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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to Hoops tonight here at the Volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Monday, everybody. If all of you guys had an

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Speaker 1: incredible weekend, we got a jam pack show for you today.

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Speaker 1: We are continuing our power rankings with number eight the

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers. We also have a mail bag for

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Speaker 1: the tail end of the show. Today is NBA Media Day,

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Speaker 1: so all sorts of different quotes are gonna be floating around.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna kind of wait and put all of those

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Speaker 1: together for our next episode. So our next episode we

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Speaker 1: will go into anything interesting from NBA Media Day, but

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Speaker 1: today again. Mail bag at the end, Lakers off the top.

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Speaker 1: Also keep that in mind for mailbag questions for the

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Speaker 1: Wednesday show. Drop any questions you have about anything related

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Speaker 1: to Media Day and we'll kind of stay centered around

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Speaker 1: that on Wednesday. You guys are the job. Before we

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Speaker 1: get started, subscribe to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss you announcements.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your

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Speaker 1: podcast on our Hoops Tonight, and then keep dropping mail

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Speaker 1: bag questions in the YouTube comments. We can keep hitting

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Speaker 1: them throughout the rest of year. All right, let's talk

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Speaker 1: some basketball. So number eight the Los Angeles Lakers, little

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Speaker 1: offseason recap for you guys. They lost Spencer Dinwiddie and

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Speaker 1: Torrian Prince. They added Brownie James, a second round pick

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Speaker 1: that has some NBA potential, but I don't think he's

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Speaker 1: good enough to be a rotation player yet probably a

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Speaker 1: few years away on that front. Dalton connect was their

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Speaker 1: first round pick, does some things at an NBA level

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Speaker 1: right away. He's a lights out shooter off the catch

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Speaker 1: on pretty high volume. At Tennessee last year he got

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Speaker 1: one point twenty four points per catch and shoot jump shot.

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Speaker 1: It's really really good. Has some scoring chops too, just

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Speaker 1: like you know, scoring is a kind of a vague

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Speaker 1: term that I use to describe anything that's kind of

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Speaker 1: in between. So like if you imagine a driving layup

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Speaker 1: or a finish off of a cut underneath the basket,

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Speaker 1: or a catch and shoot jump shot, those are all

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Speaker 1: shots that are more like play finishing types of moves. Right,

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Speaker 1: Scoring is like everything in between. Whenever the offense or

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Speaker 1: the defense I should say, is taking away the rim

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Speaker 1: and taking away those catch and shoot threes, any sort

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Speaker 1: of additional opportunity to score the basketball, I think kind

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Speaker 1: of floats into that category. Right to me, it's a

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Speaker 1: combination of a bunch of different things. Audacity, you gotta

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Speaker 1: be crazy enough to take tougher shots, creativity against good defense.

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Speaker 1: There are like opportunities to take creative types of shots

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Speaker 1: and angles of release and stuff. Like that in that

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Speaker 1: mid range area. Also at the basket when you're running

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Speaker 1: into traffic. Athleticism, the ability to get to your spots footwork,

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Speaker 1: which is the ability to actually get your body moving

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Speaker 1: towards that spot and in there in a way that

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Speaker 1: actually you can flow into a shot that's a footwork

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Speaker 1: element right and then touch right the actual ability to

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Speaker 1: make shots. All that stuff kind of combines into the

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Speaker 1: organic scoring ability that you have, and Dalton has some

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Speaker 1: good natural scoring ability, like he can create his own

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Speaker 1: shot off the bounce when he needs to in those

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Speaker 1: situations where the easy stuff isn't there, and Tennessee relied

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Speaker 1: on him a lot and that specifically. He's also a

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Speaker 1: good athlete in transition, like when you get him running

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Speaker 1: in a straight line, he can hang with the best.

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Speaker 1: But he's a really bad defender at this point. So

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Speaker 1: whether or not he can actually be a rotation player

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Speaker 1: right away, we'll come down to that end of the

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Speaker 1: floor and how quickly during training camp he can find

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Speaker 1: a role that JJ Reddick can trust him to do

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Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the floor. If he can

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Speaker 1: get that up pretty quickly, I think he'll be a

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Speaker 1: big time rotation player for the Lakers this year. If not,

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Speaker 1: they might have to look into another direction. They also

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Speaker 1: had a couple of interesting deals on the margins. They

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Speaker 1: got Christian KloCo on a two way deal. Once upon

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Speaker 1: a time he was an exciting defensive center prospect, and

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Speaker 1: the Lakers don't really have a center that can roughly

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Speaker 1: approximate what ad does Jason excuse me, Jackson Hayes is

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Speaker 1: more of like an offensive minded center, screen and roll guy.

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Speaker 1: Christian Wood is more of like a scoring center, a

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Speaker 1: pick and pop guy. So like, neither of those guys

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Speaker 1: are what I would consider defensive anchors. And so if

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Speaker 1: Christian KloCo can give them some, you know, a different

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Speaker 1: look at that backup center position, that might be useful.

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Speaker 1: And then Jordan Goodwin comes over on an exhibit ten deal.

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Speaker 1: It's a training camp deal. He's the reason why I'm

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Speaker 1: putting him in here is he's a stocky, athletic guard

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Speaker 1: and this is a guard corps that sorely lacks that

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Speaker 1: specific archetype of guard like Jordan Goodwin can pressure the

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Speaker 1: ball well, he's a physical defender, he rebounds well for

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Speaker 1: a guard. He's kind of like a dirty work guy.

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Speaker 1: And in addition, to that. He also shot the ball

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Speaker 1: pretty well last year when he was open. Didn't shoot

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Speaker 1: well when he was contested, but when he was open

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Speaker 1: he shot thirty nine percent on unguarded catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: jump shots in Phoenix and forty seven percent on unguarded

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot jump shots in Memphis. So he kind

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Speaker 1: of fits more of the mold of like a like

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Speaker 1: a role player athlete guard and on a team that

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Speaker 1: doesn't really have that sort of player. I think that's

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Speaker 1: a guy that might be an interesting dude to keep

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Speaker 1: an eye on in training camp to see if he

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Speaker 1: can't grab a start a roster spot. A couple other

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Speaker 1: guys too. These guys were already on the but that

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Speaker 1: didn't play much last year. Max Christy just never got

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Speaker 1: favor with Darvin Ham so never got consistent opportunity. I

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Speaker 1: expect him to get consistent opportunity this year. Jared Vanderbilt

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Speaker 1: was just hurt all year last year. I expect him

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Speaker 1: to get hopefully if he's healthy, to be an addition

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Speaker 1: to the team this year. Gave Vincent was available for

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Speaker 1: the postseason but was kind of a shell of himself

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Speaker 1: and was injured all year. So like just having those

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Speaker 1: guys re enter the rotation via health and opportunity are

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Speaker 1: what I would consider to be basically like kind of

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Speaker 1: changes to the roster compared to last year. Those are

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Speaker 1: all minutes, All those minutes that Dalton connect would play,

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Speaker 1: all those minutes that Jordan Goodwin would potentially play if

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Speaker 1: he made the roster, Max Christy, Jared Vanderbilt gave Vincent.

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Speaker 1: Those are all minutes last year that we're going to

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Speaker 1: Tory and Prince Spencer Dinwittie like, those are the types

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Speaker 1: of Cam Reddish was getting a lot of those minutes too.

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Speaker 1: Those are minutes that are going to be shifted towards

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Speaker 1: different players this year. Now, looking at the Lakers and

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Speaker 1: their outlook for this year, the strength of this Lakers

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Speaker 1: team as their starting lineup, it's a seamless offensive fit

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Speaker 1: with those With those five guys, again, we're talking Austin Reeves,

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Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell, Ruey Chamura, Lebron James, and Anthony Davis, who

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Speaker 1: JJ Reddick has basically come out straight up and said,

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Speaker 1: these are the guys I'm starting with. Right makes a

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Speaker 1: lot of sense offensively. You have these two really skilled

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Speaker 1: guards with these two really versatile forwards that can function

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Speaker 1: both on or off the ball, like screening and rolling

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Speaker 1: or post up Folkrum's Lebron and Ady can both attack

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Speaker 1: out of the posts, that can both attack in ISO situations.

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Speaker 1: But they're just very versatile forwards that kind of counter

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Speaker 1: what the skill guards bring. And then Ruy Hachimura has

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Speaker 1: kind of found his little niche as a master of

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Speaker 1: weak side scoring, meaning like a lot of attacking and

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Speaker 1: spot up situations. He got one point one to six

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Speaker 1: points per spot up possession last year that was in

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Speaker 1: the eighty third percentile. He also scored on a cut

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Speaker 1: sixty times last year, which was by far the most

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Speaker 1: in his career to this point. Just we kind of

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Speaker 1: did a breakdown of this when we did our JJ

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Speaker 1: Reddick video the other day, But the gist of it

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Speaker 1: is knocking down three point shots on skip passes, but

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Speaker 1: also identifying when they are opportunities to cut along the baseline.

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Speaker 1: And one of the other things you'll see that happens

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Speaker 1: with the Lakers is if you've got let's say you've

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Speaker 1: got big, strong players in your starting lineup, where are

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Speaker 1: the first two of them going. They're going to Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron James, so Ruy Hachimura is going to

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Speaker 1: be guarded by your third best ford defender, and that

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Speaker 1: usually is a player that Ruy can look to attack

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Speaker 1: in matchup situations. It was mixed results on that last year,

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Speaker 1: but it was something that they went to quite a bit.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers switched to that starting lineup on January twenty first,

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Speaker 1: after not using it all season, not even for a

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Speaker 1: single minute. That was one of the many things that

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Speaker 1: went south for Darvin Ham last year. But from January

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Speaker 1: first forward, that team with the starting lineup intact, so

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Speaker 1: with all five players playing, they went twenty three to ten.

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Speaker 1: That's a seventy percent win percentage, or another way of

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Speaker 1: looking at that as a fifty seven win pace. As

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Speaker 1: a team overall, including the games where guys missed time,

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Speaker 1: they went twenty six and thirteen from January twenty first.

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Speaker 1: That was the fifth best record in the NBA, and

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Speaker 1: they were third in offensive rating behind only Boston and Indiana.

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Speaker 1: So really scored the basketball well, really found their groove

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Speaker 1: as a basketball team last year. The Lakers were also

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Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the league in high

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Speaker 1: leverage matchups, so whenever they played really good teams, so

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Speaker 1: the teams that were in the top ten in point differential.

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Speaker 1: They had seventeen wins against teams in the top ten

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Speaker 1: in point differential that was tied for the most in

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Speaker 1: the NBA with the Boston Celtics. They also had the

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Speaker 1: sixth best net rating in games against teams that were

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Speaker 1: in the top ten in point differential. So when they

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Speaker 1: needed to get up for good teams, Lebron and ad

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Speaker 1: were always great. The role players stepped up, and they

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Speaker 1: were actually were very successful against the NBA's best last year. Now,

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Speaker 1: the season obviously came to an end in the first round.

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Speaker 1: They had a weird playoff series against the Denver Nuggets,

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Speaker 1: very different from the series two years ago. The series

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Speaker 1: two years ago, it was like the Lakers were hanging

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Speaker 1: on for dear life, but they would somehow just kind

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Speaker 1: of keep it close and then Denver would just consistently

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Speaker 1: out execute them at the end of the of the game.

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Speaker 1: Right this year was much more of like the Lakers

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Speaker 1: actually controlled the series. They led for the vast majority

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Speaker 1: of the time in the five games they led for

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Speaker 1: I can't remember the exact percentage of the time, but

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Speaker 1: it was like three fourths of the series they led

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Speaker 1: and then just in clutch time, the Lakers could not

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Speaker 1: get a stop. They gave up a one to sixty

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Speaker 1: three offensive rating in clutch situations to the Denver Nuggets.

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray hits two game winners and Denvers dispatches them

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Speaker 1: in five. So it's kind of a weird series because

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Speaker 1: Denver wins in five, which is kind of what most

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Speaker 1: people saw happening before the series. But the Lakers were

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Speaker 1: way more competitive in that series, and I actually thought

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Speaker 1: in a lot of ways led to some of the

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Speaker 1: wear and tear, just with their paint on slot that

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Speaker 1: kind of led to them eventually running out of gas

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Speaker 1: in that Minnesota series. So the Lakers have a strong

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Speaker 1: foundation if two of the top ten players in the league.

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Speaker 1: They were great offense for the second half of the year,

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Speaker 1: devastating paint attack. They were second points in the paint

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Speaker 1: per game, which is interesting because Lebron is the only

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Speaker 1: player on the team that really drives to the rim.

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Speaker 1: But it's a great example of how you don't need

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Speaker 1: to drive to get paint attempts, like posting up is

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Speaker 1: the way to get paint attempts. Rolling to the rim,

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Speaker 1: cutting to the rim, offensive rebounding, those are all these

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Speaker 1: different ways you can get rim attempts right now, the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: it was mostly cutting, rolling, and posting, but they use

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Speaker 1: those three things to get a lot of shots in

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Speaker 1: the pain. But the Lakers have some major weaknesses, and

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Speaker 1: there are three of them that I want to get

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Speaker 1: into today. First of all, the starting lineup does not

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Speaker 1: have a professional two way player next to Lebron and

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Speaker 1: ad d Lo is incapable of filling an on ball

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Speaker 1: defensive role, and he's mediocre at best off the ball,

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Speaker 1: so he not a whole lot you can do with

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Speaker 1: him defensively. Ruey is pretty much bad at everything on defense.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't rebound well for a forward, which is disappointing

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Speaker 1: because he's bigger and stronger. There are a lot of

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Speaker 1: players at his position. Doesn't rebound well, he does not

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Speaker 1: chase perimeter players around very well. And then if you

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Speaker 1: need him to defend bigger players, he's not really good at,

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Speaker 1: like actually using his strength defensively. Gives ground too easily

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Speaker 1: instead of holding his ground and absorbing contact, which players

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Speaker 1: will just go right at him and get a lot

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Speaker 1: of and ones and stuff like that. Like Rui's just

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Speaker 1: doesn't really know how to use his physical gifts on defense,

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Speaker 1: yet I think he's a pretty bad defender at this

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Speaker 1: point in his career. Austin is solid, he does his job,

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Speaker 1: he competes, but he's currently slotted as their primary point

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Speaker 1: of attack defender. He is guarding the other team's best

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Speaker 1: guard every single night, and that's just not a smart

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Speaker 1: way to use Austin, And that's the main reason why

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Speaker 1: they couldn't get stops against Denver. They actually did a

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Speaker 1: good job in the large sample that lineup. The starting

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Speaker 1: lineup had a one to ten defensive rating in almost

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Speaker 1: four hundred minutes in the regular season. That's a solid

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Speaker 1: defensive rating. They defended Denver well statistically, they held him

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Speaker 1: below one hundred and fourteen points per one hundred possessions.

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Speaker 1: For against a team like Denver, you're holding a well

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Speaker 1: below their typical offensive output. That's solid, but it was

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Speaker 1: mostly fools gold in the large sample because ad was

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Speaker 1: just cleaning up a lot of messes and helping keep

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Speaker 1: the metrics down a little bit. And it's a reminder

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Speaker 1: of why metrics in the large sample can only mean

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Speaker 1: so much. Metrics in a large sample will help us

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Speaker 1: understand some concepts, but at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: we have to look at what actually is going on

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Speaker 1: on the floor to see where the specific matchup weaknesses are.

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Speaker 1: And that's the thing is like whenever Denver needed to score,

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Speaker 1: they were immediately able to comfortably get wherever they needed

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Speaker 1: to get on the floor and get a good look.

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Speaker 1: That's why they had that one to sixty three offensive

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Speaker 1: rating against the Lakers in clutch situations. Even further, going

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Speaker 1: beyond the Denver matchup, they always struggled against teams that

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Speaker 1: had a lot of perimeter speed. So like the Warriors

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Speaker 1: torched them one twenty six offensive rating in the regular season,

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Speaker 1: the Pacers a one to twenty two offensive rating in

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Speaker 1: the regular season, the Kings a one to twenty offensive

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Speaker 1: rating in the regular season. All three of those teams

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Speaker 1: combined to go eight to two against the Lakers. So

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Speaker 1: teams that perimeter defense is like a prerequisite to be

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Speaker 1: able to contain the ball, they really struggled with right

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Speaker 1: so to put it nicely, like I just don't think

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Speaker 1: the Lakers are good enough defensively right now to get

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Speaker 1: to where they want to go, similar to Milwaukee right

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Speaker 1: like Milwaukee right now is not good enough defensively to

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Speaker 1: get where they want to go, which is to win

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Speaker 1: four playoff rounds. So for both of those teams for

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Speaker 1: the eight and nine in my power rankings list, and

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Speaker 1: I would even extend that to ten with Phoenix. They

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Speaker 1: they're not. They just at some point this season, either

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Speaker 1: via trade or by in house development or just a

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Speaker 1: certain young guy popping, they need substantial improvement in their

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Speaker 1: defensive ability and versatility, meaning their matchup resilience. All three

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Speaker 1: of those teams need to now. For the Lakers specifically,

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Speaker 1: I think it's more so going to be via trade,

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Speaker 1: but we will get more into that later. Second major weakness,

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Speaker 1: can they withstand an injury to Anthony Davis? Lebron in

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Speaker 1: the regular season is kind of inconsistent with his effort,

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Speaker 1: so I think they can kind of live without him

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Speaker 1: some nights. The skill guards, I'm not too worried about,

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Speaker 1: Like as long as two of those three are available,

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Speaker 1: Like if Austin's out but Dlo and Lebron are playing,

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Speaker 1: or Lebron's out but Dlo and Austin are playing, Delos

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Speaker 1: out but Austin and Lebron are playing, I feel like

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Speaker 1: they've got a chance to score enough to win games.

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Speaker 1: But as of right now, if Ad were to miss

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Speaker 1: some time, they have like basically no shot of putting

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Speaker 1: together even an average defense because they're so weak on

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Speaker 1: the perimeter and they just don't have the interior kind

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Speaker 1: of like backup centered guy that kind of mimics like

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Speaker 1: I talked earlier about like roughly approximating, I don't mean

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Speaker 1: an impact Christian KloCo would never in a million years

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Speaker 1: be able to replace what AD does. But if you

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Speaker 1: have a guy that is the rough approximation, then at

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Speaker 1: least you can run the same scheme and at least

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Speaker 1: hope to have a certain floor defensively. And Jackson Hayes

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Speaker 1: and Christian Wood are just not those guys. And you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll see you Christian Cloco, but he's a complete and

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Speaker 1: total wild card at this point. So, like, I think

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Speaker 1: it's more of a regular season issue. I don't think

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Speaker 1: the backup center spot is as important for the playoff context,

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Speaker 1: because if you're healthy and you're in the playoffs, AD's

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Speaker 1: playing forty two minutes a night, and like I think

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Speaker 1: if you had to play Jackson Hayes six minutes a night,

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Speaker 1: I don't think that's gonna make or break your playoff hopes.

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Speaker 1: But in the regular season if Anthony Davis has to

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Speaker 1: miss a chunk of time. That's where I'm concerned about

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Speaker 1: their lack of depth at the center position. Now, encouragingly,

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Speaker 1: they have acknowledged as much in the last week that

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Speaker 1: that's something they need to do. My guess is that

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Speaker 1: if they ended up making a deal, it'd be more

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Speaker 1: of like a combo deal, either like two deals or

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Speaker 1: one deal with one team to bring back multiple players

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Speaker 1: where they look to upgrade at starting spot and bring

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Speaker 1: up a backup center. But we'll talk about some options

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Speaker 1: there down the line. Their third, big, biggest weakness is

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Speaker 1: there enough talent on the bench to carry the Lakers

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Speaker 1: through eighty two games. Let's take the starters out for

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Speaker 1: a second, because that's how the Lakers were winning. They

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Speaker 1: were winning because they had this great starting lineup that

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Speaker 1: was the driving force of the majority of their success.

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Speaker 1: If you took a look at their depth chart after

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Speaker 1: the starters, it's a little thin ball handling guards, guys

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Speaker 1: that can run action. Gabe Vincent. He's a good player

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Speaker 1: in Miami, but he was hurt all year last year,

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Speaker 1: so he was a little bit of a wildcard, right.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Hood Shafino. He didn't look like an NBA player

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Speaker 1: last year. Those are the only two ball handling guards

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Speaker 1: that they have off the bench off ball wings, so

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Speaker 1: these are guys that are not necessarily going to run action,

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Speaker 1: but can run action. But these are guys that are

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Speaker 1: primarily looking to score off the ball and are like

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Speaker 1: just kind of your typical off ball role players. Max Christy,

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Speaker 1: I actually really like him as a three and D prospect,

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Speaker 1: but this will be his first season in a real

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Speaker 1: consistent role, so there's a little bit of a wild

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Speaker 1: card there, right Dalton Connects, we talked about him earlier.

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Speaker 1: Whether or not he can play, it comes down to

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Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor. That's a wild card.

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Speaker 1: Cam Reddish, I don't think he's good enough to be

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Speaker 1: a rotation player on a serious NBA team. I've never

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Speaker 1: been a big Cam Reddish fan. Maxwell Lewis doesn't look

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Speaker 1: like an NBA player right now. So in the off

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Speaker 1: ball wing category, you've got Max Christy I think is

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Speaker 1: an okay option. Dalton connect who knows Cam Reddish, Maxwell

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Speaker 1: Lewis not good options in my opinion. At the forward spot.

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Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt, who I really like, I actually am much

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Speaker 1: higher on Vanderbilt than most, but he hasn't been available

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Speaker 1: much since he got traded to the Lakers, so there's

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Speaker 1: a question mark there, and that's it. There's not another

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Speaker 1: bench forward. I mean, in theory, you could play Christian

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Speaker 1: Wood as like a bench forward, but that's only in

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Speaker 1: like specific matchups, and he brings his own issues. And

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Speaker 1: then you have three backup centers. You have Jackson Hayes,

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Speaker 1: Christian Wood, and Christian Coloco. So like, how many of

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Speaker 1: those guys are reliable NBA rotation players. Just let's be optimistic.

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Speaker 1: I think Max can. I think Max can guard bench

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Speaker 1: guards and be a functional offensive player off the bench.

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Speaker 1: I think Max is fine. I think Gabe is fine

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Speaker 1: as a bench guard. Gab and Max two good options. Vando,

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Speaker 1: when he's healthy, I think, is a solid bench rotation piece.

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Speaker 1: I even think Vandal could start in place of Ruie.

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Speaker 1: I would start him in place of Rui if Vanda

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Speaker 1: was actually healthy. I think it gives more balance to

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Speaker 1: that lineup. We'll talk more about that in a minute,

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Speaker 1: but those are the only three. So I've got my

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Speaker 1: five starters that are rock solid. I like that as

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Speaker 1: a regular season unit. We could talk about their limitations

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs we have, but I think if those

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Speaker 1: five guys are healthy, I think they're going to stay

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Speaker 1: afloat in the regular seat in and win enough games.

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Speaker 1: And I have a prediction there that I'll talk about

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Speaker 1: in a minute. But after that, I've got three ify

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Speaker 1: next guys, right, Gabe, Max, and Van Doo for various reasons.

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Speaker 1: Health for Gabe, health for vand oh youth for Max.

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Speaker 1: But those are like my three best guys coming off

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Speaker 1: the bench. And then I've got a lot of question marks.

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Speaker 1: So a couple of specific things that would go a

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Speaker 1: long way towards giving them a little bit more resilience

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Speaker 1: are like, if Dalton Connect could prove himself to be

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Speaker 1: a useful rotation player right away, that would be huge.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Hood Shaffino if he could demonstrate why he was

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Speaker 1: a first round pick to begin with, that would be huge.

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Speaker 1: And then Christian KloCo, if he can give you a

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Speaker 1: legitimate backup center that can be a defensive anchor. Those

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Speaker 1: are three things that could that would go a long

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Speaker 1: way towards swinging the Lakers bench talent, because then you

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Speaker 1: look at it and it's like, if Dalton Connect can defend.

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Speaker 1: If let's just say, let's say two of those three

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Speaker 1: pop like Christian KloCo gives you a legitimate, defensive minded

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00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,840
Speaker 1: backup center that athletic and gives you a little bit

432
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,640
Speaker 1: of consistency there. And you have Dalton connect proved playable,

433
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,199
Speaker 1: and then Max Vando and gay Ball pan out. Then

434
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,119
Speaker 1: you've got ten good players. Now you've got something that

435
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,880
Speaker 1: you can work with. But there's definitely quite a bit

436
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:20,399
Speaker 1: of a swing factor at play in the Laker bench.

437
00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:39,600
Speaker 1: There's a lot that could go either way there. Before

438
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 1: we look a little bit more big picture, where can

439
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,160
Speaker 1: JJ Redick help this team? So I put down two

440
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,280
Speaker 1: specific things that I want to talk about. One regular

441
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,679
Speaker 1: season attention to detail. The Lakers were really good in

442
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 1: big games against good teams last year, but they routinely

443
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:59,280
Speaker 1: dropped games against mediocre teams. They had specific bad stretches

444
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 1: of basketball, like the I talked about in the large

445
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,639
Speaker 1: sample that stretch in late December early January where they

446
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,600
Speaker 1: went three and ten. They in the December January stretch,

447
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,639
Speaker 1: they lost to the Spurs, once, they lost to the

448
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,480
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls, They lost to the Brooklyn Nets, they lost

449
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 1: to the Utah Jazz, they just dropped a bunch of

450
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,200
Speaker 1: games to bad teams. But even within games, they had

451
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,200
Speaker 1: some bad habits, Like they had some bad stretches where

452
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:23,919
Speaker 1: they'd like let go of the rope for two or

453
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 1: three minutes and just stop doing anything that they were

454
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:29,199
Speaker 1: supposed to do on both ends of the floor and

455
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,880
Speaker 1: then promptly blow a fifteen point lead or promptly go

456
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,640
Speaker 1: from a competitive game to now you're down by fifteen.

457
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 1: This was especially bad at the end of quarters, where

458
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 1: they would like end of the second or end of

459
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,440
Speaker 1: the first quarter, end of the third quarter, you would

460
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 1: just see the Lakers being good spots and then they

461
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,119
Speaker 1: would just immediately drop a bunch of their advantage that

462
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 1: they gained over the earlier portions of the game. That

463
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: was an issue, and that was on darwn Ham. In

464
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,640
Speaker 1: my opinion, Darwin had a very relaxed, big picture attitude

465
00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 1: about everything. He let a lot of shit go throughout

466
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,639
Speaker 1: the season when he shoot it been holding guys more accountable,

467
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 1: and so I think that we're going to see a

468
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,240
Speaker 1: sharper Lakers team and more disciplined Lakers team this year

469
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 1: under JJ Redick. And then the second big piece is

470
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 1: optimization of talent. I think JJ is going to bring

471
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 1: some specific improvements on the offensive end in terms of

472
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 1: spacing and shot diet. For spacing, Anthony Davis, I think

473
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,199
Speaker 1: is going to take more jump shots, JJ Reddick. This

474
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,159
Speaker 1: was actually one of the quotes from Media Day. Anthony

475
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 1: Davis said that JJ wants him to take more jump shots.

476
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,880
Speaker 1: But those of you guys who remember the Zach Low interview,

477
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: JJ actually said to Zachlow that he has a theory

478
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 1: about why Anthony Davis hasn't shot the ball very well,

479
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,880
Speaker 1: and he said he would share it with Zach down

480
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: the line if it works out. I think what JJ's

481
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 1: referencing there as attempts, I think he just thinks that

482
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis doesn't take enough jump shots to be a

483
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: good jump shooter. I tend to agree. I think Anthony

484
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 1: Davis needs to take more jump shots to be in rhythm,

485
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,400
Speaker 1: and I think JJ forcing him to take more jump

486
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,679
Speaker 1: shots will go a long way. Two other things on

487
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 1: the space in front three man action, JJ's a big

488
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: believer in running action. Three man action is just instead

489
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,440
Speaker 1: of running a ball screen, have another element to the

490
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,359
Speaker 1: ball screen, for instance, a double drag where you have

491
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: two guys set the ball screen one guy roll one

492
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 1: guy pops, a ram screen where someone screens down for

493
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 1: the big before he comes up to set the screen,

494
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 1: so you get more separation between the screener and the

495
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,920
Speaker 1: screen defender before the action. Spain pick and roll where

496
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: you have a shooter backscreen for the roller as he's

497
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 1: rolling to the basket. These are all drubble handoff actions

498
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,919
Speaker 1: like Chicago action or just any any like pistol. Anything

499
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: that's going to bring three players into an interchange makes

500
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: it harder for the defense to guard at the beginning

501
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: of a possession, right, especially teams that like to switch.

502
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 1: It's just harder to switch a three man action than

503
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 1: a two man action. But there's a third element to

504
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,480
Speaker 1: the spacing piece, which is off ball. Off ball screening

505
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,560
Speaker 1: and cutting was something that the Lakers did better laster

506
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 1: than they have in years past, but something that they

507
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,680
Speaker 1: still have a good amount of area for improvement, specifically

508
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,920
Speaker 1: with shooters relow Oka, like they got good at baseline

509
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,639
Speaker 1: cuts with whichever screener was not involved, whether that was

510
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 1: Ruey or it was Lebron or was a d that

511
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,880
Speaker 1: sort of thing. But even beyond that, just not having

512
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,640
Speaker 1: guys stand off the ball would go a long way

513
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 1: towards making them harder to guard. So between Ad being

514
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,879
Speaker 1: more of a jump shooter, more three man action, more

515
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,719
Speaker 1: off ball screening and cutting, I think those things will

516
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: go a long way to loosen things up for their

517
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 1: spacing and then their shot diet, just a more deliberate

518
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 1: process of hunting quality rim attempts and quality catch and

519
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 1: shoot attempts. The Lakers were an excellent three point shooting

520
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,239
Speaker 1: team after the lineup change in late January because they

521
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,280
Speaker 1: got great looks. They got a ton of shots at

522
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,640
Speaker 1: the rim and then easy catch and shoot shots after that.

523
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 1: But they were still twenty sixth in attempts overall three

524
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 1: point attempts. So they could turn a few of these

525
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 1: mid range shots, a few of like the d Lo

526
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,679
Speaker 1: mid ranges, a few of the Austin mid ranges, a

527
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,360
Speaker 1: few of the Lebron and Ad mid ranges into rim

528
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: attempts and quality catch and shoot looks that could just

529
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,560
Speaker 1: help an already good offense get a little better, Just

530
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,119
Speaker 1: squeeze a little bit more out of that sponge, if

531
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 1: that makes sense. So everything for the Lakers and their

532
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 1: ultimate potential, though, will come down to whether or not

533
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,120
Speaker 1: they hit on a mid season trade. In my opinion,

534
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 1: I think they're actually going to be fine in the

535
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,120
Speaker 1: regular season if they stay healthy. Here's my big prediction

536
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. If Lebron and ad are both healthy again,

537
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,439
Speaker 1: meaning if they both play seventy plus games, I think

538
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,439
Speaker 1: the Lakers are gonna win fifty plus games. I'm a

539
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 1: big believer in the starting lineup. Their offense is legit.

540
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 1: It's low on variance, Like they attempt a ton of

541
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 1: shots in the paint, and they attempt quality threes off

542
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 1: of that, so they don't take like a ton of

543
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 1: really difficult jump shots that can wildly oscillate back and

544
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,440
Speaker 1: forth in efficiency. The Lakers shot forty percent from three

545
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 1: after the lineup change. How's the second best mark in

546
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 1: the league over that span, while being the second best

547
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: paint offense. I think that their paint attack and the

548
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 1: way they play off of that is really reliable. I

549
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 1: trust their offer. There's a basic stat to put that

550
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: together for you guys. After January twenty first, when they

551
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: made the lineup change, the Lakers attempted thirty two point

552
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 1: five threes per game. Twenty eight point seven of them

553
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 1: were classified as either open or wide open by NBA

554
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 1: dot Com. They get great looks. That's why they shoot

555
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: a high percentage, and it's because they're paint to great.

556
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 1: They're paint first into an outside attack from there, and

557
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:16,959
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna even turn more of those mid

558
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,440
Speaker 1: range attempts into more threes. I think they're going to

559
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 1: be a very efficient offense this year. Now, their offense

560
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: does have some specific weaknesses because they don't have a

561
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,120
Speaker 1: lot of dribble penetration teams that do a lot of switching,

562
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 1: like the Clippers, for instance, they have a tendency to

563
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 1: cause the Lakers offense to bog down. Even in the

564
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,119
Speaker 1: wins the Lakers had against the Clippers last year, they

565
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,679
Speaker 1: were ugly for the large portion of the game as

566
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: their offense looked a little stilted because of the switching.

567
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: The way they have to attack switching is through Lebron

568
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: and Ad leveraging their physical gifts, which they can be

569
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 1: a little passive sometimes. Right. So, like they have some

570
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 1: specific offensive weaknesses, but in the large sample, as long

571
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:53,960
Speaker 1: as they're healthy, I think their offense will carry them.

572
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,200
Speaker 1: I also think JJ will do a much better job

573
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,439
Speaker 1: of getting the most out of the Lakers as a

574
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,919
Speaker 1: regular season team, avoiding the self inflicted wounds that Darvin

575
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,000
Speaker 1: Ham did to the team last year. Better game to

576
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 1: game preparation and game planning, better exploitation of margins that

577
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,719
Speaker 1: help you win. Those are the kinds of things that

578
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,720
Speaker 1: I think JJ is going to get out of this team.

579
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 1: So again, if Lebron and Ady both play seventy plus games,

580
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers are gonna win over fifty and

581
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 1: be a team that is firmly above the plan. That's

582
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,639
Speaker 1: my kind of prediction. Obviously, if everyone gets hurt, it's

583
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 1: a different story. But I do believe in that starting lineup,

584
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 1: and I think they're gonna be fine that set. Even

585
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: if they do both play seventy plus games and let's

586
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 1: say they go fifty two to thirty, I still think

587
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: they can't win four playoff rounds unless they properly balance

588
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,720
Speaker 1: the starting lineup. I think the key is turning one

589
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 1: of ruiy Ordll into a rock solid two way starter.

590
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: I don't think it needs to be a star. I've

591
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 1: gone back and forth with this over the past year.

592
00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 1: There are times in the regular season where I'm like, man,

593
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 1: they could use just enough a really high level offensive

594
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: player to just kind of make things easier for them.

595
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,760
Speaker 1: But Lebron and Ad just came on so strong at

596
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,360
Speaker 1: the end of the year, including the playoff run. We're like,

597
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: I don't feel that way anymore. I think Lebron and

598
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: a D are more than good enough right now to

599
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: anchor a championship team. If you look at that Denver series,

600
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 1: they didn't lose because Lebron and a D. I have

601
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: actually said this before. I think Lebron and Ad played

602
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 1: Yo Kitchen Murray to a draw, if not even slightly outplayed.

603
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,400
Speaker 1: Then they lost that series because Ruby got his lunch

604
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,280
Speaker 1: eaten by Michael Porter Junior and d lo is terrible.

605
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: It was down the roster, guys like Michael Porter Junior,

606
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,480
Speaker 1: Contavious Cabo Pope, Aaron Gordon like. Down the roster was

607
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 1: where the Lakers got beat. Lebron and AD stepped toe

608
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 1: to toe with Yo Kitchen Murray and gave them the business.

609
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 1: They got it back, but they they were they were

610
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 1: going toe to toe with the duo that won the

611
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 1: title last year. It was down the roster where they

612
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: had those issues. And specifically it's about redundancy. D lo

613
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,239
Speaker 1: and on are redundant. Lebron and Ruie are redundant. That

614
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,960
Speaker 1: means there are responsibilities on the floor that go unfulfilled

615
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,760
Speaker 1: or go fulfilled by people that are not qualified for it.

616
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 1: And then there are like there's too much of some

617
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: things that you already have enough of, right, So, and

618
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,360
Speaker 1: the Lakers I think are well set up for a trade.

619
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,000
Speaker 1: They have two first round picks that they can use,

620
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 1: and those are valuable first round picks because the Lakers

621
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,200
Speaker 1: are a dumpster fire organizationally, and so when Lebron retires,

622
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 1: you can pretty much bet on them being bad for

623
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,440
Speaker 1: a while, right And so, Like, if they've got two

624
00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: first round picks that are desired around the league, and

625
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,080
Speaker 1: they've got mid level salaries to use, they've got lots

626
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: of guys like Gabe and Van Dooh and Austin and

627
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,280
Speaker 1: Dilo and Rui that are all on these like mid

628
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,200
Speaker 1: level contracts between ten and twenty million. They're set up

629
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 1: to be able to make a trade. So, now let's

630
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 1: imagine what that looks like from the standpoint of the

631
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: starter upgrade. And there's lots of examples. I've talked about

632
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown a lot. It really just needs to be

633
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,920
Speaker 1: a very athletic player that can guard the ball, rebound,

634
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: and be a functioning cop in the five out attacks.

635
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 1: Just a functioning cock doesn't need to be a high

636
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: level offensive player. As a matter of fact, Like the

637
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 1: Lakers have enough offensive talent and they started That's what

638
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,560
Speaker 1: I mean in their starting lineup. That's what I mean

639
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 1: by the redundancy. They need somebody that kind of balances

640
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: things a little bit. A couple other guys I'd look at.

641
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant. I'm actually higher on than most Laker fans.

642
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 1: I know that people have some concerns about him playing

643
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 1: some losing basketball in Portland and how well he fits

644
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: next to Lebron and AD. I think he can help

645
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 1: on offense. I think he is a better athlete than Ruie,

646
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:33,800
Speaker 1: and I love the idea of leveraging Jeremy's athleticism next

647
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 1: to Lebron and AD. A couple other guys though, that

648
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: I'd look out for, Like what if the Clippers season

649
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,800
Speaker 1: goes south and you go after a guy like Terrence Mann,

650
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 1: Like what if James Harden gets hurt, Kwi Leonard gets hurt,

651
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 1: Clippers are just bad, Clippers decide they want to rebuild.

652
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: Terrence Man is twenty seven years old and is not

653
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: a star, so like he's at that point an asset

654
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 1: that the Clippers could look to move. I think Terrence

655
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: Mann would be a beautiful fit next to Austin Reeves.

656
00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 1: You can imagine Austin and Terrence and Ad is like

657
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: a nice little core to kind of like look at

658
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: the post Lebron era with not to mention he could

659
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,360
Speaker 1: help you in the short term as a potential ceiling

660
00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: raising move. Another guy like that if the Warriors season

661
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: goes south. I like a guy like Andrew Wiggins at

662
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,400
Speaker 1: the three next to Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Once

663
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 1: again that can guard the other team's best player and

664
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 1: kind of layers athleticism on top of what Lebron and

665
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 1: Ad bring to the table. I don't think that would

666
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,440
Speaker 1: happen unless the Warriors went south. But those are a

667
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 1: couple of different things that you could keep an eye on.

668
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 1: There are lower level moves you can look at too,

669
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: like I wouldn't be surprised if a team like Minnesota

670
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: decides that they want to offload one of their guards.

671
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: I wouldn't now that they've brought in Dante DiVincenzo and

672
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 1: they have Nikhil Alexander Walker already as kind of like

673
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,560
Speaker 1: a backup guard a team like Orlando, now that they've

674
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 1: brought in KCP, what about a guy like Gary Harris,

675
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,160
Speaker 1: just like an athletic, like just a rock solid type

676
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 1: of role player guard I think would go a long

677
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 1: way towards helping at the two or the similar version

678
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 1: at the three, though, regardless of what that player is,

679
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: and those are a bunch of example. Let's just take

680
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown for example. Let's pretend that the Lakers make

681
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 1: a deal for Bruce, and I can't remember the exact

682
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 1: functionality of the deal, it'd be like it'd be like

683
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 1: d Loo and Jalen hoods Chafino and like Cam Reddish

684
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 1: and like a first or something like that. Let's say

685
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:23,360
Speaker 1: you make that deal from there. Now, let's pretend it's

686
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:30,000
Speaker 1: Austin Bruce and then ruy lebron Ad. Now I can

687
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 1: put Bruce on the other team's best offensive player. Now

688
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 1: Austin is guarding the other team's second best offensive player.

689
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 1: Now overall, I took the worst athlete in the lineup,

690
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,120
Speaker 1: de Lo, and I put him the third best athlete

691
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: in the lineup, a guy who's firmly a better athlete

692
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: than Ruy and Austin. Right now, I'm bigger, I'm stronger,

693
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: I'm more athletic. In the backcourt, I'm tiered better in

694
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: terms of my point of attack assignments. Bruce is a

695
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 1: seamless fit offensively as like a screener and roller, a

696
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: guy that can kind of do a lot of the

697
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,520
Speaker 1: similar stuff that Alex Cruso did with the lebron A

698
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 1: D front court back in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty Like,

699
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:10,800
Speaker 1: I like that sort of fit. Now, all of a sudden,

700
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: I'm infinitely more imposing physically, I'm infinitely more balanced. Again,

701
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: Like a lot of people talk about, like how is

702
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 1: it that this trade could move the needle or that

703
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: trade can move the needle. It all depends on what

704
00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:27,319
Speaker 1: the team needs. If you have a gaping hole in

705
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:31,120
Speaker 1: a specific skill set and you feel that you're going

706
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: to experience a dramatic return, if you have a small

707
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000
Speaker 1: hole that you try to fit a big player into,

708
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 1: you experience diminishing returns. For instance, Bradley Beal with the

709
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,799
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns, the Sons are not benefiting from a lot

710
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,479
Speaker 1: of what Bradley Beal brings because they don't really need

711
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 1: a lot of what Bradley Beal brings they need more of,

712
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 1: like what a contavious cobb of Pope brings to the table. Right.

713
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: That's kind of my point is, like, if you were

714
00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,680
Speaker 1: to pick up and put Bradley be on a team

715
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: that desperately needs guard play but is loaded in the

716
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 1: front court, all of a sudden, he brings a lot

717
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 1: more value. But it's all about what your roster needs.

718
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,000
Speaker 1: The Lakers have tons of offensive talent in a championship

719
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:17,840
Speaker 1: level front court. What they need is a specific type

720
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,319
Speaker 1: of athlete at the two or the three that can

721
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: do the kinds of things that they were not getting

722
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: from d Lo and Rui, which is quality defense on

723
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: the opposing team's best perimeter player and defensive rebounding athleticism

724
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,239
Speaker 1: that just winning more of those physical battles that they

725
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,839
Speaker 1: had been losing over the previous years. That's why I'm

726
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 1: such a big believer in that if you don't make

727
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,400
Speaker 1: a trade. So let's say, if you're like a Lakers

728
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: fan and you're like, hey, Jason, we've heard Rob Polinka

729
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:45,239
Speaker 1: talk about how he doesn't want to make a trade

730
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 1: unless it woul lead to sustain success. Let's say the

731
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 1: Lakers are having a solid season where they're in the

732
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 1: fourth or fifth seed, but the Lakers ownership in front office,

733
00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,880
Speaker 1: they're just like, we're not going to invest in this group.

734
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: We're gonna just hoard all these assets for the future. Okay,

735
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 1: if that's the case, is there's still a pathway for

736
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: the Lakers to get to four round wins to getting

737
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: to the trophy. I think it's a very very very

738
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 1: tiny path, but it would look different for starters. I

739
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:16,840
Speaker 1: still think you need balance in that starting lineup, so

740
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt would have to get healthy and take Ruey

741
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,880
Speaker 1: starting spot. That would be And again, Jared, the defensive

742
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,400
Speaker 1: end is easy. We've seen what Jared looks like guarding

743
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,800
Speaker 1: the other team's best player next to Anthony Davis in

744
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,960
Speaker 1: that front line. It looks awesome. They look great. Jared

745
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,600
Speaker 1: is great on the defensive end, like I think he's

746
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: in that like fringe, first tier, second tier perimeter defenders

747
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,120
Speaker 1: in the league. Jared Vanderbilt's awesome on the ball, but

748
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 1: on the offensive end he can be a nightmare. However,

749
00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,320
Speaker 1: there's a tiny little pathway here in what the Lakers

750
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 1: kind of got out of Jared Vanderbilt. Towards the tail

751
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,040
Speaker 1: end of the season last year before he got hurt,

752
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,480
Speaker 1: and Jared Vanderbilt's last eight games before he got hurt

753
00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,200
Speaker 1: last year, he averaged eleven points per game on sixty

754
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,560
Speaker 1: six percent shooting. And it was just a totally different

755
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 1: role than what we saw the year prior. The year prior,

756
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: they were running four out, one in setup, spread, pick

757
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 1: and roll, go stick Jared Vanderbilt in the opposite corner,

758
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,840
Speaker 1: and he's just shooting a three or crashing the offensive glass.

759
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 1: That's all he was doing. And he couldn't make the

760
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,480
Speaker 1: threes a high enough clip or even be guarded really

761
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,480
Speaker 1: when he was over there, right, So like kind of

762
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,200
Speaker 1: a JANKI fit for him offensively in the Lakers' five

763
00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 1: out attack, he was running dribble handoffs and rolling and

764
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:29,319
Speaker 1: cutting the basket, and he was scoring and scoring effectively there. So, like,

765
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:32,320
Speaker 1: if they can replicate that in a large sample size,

766
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,879
Speaker 1: if Jared Vanderbilt comes into training camp and he gets

767
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,160
Speaker 1: healthy and he takes Rue's starting spot and he guards

768
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: the other team's best player every night, and he plays

769
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,759
Speaker 1: seventy plus games and he becomes a functioning dribble handoff,

770
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 1: cutting offensive rebounding kind of like offensive player within that unit.

771
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:50,479
Speaker 1: That would go a long way towards giving them a chance.

772
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,320
Speaker 1: But I think if Jared's gonna be in the starting lineup,

773
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 1: I think in order for the Lakers to be a

774
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: championship team, ad would have to rise to the level

775
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 1: of the top your superstars by becoming the type of

776
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,960
Speaker 1: jump shooter that he was in the past. That's a

777
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,800
Speaker 1: long shot because we haven't seen it since twenty twenty.

778
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,280
Speaker 1: But like, if you're telling me, Jason, give me some hope, Jason,

779
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:11,839
Speaker 1: the Lakers aren't going to make a trade. I don't

780
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,239
Speaker 1: believe in Rob, I don't believe in Geenie. Give me

781
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,319
Speaker 1: some hope that the Lakers are going to get this

782
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,839
Speaker 1: done this year. It would come down to building a

783
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:24,720
Speaker 1: starting lineup that has more two way balance within the roster.

784
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:29,040
Speaker 1: That's going to require Jared Vanderbilt becoming healthy, getting his

785
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:32,879
Speaker 1: way into that lineup, and being the versatile two way

786
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 1: player that they kind of got little bits and pieces

787
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,040
Speaker 1: of towards the tail end of the year last year.

788
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 1: And then Anthony Davis just needs to become one of

789
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,640
Speaker 1: the top tier offensive players in the league by building

790
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 1: up a jump shot long shot, So I think the

791
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 1: best chance for the Lakers is to hit on a

792
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,120
Speaker 1: mid season trade. So, in summary, I think the Lakers

793
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:53,759
Speaker 1: are one of the most underrated teams in the league.

794
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 1: Last year, they were really good for the most part

795
00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:57,880
Speaker 1: of the season, with exception of a month that spanned

796
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,720
Speaker 1: from December and January. It is what it is. Laker

797
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: fans just kind of got to get used to a

798
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: lot of people underrating them on those grounds they were

799
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,480
Speaker 1: clawing up from the plan. So like anybody who's not

800
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 1: really watching them closely is gonna use that as an

801
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 1: excuse to think they're bad. Obviously, we know those of

802
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:17,840
Speaker 1: us who watched Lakers close last year, we know we

803
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:19,799
Speaker 1: know they were good all year. They had this one

804
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 1: bad stretch. It is what it is. They have to

805
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 1: prove it again this year, though. That's it. I do

806
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,279
Speaker 1: think that they're underrated. I think that if they are

807
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: healthy that they are going to perform well. As I said,

808
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 1: if Lebron and Ad are healthy for seventy plus games,

809
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,560
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna win fifty plus games and stay

810
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,520
Speaker 1: out of the plan. It's mostly about their stars. The

811
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,680
Speaker 1: Lakers top three is really good. Lebron and Ad were

812
00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 1: amazing last year. Austin Reeves is a rock solid championship

813
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 1: level starter in my opinion, But like everyone else in

814
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 1: this tier, they've got to address some things. They've got

815
00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 1: to have some things go right for them to win

816
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: four playoff rounds. For the Lakers, it's about improved play

817
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,319
Speaker 1: at the two or the three, either in house or

818
00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:12,160
Speaker 1: via trip. All right, that's all I have for the Lakers.

819
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:21,280
Speaker 1: Let's move on to our mail bag. First question, Jason,

820
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 1: I'm a very sad Timberwolves fan after finding out we

821
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,520
Speaker 1: traded Cat. I'm trying to find the positives. Is it

822
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,400
Speaker 1: freeing up cap space? Apparently Dante and Randall have big contracts,

823
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:34,920
Speaker 1: so we're at a net worse off than before, or

824
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 1: it could be something else. With no Cat, we were

825
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 1: less equipped to take down Yokicchen the Nuggets. I need

826
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,359
Speaker 1: some help to cope. So here's the thing. I don't

827
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,759
Speaker 1: know how any Timberwolves fan would feel good about this

828
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 1: deal in the short term, and the main reason why

829
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,080
Speaker 1: is like, if you go on a Western Conference finals

830
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:55,279
Speaker 1: run and you've got a star who's twenty two years old,

831
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,279
Speaker 1: or however, I think Aunt's only twenty two aunts young,

832
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:00,160
Speaker 1: but got a young star like Aunt that's on his

833
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,319
Speaker 1: way up, run it back, run it back and try

834
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:06,759
Speaker 1: it again and see what you can get done. That's

835
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,960
Speaker 1: what any team would do, right, So there's no doubt

836
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 1: that like throwing a giant wrench in things. Because here's

837
00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:14,400
Speaker 1: the thing. Even if you're of the opinion that Dante

838
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,600
Speaker 1: Devincenzo makes you better and Julius Randall's is just a

839
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,360
Speaker 1: better player than cat, even if you think that it's theoretical,

840
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,759
Speaker 1: we haven't seen it. And so like you take a

841
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 1: team that made it to the Western Conference finals and

842
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: you don't give them a chance to run it back,

843
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 1: that's obviously frustrating. But there's a different way to look

844
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:38,480
Speaker 1: at it, and it's through the lens of the long term. Right, So,

845
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,360
Speaker 1: because Karl Anthony Towns had so much money left on

846
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,480
Speaker 1: his deal, because Julius Randall's a free agent after the season,

847
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,040
Speaker 1: because Rudy Gobert has a player option after the season,

848
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,600
Speaker 1: and who knows, maybe you can work out a longer term,

849
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 1: more team friendly deal after that. Will see what ends

850
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:57,399
Speaker 1: up happening. But you go instantaneously into a much more

851
00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:01,080
Speaker 1: flexible cap situation. I was a huge price to pay

852
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,280
Speaker 1: there and the price is now all of a sudden,

853
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,920
Speaker 1: there's major question mark over this season, right, is this

854
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,960
Speaker 1: Julius Randall fit gonna work like? And look here's the thing.

855
00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 1: I've slept on it a few days now. I'd be

856
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:14,560
Speaker 1: lying to you guys if I didn't say I hated

857
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:18,000
Speaker 1: to Fit. I love Anthony Edwards. He's probably my favorite

858
00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 1: player in the league of this generation. Right like when

859
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:23,960
Speaker 1: the Lebron's Steph crew All retires an It's probably gonna

860
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,880
Speaker 1: be my favorite player. It'll be a different type of thing,

861
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:27,680
Speaker 1: and it won't be the type of emotional attachment I

862
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 1: had to Lebron because I became a fan of his

863
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:32,560
Speaker 1: when I was a kid. But like Ant's gonna be

864
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 1: my favorite player, I'm rooting for him. I want him

865
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:37,359
Speaker 1: to succeed. I think his best trait is that he's

866
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,680
Speaker 1: the best driver of the basketball in the NBA right now.

867
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,359
Speaker 1: And so I hate the idea of putting him next

868
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:47,239
Speaker 1: to Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randall, and Rudy Gobert. I think

869
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: that's a three four five that is a disaster for

870
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,680
Speaker 1: spacing whenever Ant has the ball. So like, I'd be

871
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:54,439
Speaker 1: lying if I told you guys. I like the fit.

872
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 1: That's it. There is upside. Dante DiVincenzo is a really

873
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: good player that I think minnesot Or two roles fans

874
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 1: are gonna love. And Julius Randall, when healthy and in rhythm,

875
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,000
Speaker 1: I think is a better shot creator than Karl Anthony Towns,

876
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,319
Speaker 1: which is a nice number two option to put next

877
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:14,840
Speaker 1: to hand. So there's upside, but there's risk. And so

878
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,799
Speaker 1: the way that I would look at it is Tim

879
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,600
Speaker 1: Conley basically is telling you that he wants to sacrifice

880
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:25,720
Speaker 1: a little bit of the right now, sure thing element

881
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:29,520
Speaker 1: that we saw from last year's Minnesota Timberwowls team and

882
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 1: replace it with some long term flexibility while also maintaining

883
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,719
Speaker 1: some of the upside within this season. And that's the thing,

884
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,440
Speaker 1: because like, here's the deal. Let's say you run it

885
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 1: back and you lose in the Western Conference finals again,

886
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: and then you're in cap hell for a few years

887
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:48,640
Speaker 1: and there's not much flexibility for you to do anything,

888
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,239
Speaker 1: Versus maybe it goes south with the Julius Randall fit

889
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 1: and you lose in the first round, but you have

890
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:57,440
Speaker 1: more ability to surround an with talent later. And again,

891
00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:58,799
Speaker 1: this is where we have to kind of look at

892
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 1: NBA history. NBA history tells us that even the all

893
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 1: time greats, they don't really start to kind of figure

894
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,080
Speaker 1: things out at a championship level until twenty six, twenty

895
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:10,000
Speaker 1: seven years old, right, So it is more important for

896
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,200
Speaker 1: you to be flexible at that point. That said, I

897
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:14,839
Speaker 1: don't see any universe where in the short term. It's

898
00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:17,880
Speaker 1: not annoying because again, you just went to the Western

899
00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:21,839
Speaker 1: Conference Finals, you lost close games to Dallas and is

900
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:25,799
Speaker 1: just rapidly ascending. The defense was frightening, it was how

901
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 1: you beat Denver. Karl Anthony Towns was a huge part

902
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,799
Speaker 1: of how you beat Denver. There's always going to be

903
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,480
Speaker 1: that part of me, and I'm sure lots of you

904
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:34,680
Speaker 1: Wolves fans that are like, why the hell didn't we

905
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,719
Speaker 1: run this thing back? But I think I just view

906
00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:42,480
Speaker 1: it as a long term kind of attempts to try

907
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:44,680
Speaker 1: to maintain some of that flexibility. Like we talked about,

908
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:47,759
Speaker 1: I wanted to spend a little bit of a follow

909
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 1: up talking about the Knicks just after thinking about that

910
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:54,000
Speaker 1: a little bit more. How do you put together a

911
00:44:54,040 --> 00:44:58,440
Speaker 1: lineup without Dante Devencenzo and with Karl Anthony Towns on

912
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:00,680
Speaker 1: the floor with Mitchell Robinson kind of like out of

913
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: the equation for now, but potentially rejoining the equation. There's

914
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:05,600
Speaker 1: a couple different options that they could go with. I

915
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:10,480
Speaker 1: talked about duce McBride in the show that we did

916
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,839
Speaker 1: on the actual night of another way to look at

917
00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:16,040
Speaker 1: it would be Josh Hart potentially playing at the two.

918
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:18,000
Speaker 1: I don't like him at the point of attack as

919
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:20,440
Speaker 1: much as duce McBride. You could also kind of like

920
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:22,520
Speaker 1: kind of flip that and kind of have McHale Bridges

921
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:26,080
Speaker 1: functionally operate as your two guarding the other team's best guard,

922
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:28,600
Speaker 1: and then have Josh Hart function more as a three.

923
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,160
Speaker 1: You could also size up, like you could go with

924
00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:33,839
Speaker 1: Precious to chew at the four and put him next

925
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,640
Speaker 1: to Kat with og and McHale Bridges, now you're just

926
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:41,799
Speaker 1: huge and rangey and athletic. There's I think that there's

927
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:43,839
Speaker 1: even a version of this when Mitchell Robinson comes back,

928
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:45,560
Speaker 1: where you just go big. There's been a lot of

929
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 1: like people talking about like, oh, Kat as the rim protector,

930
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,719
Speaker 1: this isn't going to be enough, blah blah blah blah,

931
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:52,880
Speaker 1: and it's like if you're good enough on the perimeter,

932
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:54,719
Speaker 1: I think that's not as big of a deal. But

933
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:56,400
Speaker 1: the other element of it, too, is what if you

934
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,080
Speaker 1: had a big look, like what if you went with

935
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,160
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns at the four, Mitchell Robinson at the

936
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:06,040
Speaker 1: five kind of like what Minnesota was using him as

937
00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: and you have this massive look, and look, there are

938
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,840
Speaker 1: gonna be lineups or matchups where you need more perimeter

939
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:14,319
Speaker 1: speed and that doesn't work. But like, I'm a big

940
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: believer in championship teams need to have multiple looks. You

941
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:19,560
Speaker 1: need to have versatility. You need to be able to

942
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:22,399
Speaker 1: play a two big lineup, you need to be able

943
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,920
Speaker 1: to play a three guard lineup. You need to be

944
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,759
Speaker 1: able to have different looks that you can go to

945
00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:30,799
Speaker 1: depending on what the game calls for. And so like,

946
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:33,880
Speaker 1: as far as the Knicks go, like to me, having

947
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:36,759
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns at the four the five, there are

948
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,240
Speaker 1: good problems to have because of all of the upside

949
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:41,719
Speaker 1: that Kat brings at a position group where you were

950
00:46:41,719 --> 00:46:44,359
Speaker 1: originally very thin. But again, there's a bunch of different

951
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:46,799
Speaker 1: looks that they can go with. But those are just

952
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:50,600
Speaker 1: some examples. All right, let's look at I've got two

953
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:53,040
Speaker 1: more questions for you, guys. I got a, a Bucks one,

954
00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:56,840
Speaker 1: and then a Celtics Jason Tatum question, Dude, if you

955
00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:58,440
Speaker 1: drop the Bucks in the West, they would be the

956
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:00,479
Speaker 1: fourth best team and it wouldn't be close. The West

957
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:02,680
Speaker 1: is overrated. The MAVs got destroyed in the finals, and

958
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: they took care of the now weakened Wolves. Other than

959
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:10,240
Speaker 1: those teams, the Nuggets and the Thunder are okay. Blazer, Spurs, Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, Rockets,

960
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:14,759
Speaker 1: Pelicans are all terrible, zero chance. I got a lot

961
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 1: of Bucks fans in our last video that really want

962
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:21,799
Speaker 1: them to be referred to and respected as like a

963
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:26,520
Speaker 1: top tier championship contender. Guys, the Bucks won forty nine

964
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:31,000
Speaker 1: games last year in the East, with Damon Giannis both

965
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:35,239
Speaker 1: playing seventy three games. Like, I can't, in good conscience

966
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:39,360
Speaker 1: on a couple of veteran minimum signings bump up a

967
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,080
Speaker 1: forty nine win team to like top tier championship contender.

968
00:47:42,719 --> 00:47:44,560
Speaker 1: And as far as the West East thing, I've said

969
00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:46,840
Speaker 1: this before, but the West was six hundred and fifty

970
00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,879
Speaker 1: in five eighty versus the East head to head last year.

971
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,759
Speaker 1: They were seventy games over five hundred head to head

972
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:56,400
Speaker 1: against the East. The West was so much better than

973
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,319
Speaker 1: the East. It was not close. I don't even know

974
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:02,600
Speaker 1: how that's argued at this point. Like uh, and again,

975
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:07,759
Speaker 1: like the Bucks played in the substantially easier conference where

976
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:11,000
Speaker 1: you got to play legitimately terrible teams three and four

977
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 1: times in the season and won two more games than

978
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,279
Speaker 1: the Lakers. They were with Damion Giannis both playing in

979
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:20,719
Speaker 1: seventy three games. Like I'm a believer in the Bucks upside.

980
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,239
Speaker 1: I think they have potential to enter into the top

981
00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:25,399
Speaker 1: tier contender tier if a bunch of things go right

982
00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:29,600
Speaker 1: for them this season. But in my opinion, it's irrational

983
00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:32,520
Speaker 1: to look at what we saw last year and think

984
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 1: that they're one of those top teams in the league.

985
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:38,239
Speaker 1: It's just I'm I'm rooting for it. I want Dame

986
00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:40,520
Speaker 1: to have a big bounce back year. I want Giannis

987
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:43,480
Speaker 1: to play like an MVP. I want Delon Wright to

988
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 1: pan out. I want Gary Trent Junior to pan out.

989
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:47,359
Speaker 1: I want Torrian Prince is a good player. I think

990
00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,799
Speaker 1: Bucks fans are gonna like him. There's a lot of

991
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:54,759
Speaker 1: upside there, but it's upside. It's theoretical. The reality is

992
00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:56,800
Speaker 1: is Damianis played seventy three games last year and he

993
00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:59,719
Speaker 1: won forty nine games in a very weak conference. So like,

994
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:03,719
Speaker 1: that's why right now the Bucks are just like the Lakers,

995
00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:06,280
Speaker 1: just like the Suns, just like everyone else. There's potential,

996
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:09,520
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good that could happen, but it

997
00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:12,359
Speaker 1: hasn't really materialized to this point. That's what this kind

998
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:15,839
Speaker 1: of group of teams is, if that makes sense. Last

999
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 1: question and we'll get out of here for the night.

1000
00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:21,040
Speaker 1: What criteria do you believe Jason Tatum has to meet

1001
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:24,080
Speaker 1: to be the MVP? In recent years, they've shown that

1002
00:49:24,120 --> 00:49:26,080
Speaker 1: being the best player on the best team is not enough,

1003
00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:29,719
Speaker 1: and I personally believe that his highest value is in versatility.

1004
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 1: With that being said, he's most likely not going to

1005
00:49:31,600 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: average thirty five like Luca Embiid. So what type of

1006
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:36,120
Speaker 1: season do you foresee him needing to attain that award?

1007
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:37,960
Speaker 1: That's what you would have to do. I mean, the

1008
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:41,880
Speaker 1: thing is is like whenever you are like, there's like

1009
00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:44,960
Speaker 1: three different criteria that I've always used for my kind

1010
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:46,680
Speaker 1: of interpretation of MVP, and I think it kind of

1011
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:50,840
Speaker 1: loosely follows the way most media members look at it.

1012
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:52,719
Speaker 1: But it's like, who's the best player in the league,

1013
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:55,319
Speaker 1: Who's the best player on the best team in the league,

1014
00:49:55,600 --> 00:49:59,560
Speaker 1: and then like who's the most valuable, like who's specifically

1015
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:02,840
Speaker 1: like writhing the engine, so to speak. And the problem

1016
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:06,040
Speaker 1: is is like Tatum's gonna get hurt in two of

1017
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,759
Speaker 1: those categories, Like nobody thinks he's on the tier of

1018
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:11,960
Speaker 1: the top best players in the league, and nobody thinks

1019
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:15,839
Speaker 1: he's specifically driving the Celtics bus because of how much

1020
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:18,440
Speaker 1: talent they have. So like, in order for him to

1021
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:20,400
Speaker 1: win the court of public opinion in terms of like

1022
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:23,319
Speaker 1: winning over the voters, I shouldn't even say public opinion,

1023
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:27,440
Speaker 1: media opinion. I think it would require him having a

1024
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:30,400
Speaker 1: dominant season. He would need to look like one of

1025
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,640
Speaker 1: the best players in the world while he's playing in

1026
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 1: the games. Then the Celtics would have to win over

1027
00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:38,680
Speaker 1: sixty five games. At that point, I think there would

1028
00:50:38,719 --> 00:50:40,920
Speaker 1: come a point where people would be like, this is unniable.

1029
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:42,680
Speaker 1: This guy's playing like one of the best players in

1030
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:44,680
Speaker 1: the league. This is the best team in the league.

1031
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:47,560
Speaker 1: But the thing is is Jason Tatum more or less

1032
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,839
Speaker 1: plays like a second tier superstar most of the time,

1033
00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:52,640
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing on a dominant team is

1034
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:55,120
Speaker 1: just not going to win MVP votes. And so like,

1035
00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:57,560
Speaker 1: it is what it is. But like, if it was

1036
00:50:57,640 --> 00:50:59,279
Speaker 1: purely just who's the best player on the best team,

1037
00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:00,640
Speaker 1: you're right, he'd be in the I've received, But this

1038
00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:02,720
Speaker 1: is not how it works. And so like, if Tatum

1039
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 1: goes out this year and he just crushes from start

1040
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:08,960
Speaker 1: to finish and hits a bunch of clutch shots and

1041
00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:13,720
Speaker 1: averages thirty two, ten and six and just kicks everyone's

1042
00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:15,840
Speaker 1: ass all year, I think there's a good chance that

1043
00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:19,120
Speaker 1: he wins MVP. But it's just that's kind of unrealistic,

1044
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:20,879
Speaker 1: even within the scope of what the Celtics are trying

1045
00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:22,719
Speaker 1: to accomplish. They're very talented, They've got a ton of

1046
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,080
Speaker 1: good players. They don't need Tatum to average thirty two

1047
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,279
Speaker 1: and so the best. Here's the thing I've encountered a

1048
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:29,759
Speaker 1: lot of This is the last thing I'll say about it.

1049
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:31,400
Speaker 1: I've encountered a lot of this from Celtics fans, and

1050
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:33,200
Speaker 1: I want to be clear, Like, I know that there's

1051
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:36,320
Speaker 1: a large portion of you guys who are Celtics fans,

1052
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:39,680
Speaker 1: who are reasonable and realistic and understand what's going on,

1053
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:43,640
Speaker 1: But there's a lot of like complaining from Celtics fans

1054
00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:48,000
Speaker 1: about how much credit they're getting. How well regarded that

1055
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:52,759
Speaker 1: team is how people view Jason Tatum in the hierarchy

1056
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:55,600
Speaker 1: of the league, And it's like, here's the thing. Who

1057
00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:59,400
Speaker 1: cares what anybody else thinks. The best thing for Tatum

1058
00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:01,960
Speaker 1: and the Celtics to do is to go whoop everyone's

1059
00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:06,320
Speaker 1: ass and just rack up the accolades, just keep winning,

1060
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 1: keep stacking the chips, and then eventually everyone will have

1061
00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:14,000
Speaker 1: no choice but to acknowledge your greatness. Like, at the

1062
00:52:14,080 --> 00:52:16,200
Speaker 1: end of the day, if you're worried that I think

1063
00:52:16,239 --> 00:52:18,080
Speaker 1: Tatum is the seventh best player in the league and

1064
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,040
Speaker 1: you think he's the third, who gives a shit what?

1065
00:52:20,120 --> 00:52:22,319
Speaker 1: I think Tatum needs to go out there and win games,

1066
00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:24,040
Speaker 1: and if he does, he's gonna keep getting trophies. And

1067
00:52:24,160 --> 00:52:27,680
Speaker 1: is he keeps stacking up the trophies, it becomes undeniable, right,

1068
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:30,880
Speaker 1: Like all of this stuff is just semantics at a

1069
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,600
Speaker 1: certain point, this is just debate, and so like, that's

1070
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,840
Speaker 1: the thing. I understand how you Celtics fans feel. You

1071
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:37,960
Speaker 1: want Jason Tatum to get the credit that he deserves.

1072
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:40,960
Speaker 1: You want everyone to acknowledge that team for what they accomplished.

1073
00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day. Tatum's not going

1074
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:47,040
Speaker 1: to get an MVP. It's very, very unlikely. So what's

1075
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:49,440
Speaker 1: the best he can do. Go kick everyone's ass and

1076
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:52,239
Speaker 1: get another lari O'Brian trophy and just stack him up,

1077
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,279
Speaker 1: just stack him up again. Like there's the same thing

1078
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:58,840
Speaker 1: happened to the Warriors with twenty seventeen. In twenty eighteen,

1079
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:02,680
Speaker 1: like no one was given them a ton of credit

1080
00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:04,719
Speaker 1: because of how much talent they had, and it was

1081
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:08,160
Speaker 1: a lot of talk about Katie joining the super Team

1082
00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:09,520
Speaker 1: and all that kind of stuff. But you know what,

1083
00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:11,239
Speaker 1: you just rack up the titles and then you look

1084
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,480
Speaker 1: back and it's like, well they have four of them now,

1085
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:15,279
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So, like at the end

1086
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:19,480
Speaker 1: of the day, like if the Celtics are concerned about

1087
00:53:19,600 --> 00:53:24,040
Speaker 1: the what kind of media like acceptance they're getting, just

1088
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:26,600
Speaker 1: focus on the ultimate goal and then at a certain point,

1089
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:28,279
Speaker 1: no one will be able to deny how good you are.

1090
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:30,320
Speaker 1: All right, guys, That is all I have for today

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00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:32,680
Speaker 1: is always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show.

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00:53:32,719 --> 00:53:35,759
Speaker 1: We'll be back on Wednesday with another team as well

1093
00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 1: as some another season preview, as well as some media

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00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:45,280
Speaker 1: day reaction. I will see you guys, then the volume.

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00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,400
Speaker 1: What's Up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening

1096
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:51,239
Speaker 1: to and supporting OOPS tonight. They would actually be really

1097
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,160
Speaker 1: helpful for us if you guys would take a second

1098
00:53:53,239 --> 00:53:55,920
Speaker 1: and leave a rating and a review. As always, I

1099
00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:57,680
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take

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00:53:57,719 --> 00:54:00,000
Speaker 1: a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.