Speaker 1: Well, well, well we're back breaking down NBA win totals, baby,
Speaker 1: and you asked for it. Uh, you got it. We're
Speaker 1: doing the Southeast Division today. Uh, eagerly anticipated Southeast Division.
Speaker 1: That's right. You're gonna get to hear about the Wizards.
Speaker 1: You're going to get to hear about the Hornets with Leacher,
Speaker 1: reports NBA writer Dampa Valley on today's episode.
Speaker 2: I'm Jack O'Brien and I no, no, I'm producer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. We got to producer Jabbari in the
Speaker 1: house on this week's episode.
Speaker 3: Of Sorry got it, look a hitch. Okay, you be
Speaker 3: driving Spinny number eighteen. That's good.
Speaker 4: Secures suck NBA champions.
Speaker 1: Dan for Valley in the house, not in the valley
Speaker 1: on Long Island. How are you doing? I am doing wonderful.
Speaker 1: How are you doing? Good man? We're thrilled to have
Speaker 1: you here. The wind totals are up. I'm puzzled by
Speaker 1: a couple of the picks that we've got here. So
Speaker 1: we're we're gonna we're gonna get into it. But first
Speaker 1: we got to talk about Shaq V Go Bear because
Speaker 1: there is so Shack did a complex interview. Uh, like
Speaker 1: with the with the outlet complex, not like the interview
Speaker 1: was complicated with somebody who I was like, who is
Speaker 1: this future looking fellow? And Jabbari in for me it
Speaker 1: is shack Son and was asked who is the worst
Speaker 1: all time NBA player of all time? And his answer
Speaker 1: was Jabbari, Rudy Gobert, good Shack Twitch his son said
Speaker 1: he's worse than Ben Simmons. Uh Twitch Shack said he's
Speaker 1: a bum two. But interestingly, he then went on to
Speaker 1: be like talking. He said, like the reason I walk weird.
Speaker 1: If you've seen his toes, you understand that there's a
Speaker 1: very good reason that he walks in a way that
Speaker 1: looks very uncomfortable. Kitty said he can't turn his head
Speaker 1: around like like he's in the original Timbert and Batman
Speaker 1: suit because he played for his one twenty and Rudy
Speaker 1: Gobert he mentioned, uh has two fifty is not playing
Speaker 1: for his two fifty. I just thought it was revealing
Speaker 1: that he knew he had both those numbers top of mind.
Speaker 1: I don't know what what do we think is? Is
Speaker 1: this just you know it? I guess I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't need to know, like a read on it.
Speaker 1: It's just funny to see how competitive these guys are.
Speaker 5: Exactly, you know, the funniest thing about guys like Shaq,
Speaker 5: Guys like magic, guys that make you feel good, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean, because they're smiling, they're charismatic and
Speaker 5: all of that. But sometimes we forget even you know,
Speaker 5: even twenty years after their career, ten twenty years after
Speaker 5: their career, there's still that type of cutthroat, you.
Speaker 2: Know, competitor.
Speaker 5: And while yes, I do, you know, and Dan, you know,
Speaker 5: if you want to chime in here and you'll feel free.
Speaker 5: While yes, I do think that Shaq means it, I
Speaker 5: also recognize his commitment to the bit because he did this,
Speaker 5: you know, throughout Dwight Howard's entire career, and you know,
Speaker 5: being plenty of other bigs you know, you know that
Speaker 5: that have followed. But basically, it really does feel like
Speaker 5: it's a it's a bit for me. I don't know
Speaker 5: if you think otherwise.
Speaker 6: As a as a colleague of the company that employed
Speaker 6: I am Team Shack. No, honestly, I don't understand it. Actually,
Speaker 6: I get if this was a player who was like
Speaker 6: kind of a star and didn't make a ton of money,
Speaker 6: but Shaq was a megastar.
Speaker 1: He still has.
Speaker 6: I see him on like any live sporting event. He's
Speaker 6: in like three to five commercials for different brands.
Speaker 1: So I don't, I don't. I guess it could be
Speaker 1: a bit.
Speaker 6: I just don't understand what he at this point gets
Speaker 6: out of it. And I will say, whish he brought
Speaker 6: the same energy when he was playing, because I think
Speaker 6: if you have some of his teammates, they probably would
Speaker 6: have said, like, well, why Shaq like show so out
Speaker 6: of shape? Like Kobe was probably pretty big on that
Speaker 6: at one point too. So I get he can't turn
Speaker 6: and stuff, but could he have been in better shape
Speaker 6: when he was playing and maybe he would be able
Speaker 6: to turn his head now I've also made all those
Speaker 6: you know, all star appearances, making the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: I love Shaq. He's a great character.
Speaker 6: I just don't understand like what he gets out of
Speaker 6: this personally other than looking hashtag petty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, one hundred and twenty million dollars seems
Speaker 1: like a lot of money to us. To someone with
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty million dollars, do you know what
Speaker 1: seems like a lot of money? Two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: million dollars, so I think he Yeah, it's just weird
Speaker 1: competitiveness that like it's always revealed, like when you hear
Speaker 1: the behind the scenes stories about these great players, like
Speaker 1: that seems to be the thing that can't be missing
Speaker 1: from their DNA. They have to be competitive in a
Speaker 1: way that feels like petty, right, it feels like huh man,
Speaker 1: that must be uncomfortable to be inside your head. You know.
Speaker 6: Do you guys think Shaq would be as revered if
Speaker 6: he played in the social media era?
Speaker 1: I feel like people would hate him.
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, I think it's tough because I think his
Speaker 5: behavior in some of the antics would have he would
Speaker 5: have adjusted them, you know what I mean, It wouldn't
Speaker 5: be the exact same. But yeah, if if if a
Speaker 5: lot of the old school players had to deal with
Speaker 5: social media, had to deal with the fact that, you know,
Speaker 5: someone could just you know, have a camera on you
Speaker 5: twenty four to seven, no matter where you are, we
Speaker 5: would have a different you know about.
Speaker 1: I think Shaq would have been even more famous and beloved.
Speaker 1: Assuming the game was the same as it was in
Speaker 1: his Like, if we're just taking the game as it
Speaker 1: was when he played and adding social media, I think
Speaker 1: he becomes even more popular and famous because he's somebody
Speaker 1: who happens to have all those things that make you
Speaker 1: a good basketball player. Uh. And then also just like
Speaker 1: he was just going around doing like the sorts of
Speaker 1: viral stunts that you see on YouTube, like before people
Speaker 1: were putting it on, before there were cameras present, Like
Speaker 1: you know, there's all those stories about him just like
Speaker 1: buying people's like groceries for them, buying like all these things.
Speaker 1: And again, like before it was a viral stunt that
Speaker 1: you did on YouTube. So I just feel like he
Speaker 1: was made for Like I feel like he might be
Speaker 1: the person that, in my opinion, would have like gone
Speaker 1: up the most in people's estimation due to social media.
Speaker 1: But it sounds like you think the opposite.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think he would be viewed like a Draymond Green,
Speaker 6: and just based off the way. I think it's cool
Speaker 6: that he's done a lot of charitable stuff, but he
Speaker 6: also talks about it a lot, which I feel like
Speaker 6: might defeat a purpose a little bit.
Speaker 2: So dance got shack smoke.
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, but well, the other thing you think people
Speaker 6: would let in the social media ef the game was
Speaker 6: played the same way he would have retired early because
Speaker 6: he would have been bullied because of his free throw shooting.
Speaker 6: There's just like that wouldn't have you know, kind of
Speaker 6: skated as much of it through his career. So I
Speaker 6: just I'm not even like a mega Rudy Gobert fan.
Speaker 6: I just find this entire his entire stick to me
Speaker 6: at points just gets super ridiculous. So, but Rudy Gobert's
Speaker 6: boxing now, so hopefully we'll get the clever match there
Speaker 6: you go.
Speaker 1: Oh, just don't get webbing Yama boxing. That would be
Speaker 1: like he don't even have to leave the Yeah, it
Speaker 1: would be dwthon. It would be he wouldn't even have
Speaker 1: to leave the corner. It would just be stick just
Speaker 1: whooping people from from his corner. Well, I'd be afraid
Speaker 1: he gets snapped in half.
Speaker 2: I mean she's there's that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's bendy. It would be like watching giraffes fight,
Speaker 1: you know their neck. Yeah, have you seen girafts fight
Speaker 1: where they're whipping with their neck? That is wild? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta check. Is Jack like a member of some
Speaker 1: girafte fight club that I don't know about it?
Speaker 2: We don't talk about that.
Speaker 1: Uh, just happened to have the clip right here that
Speaker 1: I will just send to you unmarked file.
Speaker 2: Uh winby versus chat in the post.
Speaker 1: That's right, all right. Another thing, another little off season story.
Speaker 1: The NBA's board has expanded the coaches review rules, permitting
Speaker 1: officials to retroactively call a foul if one takes place
Speaker 1: on a play that's being reviewed because the ball went
Speaker 1: out of bounce is essentially what it is. And I think,
Speaker 1: based on my extensive legal education, this feels like you're
Speaker 1: reading a legal document, but it seems like it's basically
Speaker 1: the foul has to have led to the ball going
Speaker 1: out of bounds, right, yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Look, I basically think everybody's gonna love it until
Speaker 5: you know it's used against your team, But if it's
Speaker 5: used in favor of it's like, good, the right hole
Speaker 5: was made.
Speaker 6: I feel like people already hate it based off the
Speaker 6: response that they're like, oh, more replays, that's what the
Speaker 6: game needs to be slowed down.
Speaker 1: I'm a fan of.
Speaker 6: Just because I hate the revisionists where people are like, oh,
Speaker 6: this one play change the entire outcome of the game,
Speaker 6: when that's not really how it works.
Speaker 1: So I like the idea of getting it correct.
Speaker 6: I do wish they could figure out a way they
Speaker 6: have that, like you know, superstation in Secaucus, Like why
Speaker 6: do the referees need to stop the game for something?
Speaker 6: Like I feel like we could review even more things
Speaker 6: in real time and it could just be quicker. And
Speaker 6: I'm just surprised that we haven't made that transition yet.
Speaker 6: So if people want to complain about how their team loses,
Speaker 6: they should be a fan of these rule expansions. But
Speaker 6: I do understand the people who are taking issue with, oh,
Speaker 6: is this going to slow down the pace of play
Speaker 6: at all?
Speaker 2: Well, but I mean, we know how this goes.
Speaker 5: Those are the same people or you know, a large
Speaker 5: percentage over the same people. If it's not gotten right,
Speaker 5: you know they'll complain about that as well. We complain,
Speaker 5: That's what we do.
Speaker 1: My only complaint with this is that, like they're saying
Speaker 1: that the call can only be reversed based on like
Speaker 1: the time elapsed between the uncalled foul and the out
Speaker 1: of bounds violation under review, So like the foul has
Speaker 1: to have happened like right before the ball went out
Speaker 1: of bounds. Essentially, I think they should be reviewing all
Speaker 1: the way back, just like it should be actual like, yeah,
Speaker 1: game is fifteen seconds in, there's a call, you put
Speaker 1: it in review, and that fifteen second review takes forty
Speaker 1: five minutes for them. It's like chess. It goes to
Speaker 1: the pace of chess. I think then people, people, and
Speaker 1: I would be satisfied. Hey, call me weird. All right,
Speaker 1: let let's take a quick break and we're going to
Speaker 1: come back and talk about the magic. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk about the heat and some big some people that
Speaker 1: Vegas thinks are gonna take a big leap this year
Speaker 1: that I can't figure out necessarily why we'll be right
Speaker 1: back and we're back. Should we just take it in
Speaker 1: the order that Vegas thinks the Southeast Division is gonna go. Actually,
Speaker 1: before we get to the Southeast Division. I know, listeners,
Speaker 1: I don't want to do it to you because you're
Speaker 1: all saying I don't care about the rest of the NBA,
Speaker 1: just give me the Southeast Division wind totals. But Dan,
Speaker 1: I am curious. You have looked at all the wind
Speaker 1: total projected wind totals for this year. Are there any
Speaker 1: that jump out to you, as you know, are particularly
Speaker 1: good bet one way or the other? Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think there's been a couple.
Speaker 6: The one that kind of stands out to me and
Speaker 6: it feels like a very easy over is Oklahoma City
Speaker 6: six and a half. Yeah, this is a team that
Speaker 6: I feel like they win fewer than sixty three, sixty
Speaker 6: five games, I'll be pretty shocked.
Speaker 1: They're so deep there.
Speaker 6: Wow, they're gonna care about winning in the regular season again,
Speaker 6: like Jalen Williams is gonna get better, Chet Homer is
Speaker 6: gonna get better. They added Alex prusso Isaya Hartnstein gives
Speaker 6: them an element if you want to face the Timberwolves,
Speaker 6: to go up against the Nuggets with Jokich, he'll help there.
Speaker 6: So I understand people's skepticism in the vein of well,
Speaker 6: how will they look in the postseason? Sure, but like
Speaker 6: during the regular season, this team wins fewer than I'll
Speaker 6: like sixty games, I'll be pretty full like all of
Speaker 6: their team will have been abducted by aliens or something
Speaker 6: at that point.
Speaker 1: Like this is to me very clearly a sixty plus
Speaker 1: win team. So they came in first last year and
Speaker 1: won in the Western Conference and won fifty seven games.
Speaker 1: They are being projected to come in first again in
Speaker 1: the Western Conference and win fifty six point five that
Speaker 1: this kind of goes, this kind of ties into my
Speaker 1: overall the I guess a thing that I'm noting in
Speaker 1: these Vegas over unders is that the teams that had
Speaker 1: a lot of wins last year, they're just every and
Speaker 1: those teams that had a lot of losses last year,
Speaker 1: they're just expecting everybody to like kind of get a
Speaker 1: little bit closer to the middle. So like, you know, Boston,
Speaker 1: who seems like they're going to be just like, I
Speaker 1: don't know why they would be worse other than porzingis,
Speaker 1: you know, sixty four last year, they're being expected to
Speaker 1: drop five games this this year. But like as we'll
Speaker 1: get to some of the teams at the bottom are
Speaker 1: being expected to come up like twelve games where their
Speaker 1: roster kind of looks fairly similar. So yeah, with okay See,
Speaker 1: even though it feels like they got better, it just
Speaker 1: feels like they're like, yeah, but they're still not going
Speaker 1: to be like so good. Somebody's gonna have to like
Speaker 1: lose some of these games. Feels like where it's coming from,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but yeah, I agree with that. It
Speaker 1: feels like, okay See, could could get to sixty pretty easily.
Speaker 1: Thirty six and a half for the Spurs feels high too.
Speaker 1: I love Wemby and I believe he could do whatever,
Speaker 1: but they didn't like they added Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes.
Speaker 1: How many extra wins is that with some improvement for
Speaker 1: Wemby is that this team still has no shooting and
Speaker 1: the offense could still be rough for patches. So I
Speaker 1: think the I think the people who they're going to
Speaker 1: challenge for like the sixth spot or even get into
Speaker 1: the plane. It's just like, have we looked like everyone
Speaker 1: put the.
Speaker 6: Jazz and the Blazers are actively trying to win, and
Speaker 6: so I thought, you know, the Spurs feel like they
Speaker 6: should be more around like the thirty two thirty three.
Speaker 1: So I love Wemby. That was an easy under for me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the West is that that was we covered one of
Speaker 1: the western divisions, the Pacific last week, and that was
Speaker 1: kind of my refrain in that is like someone's gonna
Speaker 1: have to lose games. Not in this in the West,
Speaker 1: you know, not everybody's gonna can like go up and wins,
Speaker 1: and yeah, San Antonio going up by fourteen wins just
Speaker 1: feels Yeah, it's like kind of the sexy pick and
Speaker 1: probably like a lot of public money on that prediction.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we'll get to the Eastern Conference equivalent in
Speaker 1: this very section. But up first, we're just going in
Speaker 1: descending order of the Southeast Division. We got the Magic
Speaker 1: being predicted to come in at forty seven and a
Speaker 1: half wins per draft Kings. They've added KCP, which is
Speaker 1: seems like exactly what they needed. They needed some shooting,
Speaker 1: Corey Joseph. They drafted rookie Tristan da Silva part of
Speaker 1: ways with Markel Foltz and Joe Ingalls the clown prince
Speaker 1: of the NBA himself, while resigning and extending all their
Speaker 1: core players Franz and Paolo all Right, KCP, like this
Speaker 1: is the move everybody wanted them to make. I personally
Speaker 1: like it feels like a good move, but it's also
Speaker 1: I feel like it's being treated like they added a
Speaker 1: number two guy who can shoot, as opposed to just
Speaker 1: like you know, somebody who's a good piece who can shoot.
Speaker 1: You know, Like it's not like KCP. Is this like
Speaker 1: gravitational force, who's going to like change the spacing on
Speaker 1: the court. I mean maybe he is, but yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know, what are you guys' thoughts on this win
Speaker 1: total forty seven and a half after last year winning
Speaker 1: forty seven, So it's basically exactly the same. It feels
Speaker 1: it feels too high.
Speaker 6: I like the KCP signing, but I liked it a
Speaker 6: lot more when I thought that wasn't going to be
Speaker 6: their entire offseason. Basically, yeah, and this is someone they needed,
Speaker 6: a shot maker who could work off the dribble and
Speaker 6: stretch the floor, and they don't get that in KCP.
Speaker 6: They don't get that at all. Even if you think
Speaker 6: Jet Howard is going to get some minutes and give
Speaker 6: them some motion shooting element. When we watched them play
Speaker 6: in the half court last year, PLO and Franz will
Speaker 6: just keep running into bodies and defenses are not going
Speaker 6: to respect this offense still and KCP is good, but
Speaker 6: a lot of stuff he didn't I it was inside
Speaker 6: the arc from his off ball movement. He's not gonna
Speaker 6: have that same wiggle room on the offensive end here.
Speaker 6: So barring just another demonstrative leap from their top three players,
Speaker 6: which I guess is possible, but you know you mentioned
Speaker 6: Franz shot under thirty percent from three last year. Because
Speaker 6: outside efficiency has declined year over years since he came
Speaker 6: in the league. So I think this is a really
Speaker 6: good team when you factor in that, I don't think
Speaker 6: their offense is going to be good enough yet with
Speaker 6: at least you know, a couple of.
Speaker 1: These teams need to be healthier.
Speaker 6: Miami Cleveland and like maybe Joel E and B doesn't
Speaker 6: miss more than half the season, and so it's like
Speaker 6: the wins and then Indiana getting a full year of
Speaker 6: Pascal Siakam with them after going through a training camp.
Speaker 6: I think the East top end talent is definitely inferior
Speaker 6: to the West, but like that middle class, I feel
Speaker 6: like there's gonna be fewer wins up for great to go. Yeah,
Speaker 6: so I just forty seven and a half, So that's
Speaker 6: forty eight if you want to go over. It's not
Speaker 6: a huge jump from where they were last year. But
Speaker 6: I think that they could theoretically maybe be a little
Speaker 6: bit better of a team but win just as many,
Speaker 6: if not fewer games.
Speaker 2: Where do you think they're in the middle ground?
Speaker 5: And the reason why I asked is because I've seen
Speaker 5: people saying that they could jump into that top three
Speaker 5: and be one of the you know, one of the
Speaker 5: you know strongholds in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2: Do you think they You know, obviously you're not.
Speaker 5: You're not as KCP piled as as I am, admittedly,
Speaker 5: but you just feel like they, you know, there wasn't
Speaker 5: enough improvement.
Speaker 6: My whole thing what's frustrating about them is that they
Speaker 6: could have done a myriad of different things and I
Speaker 6: just would have said, yeah, top three is possibly, like
Speaker 6: it didn't need to be. Oh, they traded for LaMelo Ball,
Speaker 6: it could have been Anthony Simon's, it could have been
Speaker 6: Malcolm Brogden. You could have gone up and down the spectrum.
Speaker 6: You just needed like a little bit of an upgrade
Speaker 6: in that department, and you kind of.
Speaker 1: Got someone who he helps you.
Speaker 6: But KCP is more of a luxury than a necessity
Speaker 6: to this team, where it's Wow, Jalen sugs and him
Speaker 6: is your defensive back forth. That's incredible. You already had
Speaker 6: the second best defense in the league. And so I'm
Speaker 6: coming at it from that perspective. I think we would
Speaker 6: need to look back and be like, oh, like Bronz
Speaker 6: Wagner and power being Ker all of a sudden just
Speaker 6: started hitting a bunch of off the dribble threes this year.
Speaker 1: For their offense, Yeah, have measurably improved. I mean Franz
Speaker 1: Vogue Nah went from shooting thirty five rookie thirty five
Speaker 1: percent from three rookie thirty six percent second year and
Speaker 1: then twenty eight last year. So I guess the whole
Speaker 1: like win total for me kind of hinges on, like
Speaker 1: was that an aberration or was the first two years
Speaker 1: in aberration? And then the other question, of course is
Speaker 1: like Pallo is going into his third season, right that
Speaker 1: that's usually around the time people who are really good,
Speaker 1: as a lot of people think he is continue to
Speaker 1: just like take leaps, and like between second and third
Speaker 1: season is when we've seen a lot of our biggest
Speaker 1: leaps from some of our best players. So like that's
Speaker 1: I'm kind of a slight over on this one because
Speaker 1: I because I think Pallo takes takes a leap. I
Speaker 1: think Franz is at least on the first second year
Speaker 1: side of twenty eight percent, Like I think he's probably
Speaker 1: low thirties. This is based totally on the fact that
Speaker 1: they got rid of Markel Foults and he was messing
Speaker 1: up his shooting via osmosis, and now that he's gone,
Speaker 1: Franz Will. It's so weird that, like there's so many
Speaker 1: every time Falts not only did he just like suddenly
Speaker 1: forget how to shoot, but then like he came on
Speaker 1: to a seventy six ers team and like Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: like was never a good shooter, but like that suddenly
Speaker 1: became a thing where like he was just completely in
Speaker 1: his head about not being able to shoot free throws.
Speaker 1: And then Falts goes down to Orlando and then suddenly,
Speaker 1: like somebody down there like forgets how to shoot completely.
Speaker 1: I do think it is contagious, and that getting rid
Speaker 1: of him was probably a good move personally. So almost
Speaker 1: light over there based on completely absurd reasons. Jabari anything
Speaker 1: to add there.
Speaker 5: I am a slight over his way, so based on
Speaker 5: just as equally as absurd reasons. Again, like I I
Speaker 5: like the KCP addition a little bit more than you guys,
Speaker 5: And I'm not saying that you're wrong in any way.
Speaker 2: In fact, you're in all likelihood the person.
Speaker 5: That's going to be, you know, most right out of
Speaker 5: this is either you know or is going to be
Speaker 5: one of you two. But I can see the scene
Speaker 5: winning forty eight forty nine games, I think regular season
Speaker 5: they're actually Okay, I still worry, you know, for a
Speaker 5: lot of those same reasons, Dan, I still worry about
Speaker 5: them in a postseason situation.
Speaker 1: That's a good point too. This could be like the Classic.
Speaker 6: They really beat you in the regular season, but they're
Speaker 6: kind of a paper tiger in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And also they could make a trade. It just kind
Speaker 1: of inflates their offense. Yeah, just get some shooting, Yeah,
Speaker 1: some more shooting. Actually, yeah, yeah, I will say KCP
Speaker 1: also prior to this played on two teams that had
Speaker 1: the best passers in maybe two of the best passes
Speaker 1: in the history of the game, with Lebron and the Joker.
Speaker 1: So you're saying they need to resign Markel Folt still
Speaker 1: actually need another great slash who can Yeah, exactly, all right.
Speaker 1: Moving on to the Heat, they are being projected at
Speaker 1: forty four and a half wins. I don't think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be forty four and a half. I think it'll
Speaker 1: definitely be a whole number of wins. But last year
Speaker 1: they were at forty six. The biggest changes and this
Speaker 1: is never how you want to kick off. The Biggest
Speaker 1: Changes section of the doc added Alec Burks and a
Speaker 1: Ton of rookie talent via the draft and free agency,
Speaker 1: re signed or extended Bam, Thomas Bryant, Kevin Love, Haywood
Speaker 1: high Smith who I love. And then there's the Jimmy
Speaker 1: of it all. Reportedly once another MAX deal. He is
Speaker 1: thirty four, hasn't played in more than sixty four regular
Speaker 1: season games since I don't think this is right, twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. Is that right?
Speaker 2: I think that's right. I looked up.
Speaker 6: I mean probably you have the two like shortened seasons
Speaker 6: that were seventy two games. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me
Speaker 6: at all. Actually didn't play in the postseason last spring.
Speaker 6: Now reportedly interested in playing for the Nets if unable
Speaker 6: to extend with the heat.
Speaker 1: That one blew my mind.
Speaker 6: What really they should wave him if he really wants
Speaker 6: to play for the Nets, Just like that's like use
Speaker 6: a better teams, Like I would d him to go sign.
Speaker 1: It with the Knicks. Yeah, we would definitely take you
Speaker 1: on the seventy six ers, Jimmy Butler. But the Nets
Speaker 1: is such an like why it seems probably like a gambit,
Speaker 1: Like he's like, well, I'll go to this place that
Speaker 1: has like an even bigger market. Than Miami. Uh, it
Speaker 1: feels like a gambit that would not work with pat Riley.
Speaker 5: I don't Yeah, you know, Riles is the last guy
Speaker 5: you want to play that game with. I'm sorry, and
Speaker 5: I got I'm not even buying into the folklore of it, like,
Speaker 5: but just based on how he is negotiating now he
Speaker 5: has worked over the last thirty to forty years, I
Speaker 5: don't think Riles is gonna even blink at this.
Speaker 1: By the way, the Nets are predicted to win nineteen
Speaker 1: and a half games this year. Last year they won
Speaker 1: thirty two, so they're being projected to be they have
Speaker 1: the dead last lowest win total in the entire NBA
Speaker 1: based on you know, Vegas predictions. So maybe he's like
Speaker 1: a Cooper Flag fan. Is that what he loves? Like flag?
Speaker 2: Long game?
Speaker 1: So anyways, forty four and a half wins they won
Speaker 1: forty six last year. I don't know why they would
Speaker 1: be much different other than just the middle class getting better,
Speaker 1: which seems like a good enough reason to me. So
Speaker 1: I'm probably right in there on this one. This feels
Speaker 1: about right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't like this team particularly, but they as
Speaker 6: you mentioned, they won forty six while dealing with a
Speaker 6: whole bunch of injuries ye last year. And even if
Speaker 6: we assume that Tyler hero On Jimmy Butler miss time
Speaker 6: like they always do, you have to assume like Terry
Speaker 6: Roziero will be healthier.
Speaker 1: Losing Kayleb Martin hurts. But I like Jack, I really
Speaker 1: like Haywood high Smith.
Speaker 6: If Jim Hawkes gets better, so and they should be
Speaker 6: really good defensively.
Speaker 1: And if Bam.
Speaker 6: Continues to shoot threes like he kind of was with
Speaker 6: Team USA, and the line is different obviously for FIBA,
Speaker 6: maybe their offensive ceiling is a little bit higher. That's
Speaker 6: that's my biggest question with them is they've been bottom
Speaker 6: ten in offense the past two years. They play so
Speaker 6: freaking slow, So can they speed it up? Can they
Speaker 6: get some rim pressure? But I'm inclined to go over,
Speaker 6: but I will admit this is the team I think,
Speaker 6: more than any other team in the NBA that I
Speaker 6: have such a bad feel for, like what their floor
Speaker 6: and ceiling is.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we all do, because the reality is
Speaker 5: you look at it on paper and it's like, okay,
Speaker 5: I could see this or that, and then they come
Speaker 5: out and they just grind their way to forty six
Speaker 5: forty seven wins. Yeah, I'll take deal over there as well.
Speaker 1: It's just injury based basically, and who knows how everybody's
Speaker 1: going to hold up or like how many games everybody
Speaker 1: going to want to play, and whether they're just gonna
Speaker 1: try and grind it out in the postseason as an
Speaker 1: eight seed like they seem to. They're like, that's where
Speaker 1: we want. It's just thinking that we're bad. Okay. Up next,
Speaker 1: we have the Hawks, who got rid of Dejonte basically
Speaker 1: everything else. Intact, their coach is still the bad guy
Speaker 1: from Karate Kid three. They won thirty six last year.
Speaker 1: Vegas has him at thirty three and a half. I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't mind me over here. For some reason,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, the Dejonte experiment with Trey
Speaker 1: didn't work. Bogged On is maybe the person who like
Speaker 1: brings a little Olympic fairy dust back with him. He
Speaker 1: was pretty awesome, seemed to be feeling himself a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, i've seen Trey. This is probably
Speaker 1: just like traumatized seventy six ers fan in me, like
Speaker 1: from years ago where he just destroyed us. But he
Speaker 1: just he does have a ceiling that. I don't understand
Speaker 1: why he doesn't get too more often, and maybe just
Speaker 1: like letting Trey Cook will lead to a higher win total.
Speaker 1: It feels like a couple of years ago they were
Speaker 1: expected to win like fifty games and then that never materialized,
Speaker 1: and now we're just off them, probably for good reason,
Speaker 1: but I can't quit them. I'm going slide over for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks, what do you guys think?
Speaker 6: I mean, they don't have their first round pick for
Speaker 6: the next three years, so they have an incentive to win,
Speaker 6: which is why be inclined to go over. I do
Speaker 6: just worry they're gonna be reliant on at least like
Speaker 6: two really young players in Dyson Daniels and Zachary Resische,
Speaker 6: and just the learning curve there. I wonder, like, Okay,
Speaker 6: how does that look Dyson Daniels great defender if he's
Speaker 6: on offense. Zachary Resiche is not like elite at any
Speaker 6: one thing. But are you going to ask him to
Speaker 6: check elite wings? What does he look like on offense
Speaker 6: against NBA length and speed? H So, I just the
Speaker 6: offensive ceiling here does feel really high. I just I
Speaker 6: still worry about their defense because they don't have a
Speaker 6: two way wing like DeAndre Hunters probably the closest state
Speaker 6: come and that's, you know, if you really stretch the
Speaker 6: definition of of two way. So it wouldn't shock me
Speaker 6: if they were like a thirty one to thirty two
Speaker 6: win team. But I think what will help help them
Speaker 6: is they're you know, unless something just happens with Trey
Speaker 6: and he demands out or something, they're not going to
Speaker 6: be a team that trades out of winning games by
Speaker 6: season's end because they have no incentive to do so, right, And.
Speaker 5: That's exactly where I was going to just quickly ask you.
Speaker 5: You know, it feels like, you know, we've heard the
Speaker 5: trade young rumors better part of the last two or
Speaker 5: three years, you know, honestly, like right after his rookie year.
Speaker 5: It feels like, you know, we've been hearing it since then.
Speaker 5: You know, why do you think his name is always
Speaker 5: on the trade market? And you know what would that
Speaker 5: market actually look like for him?
Speaker 6: So I think his name's always in the trade market
Speaker 6: because based off everything we know is that he has
Speaker 6: to be incredibly difficult to deal with. He also plays
Speaker 6: a very like grading style on his teammates because he
Speaker 6: has the ball so much and if you're Luka Doncic,
Speaker 6: that's fine, but we kind of know now that, like,
Speaker 6: not everyone wants to play with that.
Speaker 1: Not everyone wanted to.
Speaker 6: Play with Pete James Harden and those guys, it's tough
Speaker 6: for them to adjust. I actually think of the three,
Speaker 6: Luca's probably done the best job adjusting his game, Like
Speaker 6: he played a lot faster last year. So until Trey's
Speaker 6: want to play off the ball a little bit more,
Speaker 6: it becomes harder to build your team around him, especially
Speaker 6: when you consider I know, Hawks fans really into like, oh,
Speaker 6: he's been trying for like a season and a half
Speaker 6: on defense, it really doesn't matter when you watch because
Speaker 6: he's just so small. So I think that's a big reason,
Speaker 6: and I really honestly do believe he would have been
Speaker 6: traded already if that sentiment wasn't held around the league
Speaker 6: as well, because like, if you're the Hawks, look at
Speaker 6: what the Nets got for Michale Bridges, who has never
Speaker 6: made an All Star team, probably needs to be the
Speaker 6: third option on a championship team. There's a real chance,
Speaker 6: if not a guarantee, that if you traded Trey Young
Speaker 6: right now, he nets you substantially less than that and
Speaker 6: how do you win that press conference when you already
Speaker 6: traded away your first round picks? And so I do believe,
Speaker 6: just like I believe the Nets would have traded machal
Speaker 6: Bridges even if they never made that Rockets trade, if
Speaker 6: there was an offer in line with something like that,
Speaker 6: I believe the Hawks would have traded Drey Young already.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair. I think my favorite part of that
Speaker 2: is you mentioned him playing off ball.
Speaker 5: If I'm not mistaken, I feel like when they got
Speaker 5: de Jonte, there was like the Hawks team account put
Speaker 5: out a clip of Trey Young playing off ball like
Speaker 5: in two possessions over the course of his career and
Speaker 5: staying like and they said he couldn't play off ball.
Speaker 5: If I'm not mistaken, that day take place, I'm gonna
Speaker 5: I'm going to pray that into existence.
Speaker 1: If it didn't, I hope it did. But I was
Speaker 1: in the bag for that pairing, by the way, So
Speaker 1: I was just for.
Speaker 6: I look at Trey and I don't actually see a reason,
Speaker 6: Like when I look at Harden and he's done some
Speaker 6: adjusting with the Clippers some but like when I look
Speaker 6: at Harden, I don't see someone who's like, Okay, if
Speaker 6: you want to throw the ball on the post or
Speaker 6: have them screen. Like I look at Trey and see
Speaker 6: someone who should be able to fly around off the ball,
Speaker 6: set pin downs for him, shots that way. And I
Speaker 6: don't know if he doesn't want to do it or
Speaker 6: if they just haven't tried it enough. But you know,
Speaker 6: people were thrown up in arms because like his his
Speaker 6: like catching shoot frequency that accounted for his possessions went
Speaker 6: up by like two percent or something year of the year.
Speaker 6: It's like that's not enough to be considered. Oh, I
Speaker 6: can play with another ball dominant type playmaker. So I
Speaker 6: do believe he could play that way. I just I
Speaker 6: guess at this point we just have to default to
Speaker 6: he doesn't want to. I'd like, I don't know what
Speaker 6: the other year right there would be.
Speaker 1: All right, these are the two that I found a
Speaker 1: little bit confounding. I'm curious to get your read on this.
Speaker 1: We got the Hornets who last year won twenty one games.
Speaker 1: They went twenty one and sixty one. This year they're
Speaker 1: being predicted to win thirty three and a half, gaining
Speaker 1: twelve wins. Their biggest changes they added Alex sar Keishaan
Speaker 1: George and uh the bub Carrington via the draft, A
Speaker 1: cool name traded for Josh Green, signed Taj Gibson. Is
Speaker 1: that toadj the same touch Gibson who's been the league
Speaker 1: the past forty five years? Chiantae Johnson, Musa diabate re
Speaker 1: signed Miles Bridges and Seth Curry. I don't know. This
Speaker 1: is one of the biggest risers in the projected win
Speaker 1: totals this season, and I can't quite figure out why, Like,
Speaker 1: is it because LaMelo is gonna come back and be
Speaker 1: like a big win wins above replacement? Guy? Jabari and
Speaker 1: I were kind of talking about this before we started recording,
Speaker 1: and Jabari looked into it. I guess three years ago,
Speaker 1: LaMelo was healthy and played in seventy five games and
Speaker 1: they won forty three. So is this a situation where
Speaker 1: people are still remembering that and think, God, you know,
Speaker 1: one of these years is gonna be healthy and then
Speaker 1: that's that's when we're all in big, big trouble. Or
Speaker 1: is it just like, what, why would they go from
Speaker 1: twenty one ones to thirty three and a half? That's it?
Speaker 6: So I was looking at a fand and they have
Speaker 6: the Hornets at twenty nine and a half. That's like
Speaker 6: a pretty big difference between market.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and there is like some variants. Yeah, that's DraftKings.
Speaker 6: On our end, I'd probably still take the over on
Speaker 6: thirty three and a half for the reasons you just
Speaker 6: outlined with if Wamelo's do for a healthy season, and
Speaker 6: I do think he's a very valuable player. I also
Speaker 6: think they have sneaky depth on this roster, Like Brandon
Speaker 6: Miller was really good on defense last year and he
Speaker 6: already kind of had the pull up MIDI going, so
Speaker 6: I think he's someone who will get better. If Mark
Speaker 6: Williams is healthy, that's someone who is pretty good. Miles
Speaker 6: Bridges is super useful if he's going to be able
Speaker 6: to stay on the court. And they have some interesting
Speaker 6: backups where okay, or secondary guys where if they're healthy,
Speaker 6: you know, with Josh Green, I'm a big fan Cody
Speaker 6: Martin's like before there was Caleb Martin, Like everyone was
Speaker 6: up in arms in Cody Martin. That's why he's still
Speaker 6: in Charlotte and Caleb isn't, so I don't. I'd be
Speaker 6: curious to see if this could be a team though,
Speaker 6: and maybe that accounts for the variants. Are they trying
Speaker 6: to bake in like, well, are they a team that's
Speaker 6: going to trade out of winning? Because that's what I
Speaker 6: can't figure out. Their new regime, the ownership in front office.
Speaker 6: They've done everything through like a real long term lens,
Speaker 6: especially when you look at last year's trade then line.
Speaker 6: And so if the Hornets were on pace to win
Speaker 6: like thirty five games in January mid January, early February,
Speaker 6: what's to stop them from like, oh, like LaMelo has
Speaker 6: some injuries to made up body parts and oh look
Speaker 6: we traded yeah Josh Green, or we traded Miles Bridges.
Speaker 6: So there's definitely combustibility there. But if you told me
Speaker 6: LaMelo is gonna play in sixty or more games, I
Speaker 6: think I would take the over here.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 5: So you you know, if that were to take place,
Speaker 5: you basically have them as taking the biggest leap like
Speaker 5: out across the league.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, what did they win last year? They
Speaker 1: were at twenty one twenty one? Yeah, I think that's fair.
Speaker 6: Like there, it would not shock me if they had
Speaker 6: good health, Like I don't know if they're a five
Speaker 6: hundred team, but they seem like a thirty seven to
Speaker 6: forty win team. Maybe to be fair, I tend to
Speaker 6: be way higher than consensus on LaMelo. Like I think
Speaker 6: he could be like a second team All NBA player
Speaker 6: next season if he's healthy. I just think he is
Speaker 6: so transcendent on the offensive end, and so if he's
Speaker 6: going to be on the court, I think they're gonna
Speaker 6: win basketball games.
Speaker 1: Is that, like, do the metrics back? Is he like
Speaker 1: a big metrics guy? I actually don't know. He's like
Speaker 1: a big I love watching this guy. I love like
Speaker 1: anytime that there is a LaMelo highlight on my Twitter feed,
Speaker 1: I am slowing down to check it out. Is he
Speaker 1: also like a big wins above replacement guy? He is?
Speaker 6: Like so when you do like the breakdowns, like offensively, yes,
Speaker 6: but sometimes like there are points where it feels like
Speaker 6: he gives back statistically, like just as much on the
Speaker 6: defensive end, but offensively, like just when you look at
Speaker 6: the assist totals, the scoring, the usage, he is like
Speaker 6: a I don't know if I would call him a
Speaker 6: stats like an advanced metrics darling offensively, but like he's
Speaker 6: pretty close to it, Like those catchalls tend to love
Speaker 6: him on the offensive end, all right.
Speaker 1: And finally, we've got to the team that everybody's waiting
Speaker 1: for us to talk about, and that is, of course,
Speaker 1: the Washington Wizards, who added Sadik Bay, Malcolm Brogden via trade,
Speaker 1: Jonas Valadchunis sign in trade. They removed the interim label
Speaker 1: from coach Keith and made him the organization's twenty sixth
Speaker 1: head coach of all time. They're expected to go up
Speaker 1: seven wins. So after winning fifteen last year. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: won fifteen last year, they're being projected to win twenty
Speaker 1: two and a half. On Draft Gangs or no on MGM,
Speaker 1: I don't know. This is another one where I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I could see I mean this one. This is another
Speaker 1: one that feels more like it's just like a reversion
Speaker 1: to the mean, right, Like it's like they were so
Speaker 1: bad last year, things went so badly for them, Like,
Speaker 1: for instance, we were not talking about them in this episode.
Speaker 1: But just as another illustration, they're expecting Detroit to win
Speaker 1: ten more games this year than last year because it's
Speaker 1: just hard to lose as many games as Detroit that
Speaker 1: last year. So maybe it feels like that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of that going around maybe, But what what do
Speaker 1: you guys read on how the Wizards will be.
Speaker 6: They will finish under I think the front office will
Speaker 6: make sure that, like we will see Alex are play
Speaker 6: point guard or something wild if they're on pace to
Speaker 6: win more than those games. And I think, look, Malcolm
Speaker 6: Rockden Good, Kyle Kuzma is good. At least one of
Speaker 6: those dudes is getting traded. Yonna Salentunis was signed to
Speaker 6: be traded. It really seemed like, Uh, I know that
Speaker 6: in the new Lottery odds era, it's more about being
Speaker 6: a bottom four team rather than trying to have the
Speaker 6: worst record, but this doesn't feel like a team that's
Speaker 6: gonna leave anything to chance, like they are going to
Speaker 6: be if they are on pace to hit this over.
Speaker 6: Will Dawkins and is Good and Michael Winger are going
Speaker 6: to make sure that they do not hit the over.
Speaker 1: I'm convinced of that. They're flagging for Cooper in the
Speaker 1: pooper for Cooper. Yeah, in the pooper for Cooper.
Speaker 5: This right here is why I definitely let Dan go first,
Speaker 5: because I didn't full disclosure.
Speaker 1: Then you have to give your same take that you
Speaker 1: had heading here.
Speaker 5: I was coming in here saying I'm gonna put it
Speaker 5: out there I'm gonna put it out there, Dan talk
Speaker 5: pay off the ledge.
Speaker 1: No no, no, well, hold on, I didn't say that,
Speaker 1: but he said top four team in the East.
Speaker 5: I definitely, I definitely did not say that, but I
Speaker 5: will say I like, you know, finally I'm looking at
Speaker 5: a roster. I was like, these are NBA players, These
Speaker 5: are actual guys that can be developed and be worked with.
Speaker 5: I like, you know, I like the fact that they
Speaker 5: made you know, coach Keef, you know, like the permanent
Speaker 5: head coach or at least, you know, for now, they
Speaker 5: remove the interim you know deal. He's you know, he's
Speaker 5: got a you know, sixteen year career of you know,
Speaker 5: player development, and if ever there were a team that
Speaker 5: needs that, this is that team. But I will thank
Speaker 5: you because you have talked me out of I was
Speaker 5: definitely saying I could see this team win twenty five games,
Speaker 5: and I might.
Speaker 2: Have even foolishly, foolishly put some money on you. Oh man,
Speaker 2: So wow, So thank you.
Speaker 1: You sound like somebody who like you ever do you
Speaker 1: guys play fantasy Like you ever talk to somebody who's
Speaker 1: like a die hard for a specific team like I
Speaker 1: play fantasy football, And like people will be like yo,
Speaker 1: the fourth string running back for the Chicago Bears. Man
Speaker 1: Like people are sleeping on him, but I've been watching
Speaker 1: him in the preseason. He's like really really good. Like
Speaker 1: you sound like somebody who's just like read too much about.
Speaker 2: The said degenerate this you just he sounds like you
Speaker 2: did too.
Speaker 1: Much research on the Wizards, is what it sounds like.
Speaker 6: It's been awesome, Like are you employed by the Wizards
Speaker 6: trying to increase the trade value? He's guys like that
Speaker 6: person in Jack's fantasy league who's trying to sell you
Speaker 6: on this poo poo platter of players for yeah, Patrick
Speaker 6: Mahomes or something like.
Speaker 1: That's what that's out of.
Speaker 6: Like they have actual NBA players, It's like they do.
Speaker 6: Who's like the tank commander And there's a chance that
Speaker 6: like Bob Carrington or Balakoulabali, who I love the latter,
Speaker 6: might just be their best player on the roster by
Speaker 6: season's end.
Speaker 1: Like that's that's a pretty wild supposed to be.
Speaker 2: Okay, So Jack, I did say Jordan Pool of it all.
Speaker 2: I did acknowledge that nothing against him. I wish well said.
Speaker 1: Pool Party America is being invited to the Pool party again. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, last year didn't go so well, but this year,
Speaker 1: get ready for some splashback. Yeah, we're back baby. All right,
Speaker 1: let's take a quick break and when we come back,
Speaker 1: Dan will be in the hottest of hot seats. You
Speaker 1: will be in the midst of the shootout at the
Speaker 1: rapid fire Corral. We'll be right back. And we're back
Speaker 1: and Dan. So this is the fastest segment in not
Speaker 1: just basketball podcasting, podcasting in general. We can ask you
Speaker 1: questions you're coming back with just the first answers that
Speaker 1: come out of your brain. Just sounds whatever, It can
Speaker 1: be pre lingual. We just want we want it fast, okay,
Speaker 1: and if you slow it down at all, we will
Speaker 1: blame you and hold it against you. Does that sound good? Yeah?
Speaker 1: All right, Brian, start the clock. I don't like it.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't feel good it does. It's not
Speaker 1: becoming Brian. It's okay. If you don't, you know, do
Speaker 1: whatever you want. All right. We've been asking our guests
Speaker 1: what is the official state bird of your state? In
Speaker 1: this case New York Blue Jay? I have no idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we don't know. We don't care about that. What
Speaker 1: is the unofficial state bird of New York. Uh like
Speaker 1: a probably a crow, black crow. Yeah, okay, yeah, that
Speaker 1: is incorrect. We would accept trash pigeon, big bird, but
Speaker 1: the suit smells like urine or just straight up a rat.
Speaker 1: Any of those would have been okay, yeah, all right, Jabari,
Speaker 1: unto you.
Speaker 5: What is your favorite all time throwback shoe and jersey?
Speaker 5: And I noticed you got a Team Mac jersey back there,
Speaker 5: but would that be in there?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: My favorite throwback jersey would be those Vancouver Grizzlies, like
Speaker 6: teal jerseys or just.
Speaker 1: Spectacular yeah with the bear. Oh yeah, they got the
Speaker 1: bear on there.
Speaker 6: My favorite throwback shoe, I would be a Team AC
Speaker 6: shoe if you guys. I don't remember the actual addition
Speaker 6: of it, but it was from Adidas that had like
Speaker 6: the spider web with the blue like it was white
Speaker 6: and had like the blue lines that looked like spider webs.
Speaker 6: It was in all those gop Milk magazine ads. When
Speaker 6: I finally topped the pair of those and I was
Speaker 6: playing youth basketball, I thought I was so freaking cool.
Speaker 1: Those those were awesome. Man. I just googled te back
Speaker 1: throwback spider web and Google does not know what to
Speaker 1: do with that. So all right, what's the best slice
Speaker 1: for your money in all New York? Ooh pizza?
Speaker 6: Oh no, not cheesecakeney thing about that? Then two Brothers
Speaker 6: or two Boots. There's like a place in Rockefeller Center
Speaker 6: or something that's the best pizza I ever had. It's
Speaker 6: like some home in the wall place. They might be
Speaker 6: called like two Boots Pizza or something. Really Rockefeller Center. Hot,
Speaker 6: Damn the Rockefellers still doing it after all these years.
Speaker 6: All right, that is also incorrect, but I won't get
Speaker 6: into it. I'm a fan of John's or Bleaker Street Pizza,
Speaker 6: but those are both happened to be around where I
Speaker 6: lived when I was in New York, So uh, probably biased, Jabari,
Speaker 6: what you got?
Speaker 2: All right? You know we're heading into the year.
Speaker 5: We're doing all these fantastic breakdowns Southeast Division, of course,
Speaker 5: what is your biggest sleeper team or sleep What are
Speaker 5: your sleeper teams heating into the season.
Speaker 1: I just want to pick the Pelicans, so you guys
Speaker 1: could yell at me again like you have the pass.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I kind of like it. I feel
Speaker 1: like people forgot that Dejonte is on the Pelicans.
Speaker 6: Now they don't have any centers, so it's like easy
Speaker 6: to forget them against the place center there. I think
Speaker 6: for the sake of variety, the Houston Rockets have like
Speaker 6: twenty five guys that belong to an NBA rotation, and
Speaker 6: I actually think that we're gonna look back on this
Speaker 6: draft and wonder why Reed Shepherd wasn't taken number one.
Speaker 6: That guy gives off like Steph Curry vibes and just
Speaker 6: the way he gets to his mid range, the shooting
Speaker 6: in general.
Speaker 1: I think he'll end up being a really good passer.
Speaker 6: I don't know how much they're going to play him
Speaker 6: because they have so many dudes, but like Jabari Smith
Speaker 6: really good, I'm in Thompson really good. They have Shane Goon,
Speaker 6: Dylan Brooks is a psycho, Tarr Easton is defensive chaos creator.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're interested in.
Speaker 6: Winning, but they won more. They forty one and forty
Speaker 6: one or forty and forty two last year. Like that's
Speaker 6: a team that people don't have penciled into kind of
Speaker 6: the playing territory or even the top six running. It
Speaker 6: would not shock me if their offense gets a little
Speaker 6: bit better. The defense is still elite, and this is
Speaker 6: a team that we're talking about like late in the
Speaker 6: year as a as a dark horse.
Speaker 1: Well he did it, Jabari. I know you said no
Speaker 1: chance he makes it through another rapid fire round of questioning.
Speaker 1: But Danny Beans, Dan Favalley, you have done it. You
Speaker 1: have made it. Thank you so much for joining us
Speaker 1: once again on Miles and Jack Out, Matt Boosties and
Speaker 1: sometimes Jabari, Where can people find you? Follow you all
Speaker 1: that good stuff?
Speaker 6: They can find all my written work at Leach Report,
Speaker 6: and I am podcasting always about the NBA at large
Speaker 6: on the Hardwood NOPs podcast.
Speaker 1: You can check out all my content there. Thank you
Speaker 1: guys so much for having me.
Speaker 2: I absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 1: Jabari, where can people find you?
Speaker 2: I'm easy y at Jabari A Davis all right.
Speaker 1: You can find me on Twitter at Jack Underscore ol
Speaker 1: Brian uh and be sure to search hashtag Mad Boosties,
Speaker 1: Mad b double O s t I Ees for show
Speaker 1: links and updates, and be sure to join the conversation
Speaker 1: on our discord, which you can also find a link
Speaker 1: for when you search hashtag Mat Boosties. That is going
Speaker 1: to do it for another episodisode back next week with
Speaker 1: more NBA and we're only getting closer to the season folks,
Speaker 1: and another Divisional preview and over under preview. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to you all then, Bye bye bye