WEBVTT - The Drop | Player Under Most Pressure Draft, LeBron's Mad At Silver, Blazers Gut Broadcast Staff 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:09.760 This is the drop. It's Friday. Lebron's going to give 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:11.600 us a show on the weekend. Of course he is. 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.920 This is no dunks presented by Fan Duel. I'm Testmels 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.480 with me. It's the man in the middle, Treykrby. He 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.880 and the man always making the magic happen. It's JD. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:24.560 Hello, what's up? 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.639 JD. We will get to Worse the Week with Lebron 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.880 later on. Wasn't Lebron? Who's worse the week? We'll talk 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:32.440 about that. 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:34.680 He ain't doing nothing week. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.440 Well, apparently he had some things said. That's true according 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:44.159 to a host radio. We'll get the Blazers, firings and stuff, 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.639 anything else you want to talk about before we get 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:48.480 into our draft. 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.519 I mean, look, we had to cut Jordan Walsh at 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.280 the last second. A great deal for the Celtics to 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.320 bring back Jordan Walsh, and that's all that needs. 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:56.640 To be said. 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:57.680 A great deal. 0:00:57.720 --> 0:00:58.400 It is a good deal. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:00:59.800 Three for fifteen. Great. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.720 But first, let's get to players under the most pressure 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.440 via a draft. Let's draft guys, as we survey the 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.560 landscape and determine, Okay, signings here, signings there, which player 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:17.119 is actually under the most pressure? Trey you get that 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:18.880 first pick of this draft. 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.480 I'll get it started. We're going tray for Trey here. 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:23.959 Trey Young, to me is a player who is under 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.839 a ton of pressure coming into this season for the Wizards. 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.200 Got a lot of dough four years, two hundred and 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:35.000 thirteen million dollar contract from Washington that comes after playing 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.360 fifteen games last season. Tasmellus, that's not very many. I 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.200 think he only played five for the Wizards. They lost 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:44.240 all five of those. But look Trey Young. His reputation, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.280 it ain't great right now around the league, probably the 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.080 lowest it's ever been. But he's going to be twenty 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.440 eight at the start of the season. Still young, still 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.240 young enough to be in the middle of his prime. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.000 He was also an All Star in the twenty four 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.160 and twenty five seasons, led the league and assists in 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.280 twenty twenty five. That ain't that far away. I think 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.720 he's still a good player and maybe the most encouraging 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.960 thing for Trey for the Wizards, pretty low bar for 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.520 success in Washington. They're coming off a seventeen win season, 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.399 worst in the league. They got the number one draft pick. 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.320 They haven't won more than thirty five games since twenty eighteen. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.280 They haven't finished higher than twelve since twenty twenty two. 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:27.959 And maybe this is crazy, but I think both could 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:32.119 happen this year. I think if the Blazer or if 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.280 the Wizards win thirty six games, that would be their 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.720 most wins since twenty eighteen, and last year that would 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.760 have been eleventh in the Eastern Conference. I think that 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.200 would be an awesome season for Washington, doubling their wins, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:47.519 flirting with the play and I think that's got to 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.600 be the goal for Washington. We'll see what they end 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.959 up doing with Anthony Davis, but I think Trey Young 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.720 getting this gigantic contract while they have Aj Debonce that 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.240 coming in, It's like, is this going to be bad 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.720 for Debonce's development or is Trey go to be helpful. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.919 We'll see as time goes on, but yeah, this is 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.440 a guy to me where it's like people are pretty 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:08.519 down on Trey Young. He got traded for nothing, He 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.600 got traded for CJ. McCollum and Corey Kisperton at the deadline, 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.320 and then somehow got the crazy two hundred and thirteen 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.160 million dollar contracts, so people are looking at him sideways. 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.480 He's got to play pretty well. To be worth that 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.760 big of a contract, and if he plays well, the 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:22.640 Wizards will look better. 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.200 Trey Young is a fun one. Trey Young's good because, yeah, 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.960 he gets paid all that money, and really, what is 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:33.960 the pressure on him to win twenty five games? I mean, 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:35.960 I guess so you can look at it both ways. 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:37.960 You can say this team has been in the teens 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:41.520 of wins the last three seasons and now you've got 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:45.520 this guy who's getting paid that much money. He can 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.360 look at it both both ways. You just got to 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.320 be a good player to win that many games. But 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.400 it is on him to play a lot of games. 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:56.040 A Yeah, you said they want him to play for sure, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.120 and he's in general, he's been pretty healthy. You know, 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.240 he can play seven plus games pretty regularly during a season. 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.920 But I also think there's a little bit of pressure 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.560 on Trey to change the way he played. You know, 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.400 he would definitely get the selfish knock in Atlanta. Seems 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.120 like even if he would lead the league in assists, 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:12.480 people would be like, yeah, but he's not passing the 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.520 ball unless he gets an assist. He wouldn't do anything 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.839 off the ball. He's gonna have to get guys more involved. 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.719 Assuming Davis sticks around. That's a mouth to feed. Deboncea 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:21.920 has a mouth to feed. They've got some players who 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.159 were there prior to Trey Young. He's going to have 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.240 to be more of a point guard than a combo 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.120 guard for this Wizard's team to reach whatever they're ceiling 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:31.760 is this year, and I'm excited to see it. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.159 Yeah, Definitely on the court, it's de Bansa has to 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:37.800 be more of the guy, and Trey's got to be 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.080 a little bit more of the guy who plays off 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.440 the ball a little bit, especially if Anthony Davis. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:43.800 Played anything off the ball would be nice. 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:49.320 Yeah, And he was definitely allowing Jalen Johnson to be 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.440 that guy in Atlanta as far as one guy goes. 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.200 But there could be more mouse to feed, as he said, 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.280 with Debasa and Anthony Davis. So there's a pressure. Yeah, 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.600 basketball wise, you go and you tear Jalen Brunson's jersey 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:09.160 and this WWE thing, and so there's more talk of that. Yeah, 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.520 his his barometer is low. The temperature of Tree Young 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.840 is low, simple as that. And to go get all 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.600 those dollars. He's been looked at by fellow NBA players 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.320 as guy, a guy that yeah, he you know, he 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:28.159 peaked in twenty one and since, yeah, the keeps dropping 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.239 with Trey Young. You go see him in the trade 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.800 or the All Star votes for players, he keeps dropping. 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.440 And so, yeah, there's pressure, But how many do you 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.000 expect the Wizards to win? Really? 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.719 Okay, are you telling me Anthony Davis is on the 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.239 team and he's going to play fifty five games? 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.680 I yeah, I would assume. I'm assuming the Wizard's front 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.040 office is going to say, Anthony Davis, you're on our 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:57.920 team despite these rumors. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.040 Okay, Anthony Davis plays fifty games, Trey Young plays sixty games. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.280 Wizards should be trying to win thirty plus. 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.680 Yeah, that should be a goal, which would be good. Sure, yea, 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.160 and that would be a heck of an accomplishment. All right, 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:11.960 Moving on to the second pick, my first round pick, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:17.520 I am going with Jason Tatum. Hey, hey, I'll throw 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.680 him in there. Look, no Jalen Brown on that team. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.000 There is so much pressure on him offensively. As this 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:28.320 ownership decides we're going in a different direction financially, Jayson 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.880 Tatam's got to be the guy in late game situations 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.480 to create not only for himself but for others and 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.760 then you know, if it doesn't work out that way 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.480 when he's setting up other guys, he's got to score 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:43.920 a ton. He's got to play a ton after coming 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.880 back late last season with that injury. So that just 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.720 screams pressure without Jalen Brown. Obviously, Payint Pritchard and Derek 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:58.000 White will help, but without him there or without Jalen Brown, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:02.520 there's just a lot on him offensively, simple as that. 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.000 I mean, it's a pretty simple one for me. You've 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:09.680 got to be everything times too with what's happening on 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.360 the court. Simple as that, that's a simple one for me. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.880 But I think here in the era where this Boston 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.280 Celtics team can be the team that jumps out of 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.320 the Eastern Conference, the era where we have a winter 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.520 new winner every year and in the Eastern Conference here 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.560 now in July, it feels like it's wide open. But 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.679 it's wide open with the pressure on Jason Tatum in Boston. 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.200 That guy's got to be amazing. He really has to 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.960 be that MVP player again. 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.120 Yeah, I had Tatum on my long list, kind of 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.320 like as a two parter with Jalen Brown, who I 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.320 think is also under pressure, kind of getting his way 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.640 at least to go to the Sixers and let's see 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.400 what you got away from the Celtics. But I think 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.160 it's really interesting for Tatum in that this is going 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:52.640 to be the first season he's ever played in his 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:57.040 career without Jalen Brown, and this might be the least 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.760 talented Boston team since Tatum showed up. You think about 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:04.240 all the guys that have left in the past three seasons, Porzingis, 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:09.440 Marcus Smart, Drew Holliday, Al Horford, Luke Cornett, like a 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.280 lot of guys who helped them win the title have left. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.880 Incoming has been rookies and now an old Paul George 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.080 as well. So Tatum had a nice run at the 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.960 end of the season last year when he came back 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.440 from the Achilles tear looked a lot better I think 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.080 than people were anticipating. But he should be back to 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.920 full speed for this season. And I mean you could 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.400 throw in the fact that he didn't play Game seven 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.559 last year, right Like, there are questions about Jason Tatum, 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.120 I think, and you know, considering you won a title 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.760 in twenty four, I don't think maybe he was anticipating 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.040 answering these kind of questions a couple of years later. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.720 It'll be interesting to see what he does and not 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.560 having his running mate with him for the first time ever. 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.760 Yeah, Physically, you have to think about the Achilles and 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.520 playing a full season and then a playoffs. As the 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.320 number one and number two guy on that team. You 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:05.320 are everything on that squad under Joe Missoula and the 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:11.240 way that private equity is dominating their roster. So yeah, 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.760 I think that's important for him to be great. The 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.440 expectation is interesting to me. It's a pretty big range. 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.760 You can see them being a fifty five win team, 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:28.000 I think, but that's dependent on Jason Tatum being great 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:29.760 or you wouldn't be surprised if you see them as 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:31.480 a five hundred team. 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:33.880 I would be very surprised that they're five hundred. They 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.760 won fifty six games last year without Jason Tatum. Now 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.840 it's basically with Jason Tatum, without Jalen Brown, but with 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.480 Paul George. So I don't think the team, at least 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:44.720 for the regular season, is going to be much worse. 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.360 I expect the Celtics to win fifty plus games this year. 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.560 Yeah, for sure. Yeah, when I factor in them in 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:56.720 the forties, it's definitely whether Tatum is hooping for eighty 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:58.520 two games, because look, we haven't seen him in a 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.800 couple of seasons be able to be there, that guy, 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:03.280 But it could have just been. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:05.600 One unhealthy season. He tore his achilles, and he's been 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:06.600 healthy every other season. 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.040 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, and achilles is an achilles. 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.000 Whether or he played the whole season, yeah, at twenty 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:15.000 four to twenty five was awesome. He should be back 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.080 and he came back early. That's just the range for me, 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.160 dependent on whether Jason Datamus is playing, but the rest 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:23.720 of the guys should be able to perform and listen 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.920 Jaalen Brown, you know, no matter what uh the analytics say, 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:33.280 he was there every single game, every single fourth quarter. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.040 And so that's just a lot on Tatum's shoulders, no 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.959 matter if that Jordan Walsh contracts it didn't want or 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:43.280 all right, So moving on, let's do round number two 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.080 because there's plenty of players. I got plenty of pressure 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:46.800 in this league. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.600 My number two man, number one, it's Jahn Morant. It's 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.679 time for him to say in his career because if 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.000 Trey Young's rep is at an all time low, ja 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.280 Morants is even less than that he's played seventy nine 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.720 games combined in the last three seasons and was just 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.079 salary dumb for a bag of beans. Jeremy Grant and 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.280 Chris Murray the only thing going back to Memphis for 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.280 Jahn Morant. You look at the Blazers team, the fit 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.640 is definitely awkward. The team doesn't make a lot of 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.440 sense as we sit here on July twenty fourth. They 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.520 got all these point guards, they got a bunch of 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.600 big men, and who knows what's happening for the wings 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:23.040 outside of Denny Avdia. But I do still think the 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.360 talent is there for Ja Morant, even if he's not 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.520 the same kind of player he used to be. Played 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.160 twenty games last season, terrible number, but still in those 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.959 twenty games, he had eight points and assists, double doubles. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.200 He had a forty point game, he had a thirty 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.959 five point game. What I'm saying is that John Morant, 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.000 I think can still be an effective player. I'm not 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.160 holding out hope that like suddenly, he comes back from 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.640 a twenty game season and is a thirty eight percent 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:48.720 three point shooter. I don't think that's going to happen, 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.760 but I do hope he's more committed to winning with 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.640 his Blazers team than he was committed to what it 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.240 felt like fighting with his front office and his coaches 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.560 at the end of his Memphis career. So I do 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.040 Thinkamarant has a lot to prove coming into this season. 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:08.559 And who knows. I mean, maybe the fit questions make 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:10.959 it tough for Ja Moran to really reach his potential 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.800 until things are completely settled in Portland with the way 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.960 that they want to play. But I'm optimistic about this 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:18.640 and I think that he will have a chip on 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.920 his shoulder, which you know, hopefully is good for the 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.520 Blazers and hopefully doesn't go over the edge for Jamaran. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.679 Yeah, the biggest question is the dynamic with Dame Blame 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:35.520 beside him and then Denny Avdia beside him on the 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.000 other side, because they are just so baal dominant in 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:43.000 terms of the way they play and the way Avdia 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.280 was last season. So yeah, it's just the whole dynamic 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:48.280 to me. As far as the attitude, this is basically 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.439 playing for his NBA career in some ways, I think 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.000 it's gotta be positive. He met with Mike and Noriri 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.840 in his hometown of South Carolina and South Carolina there 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.760 and all is apparently good with those two and he's 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.000 ready to be a team guy. And if you look 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.720 at the way he played under thamas Isilo in Memphis, 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.200 he definitely was willing to distribute more and not be 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.719 just a pick and roll type guy. That bothered him 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.440 to some degree, there's no doubt. But at the same time, 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:21.760 when he was on the floor, it was the offense 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.080 was good, and so again it's a physical thing, but 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:26.880 it's also, yeah, just an attitude thing. So we'll see 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:28.840 if he can take that to Portland. It's a a 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.720 big question, man, a big question with sixteen point guards 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.720 on that team, you know, with a holiday there, who 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.920 should be who should be good off the ball? With 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:41.960 Scoot coming off the bench behind them, Yeah, there's there's 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.440 just a lot of mouths to feed. Will he be 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.080 okay doing that because he seemed to live a little 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.679 testy in Memphis? Definitely true, But I don't know. Mikeanry 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.760 and him met and in July Mikeanrory went and talked 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.720 to him. You know, Portland also has some other issues, 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.600 a little bit of a cloud hanging over them professionally 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:02.920 that we'll get to a little bit later on. So 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.400 there's a lot of things going on in that locker room. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.600 Yeah, definitely. I'm also a little curious what to expect 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.320 from Damian Lillard this season, Like him and Jason Tatum 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.440 got hurt basically the exact same time, same injury, and 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.760 we heard immediately, Oh, Tatum's coming back for next season. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.080 Tatum's coming back for next season. He's looking awesome in 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.880 Celtics practices. He's dominating Dame. Lillard didn't come back last year, 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.360 and I don't feel like we've heard those same reports 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:31.000 about this guy looking like his old self for the Trailblazer, 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.080 So I'm interested to see what he has as an 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.840 older guy coming off a serious injury and an achilles 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:36.240 as well. 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:40.160 Yeah, I'd say the positive way of looking that at 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.880 that is the guy is comfortable playing off the ball 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:44.480 as he did with the Honest a lot of the time, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.680 and every highlight that you see it's just him shooting. 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.640 It's true, it's not him handling. So if he is 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.880 willing to be that guy more so with Morant and Avdia, 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.240 who basically was given the ball to be able to 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.360 just run over guys and and he did that well, yes, 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.480 I mean, yeah, that's just a whole dynamic that Mike 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.400 and Nory's got to be able to implement. Can you 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:09.960 do it? Can Mike and Norriy do it? That's a 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.160 that's a fair question with the rookie head coach. But yeah, 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.600 a lot going on in that locker room, just a ton, 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.000 which we'll get to a little bit more in Worse 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.080 of the Week. My second round pick, I'm going with 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.240 Joel Embiid. This is his best shot at the title, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.120 might be his last shot if you look at it 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.520 that way in terms of his health, but because of 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.120 what they're doing at the center spot, there's just so 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.120 much pressure for him to be on the floor a 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.400 good amount, especially in the in the playoffs. His backup 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:44.480 is Huck Porty, you got a den Bona there and 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.000 you've got Dominic Barlow moving over behind him, So there's 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.520 a pressure positionally, but also just in terms of the 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:57.200 whole roster. It's awesome up top with Tyrese Maxi, Jalen 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.960 Brown and v J Ashcombe. That looks fantastic, but there's 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:02.960 a drop off after that. I mean, who's their fifth 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.040 best player, you know? Along with him beating the starting 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.960 line with it's Dean Wade, I suppose, and then yeah, 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.360 he'll be starting out the wing, I imagine, and then 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.080 the guy's coming off the bench Listen, Van Fredy Simons 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.440 has a the ability to go shoot a thousand times, 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:20.320 but it's Simons, and then it's LeBaron Pylon as a rookie. 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.080 So it starts to get thin pretty quickly. With this 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:29.040 team that's paying their top guys a lot, it's, you 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:30.960 know the opposite of what the Boston Celtics are doing. 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:35.200 So pressure on Joel embiid. I say it's the best 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.760 shot at a title. Maybe you can look back at 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.320 twenty nineteen and say, if they were able to overcome 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.040 the Raptors in the second round instead of Kawhi's four 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.160 bouncer and they go play the Milwaukee Bucks in the 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.880 conference final and then a banged up Warriors seam, maybe 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.360 that was his best shot at a title. But right here, 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.480 right now, this is it this season. It looks like, 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.160 especially I'm just assuming that Embid's not going to get 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.480 healthier as the years go on, so this is it. 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.800 It just feels like health wise, embat into the twenty 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.360 seven playoffs is going to be what we look back 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.119 as the first era of this Jalen Brown Tyrese Maxi 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.080 duo along with him, and might be the last one 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.400 because even last year he couldn't play in every game 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.359 in the playoffs, but he did get kind of healthy 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:25.879 to play somewhat. 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.119 He got healthy to dominate the Celtics for three games. 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:30.280 Yeah that was all he had. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:32.760 Yeah, but he did dominate the Celtics for three games. 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.199 He still got the skills. And the interesting thing with 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.159 choosing him as a player under pressure is I think 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.199 it's kind of a it's a little sideways because to me, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.920 the Sixers did a good job of kind of embeid 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.320 proofing their lineup. Now when you mentioned huck Porty and 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.280 Barlow and Bona are the backups, it doesn't quite sound 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:51.240 like that. But I think the team can still be 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.920 a winning team during the regular season, a competitive team 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:58.400 during the regular season because Jaalen Brown plays a ton 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:00.520 of games. Tyrese Maxie plays a ton of games. Edge 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:01.960 comp seems like the kind of guy who's going to 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.560 play a ton, Like we're talking sixty six games plus 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.159 for Brown. The thing changes, though, once they get to 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:12.919 the playoffs, because that's when Embiid becomes the ceiling razer 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.280 for this team. If he's healthy, if he is in 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.560 a rhythm, he's still a really tough player to stop. 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.280 So maybe bringing in Jalen Brown to save Embiid from 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.600 having to play a ton during the regular season means 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.680 he's fresher come playoff time, because they absolutely need him 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.320 if they're going to get close to a title. The 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:33.240 best time to be a Sixers fan is when they're 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.760 not playing, though, you know, you're like, oh, yeah, Joe Obe, 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:37.280 this might be the year, and it might be the year. 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:39.520 Who knows. At least they've got guys that can take 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.800 the regular season minutes load that he would be having 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:44.640 to deal with if they're trying to make it into 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.320 the playoffs and hopefully be as healthy as possible come 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.320 playoff time. I like what the Sixers did and I'm 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:52.200 excited to see him play. 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:54.800 Yeah, they tried to prime him, prime those knees for 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.240 last year's playoffs by only playing thirty eight games last season. 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.240 They're going to do the same thing. They do it 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.720 every year. It was nineteen the season before that, and 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.800 thirty nine the season before that, So the last three seasons, Yeah, 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.199 that's the range, he's gonna play less than half the games. 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:16.959 Whatever their training staff determines is the perfect prime knee 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:23.800 Embiid situation. So yeah, this is just an odd scenario 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.760 and that their front office said we're going for with 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.560 Jyalen Brown. I mean that's not odd in and of itself, 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.360 but with Embiid, who is thirty two and has years 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:39.879 left on his contract, we may not see a healthy 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:43.440 Embiid for an entire postseason ever. Again, as simple as that, 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:46.119 because yeah, as you said, yeah he was. He was 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:48.600 primed and ready to go for those four or five 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.399 six games against the Boston Celtics for six seven, I guess, 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:57.360 and then yeah, against the Knicks didn't look as awesome. Now, 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:00.000 so that was that was a quick turn. 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:01.040 It's a quick turn. 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.240 You look so good, insert him, he's awesome. But really, 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.120 that's two months. If you're asking them to win the 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:12.760 title with that guy's your starting center, it's something Number one, 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.359 he's never gone, he's never gone further than that second round. 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.520 And now it's a lot of pressure on a guy 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:23.480 for two months of playoff basketball. So yeah, he's ready 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:25.720 for the playoffs because of what they did. But you 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:27.760 get into Hawk Porty and a Bona who are gonna 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.760 have to play a lot of games now without Andre Drummond, 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.480