Speaker 1: can lock me up for five years and you'll have

939
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,920
Speaker 1: me under contract. But you have to understand, under the table,

940
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,200
Speaker 1: this is an agreement between my agent and you privately

941
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:29,560
Speaker 1: that if I wish to be traded somewhere, you trade

942
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:31,839
Speaker 1: me where I want to go, and you can pick

943
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:35,000
Speaker 1: whatever assets from that team, you know, within reason to

944
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,480
Speaker 1: get back so that you don't lose me for nothing. Yep,

945
00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:39,600
Speaker 1: I mean, and let's not forget the same thing happened

946
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:42,239
Speaker 1: with an Anthony Davis exactly, and I don't know if

947
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:45,000
Speaker 1: there was any under the table agreement there, but he

948
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:48,360
Speaker 1: signed his extension, essentially got his money and thought, you know,

949
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,759
Speaker 1: four months down the road, I can do whatever I want.

950
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:53,359
Speaker 1: I can MANI trade and they literally have to listen

951
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,799
Speaker 1: to me because I just won't play. Yeah, I see

952
00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: where you're going and it it definitely could be an

953
00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:01,200
Speaker 1: issue for the league, but continue well, because the thing

954
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:03,680
Speaker 1: is is like, so now say you're Milwaukee. So your

955
00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:06,000
Speaker 1: Milwaukee and Joannice has just come to you and said,

956
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,600
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about even you know or I'm not sure

957
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:10,799
Speaker 1: and I don't know, and there's a chance you lose

958
00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,640
Speaker 1: me for nothing. So now I get to choose between

959
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:18,040
Speaker 1: the risk of losing him for nothing or signing him

960
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,160
Speaker 1: to this deal and potentially losing him at some point

961
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:24,120
Speaker 1: in the future, which the which the reality is if

962
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,239
Speaker 1: he's gonna stay, Like if over the course of this

963
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,399
Speaker 1: season that Janice wins a title and he decides he's

964
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:31,399
Speaker 1: going to stay, then he would have signed a five

965
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:35,120
Speaker 1: year max in the summer anyway. So regardless of what

966
00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 1: happens this year, Milwaukee's in the same position this summer,

967
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,279
Speaker 1: no matter what. The extension doesn't really necessarily change that

968
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:46,680
Speaker 1: the pressure. No matter what. The only way the the

969
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:49,600
Speaker 1: the extension really gives Milwaukee power is if it is

970
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:53,520
Speaker 1: really the traditional extension where Janice has told the front

971
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 1: office he wants to stay here forever, which very well

972
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 1: may have been the case. And like I said, I

973
00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 1: hope that's what he said. But what I'm saying is

974
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:02,680
Speaker 1: kind of like what happened with Paul George, And who

975
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:05,120
Speaker 1: knows what this Paul George situation with the Clippers if

976
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:07,640
Speaker 1: it's not a similar type of format. But I'm worried

977
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:11,000
Speaker 1: that this might be a new trend of essentially strong

978
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:14,000
Speaker 1: arming franchises into saying you can either lose me for

979
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:17,160
Speaker 1: nothing potentially, or you can let me get traded to

980
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:19,719
Speaker 1: where I want to go and you get to then

981
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,160
Speaker 1: take your pick of whatever you want from that team.

982
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:25,200
Speaker 1: They'll be thrilled because they're getting honest. You'll be thrilled

983
00:47:25,239 --> 00:47:27,480
Speaker 1: because you're not losing me for nothing if you don't

984
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 1: sign me to this extension, I might just leave for nothing.

985
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:32,799
Speaker 1: So this kind of just it's it's almost like it's

986
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,880
Speaker 1: almost like a delay. It's it's yeah, it's it's like

987
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:38,879
Speaker 1: you're kind of in pseudo free agency. Every year, even

988
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,360
Speaker 1: the franchise a grace period. You're given the Franchi the

989
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:44,200
Speaker 1: grace period basically, and and then and then you basically

990
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,400
Speaker 1: threatened them with all hell from your agent if they

991
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:49,680
Speaker 1: did violate their end of the verbal agreement, basically the

992
00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:51,440
Speaker 1: way it would work. Yeah, exactly, No, I think you're

993
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:53,719
Speaker 1: spot on. But how do we feel about the Bucks

994
00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:55,120
Speaker 1: this year? Do we think they have any shot to

995
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,240
Speaker 1: win the title? So? Real quick? They added you to Holiday,

996
00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:01,320
Speaker 1: but they lost George Hill, Eric Blood so in West Matthews,

997
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:04,440
Speaker 1: So they lost three of their best perimeter defensive players

998
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:07,160
Speaker 1: on the team, at least perimeter defensive players at the guard.

999
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,759
Speaker 1: Here's the here's the biggest thing that scares me. Uh,

1000
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:15,600
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday is incredible. He's a really really good player,

1001
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,280
Speaker 1: especially on the defensive vent and he has a resume

1002
00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 1: of getting of raising hell with with the best guards

1003
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:24,640
Speaker 1: in the league. With on the defensive end, without a doubt,

1004
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 1: here's the problem with Drew he can't guard wings really

1005
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 1: well and well defined wings because he struggles against Lebron,

1006
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,520
Speaker 1: but Lebron just overpowers them, That's what I'm saying. So,

1007
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:41,280
Speaker 1: so Drew Holiday in the inevitable trip to the finals,

1008
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:45,160
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday is gonna have to guard potentially you know

1009
00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:48,279
Speaker 1: what they're what they might ask him to guard is

1010
00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:51,640
Speaker 1: a is a Lebron or Kevin Durant, and that that

1011
00:48:51,719 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 1: role used to fall to Wesley Matthews on that team.

1012
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:58,280
Speaker 1: And Wesley Matthews is one of the better big, strong

1013
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:01,200
Speaker 1: wing defenders in the league. And so that was my

1014
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:04,960
Speaker 1: concern was just that, like you know, Drew Holiday failed

1015
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:07,719
Speaker 1: to fix their biggest problem, which was high end e

1016
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:11,080
Speaker 1: lee offensive creation. And he may or may not have

1017
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:15,399
Speaker 1: been a defensive wash, if not a loss, because while

1018
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:17,759
Speaker 1: he's a little bit better against cards, he's not as

1019
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,320
Speaker 1: good against wings as Wesley Matthews was. Like Wesley Matthews

1020
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:23,680
Speaker 1: was their go to guy against the best wings in

1021
00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:25,440
Speaker 1: the league, so that they could have Janice be a

1022
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:28,200
Speaker 1: help defender. That was what they were doing with Jimmy Butler.

1023
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:31,680
Speaker 1: They were having you know, uh, Janice play the help defender.

1024
00:49:31,719 --> 00:49:34,080
Speaker 1: And and the point is is unless Janice wants to

1025
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:36,600
Speaker 1: take that role, which maybe he does, unless Heihannie wants

1026
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,360
Speaker 1: to take that on ball role. Like, I just don't

1027
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:41,400
Speaker 1: see the trade off. It kind of It kind of

1028
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:43,719
Speaker 1: reminds me of the idea of Brooklyn executing a James

1029
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:45,760
Speaker 1: Harden trade. It's like, okay, cool, but you're not fixing

1030
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:48,839
Speaker 1: your problems. Yeah, and that's where I get concerned. I'd

1031
00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,560
Speaker 1: say they addressed issues, right, Like they addressed some of

1032
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:54,600
Speaker 1: the offensive creation stuff that they've been lacking, especially if

1033
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,040
Speaker 1: we're going to compare it to Eric Bledsoe and George Hill.

1034
00:49:57,200 --> 00:49:59,960
Speaker 1: We're fine players, good players in the NBA, but Drew

1035
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:05,920
Speaker 1: Holiday is much better. And yeah, they they addressed issues,

1036
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:07,279
Speaker 1: but it might not be the right ones. As you're

1037
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,080
Speaker 1: alluding to that their wing defense is not any better.

1038
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:14,959
Speaker 1: It really isn't. So the NBA is so matchup based

1039
00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:17,200
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and if you don't have the right

1040
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:19,799
Speaker 1: guys to guard the best players in the league, you're

1041
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:22,440
Speaker 1: probably gonna lose the series that you're playing it. And

1042
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:23,759
Speaker 1: if you don't have the right guy to guard Kevin

1043
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:28,440
Speaker 1: Durant or Lebron James or Kawai Leonard or Steph Curry,

1044
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:30,960
Speaker 1: any of these guys, you're you're going to be in

1045
00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:33,839
Speaker 1: hell and so just looking at the roster, I don't

1046
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: even know who they would put on the brand at

1047
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:37,000
Speaker 1: this point. You' putt Middleton on them? Are you putting

1048
00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:39,560
Speaker 1: your honest on them? And maybe maybe the goal is

1049
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:44,160
Speaker 1: having three really good offensive creators. With the honest Middleton

1050
00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:47,600
Speaker 1: and Drew, you can allow your honest take on some

1051
00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:50,000
Speaker 1: more defensive responsibility. You can even allow Middleton take on

1052
00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:54,120
Speaker 1: some more defensive responsibility because their offensive load isn't so heavy.

1053
00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,640
Speaker 1: So maybe that's the thought process with Drew is Okay,

1054
00:50:56,680 --> 00:50:59,160
Speaker 1: let's get another guy who's a really good creator in here,

1055
00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:01,520
Speaker 1: who can get his own shot, who can create for others.

1056
00:51:01,960 --> 00:51:04,759
Speaker 1: You know, he's been upboards of six assists multiple times

1057
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:06,359
Speaker 1: in his career, even though he does dribble too much.

1058
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:10,400
Speaker 1: Sometimes I would assume that was their thought process. But

1059
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:13,560
Speaker 1: all in all, I don't think they address the right issues,

1060
00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:16,239
Speaker 1: and I still have them as a They might be

1061
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:18,319
Speaker 1: a great regular season team again, and they probably will be,

1062
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:19,759
Speaker 1: just because of the way they play and the fact

1063
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:23,080
Speaker 1: they play in the Eastern Conference, but I still see

1064
00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:29,440
Speaker 1: them as a fake title contenderfinitively third behind Brooklyn and Philly. Absolutely,

1065
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:32,560
Speaker 1: and especially if the Harden trade happens. I don't even

1066
00:51:32,560 --> 00:51:35,080
Speaker 1: think it's a question that they're in the conference. But

1067
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:37,960
Speaker 1: even as currently constructed, I would still have them. If

1068
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 1: we're just talking about chances to make the finals, I

1069
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:42,960
Speaker 1: would have them third, and maybe even fourth or fifth.

1070
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:48,880
Speaker 1: I would maybe even like Austin, Yeah, Auston or even Miami.

1071
00:51:49,120 --> 00:51:51,000
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a Heat, you know, sell it to a

1072
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:53,880
Speaker 1: certain extent. I always believe in the culture there. I

1073
00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:56,200
Speaker 1: believe in the guys they have there um and I

1074
00:51:56,200 --> 00:51:57,920
Speaker 1: think some of the young guys would take another step.

1075
00:51:58,160 --> 00:51:59,799
Speaker 1: But I could see them easily being kind of fifth

1076
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:01,239
Speaker 1: in that picking order in terms of teams that can

1077
00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:03,800
Speaker 1: make the finals. They just, like I said, they addressed issues,

1078
00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:06,960
Speaker 1: but not the correct ones. So well, we'll see what happens.

1079
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:11,520
Speaker 1: But I'm I am maybe just on the same level

1080
00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:13,200
Speaker 1: in terms of optimism for their year as I was

1081
00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:15,319
Speaker 1: last year. But I picked the Heat to beat the

1082
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:17,200
Speaker 1: Bucks in the playoffs last year, so I feel the

1083
00:52:17,239 --> 00:52:19,799
Speaker 1: same way. I still think the Heat, well, the Bucks

1084
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:22,080
Speaker 1: will probably address some of the issues that plagued them

1085
00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:23,600
Speaker 1: in that series. I still think that he would beat

1086
00:52:23,640 --> 00:52:26,319
Speaker 1: him in a seven game series. I really do well.

1087
00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:30,680
Speaker 1: Drew is a clear you know, is a clear improvement

1088
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:32,960
Speaker 1: as a pick and roll ball handler, as a primary

1089
00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:37,200
Speaker 1: decision maker over George Hill like and and taking the

1090
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:39,400
Speaker 1: ball out of Honest's hands a little bit without a doubt.

1091
00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:43,160
Speaker 1: But the point is is, like, like Drew Holiday is considered,

1092
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:46,040
Speaker 1: you know, somewhere around the best player in the league

1093
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:48,200
Speaker 1: because of what he brings on the defensive end. Offensively,

1094
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:51,480
Speaker 1: he's pretty sporadic, Like he's solid. Yeah, he's really up

1095
00:52:51,480 --> 00:52:54,840
Speaker 1: and down. Yeah, he's He's like, Drew Holiday is a

1096
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:58,280
Speaker 1: lot closer to his brothers in terms of offensive creation

1097
00:52:58,320 --> 00:53:01,120
Speaker 1: than he is to the like, to the high end

1098
00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:03,719
Speaker 1: guards in the league. And I'm not saying he's better

1099
00:53:03,719 --> 00:53:05,560
Speaker 1: than his brothers, but my point is is he's closer

1100
00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:07,319
Speaker 1: to that than he is to the high endguards game

1101
00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:09,720
Speaker 1: or staff or any of these are the best guards

1102
00:53:09,719 --> 00:53:12,920
Speaker 1: in the league, definitely. So so your idea was to

1103
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:16,000
Speaker 1: improve that offensive creation element. The truth of the matter

1104
00:53:16,040 --> 00:53:18,160
Speaker 1: is is you're gonna find yourself in these matchups where

1105
00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:20,120
Speaker 1: Drew is gonna not be the best guard on the floor.

1106
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:24,160
Speaker 1: So yeah, and so I don't understand how how it

1107
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:27,279
Speaker 1: necessarily raises their ceiling enough to be especially when you

1108
00:53:27,360 --> 00:53:30,120
Speaker 1: factor in like what they paid for him, like it's

1109
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:34,680
Speaker 1: it's unbelievab perst round picks. Three first round picks got

1110
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:37,759
Speaker 1: assign the extension, so it achieved a goal. But you're

1111
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:41,120
Speaker 1: still giving up so much capital for Drew Holiday. Like

1112
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:43,600
Speaker 1: you said, fine player, but nothing special. And you took

1113
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:46,319
Speaker 1: yourself out of the Harden race. And he actually came out, well,

1114
00:53:46,320 --> 00:53:48,239
Speaker 1: he didn't come out and say, but he leaked to

1115
00:53:48,719 --> 00:53:51,600
Speaker 1: UH to either Sham's or Woach that he potentially wanted

1116
00:53:51,640 --> 00:53:53,680
Speaker 1: to go to Milwaukee. And and I tweeted on the

1117
00:53:53,840 --> 00:53:58,239
Speaker 1: night of the Drew Holiday trade, I said, well, why

1118
00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:01,160
Speaker 1: would you take yourself out of be Like, why would

1119
00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:03,279
Speaker 1: you take help out of whoever else might come. I

1120
00:54:03,320 --> 00:54:05,360
Speaker 1: don't know why they didn't go after Beal. I don't know.

1121
00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:07,640
Speaker 1: I don't understand why more teams haven't pursued you. I

1122
00:54:07,640 --> 00:54:11,440
Speaker 1: think people are just because he's stuck in Washington and

1123
00:54:11,480 --> 00:54:14,480
Speaker 1: he was really, really, really bad defensively last year. He

1124
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:17,759
Speaker 1: would have helped two or three title contenders immediately and

1125
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:20,200
Speaker 1: bothered them to one of the favorites to do. He's

1126
00:54:20,200 --> 00:54:22,080
Speaker 1: one of the most dynamic offensive players in the week.

1127
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:24,120
Speaker 1: He is incredible on that end of the floor, So

1128
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,400
Speaker 1: if you put good defensive personnel around him, he'll be

1129
00:54:26,440 --> 00:54:28,600
Speaker 1: passable on that end. And then he gives you one

1130
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:30,319
Speaker 1: of the more high level shot creators in the weak

1131
00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:31,960
Speaker 1: the whole thing that can throw a wrench in This

1132
00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:35,839
Speaker 1: from Milwaukee in a good way. As if Janice becomes

1133
00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:38,719
Speaker 1: one of the best post players in the league, which

1134
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:41,200
Speaker 1: which is his path to a title. I still don't

1135
00:54:41,239 --> 00:54:42,600
Speaker 1: know why they have him hanging out around the three

1136
00:54:42,600 --> 00:54:44,400
Speaker 1: point arcs so much. Yes, you want him in transition

1137
00:54:44,400 --> 00:54:46,480
Speaker 1: bringing the ball up, I get that totally. He's he's

1138
00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:48,440
Speaker 1: one of the most lethal transition forces in the league

1139
00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:50,359
Speaker 1: and the half court. They need to do more stuff

1140
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:52,200
Speaker 1: off the elbow for him. They need to do more

1141
00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:54,839
Speaker 1: stuff kind of midpost, low block, because that's where he's

1142
00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:56,960
Speaker 1: really good. They started going to that in the Miami

1143
00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:58,719
Speaker 1: series right before he heard his ankle, and he was

1144
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:01,480
Speaker 1: absolutely destroyed Miami in that first half. I want to say,

1145
00:55:01,520 --> 00:55:04,280
Speaker 1: he had twenty four points on like ten of twelve shooting.

1146
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:07,480
Speaker 1: They couldn't stop him. So that is the way that

1147
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,720
Speaker 1: they would have a chance to actually win the title

1148
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:13,520
Speaker 1: is he becomes just this absolutely dominant post player because

1149
00:55:13,520 --> 00:55:16,480
Speaker 1: he has obviously the strength and the athleticism to do it.

1150
00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:20,120
Speaker 1: It's okay, Kenny add really simple a hook with each hand,

1151
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:21,840
Speaker 1: you know, six ft in the rim, and Kenny had

1152
00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:23,760
Speaker 1: a little fade away. That's not it doesn't have to bet.

1153
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:27,080
Speaker 1: But Kenny shoot at you know, Kenny, Kenny shoot at

1154
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:28,960
Speaker 1: forty two to where it's like, all right, we don't

1155
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:30,520
Speaker 1: want to give it up to him because he can't

1156
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:33,440
Speaker 1: make it. The problem is he released a video of

1157
00:55:33,480 --> 00:55:35,400
Speaker 1: him shooting step back jumpers and then he in his

1158
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:39,080
Speaker 1: preseason came out in his preseason interview, he basically came

1159
00:55:39,080 --> 00:55:41,160
Speaker 1: out and said this year, I'm gonna have the ball

1160
00:55:41,160 --> 00:55:44,280
Speaker 1: more out on the premium. It's basically what he said.

1161
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:48,799
Speaker 1: It's the craziest thing going. Man, I don't understand it.

1162
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:51,080
Speaker 1: After the life of me, I don't understand the development

1163
00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:54,000
Speaker 1: tract that they're taking. But to your point, though, and

1164
00:55:54,239 --> 00:55:56,040
Speaker 1: I was gonna add the same thing, and you you

1165
00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:57,839
Speaker 1: beat me to it, and I think you're absolutely right.

1166
00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:00,960
Speaker 1: The big wild card for Milwaukee is, be honest, if

1167
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:02,600
Speaker 1: he goes from being the sixth best player in the

1168
00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:04,279
Speaker 1: league to being the second or third best player, in

1169
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:06,239
Speaker 1: the league, all of a sudden they become a way

1170
00:56:06,280 --> 00:56:09,560
Speaker 1: more interesting team. All right, So for time purposes, let's

1171
00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:12,000
Speaker 1: let's hit our rapid fire here. So we're gonna do it.

1172
00:56:12,560 --> 00:56:14,640
Speaker 1: Since you just brought up Dealist to Washington, first, what

1173
00:56:14,680 --> 00:56:17,120
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on Washington. Um, I think there'll be

1174
00:56:17,160 --> 00:56:19,759
Speaker 1: a playoff team for sure. As much crap as I

1175
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:23,880
Speaker 1: give Russ for being this highly, highly flawed player, he

1176
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 1: definitely raises when he has the ball a lot. He

1177
00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:28,880
Speaker 1: raises your ceiling as um or raises your floor, I

1178
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:31,799
Speaker 1: should say, as a regular season team, So he's gonna

1179
00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:33,400
Speaker 1: he's gonna play hard every night. I think he'll and

1180
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:35,520
Speaker 1: he'll remotivate deal in some ways to maybe play a

1181
00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:37,759
Speaker 1: little bit harder on the defensive end. They have too

1182
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,000
Speaker 1: high level shot creators. Now. They have a bunch of

1183
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:43,960
Speaker 1: shooters there. If I'm recalling it correctly, I think they

1184
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:45,560
Speaker 1: were the best offense in the league last year, but

1185
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:48,279
Speaker 1: they were also the worst defense. They have a ton

1186
00:56:48,320 --> 00:56:51,000
Speaker 1: of offensive talent, and they should get the defense to

1187
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:55,239
Speaker 1: maybe passable levels, like instead of thirty in the league

1188
00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:57,200
Speaker 1: and in the East. If you're a top five offense

1189
00:56:57,200 --> 00:56:59,239
Speaker 1: in the twentieth defense you should definitely make the playoffs.

1190
00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:02,080
Speaker 1: So I think off team, but they're low level playoff teams,

1191
00:57:02,080 --> 00:57:05,680
Speaker 1: somewhere six through eight. And yeah, I think there'll be

1192
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:07,520
Speaker 1: a fun team on a lot of nights because Russ

1193
00:57:07,560 --> 00:57:09,360
Speaker 1: is still Russ and he can still do Russ stuff

1194
00:57:09,400 --> 00:57:11,920
Speaker 1: and feel, like I said, he is one of the

1195
00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:14,279
Speaker 1: best shot creators in the league. That dude is incredible

1196
00:57:14,320 --> 00:57:17,120
Speaker 1: as a perimeter shot creator. They'll they'll be a fun watch,

1197
00:57:17,200 --> 00:57:20,439
Speaker 1: but there you know, a first round exit, no likelihood. Yeah. So,

1198
00:57:20,600 --> 00:57:22,880
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest reasons why they were

1199
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,160
Speaker 1: so good offensively last year is that they were so

1200
00:57:25,240 --> 00:57:27,520
Speaker 1: bad as a team that they got the worst defensive

1201
00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:30,520
Speaker 1: effort from everybody every night. I think they still will

1202
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:32,400
Speaker 1: be one of the best offenses in the league this year,

1203
00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:35,160
Speaker 1: but as a team that gets everybody's better shot because

1204
00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:37,560
Speaker 1: Russ and and Bradley will beat you if you don't

1205
00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:41,040
Speaker 1: bring your better shot. Um that I would put them

1206
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:43,920
Speaker 1: as about the second best offense in the Eastern Conference

1207
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:46,360
Speaker 1: behind Brooklyn in terms of you know, a team that

1208
00:57:46,400 --> 00:57:48,439
Speaker 1: would as a team that's going to get a better

1209
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 1: focused defensive effort from the people they play every night. Again,

1210
00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:54,560
Speaker 1: they don't defend anywhere near well enough to have any

1211
00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:57,520
Speaker 1: hope of really competing or contending. But I think they're

1212
00:57:57,560 --> 00:57:59,320
Speaker 1: going to be a very interesting team in the East

1213
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:01,440
Speaker 1: all year long, somewhere middle of the pack, bottom of

1214
00:58:01,480 --> 00:58:03,520
Speaker 1: the East, and they're gonna be huge pain in the

1215
00:58:03,560 --> 00:58:05,400
Speaker 1: asked to beat in a playoff series because in any

1216
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:07,280
Speaker 1: given series, they might have the two best players on

1217
00:58:07,320 --> 00:58:10,360
Speaker 1: the floor, depending on if Russ brings you know, any

1218
00:58:10,400 --> 00:58:13,680
Speaker 1: sort of uh like Russ is. Just the thing with

1219
00:58:13,840 --> 00:58:17,080
Speaker 1: us is it's like he's so used to playing one

1220
00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:20,040
Speaker 1: way that when Houston leaned on him playing that way

1221
00:58:20,080 --> 00:58:21,840
Speaker 1: in the middle of the last season, they want a

1222
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:23,840
Speaker 1: bunch of games, and he put up crazy numbers. But

1223
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:26,120
Speaker 1: as soon as things kind of shift, and whether it's

1224
00:58:26,120 --> 00:58:28,600
Speaker 1: based on him getting injured or whether it's based on,

1225
00:58:28,960 --> 00:58:31,200
Speaker 1: you know, just James Harden doing James Harden stuff, as

1226
00:58:31,240 --> 00:58:34,120
Speaker 1: soon as things shift into him being in a beta role,

1227
00:58:34,560 --> 00:58:37,560
Speaker 1: he his impact falls off of a cliff. Like in

1228
00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:40,680
Speaker 1: an alpha role, he's like a fringe top fifteen player,

1229
00:58:40,720 --> 00:58:42,880
Speaker 1: but in a beta role he's like barely a top

1230
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:45,480
Speaker 1: thirty player. That I mean, that's the issue if you're

1231
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:47,840
Speaker 1: if you have to be the alpha and you're only

1232
00:58:48,120 --> 00:58:50,880
Speaker 1: top ten, top fifteen. When you do that, you're basically

1233
00:58:50,920 --> 00:58:54,280
Speaker 1: a first round exit. That's basically you're ceiling, or maybe

1234
00:58:54,320 --> 00:58:56,120
Speaker 1: a second round if you get lucky. I don't see

1235
00:58:56,160 --> 00:58:59,920
Speaker 1: them pushing anyone because of Russ's flaws that always become

1236
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:02,520
Speaker 1: more evident in a playoffs year, especially if he's having

1237
00:59:02,560 --> 00:59:04,520
Speaker 1: to share touches with bo and it's like kind of

1238
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:07,280
Speaker 1: a pseudo one A one B type thing where Russ

1239
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:10,400
Speaker 1: isn't the main guy. We we saw it with Paul George.

1240
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:12,920
Speaker 1: I think he is probably a better offensive player than

1241
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:15,720
Speaker 1: Paul George. He's more dynamic in my opinion. But they

1242
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:18,560
Speaker 1: lost in the first round both year in a row

1243
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:20,280
Speaker 1: when they were together, so I think it's gonna be

1244
00:59:20,280 --> 00:59:23,120
Speaker 1: actually a somewhat similar situation. Okay, see they won't be

1245
00:59:23,120 --> 00:59:26,520
Speaker 1: as good defensively, but offensively it'll probably be somewhat similar,

1246
00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:29,720
Speaker 1: and they won't in my opinion, I don't think they

1247
00:59:29,720 --> 00:59:32,000
Speaker 1: even have a right matchup. Maybe they can get somebody

1248
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:33,560
Speaker 1: in the first round, but I don't see it. No,

1249
00:59:33,640 --> 00:59:35,760
Speaker 1: I agree with you. Think the reality is the Eastern

1250
00:59:35,800 --> 00:59:37,760
Speaker 1: Conference is different than it used to be. I railed

1251
00:59:37,800 --> 00:59:39,840
Speaker 1: on the Eastern Conference all year last year for being

1252
00:59:39,840 --> 00:59:42,280
Speaker 1: weak at the bottom, and they were, they were historically

1253
00:59:42,360 --> 00:59:44,240
Speaker 1: at the bottom, but at the top they were as

1254
00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:47,120
Speaker 1: strong as they had been in decades. And the reality

1255
00:59:47,240 --> 00:59:50,720
Speaker 1: is is Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Philly and Boston is a hellish

1256
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:53,400
Speaker 1: first first round a series to go on the road

1257
00:59:53,480 --> 00:59:55,640
Speaker 1: for and swap one of those teams out for the

1258
00:59:55,680 --> 00:59:57,360
Speaker 1: Miami Heat, the team that made the finals last year,

1259
00:59:57,360 --> 00:59:59,600
Speaker 1: if you want to. But again, like I'm with you,

1260
00:59:59,640 --> 01:00:01,400
Speaker 1: I just think they're gonna be interesting, and I like

1261
01:00:01,480 --> 01:00:03,880
Speaker 1: interesting in it and it adds to the overall talent

1262
01:00:03,960 --> 01:00:06,720
Speaker 1: level that exists in the Eastern Conference. All right, let's

1263
01:00:06,760 --> 01:00:12,840
Speaker 1: do Atlanta, um. But they added Rondo, Dinero, Gallinarian, Bogdan Bogdanovitch.

1264
01:00:13,800 --> 01:00:15,680
Speaker 1: I think there's a clear mandate for them to make

1265
01:00:15,680 --> 01:00:18,640
Speaker 1: the playoffs right from ownership. It seems like, you know,

1266
01:00:18,800 --> 01:00:20,040
Speaker 1: this is kind of a make or break here for

1267
01:00:20,040 --> 01:00:23,240
Speaker 1: that front office maybe, and I think maybe they have

1268
01:00:23,320 --> 01:00:24,840
Speaker 1: the pieces to do it. I like a lot of

1269
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:26,520
Speaker 1: their young guys. I'm a big fan of Herder, I'm

1270
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:28,640
Speaker 1: a big fan of fan of Cambraddish. I really like

1271
01:00:28,680 --> 01:00:30,280
Speaker 1: the a Kong Woo pick. I think he's gonna be

1272
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:32,800
Speaker 1: a really dynamic defensive player right away. In the NBA,

1273
01:00:33,120 --> 01:00:36,320
Speaker 1: John Collins is an awesome offensive four slash five man.

1274
01:00:36,520 --> 01:00:38,840
Speaker 1: He can pick and pop, you can shoot threes. He's

1275
01:00:38,880 --> 01:00:41,480
Speaker 1: an incredible role man with really good gravity. And then

1276
01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:44,400
Speaker 1: of course Trey Young, I mean Trey Is. I'm super

1277
01:00:44,440 --> 01:00:46,680
Speaker 1: super critical of Trey because of play style and shot

1278
01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:50,720
Speaker 1: selection and literally not even trying on defense. But he's

1279
01:00:50,760 --> 01:00:55,160
Speaker 1: also like maybe a top three, top five most dynamic

1280
01:00:55,200 --> 01:00:58,640
Speaker 1: creator in the entire league. He has greater natural passing,

1281
01:00:58,720 --> 01:01:01,600
Speaker 1: vision and feel. He's an incredible shock creator for himself.

1282
01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:03,600
Speaker 1: He can get threes off from thirty five ft. He

1283
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:05,600
Speaker 1: has a really good floating game for a guy his size.

1284
01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:08,280
Speaker 1: He draws fouls really well, he can get to the rim.

1285
01:01:08,520 --> 01:01:11,840
Speaker 1: He's a super duper dynamic offensive player. The key to

1286
01:01:11,880 --> 01:01:14,320
Speaker 1: them making the playoffs, I think is maybe listening his

1287
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:16,480
Speaker 1: role a little bit on offense and giving some of

1288
01:01:16,520 --> 01:01:20,080
Speaker 1: these other guys Bogdanovich Um Gallinari some more offensive touches

1289
01:01:20,080 --> 01:01:22,080
Speaker 1: to take the burden of Trey and getting him to

1290
01:01:22,880 --> 01:01:24,760
Speaker 1: not the worst defensive player in the league. I don't

1291
01:01:24,800 --> 01:01:26,760
Speaker 1: even think he'll ever be a possible defensive player just

1292
01:01:26,760 --> 01:01:29,480
Speaker 1: because of his size. He is a tiny, tiny dude,

1293
01:01:29,800 --> 01:01:32,720
Speaker 1: um with not great defensive instincts, but you've got to

1294
01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:34,480
Speaker 1: get him to just at least be like a regular

1295
01:01:34,520 --> 01:01:38,080
Speaker 1: negative instead of maybe the worst defender in NBA history,

1296
01:01:38,080 --> 01:01:40,960
Speaker 1: at least in modern history. Um. So I think they

1297
01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:43,320
Speaker 1: can make the playoffs. A lot of that I think

1298
01:01:43,440 --> 01:01:45,160
Speaker 1: is gonna come down to what type of player Tray

1299
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:46,520
Speaker 1: is because I think most of their role players, you

1300
01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:48,480
Speaker 1: basically know what you're gonna get, especially the bets that

1301
01:01:48,480 --> 01:01:51,040
Speaker 1: they brought in. They brought in some solid vets and

1302
01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:52,960
Speaker 1: they also run in Chris Dunn, who was actually a

1303
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:55,200
Speaker 1: really nice guy to pair with Trey and some minus

1304
01:01:55,200 --> 01:01:58,080
Speaker 1: because of how versatile he is defensively. So I think

1305
01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:02,360
Speaker 1: they'll probably be bottom run play off team. Um, you know,

1306
01:02:02,440 --> 01:02:05,040
Speaker 1: if Trey can bring the requisite level of effort on

1307
01:02:05,080 --> 01:02:06,560
Speaker 1: the defensive, and because if he can't, they're going to

1308
01:02:06,600 --> 01:02:09,640
Speaker 1: be so bad defensively. Yet again, he's just he's a

1309
01:02:09,680 --> 01:02:12,320
Speaker 1: turnstyle on that, but he's He's also one of the

1310
01:02:12,320 --> 01:02:14,080
Speaker 1: most talented offensive players in the league. So I think

1311
01:02:14,080 --> 01:02:16,920
Speaker 1: he can lead a top five offense if everything breaks right. Yeah,

1312
01:02:16,960 --> 01:02:18,840
Speaker 1: I agree, And and they do have some defensive pieces

1313
01:02:18,840 --> 01:02:21,280
Speaker 1: around him. At least the ironically their younger players, not

1314
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:25,640
Speaker 1: their events. Yeah yeah, those guys. But so what's interesting

1315
01:02:25,680 --> 01:02:28,160
Speaker 1: to me about Atlanta is there like the anti Philly

1316
01:02:28,200 --> 01:02:30,560
Speaker 1: in this regard where you know, as we talked about

1317
01:02:30,600 --> 01:02:33,040
Speaker 1: in in the Tuesday Pod, like you kind of have

1318
01:02:33,120 --> 01:02:35,920
Speaker 1: to have really good luck to end up as a

1319
01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:37,959
Speaker 1: team not a small Atlanta is not a small market.

1320
01:02:38,000 --> 01:02:40,080
Speaker 1: It's a huge city, but it's a small NBA market

1321
01:02:40,080 --> 01:02:42,600
Speaker 1: because they don't have a huge, you know, expansive fan base.

1322
01:02:42,920 --> 01:02:45,560
Speaker 1: But the truth matter is is like to win as

1323
01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:48,040
Speaker 1: a to have to really truly contend for a title

1324
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:50,960
Speaker 1: in a smaller market, you need to hit on multiple

1325
01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:54,880
Speaker 1: draft picks, and so a lot of teams just don't

1326
01:02:54,880 --> 01:02:56,960
Speaker 1: have the patients to do that the way that Philly

1327
01:02:57,000 --> 01:02:59,680
Speaker 1: did to get Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid or you

1328
01:02:59,720 --> 01:03:02,000
Speaker 1: know the way that you know, Golden State just hit

1329
01:03:02,080 --> 01:03:06,120
Speaker 1: the absolute lottery on three consecutive massive draft picks that

1330
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:08,880
Speaker 1: Step at seven, Play at eleven, and then Draymond at

1331
01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:12,160
Speaker 1: thirty five. It's impossible to replicate that exactly two of them,

1332
01:03:12,280 --> 01:03:14,240
Speaker 1: Like Clay is almost not even a lottery pick, and

1333
01:03:14,320 --> 01:03:16,800
Speaker 1: Draymonds the second round pick that doesn't happen exactly. And

1334
01:03:16,840 --> 01:03:19,040
Speaker 1: so what's interesting to me about this is this is

1335
01:03:19,080 --> 01:03:23,120
Speaker 1: Atlanta basically saying, like, we don't have the patients to

1336
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:25,520
Speaker 1: sit here and try to win the lottery a couple

1337
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:28,400
Speaker 1: of times to contend. We got one star that we

1338
01:03:28,480 --> 01:03:31,920
Speaker 1: really like who's great for our fan base, so we're

1339
01:03:31,920 --> 01:03:34,560
Speaker 1: gonna leave. We're gonna go pay a bunch of veterans

1340
01:03:34,920 --> 01:03:37,919
Speaker 1: uh more than they probably deserve, and we're okay being

1341
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:40,960
Speaker 1: a fringe playoff team and and just you know, trying

1342
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:44,560
Speaker 1: to contend that way, not entirely unlike the Joe Johnson experience,

1343
01:03:44,880 --> 01:03:47,680
Speaker 1: but but it's just funny to me because like it's

1344
01:03:47,720 --> 01:03:51,000
Speaker 1: like it's it's kind of like they have these teams

1345
01:03:51,040 --> 01:03:52,919
Speaker 1: that are in this situation usually have lots of cap

1346
01:03:52,960 --> 01:03:55,800
Speaker 1: space every season, but instead of doing what Philly did,

1347
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:58,040
Speaker 1: like just throwing you know, twenty million at J. J.

1348
01:03:58,120 --> 01:04:00,360
Speaker 1: Reddick first season to just fill cap space to keep

1349
01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:03,240
Speaker 1: to maintain your flexibility, they're just like, screw it, We're

1350
01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:04,880
Speaker 1: gonna sign all these guys and we'll go all in.

1351
01:04:04,920 --> 01:04:08,000
Speaker 1: And it kind of sucks because unless you know, like

1352
01:04:08,120 --> 01:04:11,120
Speaker 1: literally unless John Colins or like John Collins just blows

1353
01:04:11,200 --> 01:04:13,560
Speaker 1: up into a top fifteen NBA player, They're just never

1354
01:04:13,600 --> 01:04:16,720
Speaker 1: gonna to raise their their their ability to raise their

1355
01:04:16,720 --> 01:04:19,760
Speaker 1: ceiling at this point is now significantly limited because now

1356
01:04:19,760 --> 01:04:22,040
Speaker 1: they're gonna be picking in the fifteens every year, even

1357
01:04:22,080 --> 01:04:25,200
Speaker 1: lowering their chances even further to potentially hit on another

1358
01:04:25,280 --> 01:04:29,800
Speaker 1: draft pick. Sorry, Kevin Herder's not Clay Thompson, and you know,

1359
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:32,880
Speaker 1: and and it's it's just it's kind of like they're

1360
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:37,960
Speaker 1: an example of just like of of NBA small market

1361
01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:41,400
Speaker 1: purgatory from better time. I think they are a sleeping

1362
01:04:41,440 --> 01:04:43,400
Speaker 1: giant in a lot of ways. I think they have

1363
01:04:43,480 --> 01:04:45,560
Speaker 1: the chance to be a big market if they were

1364
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:48,400
Speaker 1: to actually have some real, real playoffs success. But I

1365
01:04:48,440 --> 01:04:51,000
Speaker 1: think the Joe Johnson Hawks are actually a great comparison

1366
01:04:51,040 --> 01:04:52,640
Speaker 1: point because it seems like they're just contemp saying, you

1367
01:04:52,680 --> 01:04:54,480
Speaker 1: know what, through we're gonna be a bottom two mid

1368
01:04:54,520 --> 01:04:57,480
Speaker 1: run playoff team. Um, they signed Bobdanovitch to what like

1369
01:04:57,480 --> 01:05:00,840
Speaker 1: four years seventy two, uh, galling our his contract is

1370
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:03,480
Speaker 1: at least a couple of years. So yeah, they're just

1371
01:05:03,480 --> 01:05:05,480
Speaker 1: they're gonna be second NBA purgatory, which, hey, if you're

1372
01:05:05,520 --> 01:05:06,960
Speaker 1: just trying to to make a little bit of money

1373
01:05:06,960 --> 01:05:09,720
Speaker 1: every years ownership, that's your goal. If you don't actually

1374
01:05:09,720 --> 01:05:12,439
Speaker 1: care about winning titles, then yeah so, but it could

1375
01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:14,080
Speaker 1: all blow up in their face because I don't think.

1376
01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:18,080
Speaker 1: I don't know. Trey Young seems like a guy to

1377
01:05:18,080 --> 01:05:19,960
Speaker 1: me who really cares about the optics of his career.

1378
01:05:20,600 --> 01:05:22,360
Speaker 1: And I don't know if he'll ever want to be

1379
01:05:22,400 --> 01:05:24,520
Speaker 1: on a championship contender, but I can see that, you know,

1380
01:05:24,600 --> 01:05:26,280
Speaker 1: just from an optic standpoint, he wants that because he

1381
01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,200
Speaker 1: wants to be considered in the upper one of the league,

1382
01:05:29,560 --> 01:05:31,960
Speaker 1: and Atlanta isn't going to provide that to him. It

1383
01:05:31,960 --> 01:05:34,880
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like especially made this off he'son, unless you

1384
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:39,200
Speaker 1: know Herder isn't Clay but maybe Reddish Relie pops Um.

1385
01:05:39,240 --> 01:05:40,920
Speaker 1: If everything goes right for him, he could be a

1386
01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:42,680
Speaker 1: damn good player on both ends of the ball. He's

1387
01:05:42,680 --> 01:05:45,960
Speaker 1: already a good defensive player, and if he keeps progressing

1388
01:05:45,960 --> 01:05:47,360
Speaker 1: like he did in his rookie year on the offensive

1389
01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:49,040
Speaker 1: and he could be a really really good player on

1390
01:05:49,080 --> 01:05:51,919
Speaker 1: that at a dynamic off the dribble shooter with some

1391
01:05:52,360 --> 01:05:54,600
Speaker 1: creation shops, a guy with a mid range game can

1392
01:05:54,640 --> 01:05:56,480
Speaker 1: shoot from three, can get to the rim just enough

1393
01:05:56,520 --> 01:05:58,840
Speaker 1: to keep you honest, Um, So it could work out

1394
01:05:58,840 --> 01:06:00,360
Speaker 1: for them. I mean they're I think they're ding big

1395
01:06:00,400 --> 01:06:01,920
Speaker 1: on the young guys that they have right now. But

1396
01:06:01,960 --> 01:06:03,760
Speaker 1: we'll see how that works. It's a big bet because

1397
01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:06,200
Speaker 1: besides Tray, none of these guys have a clear path

1398
01:06:06,200 --> 01:06:08,960
Speaker 1: to top ten Top Tip team. Yeah, no, I agree,

1399
01:06:09,080 --> 01:06:12,520
Speaker 1: and the Reddish real quickly. Reddish, my my worry with

1400
01:06:12,600 --> 01:06:14,560
Speaker 1: him is his confidence. When I watch him play, he

1401
01:06:14,600 --> 01:06:17,520
Speaker 1: strikes me as a player that has like like the

1402
01:06:17,560 --> 01:06:20,040
Speaker 1: mentality of a tenth man off the bench with the

1403
01:06:20,080 --> 01:06:23,560
Speaker 1: talent of Paul George. I was gonna say, there are

1404
01:06:24,040 --> 01:06:27,640
Speaker 1: big Paul George vibes there, like if it breaks the

1405
01:06:27,720 --> 01:06:30,080
Speaker 1: right way, Paul George is kind of the same guy,

1406
01:06:30,800 --> 01:06:35,520
Speaker 1: is really good by the way. Yeah, Atlanta becomes infinitely more.

1407
01:06:36,240 --> 01:06:39,400
Speaker 1: That's a win. Um, all the tools are there. But

1408
01:06:39,800 --> 01:06:41,600
Speaker 1: I mean Paul George goes through about to re struggles

1409
01:06:41,600 --> 01:06:43,480
Speaker 1: with his confidence. So maybe Reddish is just so talented

1410
01:06:43,480 --> 01:06:45,720
Speaker 1: it ends up working out for them. M I'll see.

1411
01:06:46,120 --> 01:06:48,680
Speaker 1: So two more we got, We'll do Miami next. So

1412
01:06:48,720 --> 01:06:51,200
Speaker 1: Miami added Mo Harkless and Avery Bradley, but they're more

1413
01:06:51,240 --> 01:06:54,800
Speaker 1: or less the same team. I I don't see more

1414
01:06:54,920 --> 01:06:57,240
Speaker 1: more Heartless or Avery Bradley is moving the needle. I

1415
01:06:57,240 --> 01:06:59,200
Speaker 1: think they're more or less going to be relying on

1416
01:06:59,280 --> 01:07:02,640
Speaker 1: the same Heartless is basically going to slide into Jay

1417
01:07:02,680 --> 01:07:05,840
Speaker 1: Crowder's role. Um. Avery Bradley to me is kind of

1418
01:07:05,880 --> 01:07:08,720
Speaker 1: redundant because they brought back draw Jich and they're gonna

1419
01:07:08,720 --> 01:07:11,120
Speaker 1: be leaning on Harrow a lot. And I guess maybe

1420
01:07:11,120 --> 01:07:15,080
Speaker 1: Avery Bradley takes Kendrick Nuns minutes um, which is which

1421
01:07:15,080 --> 01:07:17,400
Speaker 1: is a clear upgrade of my opinion. I And I'm

1422
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:19,360
Speaker 1: not a Kendrick Dunnan, and he just he's one of

1423
01:07:19,360 --> 01:07:21,040
Speaker 1: those guys where it's like, oh, he looks great on

1424
01:07:21,040 --> 01:07:22,520
Speaker 1: a bad team because he can do some stuff on

1425
01:07:22,600 --> 01:07:24,800
Speaker 1: offense and he can score some points, but he's such

1426
01:07:24,840 --> 01:07:27,240
Speaker 1: a sive on defense, and then he doesn't create well

1427
01:07:27,360 --> 01:07:29,800
Speaker 1: enough on offense to actually make you a good offensive team.

1428
01:07:29,800 --> 01:07:32,320
Speaker 1: It just looks good. It's a it's an aesthetic thing.

1429
01:07:32,920 --> 01:07:34,760
Speaker 1: And you've talked about that a lot with certain players,

1430
01:07:34,760 --> 01:07:38,000
Speaker 1: how the aesthetics matters so much and how we evaluate

1431
01:07:38,240 --> 01:07:41,240
Speaker 1: certain guys on the offensive end, and it really is crazy. Well,

1432
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:43,840
Speaker 1: that's the if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving make it

1433
01:07:43,880 --> 01:07:46,479
Speaker 1: to the finals. It's gonna be the aesthetics Championship because

1434
01:07:46,480 --> 01:07:50,360
Speaker 1: it's gonna be too to somewhat ugly offensive players who

1435
01:07:50,680 --> 01:07:53,560
Speaker 1: who do so much more to impact winning against two

1436
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:56,640
Speaker 1: of the prettiest basketball players ever offensively, and if the

1437
01:07:56,720 --> 01:08:00,280
Speaker 1: Lakers win, it's gonna be kind of a referendum. But

1438
01:08:01,080 --> 01:08:05,160
Speaker 1: I I don't think Miami's championship run was a fluke.

1439
01:08:05,240 --> 01:08:09,920
Speaker 1: I don't know. But Brooklyn and Philly are here now

1440
01:08:10,120 --> 01:08:12,680
Speaker 1: and they weren't here last year, and I think they're

1441
01:08:12,720 --> 01:08:15,120
Speaker 1: clearly better. So that's kind of where I'm at. It's

1442
01:08:15,160 --> 01:08:18,960
Speaker 1: not that I disrespect Miami. It's just that if Janice

1443
01:08:18,960 --> 01:08:21,680
Speaker 1: gets any better, and if Brooklyn and Philly are what

1444
01:08:21,720 --> 01:08:24,759
Speaker 1: we expect them to be, your best case scenario suddenly

1445
01:08:24,800 --> 01:08:26,479
Speaker 1: becomes being the fourth best team in the East, even

1446
01:08:26,479 --> 01:08:28,360
Speaker 1: if you're the same team that took the Lakers. Yeah,

1447
01:08:28,560 --> 01:08:31,360
Speaker 1: And the the issue is they did go to the finals, right,

1448
01:08:31,360 --> 01:08:34,439
Speaker 1: so they only got seventy whatever days off, So any

1449
01:08:34,479 --> 01:08:37,679
Speaker 1: of their young guys who were looking to improve, bam hero,

1450
01:08:39,120 --> 01:08:41,840
Speaker 1: I mean, any any of their young guys no off season,

1451
01:08:42,280 --> 01:08:44,719
Speaker 1: no off season, no offseason all, They're gonna be tired.

1452
01:08:46,200 --> 01:08:49,320
Speaker 1: They're two best offensive creators and they're old, so now

1453
01:08:49,720 --> 01:08:52,240
Speaker 1: coming off pretty bad. Yeah, Dragon is coming off a

1454
01:08:52,240 --> 01:08:54,519
Speaker 1: pretty bad foot injury, like he couldn't even really play

1455
01:08:55,040 --> 01:08:57,439
Speaker 1: towards the end of the bubble. So yeah, I just

1456
01:08:58,040 --> 01:09:00,160
Speaker 1: I love Miami. I'm always a believer in what they do.

1457
01:09:00,240 --> 01:09:01,479
Speaker 1: And I think they have a punch of chance in

1458
01:09:01,520 --> 01:09:04,600
Speaker 1: any playoffs series just from an overall toughness standpoint, Like

1459
01:09:05,280 --> 01:09:08,679
Speaker 1: you're gonna get everything that they have UM in every

1460
01:09:08,720 --> 01:09:11,439
Speaker 1: game in every series, So they could beat anybody. But

1461
01:09:11,479 --> 01:09:15,320
Speaker 1: I think they're at best the clear cut third team,

1462
01:09:15,400 --> 01:09:17,360
Speaker 1: and I could see the bottom falling out and their

1463
01:09:17,400 --> 01:09:20,679
Speaker 1: six or seven if you know, a couple of injuries,

1464
01:09:20,720 --> 01:09:22,720
Speaker 1: a couple of things don't go right, and you know,

1465
01:09:22,800 --> 01:09:25,160
Speaker 1: Jimmy injury, a Bam injury really really sets them back.

1466
01:09:25,200 --> 01:09:27,839
Speaker 1: Those guys are both so important to them. UM. Anytime

1467
01:09:27,840 --> 01:09:30,479
Speaker 1: that those two guys missed, they could almost miss the

1468
01:09:30,479 --> 01:09:33,000
Speaker 1: playoffs in a way. So and and the last thing

1469
01:09:33,040 --> 01:09:34,960
Speaker 1: I'll say about Miami before we move on to Boston

1470
01:09:35,040 --> 01:09:37,080
Speaker 1: is just kind of similar to the honest But a

1471
01:09:37,120 --> 01:09:38,479
Speaker 1: lot of their ceiling just has to do with how

1472
01:09:38,560 --> 01:09:41,479
Speaker 1: much better band gets if Bam kind of starts to

1473
01:09:41,520 --> 01:09:44,680
Speaker 1: expand because what murdered the heat in Game six is

1474
01:09:44,720 --> 01:09:48,680
Speaker 1: Bam Bam couldn't shoot, and so Anthony Davis was literally

1475
01:09:48,840 --> 01:09:52,000
Speaker 1: just playing like two three zoning the paint, which absolutely

1476
01:09:52,040 --> 01:09:56,920
Speaker 1: shut Miami down. And if Bam literally becomes a dependable

1477
01:09:56,960 --> 01:10:00,519
Speaker 1: three point shooter, if if if Ban becomes a if

1478
01:10:00,520 --> 01:10:03,680
Speaker 1: Bam just kind of progresses and that next level of

1479
01:10:03,720 --> 01:10:06,559
Speaker 1: his star rise to startom, that could be something that

1480
01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:09,759
Speaker 1: raises their ceiling as well. But like no offseason, Yeah,

1481
01:10:09,800 --> 01:10:12,360
Speaker 1: what do we think overall about his offensive ceiling Because

1482
01:10:12,360 --> 01:10:14,160
Speaker 1: I go back and forth on it. He's obviously a

1483
01:10:14,320 --> 01:10:17,160
Speaker 1: really good like point center or whatever you want to

1484
01:10:17,160 --> 01:10:19,080
Speaker 1: call it. He's an incredible creator for his size. He's

1485
01:10:19,080 --> 01:10:21,040
Speaker 1: super fluid with the ball in his hands. But I

1486
01:10:21,080 --> 01:10:23,320
Speaker 1: go back and forth on his scoring potential because some

1487
01:10:23,439 --> 01:10:25,400
Speaker 1: nights it looks like, oh, he's comfortable shooting jump shots,

1488
01:10:25,520 --> 01:10:27,439
Speaker 1: and then other nights it's like like the one you

1489
01:10:27,520 --> 01:10:29,400
Speaker 1: just pointed out, it's like he's terrified even look at

1490
01:10:29,439 --> 01:10:33,160
Speaker 1: the rim outside of fifteen, and guys like that, Guys

1491
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:35,240
Speaker 1: who were like really scared to even shoot jump shots,

1492
01:10:35,240 --> 01:10:37,720
Speaker 1: they tend to not develop as scores too much. Like

1493
01:10:37,880 --> 01:10:39,960
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis was like willing to shoot jump shots as

1494
01:10:40,000 --> 01:10:41,800
Speaker 1: soon as he came into the NBA, and eventually he

1495
01:10:41,840 --> 01:10:43,599
Speaker 1: became a good jump shooter, like a really good one.

1496
01:10:43,960 --> 01:10:45,599
Speaker 1: We saw that this year in the bubble. I don't

1497
01:10:45,600 --> 01:10:47,960
Speaker 1: know if Bam can become even close to an a

1498
01:10:48,040 --> 01:10:49,720
Speaker 1: D level jump shooter, he'll be one of the best

1499
01:10:49,720 --> 01:10:52,120
Speaker 1: players in the league for sure. I just don't even

1500
01:10:52,120 --> 01:10:54,400
Speaker 1: know if that's a realistic outcome for him. As much

1501
01:10:54,439 --> 01:10:57,360
Speaker 1: as I wanted to that he follows a Kauai esque

1502
01:10:58,760 --> 01:11:01,120
Speaker 1: were early in his career leans on his defense. But

1503
01:11:01,200 --> 01:11:05,000
Speaker 1: the team privately, with their player development, is just refining

1504
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:07,960
Speaker 1: and refining and refining, because there are examples of players

1505
01:11:08,240 --> 01:11:11,559
Speaker 1: with immense physical gifts who weren't much offensively early on

1506
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,280
Speaker 1: and then they developed. So that would be that that

1507
01:11:13,320 --> 01:11:14,640
Speaker 1: would be the hope. And if there's a team that

1508
01:11:14,640 --> 01:11:16,679
Speaker 1: can do it, would be Miami for there. Definitely, definitely,

1509
01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:18,040
Speaker 1: And he does have good touch. You got good touch

1510
01:11:18,080 --> 01:11:20,599
Speaker 1: on floats and stuff, so the potential for a solid

1511
01:11:20,680 --> 01:11:22,800
Speaker 1: jump shot at least is there. It's definitely a big

1512
01:11:22,800 --> 01:11:25,160
Speaker 1: swing factor for them for the coming couple of years.

1513
01:11:25,640 --> 01:11:28,519
Speaker 1: I agree, and and look, I mean like I picked

1514
01:11:28,800 --> 01:11:33,120
Speaker 1: Milwaukee to beat Miami because I massively underrated Jimmy Butler,

1515
01:11:33,720 --> 01:11:35,840
Speaker 1: and it's clear that he's capable of going toe to

1516
01:11:35,840 --> 01:11:38,000
Speaker 1: toe with the best players in the league. So if

1517
01:11:38,040 --> 01:11:41,040
Speaker 1: you add Bam as a top fifteen level player to that,

1518
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:45,040
Speaker 1: all of a sudden they become much more interesting. Boston

1519
01:11:45,160 --> 01:11:48,040
Speaker 1: lost Gordon Hayward, added Tristan Thompson. Those are the main

1520
01:11:48,120 --> 01:11:50,880
Speaker 1: key ones, although Kemba Walker is going to be out

1521
01:11:50,960 --> 01:11:53,519
Speaker 1: for at least a month with something going on with

1522
01:11:53,560 --> 01:11:56,200
Speaker 1: his knee. At how bad is that Mba contract looking?

1523
01:11:56,360 --> 01:12:01,880
Speaker 1: How bad is that especially when really bad? Um, it

1524
01:12:01,920 --> 01:12:03,400
Speaker 1: would have made a hell of a lot more sense

1525
01:12:03,439 --> 01:12:05,400
Speaker 1: to overpay Gordon Hayward because at least he's a big

1526
01:12:05,400 --> 01:12:07,880
Speaker 1: wing and there's some versatility there that he brings. Or

1527
01:12:07,920 --> 01:12:10,439
Speaker 1: just keep Cherry Rose here at a lesser price. Yeah,

1528
01:12:10,479 --> 01:12:13,320
Speaker 1: like a Kimball's. Kemba is way better than Terry Rozier.

1529
01:12:13,400 --> 01:12:15,280
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, I don't want selfic fans angry

1530
01:12:15,280 --> 01:12:18,799
Speaker 1: self expands. I mentioned, but small guards in the playoffs.

1531
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,679
Speaker 1: Man Kenba is a true small guard, Like he's smaller

1532
01:12:21,720 --> 01:12:24,880
Speaker 1: than even step and Daymar and those guys have such

1533
01:12:24,880 --> 01:12:27,160
Speaker 1: a tough time deep in playoff series and now he's

1534
01:12:27,280 --> 01:12:29,720
Speaker 1: apparently he has knee issues. So the thing that he

1535
01:12:29,760 --> 01:12:33,280
Speaker 1: relies on is his quickness and his and his and

1536
01:12:33,400 --> 01:12:35,320
Speaker 1: to end speed, and now that might take a hit.

1537
01:12:35,880 --> 01:12:38,400
Speaker 1: Like I think he's still got three years or ninety

1538
01:12:38,400 --> 01:12:42,000
Speaker 1: million left, good luck. And I think Tatum popps bilier

1539
01:12:42,040 --> 01:12:45,080
Speaker 1: than they expected, so that they weren't expecting Tatum to

1540
01:12:45,160 --> 01:12:49,320
Speaker 1: be Tatum as early as he is. UM. But yeah,

1541
01:12:49,360 --> 01:12:52,479
Speaker 1: So overall thoughts on Boston, I think they're more or

1542
01:12:52,560 --> 01:12:54,840
Speaker 1: less the same team. Christan Thompson will obviously help us

1543
01:12:54,840 --> 01:12:57,400
Speaker 1: an interior presence which they didn't have last year. UM,

1544
01:12:57,479 --> 01:13:01,479
Speaker 1: And that's why Miami beat them because absolutely destroyed by BAM,

1545
01:13:01,520 --> 01:13:03,639
Speaker 1: Tristan is not going to get destroyed by BAM. Tristan

1546
01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:06,680
Speaker 1: is at least at the very least, he has the

1547
01:13:06,760 --> 01:13:10,800
Speaker 1: toughness and the grit to kind of stonewall BAM enough

1548
01:13:10,840 --> 01:13:14,280
Speaker 1: in a series to where he doesn't just absolutely dominate. Um.

1549
01:13:14,320 --> 01:13:17,320
Speaker 1: They're a middle tier playoff team unless Tatum takes another

1550
01:13:17,400 --> 01:13:20,720
Speaker 1: huge step and becomes the sixth fifth best player in

1551
01:13:20,720 --> 01:13:22,400
Speaker 1: the league, and then they can win any series because

1552
01:13:22,800 --> 01:13:26,200
Speaker 1: as a score, he's super, super dynamic, and where he

1553
01:13:26,240 --> 01:13:28,400
Speaker 1: really struggled lest year was late in games, which is

1554
01:13:28,439 --> 01:13:31,160
Speaker 1: what a lot of young really good scores do. They

1555
01:13:31,160 --> 01:13:33,479
Speaker 1: can score for the first three quarters, you know, but

1556
01:13:33,800 --> 01:13:35,840
Speaker 1: late in the game, they just don't quite have the chops.

1557
01:13:35,880 --> 01:13:39,400
Speaker 1: And it really showed in UM in both the Toronto

1558
01:13:39,520 --> 01:13:41,920
Speaker 1: and the Miami series. I thought even the Toronto series

1559
01:13:41,920 --> 01:13:44,520
Speaker 1: he struggled down the stretch and a lot of those games.

1560
01:13:44,520 --> 01:13:47,000
Speaker 1: So it would it would. Their ceiling ultimately depends on

1561
01:13:47,320 --> 01:13:50,960
Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown taking another step as players, and once

1562
01:13:51,000 --> 01:13:53,880
Speaker 1: again weird off season, short off season. I'm not banking

1563
01:13:53,920 --> 01:13:56,559
Speaker 1: on any young guys who were in the NBA UM

1564
01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:58,439
Speaker 1: this last year taking a big step at least that

1565
01:13:58,479 --> 01:14:00,840
Speaker 1: they were in the playoffs, because just wasn't enough time

1566
01:14:00,880 --> 01:14:03,479
Speaker 1: to work on their games. Boston played into the Eastern

1567
01:14:03,520 --> 01:14:05,640
Speaker 1: Conference finals. They got more time off than Miami, but

1568
01:14:05,680 --> 01:14:09,120
Speaker 1: not a lot more, maybe twenty more days. So to me,

1569
01:14:09,160 --> 01:14:11,040
Speaker 1: they're a middle tier playoff team. They'll be the fourth

1570
01:14:11,040 --> 01:14:12,519
Speaker 1: of the fifth seed. They'll be a tough out like

1571
01:14:12,560 --> 01:14:14,519
Speaker 1: they'll they're going to give almost anyone in the Eastern

1572
01:14:14,560 --> 01:14:17,160
Speaker 1: Conference a really tough SERI he's probably at least six games,

1573
01:14:17,200 --> 01:14:20,000
Speaker 1: but I don't see any kind of championship ceiling for them.

1574
01:14:20,120 --> 01:14:24,160
Speaker 1: Unless multiple of their young guys really really improved. So

1575
01:14:24,280 --> 01:14:26,000
Speaker 1: I agree with you, and I think one of the

1576
01:14:26,040 --> 01:14:28,800
Speaker 1: biggest things to keep in mind is how important Gordon

1577
01:14:28,800 --> 01:14:32,360
Speaker 1: Hayward and Kemba Walker were as primary decision makers, because

1578
01:14:32,720 --> 01:14:36,160
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum has a similar flaw to what you see

1579
01:14:36,200 --> 01:14:39,760
Speaker 1: with Kawhi Leonard, which is he's an amazing two way

1580
01:14:39,840 --> 01:14:42,479
Speaker 1: score guy who can guard on the other end and

1581
01:14:42,640 --> 01:14:45,760
Speaker 1: is an absolute positive impact on the defensive end, and

1582
01:14:45,800 --> 01:14:47,519
Speaker 1: if you put him on an island with any player,

1583
01:14:47,520 --> 01:14:49,320
Speaker 1: he's capable. He's not as good as Quiet, but he's

1584
01:14:49,360 --> 01:14:51,880
Speaker 1: capable of getting really really you know shots that he

1585
01:14:51,880 --> 01:14:53,160
Speaker 1: can make, and he was I think he was like

1586
01:14:53,160 --> 01:14:55,320
Speaker 1: a twenty six point per game guy last year in

1587
01:14:55,320 --> 01:14:57,679
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Like he is, he is on that path

1588
01:14:57,840 --> 01:15:02,320
Speaker 1: to to being that elite two way wing. Here's the problem.

1589
01:15:02,400 --> 01:15:06,759
Speaker 1: He is not necessarily capable of running a coherent NBA

1590
01:15:06,840 --> 01:15:10,920
Speaker 1: offense without the help of primary ball handlers. Uh That

1591
01:15:11,040 --> 01:15:13,559
Speaker 1: role was filled by Hayward and Kemba last year. Kemball

1592
01:15:14,760 --> 01:15:17,240
Speaker 1: what was their best for last year, and Kimba's out

1593
01:15:17,360 --> 01:15:19,120
Speaker 1: for the first month of the season. Jeff Tigue is

1594
01:15:19,120 --> 01:15:21,200
Speaker 1: a pro. He's an okay guard but he's not going

1595
01:15:21,240 --> 01:15:23,080
Speaker 1: to be that. He's gonna be the worst guard on

1596
01:15:23,120 --> 01:15:25,160
Speaker 1: the floor in most games that he plays in. And

1597
01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:28,200
Speaker 1: so the real the reality is, especially early on in

1598
01:15:28,240 --> 01:15:30,320
Speaker 1: that first month and a half or so without Kemba,

1599
01:15:30,680 --> 01:15:33,719
Speaker 1: they're gonna basically be going to Kempa to Jayson Tatum

1600
01:15:33,760 --> 01:15:37,080
Speaker 1: and Jalen Brown and saying, run our offense. Now, they'll

1601
01:15:37,080 --> 01:15:39,040
Speaker 1: be able to guard. They'll be able to guard like crazy.

1602
01:15:39,160 --> 01:15:41,479
Speaker 1: Especially with Tristan Thompson. I think I think he unlocks

1603
01:15:41,520 --> 01:15:43,720
Speaker 1: a lot of what their defense could be in terms of,

1604
01:15:43,960 --> 01:15:47,120
Speaker 1: you know, reaching their defensive ceiling. But the reality is

1605
01:15:47,400 --> 01:15:49,280
Speaker 1: they're gonna be in this game, in these games, and

1606
01:15:49,320 --> 01:15:52,360
Speaker 1: in this NBA season where there's like twenty good teams,

1607
01:15:52,840 --> 01:15:55,320
Speaker 1: and they're gonna and they're literally gonna be relying on

1608
01:15:55,479 --> 01:15:57,479
Speaker 1: guys in their early twenties that don't have a lot

1609
01:15:57,479 --> 01:16:01,160
Speaker 1: of reps running offense to run everything. And so I

1610
01:16:01,160 --> 01:16:03,080
Speaker 1: think it's very possible that they get off to like

1611
01:16:03,120 --> 01:16:06,360
Speaker 1: a five and seven start or something crazy like that

1612
01:16:06,560 --> 01:16:10,200
Speaker 1: because the fact that they're gonna be extremely limited in

1613
01:16:10,320 --> 01:16:13,519
Speaker 1: terms of their basketball i Q. Because they don't have

1614
01:16:13,600 --> 01:16:16,320
Speaker 1: that grown they're grown up on the floor that can

1615
01:16:16,400 --> 01:16:19,280
Speaker 1: be like, Hey, we're gonna do this, and then Tatum, Jason,

1616
01:16:19,280 --> 01:16:21,080
Speaker 1: we're gonna give you the ball down on the block here,

1617
01:16:21,200 --> 01:16:23,600
Speaker 1: you know, you know, four times in the next ten possessions.

1618
01:16:23,640 --> 01:16:26,679
Speaker 1: But we're gonna run coherent offense around that. It's gonna

1619
01:16:26,680 --> 01:16:29,040
Speaker 1: be like Tatum, bring the ball up the floor, make

1620
01:16:29,080 --> 01:16:31,320
Speaker 1: a move and shoot. Then Jalen bring the ball up

1621
01:16:31,320 --> 01:16:33,040
Speaker 1: the floor, make a move and shoot. Like it's gonna

1622
01:16:33,080 --> 01:16:35,200
Speaker 1: be just kind of a little bit, a little bit

1623
01:16:35,479 --> 01:16:38,599
Speaker 1: uh like, like what's the word I'm looking for. It's

1624
01:16:38,600 --> 01:16:40,960
Speaker 1: just gonna be like, it's gonna be immature. It's gonna

1625
01:16:40,960 --> 01:16:44,120
Speaker 1: be an immature NBA offense. Yeah, And I think I

1626
01:16:44,160 --> 01:16:47,479
Speaker 1: think Tatum has a higher ceiling as a kind of

1627
01:16:47,520 --> 01:16:50,280
Speaker 1: a primary initiator offensive creator than a Kauai. I really do.

1628
01:16:50,520 --> 01:16:54,120
Speaker 1: He showed some like real improvements in that area last

1629
01:16:54,160 --> 01:16:56,559
Speaker 1: year where he's like reading the week side defense coming

1630
01:16:56,600 --> 01:16:59,320
Speaker 1: over and he's throwing the skip like as they're rotating,

1631
01:16:59,520 --> 01:17:01,880
Speaker 1: stuff that only the best creators do. But I don't

1632
01:17:01,880 --> 01:17:05,679
Speaker 1: think he's quite there yet. But I think the early

1633
01:17:05,680 --> 01:17:08,200
Speaker 1: season could be a way for him to really continue

1634
01:17:08,200 --> 01:17:12,360
Speaker 1: to grow that part of his game. He has the potential.

1635
01:17:12,400 --> 01:17:14,240
Speaker 1: I think he does have the potential to, like maybe

1636
01:17:14,240 --> 01:17:17,320
Speaker 1: not run an offense. He'll probably always need another guy

1637
01:17:17,320 --> 01:17:20,320
Speaker 1: who is a primary creator, but he has more potential

1638
01:17:20,320 --> 01:17:24,120
Speaker 1: in quiet that specific aspect. In my opinion, would you

1639
01:17:24,120 --> 01:17:28,799
Speaker 1: trade any Would you trade Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart

1640
01:17:28,960 --> 01:17:37,880
Speaker 1: for effort James Harden? I think, I think I trust

1641
01:17:37,920 --> 01:17:41,720
Speaker 1: Boston's culture enough to withstand that. So I think so,

1642
01:17:42,520 --> 01:17:45,080
Speaker 1: I don't know, that's a that's a funky one. They

1643
01:17:45,120 --> 01:17:47,160
Speaker 1: would get off a kemba's money, which I think is huge,

1644
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:49,760
Speaker 1: but they really they love Jalen Brown, so I don't

1645
01:17:49,760 --> 01:17:53,840
Speaker 1: think they smart. Yeah, yeah, so I think Smart can

1646
01:17:53,880 --> 01:17:57,200
Speaker 1: actually run the point guard capably too. He's a really

1647
01:17:57,240 --> 01:18:00,200
Speaker 1: good passer, and he's not a guy that minds aking

1648
01:18:00,200 --> 01:18:02,680
Speaker 1: on extra responsibility. As as wild as he is, his

1649
01:18:02,720 --> 01:18:05,320
Speaker 1: only issue is shot selection. He'll just take the most

1650
01:18:05,360 --> 01:18:07,479
Speaker 1: wild shots. But if you tell Marcus you're running the

1651
01:18:07,560 --> 01:18:10,559
Speaker 1: offense for the time being, we can't have you taking

1652
01:18:10,560 --> 01:18:13,200
Speaker 1: wild threes eighteen seconds into the clock, then maybe he

1653
01:18:13,200 --> 01:18:15,280
Speaker 1: gets that part out of his game. I don't know. Yeah,

1654
01:18:15,280 --> 01:18:17,040
Speaker 1: they might struggle in the early in the year. I

1655
01:18:17,040 --> 01:18:20,120
Speaker 1: could see it, But I think I don't know. If

1656
01:18:20,120 --> 01:18:22,680
Speaker 1: you're giving Tatum enough credit as for the strikes he

1657
01:18:22,680 --> 01:18:24,639
Speaker 1: took as a creator last year, because he took real,

1658
01:18:24,800 --> 01:18:27,880
Speaker 1: real strides in that area. So we'll see who are

1659
01:18:27,880 --> 01:18:32,720
Speaker 1: you picking too in the East. We can't agree on this,

1660
01:18:32,760 --> 01:18:36,680
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna say Philly, I think, I really like

1661
01:18:36,760 --> 01:18:38,719
Speaker 1: I think they have a realistic shot at beating Brooklyn

1662
01:18:38,800 --> 01:18:40,760
Speaker 1: no matter what happens, if they get hardened, I would

1663
01:18:40,760 --> 01:18:44,160
Speaker 1: actually pick them to be Brooklyn. Yeah, I think they

1664
01:18:44,160 --> 01:18:46,800
Speaker 1: can beat him without without getting hard him. I'm taking

1665
01:18:46,800 --> 01:18:49,720
Speaker 1: Brooklyn now, but if Philly gets hard now, would take Philly.

1666
01:18:50,160 --> 01:18:52,439
Speaker 1: That's what That's where I'm at right now. But whoever

1667
01:18:52,479 --> 01:18:54,160
Speaker 1: it is, you know, I I got. I got the

1668
01:18:54,240 --> 01:18:57,040
Speaker 1: Lakers beating him inevitably. I just I saw all I

1669
01:18:57,080 --> 01:18:59,599
Speaker 1: needed to see in one in one fifteen minute stretch

1670
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:02,880
Speaker 1: of presee's in basketball. I'm sold. I'm just already I'm

1671
01:19:02,880 --> 01:19:04,800
Speaker 1: already pissed about it. I'm already pissed about the Lakers

1672
01:19:04,840 --> 01:19:07,880
Speaker 1: just being the proverbial favorite again. It's gonna be an

1673
01:19:07,920 --> 01:19:10,200
Speaker 1: interesting year, man to get ready to because yeah, I

1674
01:19:10,200 --> 01:19:14,639
Speaker 1: think it's gonna get sloppy on Twitter too, because like

1675
01:19:14,680 --> 01:19:18,800
Speaker 1: steps in for a rough start, even though I know

1676
01:19:18,840 --> 01:19:20,719
Speaker 1: they played the Nuggets and the Kings, who aren't exactly

1677
01:19:20,720 --> 01:19:23,840
Speaker 1: defensive stalwarts, but they looked honestly better than I thought,

1678
01:19:23,960 --> 01:19:27,479
Speaker 1: especially without drinking. Draymond is kind of so key to

1679
01:19:27,520 --> 01:19:31,080
Speaker 1: everything they do, even offensively. He just he connects plays

1680
01:19:31,080 --> 01:19:33,880
Speaker 1: so well. He gets guys that extra half second of

1681
01:19:33,960 --> 01:19:37,720
Speaker 1: space that guys like, honestly, Andrew Wiggins and Kelly you

1682
01:19:37,800 --> 01:19:41,080
Speaker 1: really need. They need like an extra half foot of separation.

1683
01:19:41,600 --> 01:19:43,200
Speaker 1: But he's such a smart pass where he's such a

1684
01:19:43,200 --> 01:19:45,479
Speaker 1: good screener. He's gonna help their offensive flow. And I

1685
01:19:45,520 --> 01:19:47,880
Speaker 1: hope he plays Game one. We'll see if he does.

1686
01:19:48,200 --> 01:19:50,800
Speaker 1: But the issue was the schedule for Golden State. They're

1687
01:19:50,800 --> 01:19:53,240
Speaker 1: starting with Brooklyn and Milwaukee, and it's gonna be tough

1688
01:19:53,280 --> 01:19:56,160
Speaker 1: out of the gates for them. Um, we'll see, we'll see. Man,

1689
01:19:56,280 --> 01:19:59,000
Speaker 1: I'm still to you know, and this with some warrior stuff.

1690
01:19:59,040 --> 01:20:01,920
Speaker 1: I'm still high on their seeing an ultimate team, but um,

1691
01:20:01,960 --> 01:20:04,760
Speaker 1: it might might be ugly coming out of the gates here. Yeah,

1692
01:20:04,800 --> 01:20:07,679
Speaker 1: I just I feel bad because if it does get ugly,

1693
01:20:07,960 --> 01:20:11,920
Speaker 1: that dude is gonna be it's gonna I might have

1694
01:20:11,960 --> 01:20:15,160
Speaker 1: to go into hiding. But then again, it's like I mean,

1695
01:20:15,320 --> 01:20:18,000
Speaker 1: I remember when Lebron missed playoffs from two thousand nineteen,

1696
01:20:18,040 --> 01:20:21,840
Speaker 1: and the lasting the lasting memory was who's that dude,

1697
01:20:21,960 --> 01:20:26,360
Speaker 1: Maria Hazonia blocking him on the game winner? Like, sometimes

1698
01:20:26,360 --> 01:20:28,519
Speaker 1: it just gets ugly and like and there's not really

1699
01:20:28,520 --> 01:20:30,120
Speaker 1: a whole lot you can do about Anybody who really

1700
01:20:30,200 --> 01:20:31,960
Speaker 1: knew what was going on, knew that, like that team

1701
01:20:32,000 --> 01:20:34,599
Speaker 1: was ravaged with injuries. But people aren't interested in being honest.

1702
01:20:34,640 --> 01:20:38,000
Speaker 1: They're interested in standering. This protect doesn't matter. Context never matters.

1703
01:20:38,880 --> 01:20:40,439
Speaker 1: But hey, dude, you give me three hours of your

1704
01:20:40,479 --> 01:20:43,200
Speaker 1: time this week. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna I

1705
01:20:43,200 --> 01:20:45,479
Speaker 1: would imagine sometime in the next week or two, we'll

1706
01:20:45,520 --> 01:20:49,400
Speaker 1: get together again and talk some more. Uh, whatever's whatever

1707
01:20:49,439 --> 01:20:52,559
Speaker 1: interesting happens, hopefully even to James Harden's right at that point, Yeah,

1708
01:20:53,000 --> 01:20:55,880
Speaker 1: let's talk hard and if that happens, definitely alright. Body

1709
01:20:55,880 --> 01:20:57,160
Speaker 1: have a going all right, Thanks man,