Speaker 1: On this episode of the Heat Check, I kind of
Speaker 1: feel like a Rio in Agatha. That's, by the way,
Speaker 1: one of the hottest characters in a Marvel movie we've
Speaker 1: ever seen in life. Holy shit. Anyway, Agatha, all along, Rio,
Speaker 1: She's death. I am the harbinger of doom today on Halloween,
Speaker 1: well the day after Halloween. For NBA franchises, I'm recording
Speaker 1: this on Halloween. But once again I am here to
Speaker 1: say Alert, Alert, we you we you, Hey, baby, your
Speaker 1: time has come. Come with Mama. She'll take you to
Speaker 1: the graveyard where your NBA team will reside for the
Speaker 1: rest of the season and maybe longer. We've got two
Speaker 1: bodies in the NBA to take Denver and Philadelphia. Why
Speaker 1: just has to be. I also get into the Laters
Speaker 1: Victor versus Chet one sided battle, kind of talk about
Speaker 1: how that game went. It was very anticipated and kind
Speaker 1: of a little bit of a clunker. Yanni's trade rumors
Speaker 1: really Tias Jones fixing the Sun and so much more.
Speaker 1: Loaded ash show. Whah, It's Halloween, Anthony, my man, drop
Speaker 1: that motherfucking beat that should be reaped. Happy Halloween, folks,
Speaker 1: got a little uh. I went around the neighborhood today,
Speaker 1: well last night, and there were so many fucking kids
Speaker 1: dressed up just so cute. They were all just screaming.
Speaker 1: Then they add their a little plastic pumpkin things. No,
Speaker 1: nobody does look like the pillow case anymore, right, Like,
Speaker 1: that's just my era. We were greedy as hell. To
Speaker 1: take a pillowcase with you around a neighborhood and fill
Speaker 1: that thing up is crazy. Anyway, I kind of get
Speaker 1: a little overwhelmed. I'm like, Yo, there's way too much
Speaker 1: chaos going on right now. So I'm working through it
Speaker 1: on this podcast, which y'all and I have got a
Speaker 1: lot to say. Starting in Mile High City. I'm concerned, folks.
Speaker 1: The Nuggets start the season to losing two in a row.
Speaker 1: I watch those games with a careful eye because what
Speaker 1: I am seeing is not gonna make it into the
Speaker 1: box score. Since then, they've won two in a row,
Speaker 1: a two point win over the Raptors in overtime where
Speaker 1: they needed every single one of Yogic's forty points in
Speaker 1: an overtime win, and then another overtime win over the
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets where they had twenty two or more points
Speaker 1: from Jokic, Gordon Murray, and Russell Westbrook to survive against
Speaker 1: the team who's leading scorer was Dennis Who the fuck
Speaker 1: did Dennis Shruter think he is? Shreoter. So, while I'm
Speaker 1: not I'm not saying that the Milwaukee Bucks trade rumors
Speaker 1: type of trouble because they still have one of the
Speaker 1: best coaches in the game, which, by the way, we
Speaker 1: really should talk about the fact that Michael Malone will
Speaker 1: not play young guys at all, or maybe they're just
Speaker 1: not very good. He also said the funniest thing the
Speaker 1: other night. He said, I'm glad I get to coach
Speaker 1: Nicola because I can't imagine game planning that guy. No shit, dude,
Speaker 1: no shit. Anyway, back to the Nuggets, I do think
Speaker 1: that there's some things that should keep Nuggets fans up
Speaker 1: at night, like they have always started slow. They don't
Speaker 1: have the ability or runway or the way to just
Speaker 1: start a season slow anymore. But most importantly, we got
Speaker 1: ourselves at Jamal Murray problem. Folks. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's an injury. I don't know if it's an accumulation
Speaker 1: of a bunch of injuries. I'm not sure if he's cooked.
Speaker 1: But I've never seen Jamal Murray look this through molasses
Speaker 1: before like ever. And trust me, I'm not the only
Speaker 1: person talking about this either. An anonymous NBA guard said
Speaker 1: Murray is very easy to guard, and let's just say
Speaker 1: that reverberated throughout the league, to the point that Murray
Speaker 1: had to respond to it in his postgame presser and
Speaker 1: he said, who are they and they said they're anonymous,
Speaker 1: and he goes, well, that's why they're anonymous, simple as that.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that makes sense, honestly. But let's see
Speaker 1: the Nuggets lost to OKAC and the Clippers, and I
Speaker 1: don't see the guards on either of those teams talking
Speaker 1: shit like. I don't think James cards like you know,
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray's really slow. I don't think that's going on.
Speaker 1: The quote came out the day after the Nuggets barely
Speaker 1: beat the Raptors, and my guy Davion Davion put the
Speaker 1: clamps on Jamal along the way to a sixteen six
Speaker 1: and two game held Murray on a six for twenty
Speaker 1: night shooting. I'm not saying it was Davion who said it,
Speaker 1: but I think it is. I've seen Daveon up close.
Speaker 1: He will shit talk you no fucking problem. The truth is, though,
Speaker 1: regardless of who said it, Jamal Murray is looking slow.
Speaker 1: He's not shooting well. He hasn't shot well, not only
Speaker 1: this season through four games, where he's shooting a paltry
Speaker 1: thirty seven percent from the field, which is only slightly
Speaker 1: worse than his forty percent from the field in the
Speaker 1: twelve playoff games last year. But folks, this has been
Speaker 1: going on since the playoffs all the way through, considering
Speaker 1: he shaw twenty nine percent from the field in total
Speaker 1: in the Olympics in France this summer, net negative thirty
Speaker 1: two in the playoffs, a shocking net minus forty six
Speaker 1: against the Wolves. He looks just tuckered. He looks ready
Speaker 1: to put to bed. He looks ready to put the
Speaker 1: mouth tape on night Night sleep mask. And that's damning
Speaker 1: for a guy who's supposed to be taking the pressure
Speaker 1: off of Jokis, who, by the way, signed a massive
Speaker 1: four year, two hundred and eight million dollar extension this summer.
Speaker 1: He got the bag and he said, my hamstring hurts.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the hell is going on, but
Speaker 1: it's not good. He better get right, get fast, because
Speaker 1: this team is gonna get habochied without him. And by
Speaker 1: the way, don't even get me started on Michael Porter Junior,
Speaker 1: Like I think he's got it though, But this is
Speaker 1: not the only thing wrong with the Nuggets. The bigger
Speaker 1: issue facing them the bench. Someone said they acted in
Speaker 1: the offseason like losing KCP was no big deal and
Speaker 1: now they're paying the price for it. I think that's right.
Speaker 1: Acting the second loss of the game, both Michael Malone
Speaker 1: and Jokic just sending strays at GM of the Nuggets,
Speaker 1: Calvin Booth, he said. Malone said, going into the season,
Speaker 1: shooting was a concern of mine. You lose a guy
Speaker 1: like KCP who's a forty three point shooter, and dot
Speaker 1: dot dot basically what you think was gonna happen, what
Speaker 1: you day was gonna happen. And then Jokic said, we're
Speaker 1: just not a good shooting team except for Mike and Jamal,
Speaker 1: all of us are kind of streaky, well not streaky,
Speaker 1: but really just average shooters. Oh my, Calvin, baby, what
Speaker 1: are you doing? And this made more start by the
Speaker 1: fact that they did not bring in a sniper for
Speaker 1: the bench, but then they decided to bring in a
Speaker 1: guy Russell Westbrook, who literally his wife has been going
Speaker 1: on Instagram fighting the trolls because the kids are having
Speaker 1: His kids are having to literally fight back against other
Speaker 1: kids calling his dad what Russell Westbrook. That's the kind
Speaker 1: of shooter. Okay, that's the kind of shooter that he
Speaker 1: is not, Like there's bullying going on. Okay, let me
Speaker 1: just put this into perspective for you. He is such
Speaker 1: a bad shooter that his kids are getting bullied by
Speaker 1: other children because he's so bad, they've given his kid
Speaker 1: the name Westbrook. Do you understand that? Like, think about
Speaker 1: that for a second. The bench is awful. They had
Speaker 1: a decent outing against the Nets, but I cannot express
Speaker 1: this strongly enough. This is the Brooklyn Nets and they
Speaker 1: were without Ben Simmons, who, despite being allergic to a layup,
Speaker 1: he can strap folks. He has he has handcuffs for you.
Speaker 1: And they still into ot with the traffic cone like
Speaker 1: Cam Thomas and shake Milton there at the guard spot.
Speaker 1: What are we doing? The nuggets they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: rely on Julian Strather, Peyton Watson, Dario Sarch Are these
Speaker 1: names you even know?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Really do you know these guys? We've seen the Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook experience up close and personal. Five for twenty five
Speaker 1: in the first three games for a net minus thirty
Speaker 1: eight rating twenty two and five against the nets perfect
Speaker 1: ten for ten. From the line, it's like a once
Speaker 1: every four games you're gonna get a vintage Russell Westbrook performance,
Speaker 1: and the rest of the time it's like, ooh, baby,
Speaker 1: put them on the bench. This is a team that
Speaker 1: needs to make a move, although I don't really know
Speaker 1: what they're gonna do from a salary cap standpoint, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how that's gonna be possible. But the bottom
Speaker 1: line is that this team already saw how it stacked
Speaker 1: up against the thunder boat Race not good enough. They
Speaker 1: play the Wolves next week. I bet you this. Put
Speaker 1: my hand up to God. Boat Race. Just count on it,
Speaker 1: and we'll get more insight onto how they fit into
Speaker 1: the stack West after that game. But I promise you
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the same my suspicion. This team is
Speaker 1: a play in team. This is a play in team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what it is. You don't have shooters, you don't
Speaker 1: have a bench, and your lead guard has either a
Speaker 1: bum hamstring or he is a bum. Let's move on.
Speaker 1: We are the round of the anticipated showdown between the Chetolmgren,
Speaker 1: Victor women Yama battle. Chet says, not a rivalry. I
Speaker 1: don't care about this. This is just you guys forcing
Speaker 1: an artificial thing on us. We're not even in the
Speaker 1: same draft class. I got injured, I was a year
Speaker 1: ahead of him. Blah blah blah blah blah. This is
Speaker 1: not real. Well, Victor kind of thinks it is, because Victor,
Speaker 1: according to reports, won't even save Chet's name. So, I
Speaker 1: don't know, feels like the guy that's getting the best
Speaker 1: out of the other guy is being like, this is
Speaker 1: not that meaningful, and then the other guy that's supposed
Speaker 1: to be like the future goat that's what they say,
Speaker 1: is kind of like a little in his feels. When
Speaker 1: I wrote notes down for this episode, my one line
Speaker 1: was Victor largely got shut the fuck down, which he did.
Speaker 1: I mean, you look at the stat sheet and you're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he was not a good outing for him. Six points,
Speaker 1: one for five shooting from the field, five shots only.
Speaker 1: Devin Vesell's not walking through that door anytime soon. Tony
Speaker 1: Parker is not walking through that door. Chris Paul, there, baby,
Speaker 1: you got trade Jones. You don't even got the good Jones.
Speaker 1: Eight rebounds, three blocks, twenty seven minutes of play and
Speaker 1: ch Chad fifteen at AFT time and he said, let
Speaker 1: me slow up these breaks up here. Nineteen points seven
Speaker 1: for ten shooting shot perfect from deep. Ooh. I light
Speaker 1: seeing that from Chet because that was exactly what we
Speaker 1: were hoping to see from him, right, is like, can
Speaker 1: he get his jumper back? Five rebounds, two steals, two blocks.
Speaker 1: What a big game for him. But his defense was
Speaker 1: really what was most impressive. Again, Victor largely shut the
Speaker 1: fuck down. That was why everybody that he defended, where
Speaker 1: he was the primary defender, he held them to four
Speaker 1: for seventeen shooting oh for seven from three. That's not
Speaker 1: all NBA numbers, that's like defensive player at the year numbers.
Speaker 1: The six points for Victor was a career low. Chet
Speaker 1: was the primary defender on forty percent of victor miss shots,
Speaker 1: well all of his shots, all of which he missed.
Speaker 1: And today, according to ESPN's Michael Wright, I don't think
Speaker 1: Michael Wright should have reported this, Honestly, it makes Victor
Speaker 1: look bad. He won't even say Chet's name out loud.
Speaker 1: He said, well, Chet isn't exactly the candy man. By
Speaker 1: the way, if you're young and you haven't seen candy Man.
Speaker 1: That shit is so scary, so scary. Whatever those bugs are,
Speaker 1: they're all over his face. So basically, here's let's just
Speaker 1: go backwards really fast. So basically the premise of the
Speaker 1: movie is like it's a kid's parable, Like, oh, like,
Speaker 1: don't say you have to say candy Man, candy Man,
Speaker 1: candy Man, candy Man in your bathroom, turn the lights off,
Speaker 1: turn them back on. He's there. That's the premise of
Speaker 1: the movie. Really, and it flickers and he kills you.
Speaker 1: Really scary stuff. Anyway, people don't even want to say
Speaker 1: the word candy man. That's basically what Victor's doing to Chet.
Speaker 1: Won't even say his name. That has pretty much been
Speaker 1: the theme since Victor Wembanyama arrived in San Antonio. That's
Speaker 1: what he says. Monday night, we specifically asked Victor Wembanyama
Speaker 1: about the matchup with Chet. This is what he said.
Speaker 1: I'm getting excited to get back to winning ways. It's
Speaker 1: always a good challenge to play Oklahoma City, and he
Speaker 1: said he's watched every one of Oklahoma City's games. What
Speaker 1: you didn't here and haven't heard was him he Chet
Speaker 1: Holmgren will not mention the guy's name. Oh boy, I
Speaker 1: need to know, Like I need someone to be like, hey,
Speaker 1: do you not say Chet's name? Is that like what
Speaker 1: you do at all? Someone ask him? Grow a pair.
Speaker 1: We got ourselves in real fashioned four alarm rivalry on
Speaker 1: our hands, baby, and I love it. Love it so much,
Speaker 1: deliciously love it. I don't want to I need to
Speaker 1: go to Oklahoma City and watch this matchup, like I
Speaker 1: need to be court sided for this game. There is
Speaker 1: no way Victor doesn't use this as motivation to come
Speaker 1: over the top the next time they play. The best point,
Speaker 1: the best part is that we get like twenty more
Speaker 1: years of this, twenty Like imagine chat with kids. He's grown,
Speaker 1: Victor with kids, he's grown. They're thirty and they've been
Speaker 1: dueling this out like undersize, like magic and bird, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, like the the emaciated magic and birds.
Speaker 1: That's good for the NBA. I freaking love it. Can't
Speaker 1: wait to see it. All Right, we're moving on. Word
Speaker 1: of the daytime Claxon, No, I'm talking about Nick Claxton.
Speaker 1: I didn't stutter. It's not a Brooklyn Center. That is
Speaker 1: the word of the day. A claxon is a bell
Speaker 1: used to warn people of impending danger. And I'm telling
Speaker 1: you right now, I hate being the claxon for the NBA.
Speaker 1: I actually feel like I'm the Canarian the coal mine.
Speaker 1: Do you know what I'm saying? I am Rio from
Speaker 1: its Agatha all along. Rio is the original green Witch.
Speaker 1: She's death. She comes up, shows up in your life
Speaker 1: like the grim Reaper, takes your hand, says come with me,
Speaker 1: and then you slip off into a daze, never to
Speaker 1: be seen or heard from again. So it's not just
Speaker 1: the Bucks, It's not just the Nuggets, it's the Sixers
Speaker 1: as well. Speaking of bells, shocker right like we just
Speaker 1: kind of nude and wet, like, uh, they just never healthy.
Speaker 1: Paul George Joe l embiid if it could only be different,
Speaker 1: if they could only just be not fragile, if they
Speaker 1: could only just play in the games. I saw this
Speaker 1: happening in like December, not in October. It is way
Speaker 1: too early for this. If I were a Sixers fan,
Speaker 1: after all the fanfare of the off season, they were
Speaker 1: supposedly the best off season team when you ask all
Speaker 1: the espn ors, the NBA dot comerce like which team
Speaker 1: had the best offseason. They are like, oh Sixers, Paul George,
Speaker 1: they did all they got. Caleb Martin Folks I would
Speaker 1: be on the verge of despondency right now because not
Speaker 1: only is Paul George already hurt, but the Sixers revealed
Speaker 1: that Joel Embiid has a shocking left knee condition and
Speaker 1: is not close to one hundred percent. It is the
Speaker 1: Lord's year. Twenty twenty four, November. First, we are one
Speaker 1: week into the league and Joel Embiid we don't know
Speaker 1: when he's coming back. The worst part about it is
Speaker 1: the Sixers lied about it to the point where now
Speaker 1: the NBA is launching a full scale investigation. According to
Speaker 1: Sham's the league investigation found that there is a left
Speaker 1: knee condition that joelmb is rehabbing and recovering from to
Speaker 1: make sure that he is one hundred percent this season.
Speaker 1: The problem, man, I tell you what, if you're Paul George,
Speaker 1: you've got to be kind of pissed because like, this
Speaker 1: is exactly what it was with Kawhi, where the team
Speaker 1: lies about his status and his injury and it's like
Speaker 1: healthy health healthy, Oh, done for the season. Anyway, The
Speaker 1: Sixers denied that there was a problem, so the league
Speaker 1: have now find the organization one hundred thousand dollars. This
Speaker 1: comes on top of the fact that the Sixers announced
Speaker 1: that MB will be missing games regularly and that this
Speaker 1: will be the new normal. The new normal, according to
Speaker 1: Sham's the new normal is going to include periodic time
Speaker 1: off at different points during the season. It's going to
Speaker 1: include routine checkups on his knee over the course of
Speaker 1: the season, and it is all part of the Sixers
Speaker 1: and then beads new strategy on how to keep him
Speaker 1: healthy when he has never been And that's for the playoffs, folks.
Speaker 1: Forty games, That's what it's gonna be. We'll see you
Speaker 1: at the All Star break. This is the truth. They
Speaker 1: are unwatchable without PG and MB. We worried about this,
Speaker 1: and now I feel we should be very, very concerned.
Speaker 1: This team has the bottom falling out already. Remember when
Speaker 1: Embiid got hurt last year, they were cooked and they
Speaker 1: had Tobias Harris. What don't we have now? We just
Speaker 1: have Maxi Maxi and I love him. Second I a
Speaker 1: scorer in the league right now, and he cannot save you.
Speaker 1: Nick Nurse now is tired of talking about EMBIID and
Speaker 1: pg's injury updates. Get used to it, Nick, They're not healthy,
Speaker 1: he said, I'm not gonna answer. Go ahead, anybody else
Speaker 1: got anything. They've given you the updates on that, right,
Speaker 1: They've given you the updates on Joel. You think Nick's
Speaker 1: a little pissed and these a little terse got hiss
Speaker 1: panties in a little bit of a bunch woo. The
Speaker 1: Sixers are struggling and with no clarity about EMBIID, this
Speaker 1: could be a very, very rocky season. Reo is coming, okay.
Speaker 1: Couple of quick updates the stories that dropped this week.
Speaker 1: Number one, if you haven't checked out the interview that
Speaker 1: I had with doctor David Berry about the finances of
Speaker 1: the WNBA, it is up on YouTube. It is wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. I need you to check it out.
Speaker 1: For me, I feel it's one of the most important
Speaker 1: conversations that I've had on the Heat Check ever. I
Speaker 1: feel it is very important for people who think that
Speaker 1: they know about what's happening in NBA and WNBA economics.
Speaker 1: They need to give it a listen. Must second of all,
Speaker 1: my rant about the Buck season going off the rails
Speaker 1: starting to gain a little traction for the first time
Speaker 1: in a few years. There are now unofficial, official, unofficial
Speaker 1: trade rumors surrounding you. Honest, an NBA executive told friend
Speaker 1: of show Bill Rider teams are circling and hopeful. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if it happened by the trade deadline.
Speaker 2: That feels like fougaysy, But like, whoa, even if it is,
Speaker 2: just the fact that people are wondering is really really bad.
Speaker 1: There's already preferred destinations. Guess where. Guess where? Guess where.
Speaker 1: We're doing it again. We're doing it again. It's Miami.
Speaker 1: It's Miami. Why why why? They're linked to every single
Speaker 1: superstar every year and it's always their preferred destination. Do
Speaker 1: you think m like the Miami Heat are close to contention? Like, truthfully,
Speaker 1: if Joannist really wants to go to Miami, what's the
Speaker 1: reason I love bad bitches? That's my problem? Yeah, Like,
Speaker 1: that's it. It's just Florida, no sales, tax, beaches and babies. Goodness, gracious,
Speaker 1: the Bucks aren't stupid, though they're not gonna want Like, listen,
Speaker 1: the Blazers didn't want Tyler Hero. You think the Milwaukee
Speaker 1: Bucks what Tyler Hero and Dame and Duncan Robinson and
Speaker 1: some random first round draft picks in twenty thirty one.
Speaker 1: No shot. The other team the Brooklyn Nets, who to
Speaker 1: be honest, they've got the cap, they've got the space,
Speaker 1: they've got the assets. But like, why would he want
Speaker 1: to go to Brooklyn? That was also where Dame said
Speaker 1: he wanted to go, by the way. I remember he
Speaker 1: was like, I'll play with McHale, I'll play with Bam.
Speaker 1: Why are Brooklyn and Miami even a thing? Why would
Speaker 1: Giannis want to play with Cam Thomas. This is the
Speaker 1: reason I think it's fougaysy because these like destinations are
Speaker 1: really strange. Writer says that there are other teams that
Speaker 1: could be in play, like the Thunder who have space,
Speaker 1: capital interest. I don't know how he fits with that team.
Speaker 1: Are you playing him at the four and Chet at
Speaker 1: the five? Like? Is Chet now just brook Lopez? Maybe
Speaker 1: that wouldn't be so bad. The fact that you is
Speaker 1: even being mentioned as having a trade destination is crazy.
Speaker 1: That is bad bad news in Milwaukee all right? Another update,
Speaker 1: Just like Tristan pats herself on the back on on Friday,
Speaker 1: do you know who has the best record? In the
Speaker 1: NBA right now. Not the Lakers they've lost to in
Speaker 1: a row. Not the Boston Celtics are defending Chance, who
Speaker 1: dropped a game to the Pacers in overtime for their
Speaker 1: first loss of the year. Not even my OKC thunder
Speaker 1: who are four and Oh no, it's Cleveland, not terrible club,
Speaker 1: not great, but actually number one in the East, number
Speaker 1: one overall. Last episode, I was like, keep your eye
Speaker 1: on Cleveland and now best record in the NBA five
Speaker 1: and zero, and the teams that they've beaten are pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: They beat the Lakers like a drum one thirty four,
Speaker 1: one ten behind six players with fourteen or more points. Wow,
Speaker 1: this team could go ten and zero. Kenny Atkinson has
Speaker 1: this team hummon boy. A recent article detailed it. He
Speaker 1: said sixty percent of the time seventy percent of the
Speaker 1: time I think he said, was spent talking about, Hey,
Speaker 1: how do we unlock Evan Mobley when he was interviewed
Speaker 1: for this job. Evan Mobley is having a year. He
Speaker 1: is shooting fifty seven percent through the first five games,
Speaker 1: fifty percent from three, with an average of a net
Speaker 1: plus sixteen per game, a total net rating of plus
Speaker 1: eighty He's averaging nineteen eight and two with three stocks
Speaker 1: per game. These are all NBA numbers, folks. But guess
Speaker 1: what what I think is really impressive is that he
Speaker 1: is becoming one of the main ball handlers in pick
Speaker 1: and roll. You've got Darius Garland screaming for Evan Mobley,
Speaker 1: You've got Donovan Mitchell screaming for Evan Mobley. He is
Speaker 1: being used all over the floor. Garland's having a career year.
Speaker 1: Donnovan doesn't have to shoulder the burden. Jared Allen's playing well.
Speaker 1: This is a team that, if they can stay consistent,
Speaker 1: might be better then I think, and you think as well. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's time for us to talk about Tias Jones, one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players in the NBA. I've been just
Speaker 1: stumping for Tias for years. I just the thing that
Speaker 1: I've consistently said is best turnover assistant turnover ratio in
Speaker 1: the NBA. It's almost like he had one of the
Speaker 1: best period ever. Not a lot of people talking about
Speaker 1: Tias Jones was kind of lost in the preseason shuffle.
Speaker 1: Phoenix Sun signed him well below market value. I think
Speaker 1: he was. His market value was like nine million a year.
Speaker 1: He was getting offers nine to ten million a year.
Speaker 1: Signed a one year, three million dollar deal with Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Jones is one of the best at protecting the ball.
Speaker 1: Not just one of the best, he is the best.
Speaker 1: Hardly ever turns the ball over. He's not one of
Speaker 1: those guys that needs to score. He loves to set
Speaker 1: the table. He loves to get guys involved, get them
Speaker 1: easy looks, and to four games he has just been
Speaker 1: unlocking the guys Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal
Speaker 1: to do the things that they do best, which is
Speaker 1: not play point guard. Remember when Frank Vogel was like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, we're committed, We're committed to playing Bradley Beal
Speaker 1: at point guard. Oh yeah, we're committed to playing Devin
Speaker 1: Booker at point guard. And then they just like got
Speaker 1: torched by the Timberwolves in their last five games against Phoenix.
Speaker 1: By the way, they pressured the player bringing up the
Speaker 1: ball one hundred and fifty seven combined possessions, which is
Speaker 1: the highest number that the Suns faced over five games
Speaker 1: last season total. So they knew what it was like.
Speaker 1: These boys are not point guards. They are not trying
Speaker 1: to handle that double team smoke and they got exploited.
Speaker 1: So the Sons at a point guard problem. They couldn't
Speaker 1: even keep Campaign. They were just like, we can't afford him.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. And let's be honest, like Campaign's also
Speaker 1: not that great in terms of like taking care of
Speaker 1: the bone, but ball so that almost no money. Everyone's like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're kind of fucked. You know, maybe you should just
Speaker 1: get rid of Bradley Beal for scraps. And then Tias
Speaker 1: only the grace of the basketball gods, did the best
Speaker 1: point guard at protecting the ball land in their last
Speaker 1: You think you can ball pressure Tias Jones, No, sir,
Speaker 1: He's top five in the NBA and assistant turnover ratio
Speaker 1: for an astounding eight straight years. You are not speeding
Speaker 1: him up or slowing him down. And through four games,
Speaker 1: what is his impact? Bill is dribbling the ball thirty
Speaker 1: percent less than last year. Booker has dribbled the ball
Speaker 1: fifty one percent less, astounding both flourishing on the offensive
Speaker 1: end as a result. And that is what happens when
Speaker 1: you actually have a set of the table point guard
Speaker 1: and you don't have your shooting guards, your scorers, your
Speaker 1: peer scorers have to play out a position. Don't even
Speaker 1: get me startled on the fact they try to play
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant as point guard as well. The wild thing
Speaker 1: about it is that Tias Jones may end up being
Speaker 1: the most impactful signing of the entire offseason. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the deadline for rookie extensions. There were some
Speaker 1: surprising decisions made by some teams, probably the most devastating
Speaker 1: being the Lakers declining the third year rookie scale option
Speaker 1: on Jalen Hood Chaffino. If you recall, Jalen Hood Schaffino
Speaker 1: was Rob Polinka's personal pet, selected at seventeen because he
Speaker 1: saw Ko Chafino play his alma mater in the Big
Speaker 1: Ten tournament and houch if you know, went crazy and
Speaker 1: he was like, I've got a hat of them. By
Speaker 1: the way, the next two picks in the draft, Hi
Speaker 1: Mi haawk Is and Brandon Pajemski. Can you imagine Brandon
Speaker 1: Pajemski on the La Lakers right now? Both played college
Speaker 1: ball in California. Disaster, just a catastrophe. Similarly, the Bucks
Speaker 1: declined their option on Marjon Beauchamp. He was the twenty
Speaker 1: fourth pick in the twenty twenty two draft, while players
Speaker 1: like Nikola Jovic Andrew Nemhard Jalen Williams with the y
Speaker 1: We're still on the board. Tough, there's a very tough look.
Speaker 1: Never quite worked out. Hard to see where he might land.
Speaker 1: Maybe Europe, I don't know. Also, Atlanta has declimbed the
Speaker 1: option on Grizzlies draft pick David Roddy again twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two rough draft. Probably the most surprising non tender was
Speaker 1: the Wizards of deciding to pass on the number ten
Speaker 1: pick Johnny Davis twenty twenty two draft. He's just not
Speaker 1: an NBA player, just not good. The Wizards are barely
Speaker 1: an NBA franchise, playing young dudes all over the place. Honestly,
Speaker 1: if you can't hook on with the Wizards, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure you can hook on. But all of that to say, like,
Speaker 1: I'm starting to think the twenty twenty two draft might
Speaker 1: have been very, very bad. I'm starting to think outside
Speaker 1: of the top picks pretty effing trash. In related news,
Speaker 1: Lonnie Walker eighteenth pick in the twenty eighteen draft, he
Speaker 1: signs with the EuroLeague. I'm not even gonna try to
Speaker 1: pronounce that zalgearis Countess, but he has an NBA buy
Speaker 1: out up to February eighteenth. I have no idea why
Speaker 1: a team like I don't know the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
Speaker 1: I don't know the Milwaukee Box, I don't know the
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets couldn't just pick him up because he shoots
Speaker 1: forty percent from three. Teams like Denver could desperately use
Speaker 1: that right now. And he's better than probably twenty percent
Speaker 1: of the bench players in the NBA. Very very fascinating stuff.
Speaker 1: And finally, we haven't checked in on Crazy Joe Missoula
Speaker 1: in a while. The last we heard from him, he
Speaker 1: was responding to the question of whether he felt any
Speaker 1: pressure to repeat by saying, I don't give a shit
Speaker 1: when anybody says to me, it's not pressure. There's nothing
Speaker 1: in this press conference circle can do to me that's
Speaker 1: gonna impact my identity and who I am as a
Speaker 1: person and who I am as a coach. We're either
Speaker 1: gonna win or not in forty years from now, and
Speaker 1: none of you are invited to me a funeral. And
Speaker 1: that's it. By the way, Joe Missoula is thirty. He's
Speaker 1: gonna die at seventy. Jesus Christ, what's he gonna do
Speaker 1: Joe is not a fan of the press. By the way.
Speaker 1: To be fair, he has not been very nice, and
Speaker 1: before he steamrolled the league on the way to the championship,
Speaker 1: he wasn't nice. Then this week he dropped another of
Speaker 1: his wild ass ideas that probably stem from his background
Speaker 1: in martial arts. I remember he was like challenging Marcus
Speaker 1: Smart to a fight, a wrestle, like in the locker room.
Speaker 1: He's like, no, dude, what. So somebody asked him what
Speaker 1: rule changes that he wanted. This he implemented and said,
Speaker 1: the biggest thing that we wrought rob people from from
Speaker 1: an entertainment standardpoint is that you can't fight anymore. I
Speaker 1: wish we could bring back fighting. What's more entertaining than
Speaker 1: a little scuffle. How come in baseball they're allowed to
Speaker 1: clear the benches every time someone gets clubb In the NBA,
Speaker 1: you don't need a monitor to see if there was
Speaker 1: a misdemeanor committed. I don't see why some sports are
Speaker 1: allowed to clear the benches. They have bats and weapons
Speaker 1: and we don't. We just have a ball. The other
Speaker 1: sport has one of the hardest surfaces in playing instrument
Speaker 1: and pucks and sticks, and we're still not allowed to
Speaker 1: throw down a little bit. What a wild quote. I
Speaker 1: think people have their whole careers have been close to
Speaker 1: ended by a fist to the face in basketball. Maybe
Speaker 1: it has to do with the fact that, like, you're
Speaker 1: almost naked, right, you don't have any pads slowing you
Speaker 1: down or any skates to change the impact of your fall.
Speaker 1: It is just body, shoe, earth, and an orbital bone.
Speaker 1: Are we talking about it? He said. I didn't say
Speaker 1: legalize it. I said allow people to express themselves. Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: what a DP. I don't think so when you you
Speaker 1: know how it's bad. Gilbert A. Renus came out and
Speaker 1: was like, whoa, that's fucking extreme. No, Joe, we can't
Speaker 1: have fighting in games. People will literally lose their lives
Speaker 1: no matter how weird. The players he puts out on
Speaker 1: the floor are nobody. Nobody's gonna be as nuts as
Speaker 1: as Joe Missoula. That's all the time that we have
Speaker 1: for this episode The Heat. Check comeback Monday for an
Speaker 1: all new episode, and check out the feed for past
Speaker 1: episodes and many episodes which drop unexpectedly, like the Baseball
Speaker 1: in front of a New York Yankee in the World
Speaker 1: series Wolf. Don't forget to follow the heat check through
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Speaker 1: that what is cadre? Even that cadre of kids who
Speaker 1: descended upon you during Halloween. It's like a pirate hoard
Speaker 1: looting a defenseless ship. They're like ding dong ding dong,
Speaker 1: ding dong, ding dong. My dog's losing it. Tell these kids, hey,
Speaker 1: while you're eating the candy, make sure to tell your
Speaker 1: parents put on the heat check. Don't forget to follow
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Speaker 1: NBA people have migrated there. It's Trista Underscore Crik Sam
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Speaker 1: some point I think