WEBVTT - Trades Lakers, Warriors, Celtics can make to LEVEL UP + Nuggets & Thunder weak spots | NBA Mailbag 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:17.120 The volume. All right, we'll go to him tonight here 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.079 at the volume Heavy Friday, everybody hope. Well, if you 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:21.919 guys have had an incredible week, it is mailbag Day. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:23.640 We've got a lot of good stuff to get into 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.000 from around the league, and as promised, we're recording this 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.640 on Thursday. I wanted to give some quick thoughts on 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.800 the Nugget Celtics game and the Bucks Warriors games from 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:33.880 Wednesday night as well. We'll lead with that. Then we 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.159 got about ten mailbag questions from throughout the week. Very 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:38.640 excited to get into it with you guys. You guys 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:40.199 know the job before we get started. To subscribe to 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.320 our YouTube channels. You don't miss any any more of 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:45.080 our videos like this video. That helps us a lot. 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:46.920 And if you want to get questions into our future 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.240 mail bags in our full episodes on YouTube inn YouTube 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.240 comments right mail bag with the colon, write your question, 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:52.920 we'll get to them on Fridays throughout the rest of 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.560 the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. So again, 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.880 as promised, quick thoughts on those couple other games from Wednesday. 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.200 One of the things important about our recording cadence, It's 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.080 very important to me that we get our videos out 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.440 early in the day. With our daily kind of cadence, 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.080 you know, if you release a video in the afternoon 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.560 like we used to do a few years ago, you know, 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.559 there's games that are tipping off at four o'clock Pacific time, 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:18.640 and it's just the cadence of the league is so fast. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.840 It's very important that I get our reaction videos out 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.000 early in the morning. And it just is tough when 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.839 you've got a night like Wednesday night, where there's quite 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.720 literally a half dozen awesome games and I can't get 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:31.200 to all of them. But I wanted to get to 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.080 a couple more of these, So I figure to push 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.360 him into our mailbag show for Friday, especially with how 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.840 week the Thursday night slate was so Nuggets Celtics. We 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.360 had talked about after the right after the Okach injury happened, 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.720 that there was going to be a formula for the 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.160 Nuggets to lean on if they wanted to win without Jokic, 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.200 and I said it would be leaning heavily into defense 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.560 and then Jamal Murray essentially trying to bring you home 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:55.559 in crunch time as long as you can keep games close. 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.280 And so I expected David Adelman to lean heavily or 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.560 on more of his athletes to go smaller and to 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.840 heavily emphasize in terms of his accountability the defensive end 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:06.960 of the floor, because that's something they can control during 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.760 this stretch without Nicola, and again once you get games close, 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.840 Jamal Murray is an All Star, maybe even an All 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.760 NBA candidate. He's the kind of guy who can pull 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.040 you home in those sorts of instances. And we saw 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.040 a very good example of that in the win in 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:24.400 Toronto and then another one on Wednesday night in Boston 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:29.360 against a red hot Boston Celtics offense. I cannot say 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:33.079 enough about how good Zeke Nausey has been in these 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.200 couple of wins. He was one of the heroes in 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.760 that big win in Philly when even Jamal Murray was out. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.600 He was a hero again last night. He gave them 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.760 the ability to stay kind of, you know, big and 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:47.080 physically imposing in their small ball looks, but also keeping 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.120 their switch ability, and that was really the story of 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.679 the game against Boston. The Nuggets did a wonderful job 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.920 of communicating and switching through Boston's actions, which prevented the 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.440 easy catch and shoot threes that can come out of 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.840 those screening actions allow guys to work easily downhill. In 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.399 ball screens, you're gonna have to help. That's gonna create 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:09.240 easy kickouts. If you don't switch guard guard screens and 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.000 three man action out at the top of the key, 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.160 guys are gonna slip out and get wide open threes. 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.240 And especially in that fourth quarter run, I thought they 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.880 just did an amazing job taking away any of the 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.560 easy catch and shoot looks that Boston can generate in 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.640 their offense, and then a lot of really high quality 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.880 one on one possessions against Jalen Brown Jamal Murray held 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.800 up a few times, you got like Peyton Watson stripping 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.720 him on a steal, Zeke Naji coming over and blocking 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.400 him at the rim. The Celtics did not get many 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:38.960 quality looks in that fourth quarter. Again, that's a red 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.840 hot Celtics offense. They had an offensive rating north of 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:44.800 one twenty five over the last few weeks, and the 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.720 Nuggets pretty much kept them under control, especially down the 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:50.440 stretch of that game, and then late in the game 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:54.320 on offense, just surgical shot creation from John Murray Jamal Murray, 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.520 who again like he deserves consideration for all NBA. With 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.320 the level that he's been playing at this season, he's 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.160 just been completely amazing. They kept running him off of 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.600 these like double wide pin downs out of the right corner, 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.160 and essentially he was dragging Boston's bigs out to the 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.280 perimeter as he was kind of coming off of that action. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.039 And so essentially if the big ended up meeting him 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:17.720 on a switch on the other side of the screen, 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.839 he would, you know, like Luca Garza would show and 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.320 Jamal Murray would just hit a quick little step back 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.080 jumper on him, or if they brought two to the ball, 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.000 so they're chasing and they have Luca up there. He 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.480 was just hitting Zeke nausey over and over again rolling 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:34.679 to the basket, and Zeke did a wonderful job throughout 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.280 this game of finishing around the rim or drawing fouls 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.560 on those rolls off of Jamal Murray. And then a 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.320 couple of big plays late where Boston naturally, what's the 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.280 progression there? If you're going to show on Jamal Murray 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.719 at the level and you're going to tag the roller, 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.920 what's the next progression? It's the kickouts to the three 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.200 point line and a couple of big shots Jalen Pickett 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:54.960 hits a little wonderable pull up off of one of 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.800 those sequences, and then Jamal makes a beautiful skip pass 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.640 to the left corner where Peyton Watson hit three that 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.200 pushes the lead up to thirteen and essentially closes the 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.719 deal from there. Just a really, really impressive win for 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:11.159 the Nuggets. Now three wins without Nikola Jokics. The Warriors game, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.040 massive game for the Warriors half court offense. They posted 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:15.880 a one to seventeen offensive rating and the half court 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.640 according to Cleaning the Glass in that in that win 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.080 against Milwaukee, I thought Steph did an awesome job of 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.080 working the mid range in this game, especially with the 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.720 way Milwaukee was kind of chasing him aggressively over the 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.720 top of screens and essentially funneling him into the middle 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.720 of the floor. They were spamming this play in the 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:33.560 third quarter where they were basically running him off of 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.640 a wide pin down out of the right corner, and 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:37.760 he just kept curling right into that kind of right 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.719 elbow extended area, and he'd hit a little float or 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.520 bank shot, he'd did a little jump shot, he'd you know, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.119 draw foul in that space. Did a ton of damage there, 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.400 a couple of their shooters are starting to get going. 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.680 Moses Moody and d Anthony Melton in particular, both got 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:53.919 hot from three in this game. I also thought the 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.520 offensive glass was a massive factor. They only got eight 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:59.200 offensive rebounds, but they scored on damn near every single 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.320 one of them. There were twenty two to four second 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.440 chance points advantage for Golden State. Little things like Steph 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.760 missing a three off the top of the key, kind 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.000 of coming off of a ball screen, and then offensive 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:10.800 rebound kick out there it is another look from the 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.080 left wing. He knocks it down, just turning misses into 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.520 makes with their offensive rebounding. And then lastly, I thought 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.480 Draymond got several key stops on an island against Giannis 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.839 in the middle of the paint during that third quarter run. 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.479 Draymond has been very good since his blow up with 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.560 Steve Kerr where he left the court. I think that's 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.080 the kind of thing where confrontation can be good because 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.520 it's how you hold people accountable. And I think Draymond 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.120 need a little bit of a wake up call, especially 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.200 just with how sloppy he had been. And I think 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.280 that blow up with Steve Kerr actually helped get him 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:38.920 back on track. He's been very good as of Lake. 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.080 I think the Warriors are gaining some real momentum. Al 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.920 Horford looked great again in the Wednesday night game. If 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.040 they can just stop losing games in the final seconds 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.960 and horrifying fashion, I think they have real opportunity here 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.680 to make a run in the second half of the season. 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.440 All right, let's get into our mail bag. First question, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:57.240 This was an interesting one that I got the other day, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.880 and I think it's worth diving into. Jason, longtime fan 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.599 of the show. Before the season, you said the Hawks 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.200 would be a case study for your basketball philosophy and 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.680 what their performance this year would either validate or invalidate 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.880 your perspective. So my question is, at has Atlanta season 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:14.800 so far changed your mind in anyway. This's a two 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.559 part question, and I'm going to get to the first 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:22.400 part first. So this is complicated because Atlanta season is 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.760 really strange, because my belief in Atlanta stem from the 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.400 idea that you would have this combination of rim protection 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:35.640 with chrisps porzingis a depth of athletes around Chris Soops 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.600 that would make it so Christops didn't have to come 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.520 out to the perimeter, but that he could stay back 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.960 and you'd have you know, Dyson Daniels and Nikhil Alexander 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.960 Walker and Jalen Johnson and Zachary Rissasche and all these 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.480 athletes and around him basically doing all the dirty works 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.200 so that Trey Young can focus on setting the table 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.240 as an advantage creator and chrisps Porzingis could function as 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.800 like a switch beater slash rim protector. And there, frankly, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:00.280 have been a lot of things that have gone wrong. 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.880 I think that you dig into the Porzingis piece. He 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.080 hasn't been healthy. That fundamentally makes it so that you 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.720 can't make as many mistakes on the perimeter because you 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:12.520 don't have the level of rim protection that you have 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.800 when chrisops Porzingis is sitting back like that. Right two, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:17.960 I don't think the Wings have been as good defensively 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.840 as they've needed to be, particularly Zachary rissashean Jalen Johnson. 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:22.480 I think the two of them have been actually pretty 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.120 disappointing on defense this year. And so when you have 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:30.800 a less effective group of perimeter defenders and the lack 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.240 of rimp protection, that's been kind of doomed for their defense. 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.360 They've had games like, especially without Trey Young, where they 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.600 get up into the ball and they force a lot 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.160 of turnovers and then they're just devastating in transition and 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.640 they're doing a lot of work on the margins like that, 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:46.959 and I think some of that has been some proof 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.560 of concept, like the fact that they're above five hundred 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:53.160 without Trey Young and with chrisops Porzingis being out as 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.280 much as they've had as they've been is certainly something. 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.040 It's not like super impressive, but it's something. And then 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.520 the last piece of it, whenever Trey Young was available, 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.280 they just as a team didn't defend, and Trey deserves 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.560 some blame for that, but as a team, they didn't defend. 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.040 And so you know, it's it's tricky because I would 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:15.520 argue that my basketball philosophy, what you're referencing, specifically, the 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.800 idea of having a bunch of athletes that can dribble, 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:20.560 shoot and pass, that can get up into the ball, 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.679 that can switch onto multiple multiple positions, that can run 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.839 the floor and transition and generate advantages before you get 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:31.040 into half court situations. All those things I still believe in. 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:35.480 I just think the Atlanta Hawks have been have had 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.199 several things go against them. Chris Hops being hurt, that's 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.520 a huge factor. Jalen Johnson and Zachary Ussachet not being 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.440 very good on defense. That's a big factor, right, And 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.719 Trey Young being a combination of unhealthy and then one 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.880 he has been healthy, the team not playing well. It's 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.800 just been an unfortunate mix of events. So, like, I 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.240 think where I would to your point, to your question, 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.880 where I would have to, like more seriously consider the 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.120 basketball basketball philosophy piece would be if Trey Young and 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.000 krisops Porzingis had played in most of the games and 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:07.880 the team was still below five hundred. I think that's 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:09.440 where I'd have to take a bigger look at it. 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:12.600 I'm so excited to tell you guys about our new 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.199 partnership with Viory. Those of you guys who are familiar 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.080 with VIORI have noticed that I wear it on the 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:19.720 show almost every day and have done so for years. 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.040 It's become a major workhorse for me, and there's two 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.040 reasons for that. 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Not only will you receive twenty percent off 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.360 your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any US 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:33.160 orders over seventy five dollars in free returns. Go to 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.800 viory dot com slash hoops and discover the versatility of 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.360 Yori clothing. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:46.240 and conditions Part two. When I've disagreed with you over 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:47.920 the years, it usually comes down to the idea that 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.120 I think you put too much value on the marginal 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.760 advantage players have in surgical half court execution, and that 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.120 you do so at the expense of general two way 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.000 versatility and impact. So the second question is do you 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.080 think there's any credence to the idea that you and 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.839 or the general hoop community have undervalued two way versatility 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.600 and impact. I have not changed my opinion on this 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:11.400 at all. I think Nikola Jokic has clearly been head 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.400 and shoulders better than the rest of the league, and 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:17.000 he's your textbook half court surgeon type of dude who 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.120 has defensive limitations, but that finds a way to compete 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.920 defensively within a scheme alongside other smart, high IQ defenders. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.559 I think that for all of the talk we want 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:29.280 to talk about with Luca and whether or not he 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.000 can succeed at the highest highest levels of the NBA, 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:35.040 that's all fair. You know what happened to him in 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.439 the twenty twenty four finals against Boston. That's a completely 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.880 fair criticism of Luka Doncicic. But the bottom line is 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.080 they wake up today with the damn good record and 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.480 at like what the fifth best record in the NBA, 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.040 and a big part of that is because of how 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.640 good their half court offense has been, especially in crunch time, 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.840 and Luka Doncic has been the driving force behind that. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.600 And so I think the bigger point that you're making 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.240 about the half court execution piece and set it aside, 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:06.080 do we value general two way versatility and impact enough? 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.040 I think that's a good question. I think that really 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.760 comes down to more of the team concept, though, I 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.920 think that if the ultimate not to be too reductive here, 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:17.960 but the ultimate goal of a basketball team is to 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.679 score more points than your opponent, right, and so on 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.360 our very basic level, like if you're built the way 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:26.760 Oklahoma City is and you're gonna get a shit ton 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.520 of stops, I think you can have a team that's 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.920 built less around refined offensive skill. If you have a 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.760 team like the twenty twenty three Denver Nuggets who's built 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.560 around refined offensive skill, I think you can get away 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.240 with a little bit less in terms of defensive personnel. Ultimately, 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.720 you're building a checklist. Like if you think of what 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.120 happens on both ends of the floor as like a 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.200 bunch of boxes you have to check, right, and the 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:53.200 more boxes you check on both ends of the floor, 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.480 the better team you are, right, And so if you 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.040 have a player that can check a ton of boxes, 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.120 that's certainly valuable. Right. So's take a guy like Anthony 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.880 Davis for example, Like he can check the rim protection 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.360 box and the defensive rebounding box, and then if you 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:08.680 go to the offensive end of the four, you can 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.640 check an offensive rebounding box. He can check a ball 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.440 screen threat box where he has the ability to do 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.640 damage in the short roll and as a vertical spacer. 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.080 There's things he can check like that. But there's one 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.160 giant box that he can't check, and that's like breaking 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.320 down elite defense. When there's an elite defense in front 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.240 of him, Anthony Davis ain't gonna be the guy that 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.120 breaks down that defense. That's a pretty gaping flaw for 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.080 a team that's trying to win a championship. When I'm 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:37.200 building a roster and I have that guy. I have 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.440 a guy that like this dude can break down elite 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:43.400 defense at the highest level. Obviously, I feel like I 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:44.960 can go around and find a guy that can get 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.520 defensive rebounds. I can find a guy that can dunk 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.680 a lob as he's rolling hard down the lane. I 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:53.440 can find a guy that can protect the rim a 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.520 little bit. I can find guys who can defend on 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.440 the permitive. Those are easier to find than the dude 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.160 who can break the defense down. Now, the last kind 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.880 of thing I would say is to a guy like 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.720 Jason Tatum. So coming into the season, I would have 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:08.720 ranked him as the fifth best player in the NBA 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.920 if not for his injury. Ideally, if you have a 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.040 player that can anchor a defense the way that Jason 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.520 Tatum can, that can anchor defensive glass the way that 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.640 Jason Tatum can, that also brings some ability to break 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.120 the defense down as an offensive player on the other 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.480 end of the floor. There's a ton of value there, 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:28.360 and I think that's a big part of why like 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:33.080 Jason Tatum, despite not necessarily being the most efficient half 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.640 court surgeon type of guy in the league, I was 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.840 viewing him as a legitimate top tier superstar in this 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.240 league before his injury because of his all around versatility. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.560 In short, it's all an aggregate combination of all of 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.040 these abilities. I just still think fundamentally the hardest trait 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.680 to find in the NBA is can you break down 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:54.960 elite defense? And that's why I look at that as 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.040 such a valuable trait. As Oklahoma City leaves corner shooters open, 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.480 sometimes they get rich, the teams get really hot. I 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.400 know it's their identity, but I feel like, when Jordan 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.480 Goodwin makes eight corner threes, maybe it's time to change 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.920 it up. It's happened multiple times this season, and Diagnault 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.920 sticks with the same scheme, so with Oklahoma City. And 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.000 this is an important detail. When you're looking at margin hunting. 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.400 For the most part, it's not just that specific margin 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:23.120 in a vacuum that you're looking at. You're looking at 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.640 how all of these things are intricate, intricately connected. So 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:31.240 for example, if you are let's just take offensive rebounding 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:36.520 for example, it used to be that the interpretation was 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.880 if you crash the offensive glass, you make yourself vulnerable 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.280 and transition defense. But then as teams started to look 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.800 at it in a more refined way. They're like, well, 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.520 if we crash the offensive glass from the corners and 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:55.080 we just have them run to the elbows, just classic 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.960 corner crash. When they run to the elbows, the long 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:00.760 rebound is going to come up off from a miss 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.000 three and they have a high opportunity to get it. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.960 If they don't get it, two things happen. One, those 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.760 guys out of the corners are always already running, so 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.160 they can take that momentum, oh we didn't get the ball, 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.520 wheel back into transition defense. And two, if I crash 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:18.280 to the elbow and I don't get the ball and 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.000 on the primary point of attack defender, I can quick 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.760 turn and pick up the basketball. Meaning like, let's say 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.760 the other team's big gets the ball on a long 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.840 rebound up around the elbow, and he dumps it to 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.680 the point guard right around the block, and you're right 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:33.680 there at the elbow. Didn't get the rebound, but you're 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.040 right there to pick up the guard full court. And 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:37.840 if you can pick up the guard and make him 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.320 turn twice or make him pick up his dribble or 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.720 something like that, or make him throw another backcourt pass, 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.880 that slows the team down enough that it doesn't hurt 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.560 you in transition. And so what teams have essentially realized is, yeah, 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:51.919 if you offensive rebound, there are going to be times 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.000 where you know, a very unfortunate rebound comes off and 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:56.840 your floor balance is bad and a team gets a 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.479 layup in transition. But like much of the time, you're 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.560 either going to get the offensive rebound or you're already 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:05.639 going to be in it kind of like inflicts a 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.960 certain amount of like injects a certain amount of verve 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.760 already in your team to where they're running, so they're 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:12.919 kind of getting back better anyway. And three, we can 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.639 apply ball pressure right away. So teams have basically figured 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:18.919 out that the tradeoff of attacking the offensive glass is 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:24.440 actually worth whatever small downside there is to transition defense. Similarly, 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.560 Oklahoma City has trade offs in the way that they 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.840 play defense. So again, think of it like on a 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.240 really basic level from the standpoint of the negative. Okay, 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.600 so the negative is the when they pick up with 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.040 a ton of ball pressure and they play super physical 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.600 and they attack the basketball, they commit a lot of fouls. Right, 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:46.639 That's one of the things that they're going to do 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.640 that's going to cause issues relative to most teams, they're 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.320 going to foul. The second piece. They're better at that 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:54.960 this year than they have been in recent years, but 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.240 in other years they've had issues with fouling on the perimeter. 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.680 The second piece of it is the the open corner threes. Right, 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.600 So like if you're picking up the ball and you 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:09.320 are attacking with ball pressure, and anytime a guy gets 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.440 beat off the dribble, you're sending aggressive help, and every 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.600 time they try to post up, you're sending double teams. 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:19.360 And it's just this very forward, aggressive attack, attack, attack defense. 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.080 You're gonna commit some fouls and you're gonna give up 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.879 some corner threes. But the flip side of that is 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.879 you're also going to get a good amount of opportunities 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.320 to force turnovers. You're gonna get a good amount of 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.159 opportunities to get out and transition off of those turnovers. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.120 The Oklahoma City Thunder generate twenty five points every single 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:42.840 game off of turnovers. That's the most in the entire 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.880 NBA by pretty wide margin. So the way they look 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.359 at it is like, yeah, we're gonna give up some 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:53.600 open threes. Yeah we're gonna commit some fouls, but in 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:57.520 the aggregate, it unlocks this transition part of our offense, 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:02.320 which takes me to the the specific dynamic with Oklahoma 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:06.320 City offensively. We've seen Oklahoma City at various points over 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.280 the course of the last few years and especially recently, 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.080 but even in the playoffs last year, especially in the 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.199 playoffs in two thousand and twenty four, if you guys remember, 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.800 we have seen Oklahoma City go very cold in the 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:24.200 half court on offense. So they want to drive as 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.879 much of that transition avalanche type of attack as they can, 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.159 and so it's all part of that trade off. They 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:34.560 could give up fewer corner threes, they could commit fewer fouls, 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.320 but then they wouldn't get out and transition as much, 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:39.320 and they'd have to play more in the half court, 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.040 which is not how they want to play offensively, and 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.359 so that's essentially the trade off for them. Now to 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.240 the point you're making about the Jordan Goodwin game, I 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.920 think it just comes down to in a playoff series, 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:51.440 if there is a clear advance, So like let's say 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:54.760 that let's say they run into a team like Denver, 0:20:56.080 --> 0:21:00.400 and Denver just takes really good care of the basketball, 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:04.959 never turns it over for whatever reason, and they're just 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.520 moving it methodically through your defense and hitting corner three 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.960 corner three corner three corner three, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.440 Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, over and over and over again. 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:16.199 Then yeah, you might have to tweak it and be like, 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:18.520 we need to see Nicole Jokic score one on one 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:21.119 against Isaiah Hartenstein a few more times. We need to 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.040 see Jamal Murray score one on one against a big 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.080 or against one of our smaller guards more times. They 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:29.159 might have to make an adjustment in a series if 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:31.200 it gets to that point, but in the large sample 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:32.840 of the regular season, I think they want to lean 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.960 on getting out in transition as much as possible. We'd 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:37.840 love to hear your thoughts on what trade the Celtics 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:41.119 should look for. Zubots is apparently not an asset the 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:43.040 Clippers are willing to give up, and I've heard mixed 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:45.879 things about the availability of Gafford Claxton. I think all 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:47.679 these guys could be a great fit, but obviously not 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:49.720 sure with the package the other teams would be looking 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:52.760 for in return. Anforty Simons definitely carries some value and 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:54.680 he could definitely be packaged with picks and some bench 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:57.400 guys a Kowser or Shireman. Ideally in any of these trades, 0:21:57.440 --> 0:21:59.440 I would like to see the Seas keep Hugo Gonzalez 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:01.679 and Jordan Wall, but not sure how realistic that is. 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.480 What are your thoughts? So, I actually because I'm about 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:08.359 to record here in about twenty minutes with a group 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:10.440 of Lakers guys, and we're going to be talking about 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.880 the specific dynamic of the center position because Deandreyton got 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.680 his ass kicked by Victor women Yama in the game 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.680 on Wednesday night, and so I've seen him just too 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:22.360 often get his butt kicked by the higher level centers 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:23.679 around the league, and I just don't think he's the 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:25.280 guy for Luke a long term. So I've been looking 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:26.800 around at the centers, and so I was like, who 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.320 are the guys that could like realistically start at center 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:34.679 around the league that are also somewhat realistically available for trade. 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:37.240 And the list that I came up with was Demona Sabonis, 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:43.680 Walker Kessler, Nikola Vusovich, Nick Claxton, Daniel Gafford, and Robert Williams. Now, 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:45.480 where it gets tricky for the Celtics is you got 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:48.399 to think about the salaries with Tatum on a MAX 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.199 with Jalen Brown on a Max, and you're gonna have 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:53.679 to pay, you know, like like you want to keep 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:55.720 Derek White in the situation. You know, he makes a 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:57.560 lot of money. You got a lot of money tied 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.439 up in your perimeter guys. So ideally you want to 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:04.560 try to find a center that gives you a useful look, 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:08.680 but that also is a guy that you could theoretically 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:11.480 have for a couple of years without spending too much money. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:13.760 And that's where it gets interesting because like you look 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:15.439 at a guy like Walker Kessler, you trade for him, 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:17.800 you're gonna have to extend him. That could provide a 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:20.480 money crunch for a team like the Celtics, right, Like 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.720 Nick Claxton is a guy that financially is not gonna 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:27.600 be cheaper, not gonna be cheap to keep around long term. 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.119 That's where I start to look at like, Okay, what 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:34.680 about a Daniel Gafford, what about a Nikola Vucevich? Right 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:37.960 Like you've seen how Luca Garza is given some you know, 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:39.960 kind of a unique look to the Celtics at the 0:23:39.960 --> 0:23:41.720 center position. As a guy who can space the floor 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:44.960 a little bit. You know you already have Nimi Kita 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:47.720 and Kate is actually pretty good. But Kate is a 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.280 little one dimensional. He's more of like a drop coverage 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.160 big a guy who does some ceiling inside and finishing, 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:56.119 vertical spacing, that kind of that kind of stuff. So 0:23:56.320 --> 0:23:59.120 what if you had two different looks. You had this 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:04.800 me Kada drop coverage, vertical spacing, rim protection look, and 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:07.800 then you traded for a guy like Vucevich and you 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:10.439 kept him around at a discounted deal, Like you go 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:12.320 to vuc and you go, hey, dude, you've made a 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:14.960 good amount of money in your career getting pretty old. 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:16.919 What if you stick around with us for you know, 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:20.480 two years on this like really heavily discounted deal and 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:24.280 it's like Kada Vucevich, the two different looks that the 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:26.240 Celtics go with that center. And one of the things 0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:28.359 with vouch is he gives you like a legitimate post 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:30.600 up threat, like he can pick and pop and hit 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:32.960 pick and pop threes and space the floor as a center. 0:24:33.240 --> 0:24:36.159 But he's also like a big physical dude download that 0:24:36.160 --> 0:24:37.840 could do some rebounding and can do a bunch of 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:39.639 damage in the post. And so I think he'd be 0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:42.399 an interesting kind of way to look Robert Williams. It's 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:46.240 the health issue. Daniel Gafford, there's a little bit of 0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:48.200 a money issue with him too, where I think he's, 0:24:48.280 --> 0:24:51.600 you know, potentially gonna want a longer term deal where 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:54.120 he's making you ten to fifteen million a year. There's 0:24:54.160 --> 0:24:56.679 something to be said about finding somebody that gives you 0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:00.320 the best combination of production relative to the sound dollary 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:02.320 under the situation that the Celtics are in. And that's 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:04.119 why I was thinking the guy like Vusovich would be 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.360 just kind of an interesting option for them to consider 0:25:07.800 --> 0:25:11.280 as a kind of like a two different looks alongside 0:25:11.359 --> 0:25:15.080 Nimi Keda. Today's show is brought to you by presenting 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:18.119 sponsor hard Rock Bet, the official sportsbook partner of the 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:20.800 Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. When it's cold outside, 0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:22.919 that's when you know the hardwood is heating up. 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Must be twenty one plus and physically 0:26:17.640 --> 0:26:23.120 present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, 0:26:23.200 --> 0:26:26.440 or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about 0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:29.080 gambling in Florida, Call one eight three to three play 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:31.280 wise in Indiana. If you were someone you know has 0:26:31.280 --> 0:26:33.720 a gambling problem and wants help, call one eight hundred 0:26:33.760 --> 0:26:37.000 and nine with it gambling problem called one eight hundred 0:26:37.000 --> 0:26:41.360 gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, 0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:47.919 or Virginia. How much of good defense is physical gifts? 0:26:48.160 --> 0:26:50.080 How much of it is effort? How much of it 0:26:50.119 --> 0:26:53.480 is knowledge? Could someone with very limited physical gifts become 0:26:53.520 --> 0:26:55.560 a good defender if he has good knowledge and hustle. 0:26:55.880 --> 0:26:57.840 Appreciate your show. You and your team clearly work your 0:26:57.840 --> 0:26:59.720 butts offt to create such polished content. Thank you, Thank 0:26:59.720 --> 0:27:01.200 you so much for the kind words, and thanks for 0:27:01.240 --> 0:27:04.240 shouting out the team. Jackson's literally just amazing. I just 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:06.120 think he's the best in the world at what he does. 0:27:07.240 --> 0:27:10.679 So we talked about this concept within the idea of 0:27:10.680 --> 0:27:14.840 a team, but I would argue that the largest chunk 0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:20.240 of defense is the execution piece, meaning like always being 0:27:20.240 --> 0:27:23.200 in the right spot, having good instincts like There have 0:27:23.240 --> 0:27:24.879 been a lot of guys over the years that have 0:27:24.960 --> 0:27:28.960 been good perimeter defenders relative to their actual talent because 0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:31.400 they're good at anticipating. They can look at a guy 0:27:31.440 --> 0:27:33.480 and they can like kind of identify where his center 0:27:33.520 --> 0:27:35.280 of gravity is and they can kind of see where 0:27:35.280 --> 0:27:37.240 his body's shifting, or like they could pick up on 0:27:37.240 --> 0:27:39.040 physical cues, or maybe they watch a lot of film 0:27:39.040 --> 0:27:40.960 and they're just good at scouting like little tips on, 0:27:41.440 --> 0:27:44.680 you know, the way that a perimeter player kind of 0:27:44.680 --> 0:27:48.080 tips off what he's gonna do. And then it's just anticipation, right, 0:27:48.119 --> 0:27:50.000 Like it's all about angle. So like if if I'm 0:27:50.000 --> 0:27:52.520 defending a player who's faster than me, but if I 0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:55.000 take the right angle and I anticipate which way he's going, 0:27:55.080 --> 0:27:58.000 I can beat him to a spot, right, So like 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:01.600 there is a very much an anticipatory position element to defense. Now, 0:28:01.800 --> 0:28:05.879 I would argue that you can't be terrible at either. 0:28:06.080 --> 0:28:10.240 So like if you're incredibly slow or if you're incredibly small, 0:28:10.400 --> 0:28:13.080 it's really difficult to overcome that no matter how disciplined 0:28:13.119 --> 0:28:16.199 you are. But let's say you're a mediocre athlete, like 0:28:16.320 --> 0:28:20.639 a mediocre size and speed guard, a mediocre size and 0:28:20.720 --> 0:28:24.360 speed forward, or a mediocre size and speed center. Let 0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:26.520 me just take like Jake la Ravia, for example, a 0:28:26.560 --> 0:28:29.040 guy that I root for on the Lakers. He's not 0:28:29.200 --> 0:28:32.880 exceptionally big for a forward. You know, he's like six seven, right, 0:28:32.960 --> 0:28:36.080 and he's strong, but he's not like jacked or anything. 0:28:36.160 --> 0:28:39.280 And like he's mobile, but he's not like super fast 0:28:39.360 --> 0:28:41.360 or anything. Like he's a little too small to be 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:43.640 like a traditional power forward and a little too slow 0:28:43.680 --> 0:28:46.480 to be like a traditional small forward in terms of 0:28:46.520 --> 0:28:49.360 just his athletic profile. Right. But he's been one of 0:28:49.400 --> 0:28:52.000 the most useful defenders for the Lakers this year. Why 0:28:52.120 --> 0:28:56.840 because he has the kind of like bare minimum set 0:28:56.840 --> 0:28:59.200 of physical gifts you need, Like he's got enough size 0:28:59.200 --> 0:29:02.320 and mobility to be at least somewhat useful in terms 0:29:02.320 --> 0:29:05.120 of the trades he's working with. He's a high effort guy. 0:29:05.160 --> 0:29:06.680 That's the third piece of this that we haven't even 0:29:06.680 --> 0:29:08.920 talked about yet, Like you gotta be someone as motor 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:10.840 you got to play really hard on that end of 0:29:10.840 --> 0:29:12.840 the floor. And then the third piece of it is 0:29:13.000 --> 0:29:16.720 he's got the positioning and anticipation elements down, and so 0:29:16.840 --> 0:29:18.800 he's just very good at kind of being in the 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:21.480 right spot, following the defensive game plan, scouting the guy 0:29:21.480 --> 0:29:24.680 that he's guarding, and anticipating which direction he's going he's 0:29:24.720 --> 0:29:28.160 been especially good this year guarding some of the bigger 0:29:28.200 --> 0:29:30.720 forwards that look to attack off the dribble. But yeah, 0:29:30.720 --> 0:29:33.200 it's definitely a combination of all of those things. But 0:29:33.240 --> 0:29:35.760 physical you kind of have to have all three. Like 0:29:35.800 --> 0:29:37.920 if you have great physical gifts and you've got the 0:29:37.960 --> 0:29:40.680 anticipation in positioning, but you got a shit motor and 0:29:40.720 --> 0:29:43.280 you don't play hard, that's a problem, right, Like that's 0:29:43.280 --> 0:29:45.080 some of the issue that we've seen with Lebron over 0:29:45.120 --> 0:29:47.040 the last few years, and it's just because he doesn't 0:29:47.080 --> 0:29:49.600 want to play hard for an eighty two game regular season, right, 0:29:49.600 --> 0:29:52.640 But like he certainly can, he certainly understands the game plan, 0:29:52.680 --> 0:29:55.200 and he can anticipate like crazy, and he's got still 0:29:55.240 --> 0:29:57.400 at his age, some pretty good physical gifts. But it's 0:29:57.480 --> 0:30:00.480 just like when Lebron's effort drops off, he dropped. But 0:30:00.520 --> 0:30:02.560 when the efforts there, you know, we saw Lebron look 0:30:02.600 --> 0:30:03.800 like an all defense guy in the middle of the 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:06.440 season last year, right, Or like, if you have the 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:08.840 motor and you have the anticipation in the in the 0:30:08.880 --> 0:30:12.280 game plan piece, but you're just super tiny or you're 0:30:12.320 --> 0:30:14.960 super slow, that's going to be a problem. And then 0:30:15.040 --> 0:30:17.400 you know, We've seen it with guys like Karl Anthony Towns. Like, 0:30:17.400 --> 0:30:20.560 I don't think Carl Anthony Towns is necessarily lazy. He's 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:24.440 got decent physical gifts. He's like, he's a competitive dude. 0:30:24.520 --> 0:30:27.080 He just the anticipation and positioning piece of it is 0:30:27.120 --> 0:30:29.440 like absolute garbage with him, and it's a huge problem. 0:30:29.480 --> 0:30:32.440 So you can't be dreadfully weak in any area, but 0:30:32.480 --> 0:30:37.080 you don't necessarily have to be strong in all three areas. Hi, Jason, 0:30:37.120 --> 0:30:38.880 big fan of your form of content and your wisdom 0:30:38.920 --> 0:30:41.240 around the NBA. You suggested a mega trade of Michael 0:30:41.240 --> 0:30:44.120 Porter Junior and Nick Claxton to help catapult the Warriors 0:30:44.160 --> 0:30:47.040 to becoming more competitive. Within this suggestion, are you saying 0:30:47.040 --> 0:30:51.080 that Claxton would help the Warriors more than Draymond? Especially 0:30:51.120 --> 0:30:53.560 the mega trade you mentioned is swapping Claxton for Draymond. 0:30:53.560 --> 0:30:56.040 Can the Warriors still be title contenders if they just 0:30:56.120 --> 0:30:59.320 traded for MPJ and kept Draymond with a starting five 0:30:59.360 --> 0:31:02.160 of Curry, Mountain Butler, Michael Porter Junior, and Green be 0:31:02.200 --> 0:31:04.680 a title contender? Thank you love your content. So it's 0:31:04.680 --> 0:31:06.840 a couple of things. So one the reason why I 0:31:06.880 --> 0:31:08.640 kind of like talked about structuring it that way is 0:31:08.640 --> 0:31:10.800 Michael Porter Junior just has a really large salary, and 0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:12.800 so by having Draymond in there, it just kind of 0:31:12.800 --> 0:31:15.600 makes it easier to feasibly piece the rest of it together. 0:31:16.160 --> 0:31:18.640 That said, like getting just MPJA would still be a 0:31:18.720 --> 0:31:21.280 huge win for the Warriors. The reason why I was 0:31:21.280 --> 0:31:24.400 looking at Claxton specifically is I find him to be 0:31:24.440 --> 0:31:27.240 both a good fit defensively within the Warrior's scheme, because 0:31:27.240 --> 0:31:30.200 the Warriors do a bunch of different schemes defensively and 0:31:30.240 --> 0:31:32.959 they do do a decent amount of switching with their bigs. 0:31:33.400 --> 0:31:36.200 And then the second piece of it is I've seen 0:31:36.320 --> 0:31:39.480 as a matchup thing teams like San Antonio and Oklahoma City, 0:31:39.520 --> 0:31:41.480 the two top teams in the Western Conference. I've seen 0:31:41.520 --> 0:31:43.800 both of them struggle with rim protection at times, and 0:31:43.840 --> 0:31:45.760 so it's one of those things where even though Draymond's 0:31:45.760 --> 0:31:48.280 a very good defensive player, what he doesn't necessarily provide 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:51.000 is that vertical rim protection. And so I just thought 0:31:51.080 --> 0:31:53.800 Nick Clackson would provide an element to the Warriors defense 0:31:53.840 --> 0:31:57.440 that they basically haven't haven't had since, like Andrew Boguet 0:31:57.440 --> 0:32:00.280 was healthy. So I just thought it was worth considering 0:32:00.320 --> 0:32:02.960 as an option. But to your point, if they just 0:32:03.000 --> 0:32:04.840 got Michael Porter Junior, I'd still view that as a 0:32:04.920 --> 0:32:08.760 huge boost for the Warriors. Three more, I was on 0:32:08.800 --> 0:32:11.320 Twitter and someone suggested that the Lakers offense is smoother 0:32:11.400 --> 0:32:13.400 when Lebron is running it as he looks to create 0:32:13.640 --> 0:32:16.640 then score, as opposed to Luca as more heliocentric in approach. 0:32:16.680 --> 0:32:18.200 What are your thoughts on this and which approach do 0:32:18.240 --> 0:32:20.920 you think is better for the Lakers offense. So this 0:32:20.960 --> 0:32:23.160 is a general idea that I just disagree with, the 0:32:23.240 --> 0:32:26.680 idea that like you have to play one way to win, 0:32:26.960 --> 0:32:30.000 or that multiple ball handlers can't play together well. Like 0:32:30.720 --> 0:32:34.880 I don't think that lebron Is style. I don't think 0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:39.280 Lebron's style is better than Luca's necessarily based on what 0:32:39.320 --> 0:32:41.120 happened in the last few weeks, I just thought Luca 0:32:41.200 --> 0:32:44.280 wasn't playing well. Like Luca's been every bit as heliocentric 0:32:44.400 --> 0:32:46.280 in that game against the Spurs, or the second half 0:32:46.280 --> 0:32:48.880 against the Pelicans, or the second half against Grizzlies on Sunday. 0:32:49.080 --> 0:32:50.840 He's been every bit as heliocentric as he was in 0:32:50.880 --> 0:32:52.480 all the other games. He just wanted to turn the 0:32:52.480 --> 0:32:55.240 ball over the I want to cut Lucas slack for 0:32:55.280 --> 0:32:58.080 the turnovers and myss threes, specifically against the Spurs, because 0:32:58.080 --> 0:33:01.760 without Luca, or without Lebron and aust And available, he 0:33:01.800 --> 0:33:04.960 basically had no choice but to bump his usage way up, 0:33:05.400 --> 0:33:07.000 and that means he had to say yes a lot 0:33:07.040 --> 0:33:09.960 more to situations that he might otherwise say no, meaning like, oh, 0:33:10.080 --> 0:33:13.680 high risk pass. When Lebron and Austin are healthy, you 0:33:13.720 --> 0:33:15.560 move it around and let one of them attack, But 0:33:15.680 --> 0:33:18.120 when no one else can do shit with the basketball, like, 0:33:18.160 --> 0:33:20.880 he almost has to take that high risk pass. Similarly, 0:33:21.000 --> 0:33:24.440 bad threes when when Lebron and Austin are out there, 0:33:24.720 --> 0:33:26.840 don't take the bad three, move the ball around if 0:33:26.840 --> 0:33:29.320 you get cut off off the dribble, but when Lebron 0:33:29.320 --> 0:33:31.000 and Austin are out, he kind of has to take 0:33:31.000 --> 0:33:33.080 the bad three, right. So, like, I'm not too critical 0:33:33.120 --> 0:33:36.280 of the turnovers and the misshots in that particular Spurs game, 0:33:36.320 --> 0:33:39.960 but overall, I thought Luca's shot creation was ridiculous in 0:33:40.000 --> 0:33:42.080 that Spurs game, and in the second half of the 0:33:42.080 --> 0:33:44.280 Pelicans game, and in the second half of the Grizzlies game, 0:33:44.320 --> 0:33:46.880 even though he was heliocentric and so I don't think 0:33:46.960 --> 0:33:49.080 Luca needs to play more like Lebron. I just think 0:33:49.160 --> 0:33:51.600 Luca needs to play like the best version of Luca, 0:33:52.120 --> 0:33:54.280 and Lebron needs to keep playing like the best version 0:33:54.320 --> 0:33:56.000 of Lebron. I actually had a little bit of a 0:33:56.000 --> 0:34:00.120 debate with my buddy Demon. He pitched this idea that 0:34:00.120 --> 0:34:03.640 when Austin comes back, maybe Luca or Lebron should stay 0:34:03.680 --> 0:34:06.400 kind of as the second option. That kind of clashes 0:34:06.440 --> 0:34:09.879 with my core basketball believe I generally believe you can 0:34:10.000 --> 0:34:12.719 have three guys all kind of working in unison as 0:34:12.719 --> 0:34:14.839 long as they're all trusting each other, and I think 0:34:14.840 --> 0:34:17.520 all three of them can put up massive point totals. 0:34:17.640 --> 0:34:21.120 I don't think you're confined toabbing two ball handlers, especially 0:34:21.160 --> 0:34:22.960 when you've got guys like Lebron and Austin who can 0:34:23.040 --> 0:34:25.600 run action together and they can both be involved, even 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:27.560 though maybe Austin has the ball for five minutes or 0:34:27.640 --> 0:34:31.920 Lebron has the ball for five minutes. Hey, Jason, I've 0:34:31.960 --> 0:34:34.919 always been a huge Jokich fan and still think he's 0:34:34.920 --> 0:34:36.480 clearly the best player in the league. But does a 0:34:36.480 --> 0:34:39.040 performance like the win over Philly missing four or five starters, 0:34:39.080 --> 0:34:41.040 plus what we're seeing from MPG this year off the 0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:44.920 Nuggets make you ever so slightly think that maybe we 0:34:44.960 --> 0:34:48.280 are marginally overrating Yokic's impact and have been underplaying his teammates. 0:34:48.360 --> 0:34:50.200 I don't necessarily think so, but I'm interested to hear 0:34:50.200 --> 0:34:52.440 your thoughts. It's as simple as diminishing returns thing why 0:34:52.440 --> 0:34:54.560 a player like MPJA has been broken out since leaving. 0:34:55.520 --> 0:34:57.600 So the MPJA thing is complicated to me. I never 0:34:57.680 --> 0:34:59.759 thought MPJ was a bad player. I just thought MPJ 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:03.120 a four, and the Nuggets already had a starting four, 0:35:03.239 --> 0:35:05.440 and as the league had tilted in recent seasons to 0:35:05.520 --> 0:35:07.879 more speed on the perimeter, I don't think you can 0:35:07.920 --> 0:35:10.720 play at Michael Porter Junior Aaron Gordon nicolea Jokic frontline 0:35:10.880 --> 0:35:12.960 against a team like Oklahoma City. I think you're too slow. 0:35:13.280 --> 0:35:15.480 So I think shifting from Michael Porter Junior to Cam 0:35:15.600 --> 0:35:18.120 was more just trading a starting four for a starting three. 0:35:18.360 --> 0:35:21.320 It was a roster balancing, starting lineup balancing type of 0:35:21.360 --> 0:35:24.920 move for them. I thoroughly expected Michael Porter Junior to 0:35:24.920 --> 0:35:26.839 go into Brooklyn and put up scoring numbers this year. 0:35:26.920 --> 0:35:29.279 Maybe not quite to this extent, but I'd always thought 0:35:29.280 --> 0:35:31.200 that he was a guy that could go get buckets. 0:35:31.800 --> 0:35:37.000 I generally hate this specific idea that like, in order 0:35:37.040 --> 0:35:40.120 for a player to be recognized as successful, the team 0:35:40.160 --> 0:35:43.719 has to suck without him. You'll notice when I would 0:35:43.760 --> 0:35:45.799 talk about Jokiic as the best player in the world, 0:35:45.840 --> 0:35:47.439 or when I would talk about Jokich is the best 0:35:47.440 --> 0:35:50.960 offensive player ever, I never mentioned his on off. That's 0:35:51.040 --> 0:35:54.120 not really the angle I go with. Basketball is a 0:35:54.160 --> 0:35:57.000 team sport. No one wins a championship unless they have 0:35:57.800 --> 0:36:01.600 excellent supporting talent, whether it's a great head coach or 0:36:01.640 --> 0:36:04.120 a great secondary star or an awesome depth of role 0:36:04.160 --> 0:36:06.480 player talent. Like and we've seen it every which way 0:36:07.000 --> 0:36:09.800 over the course of the years, different constructs of teams. 0:36:09.800 --> 0:36:12.080 But this idea that SuperStar's going to win titles by 0:36:12.080 --> 0:36:13.879 their own is just flat out stupid. It's just never 0:36:13.960 --> 0:36:15.600 how it works. Jokic was the best player in the 0:36:15.640 --> 0:36:17.880 world last year, he was overwhelmed by Oklahoma City in 0:36:17.880 --> 0:36:19.719 the second round. Lebron was the best player in the 0:36:19.719 --> 0:36:21.879 world by a mile. In twenty eighteen. He didn't even 0:36:21.880 --> 0:36:24.080 stand a chance in the finals against Golden State, Like 0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:28.800 there is, This is a team sport. Ultimately, now, the 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:31.879 Nuggets having success without NICOLEA Jokic this year. I think 0:36:31.880 --> 0:36:35.279 it comes down to fundamentally, this team being on a 0:36:35.360 --> 0:36:39.000 fucking mission, like this Nuggets team wants to win the title, 0:36:39.480 --> 0:36:41.879 and there is a level of commitment from the top 0:36:41.960 --> 0:36:44.320 down of the roster from day one of training camp 0:36:44.520 --> 0:36:47.160 that has allowed this team to sustain success in various 0:36:47.160 --> 0:36:48.920 different looks, whether it's when they were healthy at the 0:36:48.960 --> 0:36:51.440 beginning of the year, to Gordon and Christian Brown being 0:36:51.480 --> 0:36:54.280 out to now Jokic being out, they have just found 0:36:54.320 --> 0:36:55.759 a way over and over again. There have been a 0:36:55.760 --> 0:36:57.880 lot of key guys that have stepped up. Jalen Pickett 0:36:57.920 --> 0:37:01.360 has been awesome stepping up with the injuries. Peyton Watson 0:37:01.400 --> 0:37:03.080 has been awesome stepping up with the injuries. Look at 0:37:03.120 --> 0:37:05.520 Zeke Nagi these last couple of games. So like, I 0:37:05.640 --> 0:37:08.360 just think it's a testament to the type of team 0:37:08.480 --> 0:37:10.239 this Denver Nuggets team is and it should be a 0:37:10.280 --> 0:37:11.960 big part of why people believe in them as a 0:37:11.960 --> 0:37:14.680 threat to win the championship this year. All right, lastly, 0:37:14.719 --> 0:37:17.440 Timberwolves fan here, I'm curious what you think about Julius 0:37:17.480 --> 0:37:20.319 Randall's bullyball and the sustainability of it come playoff time. 0:37:20.400 --> 0:37:22.359 I'm obviously interested in whether or not this team, as 0:37:22.400 --> 0:37:25.080 presently constructed can win a championship. I tend to lean 0:37:25.120 --> 0:37:27.799 towards now a factor that I think doesn't really get 0:37:27.800 --> 0:37:29.840 talked about as much as the way Randall scores. I 0:37:29.880 --> 0:37:31.600 know he did his thing against the old Man Lakers 0:37:31.600 --> 0:37:33.680 with no centers and the Steph Lest Warriors last year, 0:37:33.960 --> 0:37:35.960 but it seems like once the t Wolves inevitably meet 0:37:35.960 --> 0:37:38.319 a team that can match their physicality, Randall's scoring is 0:37:38.320 --> 0:37:42.560 bound to fall apart. So I actually think Julius Randall's 0:37:42.560 --> 0:37:45.480 ability as a big forward to attack size mismatches and 0:37:45.520 --> 0:37:47.440 do a good mix of scoring and playmaking is a 0:37:47.520 --> 0:37:50.879 huge playoff asset. My main concern with Randall is more 0:37:50.960 --> 0:37:52.640 like what happened in the Bad Game. So if you 0:37:52.680 --> 0:37:54.279 look at the Oklahoma City games, he had a couple 0:37:54.320 --> 0:37:56.160 of games where he put up numbers, but then he 0:37:56.200 --> 0:37:57.640 had a couple of games where it almost looked like 0:37:57.680 --> 0:37:59.560 he quit. It almost looked like when things weren't going 0:37:59.600 --> 0:38:02.719 as way, he like completely disengaged. Stop being aggressive, Stop 0:38:02.760 --> 0:38:05.640 focusing on the details. My issues with Randal are not 0:38:05.680 --> 0:38:09.360 necessarily his style, it's just his mentality. I would like 0:38:09.400 --> 0:38:12.760 to see Julius Randall, like on the nights where maybe 0:38:12.800 --> 0:38:15.040 he has a couple of turnovers early, or he misses 0:38:15.040 --> 0:38:17.200 a couple of shots early, or he finds himself in 0:38:17.200 --> 0:38:19.880 the middle of the second quarter with doing everything and 0:38:19.920 --> 0:38:23.880 he's two for nine, you know, with six points. Like 0:38:23.960 --> 0:38:27.360 I'd prefer to see those nights and in him doing 0:38:27.520 --> 0:38:29.879 everything in his power to try to find a way 0:38:29.880 --> 0:38:32.840 to win the damn game rather than pouting and standing 0:38:32.840 --> 0:38:34.360 around at the three point line and shooting catch and 0:38:34.400 --> 0:38:36.040 shoot threes two or three times the rest of the night. 0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:38.000 He had a couple of these games against Oka see 0:38:38.160 --> 0:38:40.959 where I felt like he kind of like mentally gave 0:38:41.000 --> 0:38:43.279 in to the circumstances. That's really the main thing that 0:38:43.280 --> 0:38:45.439 I'd like to see him work on. I'm actually really 0:38:45.520 --> 0:38:47.799 high on the timber Wolves. I think Anthony Edwards is 0:38:47.800 --> 0:38:49.920 the best version of himself that he's ever been. I 0:38:49.920 --> 0:38:53.480 think the supporting offensive talent with the rise of Julius Randall, 0:38:53.560 --> 0:38:57.520 excuse me, the rise of Jaden McDaniels, Rudigobert being a 0:38:57.520 --> 0:39:00.560 better offensive player than he's been in recent years, and 0:39:00.600 --> 0:39:03.520 they have shown the defensive ceiling, especially in these last 0:39:03.520 --> 0:39:06.239 few weeks. I am if the Timberwolves can keep this 0:39:06.320 --> 0:39:09.120 up over the next over the next you know, three 0:39:09.200 --> 0:39:10.560 weeks or so, I'm going to put them in my 0:39:10.600 --> 0:39:13.960 top tier of contenders in our next Contender rankings. All right, guys, 0:39:13.960 --> 0:39:15.640 It's all I have for today is always to sincerely 0:39:15.640 --> 0:39:17.759 appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. 0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:19.560 I hope all of you guys have a wonderful weekend, 0:39:19.760 --> 0:39:26.200 and I'll see you guys on Money.