Speaker 1: All right, everybody, welcome to the Jason timp Podcast. Thanks
Speaker 1: again for taking time out of your day uh to
Speaker 1: join me to talk some hoops. Um. Today I'm going
Speaker 1: to be primarily focusing on the NBA restart, UH my
Speaker 1: early thoughts on the idea that they're going to try
Speaker 1: to get going in December. And then I'm also gonna
Speaker 1: do a mail bag and I already have received a
Speaker 1: bunch of questions, but I will take a few from
Speaker 1: the live comments as well. So go ahead and drop
Speaker 1: any of your questions, any topics you want to discuss
Speaker 1: in the comments here on the Periscope feed, and as
Speaker 1: I get to the end, I will get to some
Speaker 1: of those as well. UM. So, as all of you
Speaker 1: heard from Shams and from woas today, UM, it's looking
Speaker 1: like the lead is gonna try to start on December two. Now,
Speaker 1: there is still some question as to whether or not
Speaker 1: the players Association will agree to this. I tend to
Speaker 1: think that if we can follow anything that we've learned
Speaker 1: from the last few years in the NBA, it's that
Speaker 1: the players at the end of the day can usually
Speaker 1: talk tough, but they will probably follow the dollars and
Speaker 1: in this case, as you saw woad report earlier. I
Speaker 1: think it was WAD, it might have been shams Um,
Speaker 1: But they're talking about the difference between starting in December
Speaker 1: and starting much later to be roughly about five million dollars,
Speaker 1: which if you know anything about the c BA, that
Speaker 1: means a roughly two d and fifty million dollars going
Speaker 1: directly to the players. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I think, like when they get into a room and
Speaker 1: they sit down, you're gonna have the players Association talk
Speaker 1: about a bigger delay, particularly for the players who just
Speaker 1: got out of the bubble, who are gonna want a
Speaker 1: bigger layoff. But once they start seeing the numbers, once
Speaker 1: they see you know, stuff with the TV ratings and
Speaker 1: how it could impact uh future dollars for the players
Speaker 1: to make sure they stay in the traditional schedule for
Speaker 1: next season, uh, you know, starting in October and finishing
Speaker 1: in June. Once they really get to see the dollars
Speaker 1: and cents on the table, I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be a no brainer for them to to sign up
Speaker 1: for that UM. At this point, they're already sacrificing so
Speaker 1: much money. If you know anything about the way the
Speaker 1: CBA works, it's not like they're guaranteed to get what
Speaker 1: their contract says. If you're you're on a ten million
Speaker 1: dollar contract, that's great. But if the league revenue is
Speaker 1: thirty of our seventy percent of what they expected, that
Speaker 1: means you're taking a thirty percent pay cut on what
Speaker 1: you're expecting your contract to be. So at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, once they start seeing the numbers, I
Speaker 1: don't think it'll be too long of a discussion. And
Speaker 1: then I don't know if you guys heard, uh, Brian
Speaker 1: Windhorst a couple of weeks ago on his podcast basically
Speaker 1: reported that, um, the owners are already kind of like
Speaker 1: planting the seeds of the fact that they think that
Speaker 1: playing this next season is gonna end up costing them money.
Speaker 1: It won't even be a profitable kind of thing. And
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much truth there is to that,
Speaker 1: But what I do think that that does is it's
Speaker 1: part of their overarching leverage campaign against the players, which is, look,
Speaker 1: we're just doing this for the health of the league.
Speaker 1: If we're up to us financially, we'd skip this season altogether.
Speaker 1: We're already all gonna lose some money. You guys gotta
Speaker 1: understand that starting in December is gonna put more dollars
Speaker 1: in both of our pockets. So let's just go ahead
Speaker 1: and do it that way, and I think they'll agree.
Speaker 1: So on that note, I think that it's uh almost
Speaker 1: a certainty that they will get started in late December
Speaker 1: on the twenty two, like they said. So what does
Speaker 1: that mean for all of the teams that are that
Speaker 1: are coming back. Well, first of all, it's an absolutely
Speaker 1: huge advantage for Brooklyn and for Golden State. These are
Speaker 1: two contenders that I know Brooklyn went to the Bubble,
Speaker 1: but they're two primary players. Um you know, three three
Speaker 1: three are their primary players, three guys who will probably
Speaker 1: start for them. DeAndre Jordan's, Kyrie Riving and Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: did not go to the Bubble. Kevin Durant hasn't played
Speaker 1: in two years, you know. From that standpoint, uh, teams
Speaker 1: like that, Teams like Golden State. Clay Thompson hasn't played
Speaker 1: in nearly two years. Steph Curry has barely played in
Speaker 1: the last two years. So from that standpoint, those teams
Speaker 1: coming into a truncated season, having to play back to
Speaker 1: backs a lot, having to play back to back to
Speaker 1: backs a lot potentially, because we saw that in two
Speaker 1: thousand twelve three games and three nights. I wouldn't be
Speaker 1: surprised if that came back. When you look at all
Speaker 1: of those things, teams that are fresh going into that, uh,
Speaker 1: not only from a motivation standpoint, but from a physical standpoint,
Speaker 1: they're most definitely going to have an advantage. Uh. Now,
Speaker 1: what does it mean for the teams that have been
Speaker 1: playing in the bubble. I think it's hard on them mentally,
Speaker 1: without a doubt. Going from being in that bubble to
Speaker 1: coming out and only having a couple of months to
Speaker 1: kind of get your you know, wits back before you
Speaker 1: get back to work is gonna be tough. But I
Speaker 1: think when they get back into the swing of things,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be fine. They love playing basketball, and when
Speaker 1: they get to play home game and go home to
Speaker 1: their family and go home to their families, I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna be fine. When they get to go on
Speaker 1: a road game and inevitably make their way to some establishment,
Speaker 1: even if it's not necessarily recommended, I would imagine that
Speaker 1: they're going to be fine. Um Uh. So, you know,
Speaker 1: the only thing that I would be concerned about, potentially
Speaker 1: is for players who did make it deep into the bubble. Um,
Speaker 1: there is this understanding that you know, Okay, you started
Speaker 1: a training camp in early July, and you played through
Speaker 1: the middle of October, and you're gonna get a couple
Speaker 1: of months off, but you're starting in the middle of December,
Speaker 1: and if you make another deep playoff run next year,
Speaker 1: you're playing into the middle of June. So, to make
Speaker 1: a long story short, that's essentially nine nine months of
Speaker 1: basketball in a twelve month span at an extremely high level,
Speaker 1: at a championship level, because you were one of the
Speaker 1: teams who made it deep into the bubble. So from
Speaker 1: that standpoint, I would be moderately concerned about, you know,
Speaker 1: serious injuries, just just based on the fact that these
Speaker 1: guys have been playing so much basketball, you know, in
Speaker 1: such a short period of time. That's a lot more
Speaker 1: than their accustomed to in that year. That doesn't mean
Speaker 1: you know, we we don't know any uh, A lot
Speaker 1: of the studies that have been done on load management
Speaker 1: and you know, in heavy minutes and things like that
Speaker 1: aren't necessarily you know, all that revealing as to whether
Speaker 1: or not it has a real effect on injuries. But
Speaker 1: that'd be one thing to keep them keep an eye on,
Speaker 1: which takes me to my first question that I got,
Speaker 1: which was what will the toughest challenges be for the
Speaker 1: Lakers as a team this year? And now those challenges
Speaker 1: just became twofold because it's not only the fact that
Speaker 1: they're UH defending a title, which comes with its old
Speaker 1: its own set of circumstances and challenges, but they're also
Speaker 1: now the team that is UH going to be benefit
Speaker 1: or going to be most challenged by the quick turnaround
Speaker 1: to start the next season. And so you know, first
Speaker 1: of all, you look at what the normal challenges that
Speaker 1: face a contender are, which first and foremost is motivation.
Speaker 1: You know, like last year, the Lakers had Lebron who
Speaker 1: was on what he himself was calling a revenge tour.
Speaker 1: You've got Anthony Davis who's playing on a good basketball
Speaker 1: team for the first time in his career. You've got
Speaker 1: you've got a bunch of role players who are on
Speaker 1: what most people were considering to be kind of like
Speaker 1: last chance contracts for them. So from that standpoint, that
Speaker 1: roster from top to bottom was full of guys that
Speaker 1: had every reason to go out and play their ass
Speaker 1: off every night. And now that's changed, And don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong, like their pros, they're going to find some
Speaker 1: sort of motivation. But the reality is is they will
Speaker 1: be a lesser motivated team this year than a lot
Speaker 1: of their peers will be, and it'll be something that
Speaker 1: they will fight mentally all year long. And then the
Speaker 1: second one is the famous pat riley is um that
Speaker 1: you've heard, which is the disease of more. So now
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, guys who were comfortable playing in
Speaker 1: smaller roles maybe more you know, more drawn to the
Speaker 1: idea that they want to try to do more because
Speaker 1: now that ultimate championship carrot in the in front of
Speaker 1: them seems a little bit smaller, and they start to
Speaker 1: think about some of their personal goals. So that will
Speaker 1: be something to watch. And you know, a great example
Speaker 1: is like now, to be clear, I don't think this
Speaker 1: will be a problem, but you know, Lebron and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis got along really really well in this season because
Speaker 1: of their mutual goal of winning a championship. But who
Speaker 1: knows how that goal evolves as they move forward already
Speaker 1: having been champions. Now, to be clear, I don't think
Speaker 1: that will be a problem. I think their relationship is
Speaker 1: kind of built for this, but those are the kinds
Speaker 1: of challenges that defending champions are going to face. And
Speaker 1: so all of that gets compounded by the fact that
Speaker 1: now you're playing in this truncated season and you're doing
Speaker 1: it on a quick turnaround, which takes those symptoms and
Speaker 1: kind of worsens them. And you know, like as a
Speaker 1: result of that, what it's gonna be, what what the
Speaker 1: Lakers are gonna be really tempted to do is let
Speaker 1: their foot way off the gas and be a poor
Speaker 1: effort team, which kind of inevitably leads to add habits,
Speaker 1: which is one of the things that I preach about
Speaker 1: all the time on Twitter, which is, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: there are habits in basketball that go above and beyond
Speaker 1: you know, effort. So, for instance, like if you're a
Speaker 1: we see this a lot in NBA history, championship level
Speaker 1: team wins the championship, they're still arguably the most talented
Speaker 1: team in the league, but over the course of the season,
Speaker 1: they let their habits slip, and then they turn it
Speaker 1: on or try to turn it on late in the season.
Speaker 1: But you know, there's always this phase after you start
Speaker 1: trying hard again where the habits aren't there. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, especially on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the ball, is instinctual. It's you know, you see something
Speaker 1: happen and you're reacting to it and not like overthinking,
Speaker 1: You're just reacting. And you know, my favorite example of
Speaker 1: this is the two thousand fourteen heat. You know, even
Speaker 1: with Dwayne Waite's decline, even with a lot of those
Speaker 1: older veteran players kind of reaching the end of the rope,
Speaker 1: you know, there was still a lot of talent on
Speaker 1: that team. Lebron was the best version of himself. Chris
Speaker 1: Bosh had become a three point shooter. The Lakers had
Speaker 1: on all in on Bosh at the five, so they
Speaker 1: had their spacing figure it out. And what ended up
Speaker 1: actually hurting them was they had they had developed bad habits.
Speaker 1: They became a bad defensive team. They were outside of
Speaker 1: the top ten. I think they were eleventh in defensive efficiency.
Speaker 1: So when they ran into a team like the Spurs,
Speaker 1: who really required them to be extremely dialed in on
Speaker 1: the defensive end of the ball, they didn't adjust fast
Speaker 1: enough and they ended up getting themselves beat. So those
Speaker 1: are the things that the Lakers are going to be
Speaker 1: fighting this year. Is and trying to maintain good habits
Speaker 1: and trying to make it so that you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're never gonna be the same maniacal beast mentally that
Speaker 1: they were last season, but they can get as close
Speaker 1: to that as possible, then their talent can carry them
Speaker 1: through at the end of the day. And then you know,
Speaker 1: as it as it pertains to the shortened season, it's
Speaker 1: really as simple as trying to limit minutes and then
Speaker 1: having the trainer kind of error on the side of
Speaker 1: giving guys rest when they're dealing with soreness and being
Speaker 1: banged up and so on and so forth. So we'll
Speaker 1: talk about this a lot when we get to the
Speaker 1: Laker off season stuff, but this is a great example
Speaker 1: of why, um, you know, the centers are so important
Speaker 1: to this Laker team, even though they really can't play
Speaker 1: and keep postseason series. You know, just because they didn't
Speaker 1: need Dwight Howard and Javail to beat Miami or to
Speaker 1: beat you know, to beat Houston, doesn't mean they don't
Speaker 1: need him in the regular season. Because the truth of
Speaker 1: the matter is is they the biggest thing that Dwight
Speaker 1: and Javail provided for this Laker team this year was
Speaker 1: just a physical presence that allowed them to keep Lebron
Speaker 1: in a D you know, around thirty five or less
Speaker 1: minutes and allowed them to, uh to allow those guys
Speaker 1: to take the physical beatings so that they could get
Speaker 1: through the ad two games season with less wear and
Speaker 1: tear on their stars. And that's going to continue to
Speaker 1: be the case this year because with the with the
Speaker 1: trunk kid of season, with all the back to backs,
Speaker 1: with the short turnaround, now you're gonna want to keep
Speaker 1: Lebron in a D down around like thirty two minutes
Speaker 1: in the regular season. You're gonn to want them down
Speaker 1: in that like Janice Range, and then you can kind
Speaker 1: of ramp them up as you get closer to the
Speaker 1: postseason or in the early rounds of the postseason. But
Speaker 1: if you're playing your stars thirty two minutes, that that's
Speaker 1: that that requires you to have depth, and it requires
Speaker 1: you to lean have much more heavily on your role players.
Speaker 1: So you know, that's gonna be the interesting thing for
Speaker 1: the Lakers is you know, trying to counterbalance uh, you know,
Speaker 1: health with their habits, and I think the easiest way
Speaker 1: to do that is with minute limits. It's a lot
Speaker 1: easier to look Lebron and a D in the face
Speaker 1: and be like, I need you to be the same
Speaker 1: guys you were last year, and my reward to you
Speaker 1: is going to be it's only for thirty two minutes
Speaker 1: a night, you know, Like we're gonna cut back your
Speaker 1: the volume of your workload, but we're gonna try to
Speaker 1: expect you to be near what you were last season
Speaker 1: to maintain the identity and the and the habits of
Speaker 1: the team that were championship level habits and championship type
Speaker 1: of identity. Um. So those are the things that the
Speaker 1: Lakers are gonna have to look out for, just watching
Speaker 1: their minutes, watching their uh you know, watching their wear
Speaker 1: and tear, making sure guys get rest when they're dealing
Speaker 1: with injuries and when they're a little fatigued, and then
Speaker 1: that mental challenge like we discussed. So the next question
Speaker 1: that I received from the mail bag, who is the
Speaker 1: biggest threat to the Lakers this year? So? Um, to me,
Speaker 1: this threat remains the Clippers. And it's because of the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, basketball is a is a matchup game,
Speaker 1: styles make fights. You've heard that saying a million times
Speaker 1: and if you look at you know, for instance, the
Speaker 1: Warriors who I view as a team that is not
Speaker 1: a threat to the Lakers. Their strengths play right into
Speaker 1: the Lakers hands because the Laker defensive scheme is built
Speaker 1: around ball pressure on the perimeter, which I would expect
Speaker 1: them to continue next year. Their their defensive scheme is
Speaker 1: built around pressure on the pressure on the perimeter, taking
Speaker 1: away the three point line, enforce and guys into their size,
Speaker 1: forcing guys to drive into to Dwight Howard, forcing him
Speaker 1: to drive into JaVale McGee, Anthony Davis, whoever it is
Speaker 1: that they have next year on the interior. And so
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, the Warriors defense. The Warriors offensive scheme
Speaker 1: is built around ball movement and drive and kick started
Speaker 1: from double teams drawn by their shooters, so Steph and
Speaker 1: Clay drawing a ton of attention from the three point line,
Speaker 1: leading to guys working in three on two or working
Speaker 1: in four on three, driving and kicking to each other.
Speaker 1: There is not a great deal of mid range scoring
Speaker 1: talent on that Warrior's roster. Steph is a good mid
Speaker 1: range score, but he's not a guy who consistently operates
Speaker 1: out of that range. So you know, I think I
Speaker 1: think that the Warriors lack of size and the way
Speaker 1: that the Warriors offense is structured, I think they would
Speaker 1: play right into the Lakers hands, and I think they'd
Speaker 1: get beat. Whereas the Clippers, they bring a lot of
Speaker 1: things to the table that would at least cause matchup
Speaker 1: issues for the Lakers. That doesn't mean I think the
Speaker 1: Clippers would beat the Lakers. I still think that the
Speaker 1: Lakers are a better team. But assuming the Clippers come
Speaker 1: back with Paul George and and Kawhi Leonard and with
Speaker 1: you know, let's say a slightly better role player set,
Speaker 1: you know, they ditched Lou Williams and Montrez Harald, they
Speaker 1: run their offense through Paul George and Kauai more. Uh,
Speaker 1: then the issue becomes there an elite defensive team with
Speaker 1: lots of defensive versatility who can do a lot of
Speaker 1: the things that Miami did to l A, which is
Speaker 1: forced Anthony Davis to be a jump shooter, you know,
Speaker 1: make Lebron score over wings all day long, all series long.
Speaker 1: They can do all those things, and their offense is
Speaker 1: structured in a way that they do a lot of
Speaker 1: scoring out of the mid range, which gives them the
Speaker 1: ability to eventually, uh find quality shots against the truly
Speaker 1: elite Laker defense. So to me, at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, the biggest threat to the Lakers remains the Clippers.
Speaker 1: So the uh, the next topic? I want to get it?
Speaker 1: And I've received a million of these questions, including one
Speaker 1: of the live questions from you guys is who do
Speaker 1: you think the Lakers should target in free agency or ever?
Speaker 1: I've heard you know best trade targets for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Who should the Lakers focus on? Retaining? All of these
Speaker 1: Lakers off season related topics, And from that standpoint, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be doing a full length pod like this
Speaker 1: with Raj at Unwritten Rules, you guys know, on Twitter
Speaker 1: at some point later this summer, and at that point, um,
Speaker 1: I'll go for a full hour or so in depth
Speaker 1: into this topic. But I will give you guys today
Speaker 1: kind of my initial layout of how I would see
Speaker 1: the Laker off season going. And I think it's a
Speaker 1: delicate process because first and foremost you have to understand that,
Speaker 1: you know, one of my biggest basketball philosophies is to
Speaker 1: not fix what's broken. And I have a funny story
Speaker 1: about this. Back when I was playing in at Arizona
Speaker 1: Christian University, I Uh. Uh, there was a one of
Speaker 1: my former roommates, one of my best friends in college,
Speaker 1: rest in PC unfortunately passed away earlier this year. Um,
Speaker 1: but his name was to Leave, and he was an
Speaker 1: All American guard when I was at Arizona Christian University
Speaker 1: and and we would play, we would have practice during
Speaker 1: the day, and then he would invite me back with uh,
Speaker 1: you know, three or four guys to go do these
Speaker 1: two on two or three on three runs at the
Speaker 1: gym late at night, like at like ten o'clock, which
Speaker 1: in retrospect was kind of crazy because you know, we
Speaker 1: would have practice during the day and it would be
Speaker 1: something that would put a lot of wear and tear
Speaker 1: on our bodies. But to Leave was a big believer
Speaker 1: in learning, you know, winning offensive habits and uh and
Speaker 1: overall just winning habits. And he would always work until
Speaker 1: he was a little bit older. When he was playing
Speaker 1: on the team, he was thirty one. I was twenty two.
Speaker 1: A lot of the other guys in the team were
Speaker 1: in their twenties. And uh, he would constantly just try
Speaker 1: to try to get us to be at his level
Speaker 1: mentally as a basketball player. And so we played two
Speaker 1: on two and three on three, and him and I
Speaker 1: would play like pick and roll. Uh. He would commonly
Speaker 1: put me on his team because him and I played
Speaker 1: together in the in the starting lineup, so he wanted
Speaker 1: us to develop that chemistry, you know. And I do
Speaker 1: pick and roll, and I'd get like a small guy
Speaker 1: switched onto me, and I would kind of shoot a
Speaker 1: little hook shot over the top and I'd score, and
Speaker 1: then the next possession, I'd like pick and pop to
Speaker 1: the three point line because I always was a shooter.
Speaker 1: And to Lee would like stop the game and yell
Speaker 1: at me and be like, what are you doing. You
Speaker 1: just scored in the low block. Do the exact same
Speaker 1: thing over and over again until they stop. You do
Speaker 1: not switch away from something that isn't broken. And over
Speaker 1: the course of the season, he really worked on me
Speaker 1: in that regard that, you know, if I ever discovered, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, an inefficiency in the defense or something that
Speaker 1: was working, I would stick with it until I absolutely
Speaker 1: couldn't use it anymore. And and it went even further
Speaker 1: than that to the defensive end of the ball, Like
Speaker 1: I I'd box out and I'd get a rebound, you know,
Speaker 1: two or three times in a row. But then I
Speaker 1: would you know, one the fourth time I would forget
Speaker 1: to box out and you know, to lee again stop
Speaker 1: the game and just start yelling at me and be
Speaker 1: like like what are you doing? Like you you have
Speaker 1: to box out. If you don't box out, we could
Speaker 1: lose this game, you know. And it was it was
Speaker 1: a matter of habits and just understanding that in any
Speaker 1: any given possession and every little thing has to be
Speaker 1: done right and uh, no matter what, you don't get
Speaker 1: away from something that's working. And so that's always been
Speaker 1: one of my ideologies. And so the Lakers that you
Speaker 1: have to remember, the Lakers have an identity, and their
Speaker 1: identity is that they're they're big and physical and they're
Speaker 1: gonna wear you down. Their identity is that they're going
Speaker 1: to defend the hell out of the basketball. They have
Speaker 1: a scheme that fits around that defense and the identity.
Speaker 1: On offenses, everything goes through Lebron and a D. They
Speaker 1: do not get into the habit of running too many
Speaker 1: actions for role players like the Clippers did, then ended
Speaker 1: up getting their stars out of rhythm. You saw with
Speaker 1: the Clippers they ran so much stuff through Lou Williams
Speaker 1: and so much stuff through Montrese Harrald and they let
Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson do stuff, and they let Marcus Morris do stuff,
Speaker 1: and it really hurt Paul George's rhythm because he would
Speaker 1: struggle night in and night out because his role in
Speaker 1: the offense was funky because he was one of six
Speaker 1: ball handlers instead of one of two. And that's what
Speaker 1: the Lakers that figure out. So it's very important when
Speaker 1: the Lakers are approaching this offseason make sure that their
Speaker 1: moves fit into their current identity because if they get
Speaker 1: too carried away bringing in players that change the identity,
Speaker 1: now you're running the risk of of becoming a team
Speaker 1: that's not a championship team because your current identity is
Speaker 1: a championship identity. So it's very important that they do
Speaker 1: they they focus this offseason on making sure that they
Speaker 1: kind of perfect their existing identity instead of getting too
Speaker 1: far out of their identity. Um. So starting with there's
Speaker 1: kind of three elements to this. Who do you bring back? Um,
Speaker 1: what kind of players would you potentially target in trades?
Speaker 1: And what kind of players are you looking at in
Speaker 1: the free agent market? You know, and as far as
Speaker 1: the off season goes from a retention standpoint, the players
Speaker 1: that I'm not at all worried about bringing back are Markueth.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people like Mark Kief, but
Speaker 1: I thought he was kind of overrated defensively and then
Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor. While he did
Speaker 1: make some shots, I think that's something that they can
Speaker 1: find from other players. And I'm more more worried about
Speaker 1: the fact that he couldn't really guard anybody. Dion Waiters,
Speaker 1: who cares. I know there's a lot of Laker optimism
Speaker 1: about Dion Waiters, but he does not fit into the
Speaker 1: identity of this team at all. Same goes for j R.
Speaker 1: Smith and then JaVale McGhee. I think that if you
Speaker 1: can get someone like DeMarcus Cousins to play that JaVale
Speaker 1: McGhee roll instead, I think that's a better route. And
Speaker 1: you know, for all of the things that JaVale brought
Speaker 1: to the table this year, I thought he was a
Speaker 1: little more negative than positive, and I think that if
Speaker 1: you can get somebody different, those are the guys to
Speaker 1: go after. The the guys that I would absolutely try
Speaker 1: to bring back like a high priority would be Dwight
Speaker 1: Howard because Dwight Howard is like Dwight Howard becomes infinitely
Speaker 1: more valuable now as a result of the quick turnaround
Speaker 1: and the truncated season that now you're looking at a
Speaker 1: situation where um Dwight's depth that he provides, Dwight's physical
Speaker 1: presence inside becomes immensely important in that you know, a
Speaker 1: quick turnaround season with games like probably every other night,
Speaker 1: Dwight is a high, high priority. So when it comes
Speaker 1: to their cap exception, that is the primary player I
Speaker 1: would target if you if you can't, if you can't
Speaker 1: get him at a veteran minimum, then I that's the
Speaker 1: guy that I'd be willing to dip into the exception.
Speaker 1: For Avery Bradley, my guess is that he's going to
Speaker 1: opt out of his five million dollars for next year
Speaker 1: and the Lakers can sign him at I think it's
Speaker 1: a ten percent raise, So they can get him at
Speaker 1: like five point seven or five point five or whatever
Speaker 1: it is for next season. A little bit of a
Speaker 1: raise for Avery and UH gets him back on the roster.
Speaker 1: I think that's an important target for them, just in
Speaker 1: terms of guard depth. KCP I expect to opt in,
Speaker 1: but who knows. With KCP, he's got such like an
Speaker 1: under the table thing going on with Clutch that who
Speaker 1: knows what they're gonna end up doing. And then the
Speaker 1: only guy that I think that I would bring back,
Speaker 1: but only at a veteran minimum, is region Rondo because
Speaker 1: you know, while Raision Rondo had some moments for the
Speaker 1: Lakers in this postseason run, I happen to be one
Speaker 1: of the guys who thought he was just as much
Speaker 1: bad as good. You know, for all of the good
Speaker 1: moments that he had, there were games where I thought
Speaker 1: he really hurt the team tam And while his i
Speaker 1: Q is something that has been touted, I think that
Speaker 1: Lebron kind of accomplishes that goal anyway in and of himself.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a redundancy in that regard, Like if
Speaker 1: Rondo is not in the locker room, it's not like
Speaker 1: the team's gonna stop watching film like you've got Lebron
Speaker 1: there for that. Lebron is a nerd of the game's
Speaker 1: gonna take that same approach. And uh, I don't think
Speaker 1: that it's a huge loss to get to to lose him.
Speaker 1: But if you can bring him back at a veteran minimum,
Speaker 1: which I think the Lakers can, I think you have
Speaker 1: to because at the very least he does give you
Speaker 1: that uh that potential postseason, you know, any other Like
Speaker 1: every other game, he was one of the best players
Speaker 1: on the floor, even if he was the worst player
Speaker 1: in some of the other games. So yeah, Rondo at
Speaker 1: a veteran minimum, K C. P. Bradley and Dwight, I
Speaker 1: think you've got to try to extend yourself to whatever
Speaker 1: it takes to get him to come back. And then
Speaker 1: I'm not worried at all about Markief, Dion j R.
Speaker 1: Or Javail. So I made a list of free agent targets.
Speaker 1: I dug into this a lot this afternoon. UMU. The
Speaker 1: main free agents that I saw in the entire list
Speaker 1: of the league agents that I think the Lakers would
Speaker 1: consider was Danilo Gallinari, Wesley Matthews, Glenn Robinson, the third,
Speaker 1: Justin Holiday, Gerald Green, Ryan Anderson, Darren Collison, Boogie Cousins
Speaker 1: who's technically a free agent, Iman Chumpert, and mo Hearkless.
Speaker 1: And the names that I circled that I thought were
Speaker 1: kind of uh, you know, high priority targets in that list,
Speaker 1: where Gallinari, Mo Heartless, Wes Matthews, Boogie Cousins, and Darren Collinson.
Speaker 1: So first Boogie Cousins, I'd go after him to try
Speaker 1: to get him in that Javail role. I think with
Speaker 1: his injury history, I think he's gonna have a hard
Speaker 1: time finding a contract, especially in this summer when there's
Speaker 1: not all that much free agent money available. So I
Speaker 1: think Boogie Cousins can be had on the cheap. So
Speaker 1: I think if you can get him in l a
Speaker 1: um kind of have him played that JaVale McGee roll,
Speaker 1: have him and Dwight be the two centers that you
Speaker 1: play for. For like, Javal brought a lot more athleticism
Speaker 1: in length around the rim, but he was so like
Speaker 1: such a space case around the rim some times over helping,
Speaker 1: fouling when he should and all of this other stuff
Speaker 1: that even though Boogie is not going to be as
Speaker 1: good of a defensive player, uh in terms of his talent,
Speaker 1: I think just with his i Q for the game,
Speaker 1: he'll be just as effective on that end of the ball.
Speaker 1: So and then he's gonna be a significantly better offensive player,
Speaker 1: especially with his ability to stretch the floor. So I
Speaker 1: think Boogie Cousins is at the veteran minimum is a
Speaker 1: no brainer if you can get him there. Darren Collison,
Speaker 1: it's all about whether or not he's coming back. But
Speaker 1: Darren Collison gives you just one more additional decision maker
Speaker 1: who's not going to be a high volume guy, and
Speaker 1: he's a really really good spot up shooter. Two years
Speaker 1: ago in Indiana he was an unbelievable spot up shooter.
Speaker 1: So he provides basically a much much better version of Rondo.
Speaker 1: The problem is that if Darren comes back, he's definitely
Speaker 1: going to be in that exception range, like they're they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to pay him. So if you get Darren Collison, that,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, that takes the wings off the table.
Speaker 1: That takes Gallinari, West Matthews, and Mo Heartless off the table.
Speaker 1: So um in order you know, I was asked to
Speaker 1: rank the in one of the mail back questions pick
Speaker 1: up Hope. You guys know him. He's one of my
Speaker 1: favorite Twitter accounts. He's always got all the receipts. But
Speaker 1: he was asking about how you'd rank if you couldn't
Speaker 1: get Gallinari, because I think we all agree Gallinari's the
Speaker 1: best option, and I'll get to y in a second,
Speaker 1: but how would you rank West, Matthews, Mo Heartless, Glenn
Speaker 1: Robinson the third or justin Holiday, and I put West
Speaker 1: Matthews at the top of this list. West Matthews is
Speaker 1: is one of the best perimeter defenders that we have
Speaker 1: in the league, which is insane for a guy who
Speaker 1: is playing on a veteran minimum contract in Milwaukee. He's
Speaker 1: a little bit undersized but in terms of his height,
Speaker 1: but he's extremely strong and extremely laterally quick. He's very
Speaker 1: good at making you shoot over the top. He's very
Speaker 1: good with ball pressure, and he's he's it's very difficult
Speaker 1: to get around him. And as you saw if you've
Speaker 1: ever watched with him Wesley Matthews play, He's he's just
Speaker 1: a total pest on the ball. And in terms of
Speaker 1: what the Lakers defensive scheme is, which is heavy ball
Speaker 1: pressure forcing guys to drive, West Matthews fits into that
Speaker 1: scheme absolutely perfectly, and so I like him as a
Speaker 1: fit um. I like him as a fit in that role,
Speaker 1: especially given the fact that he can shoot the ball
Speaker 1: so well. I'd rank number two mo Hearkless. Now, mo
Speaker 1: Hearkless is not as good as a shooter as with
Speaker 1: Matthew West Matthews, and he's definitely not as laterally quick
Speaker 1: as West Matthews. The reason why I like Mo Heartless
Speaker 1: is I think he's a bit of an ace in
Speaker 1: the hole to use against the Clippers. He's a player
Speaker 1: that I can put on Kauai and I can feel
Speaker 1: reasonably sure, reasonably certain that he's gonna make him work.
Speaker 1: He's not gonna be able to shut him down, but
Speaker 1: nobody can. He's gonna be able to make him work.
Speaker 1: So I put Mo Hearkless number two, and then Glenn
Speaker 1: between Glenn Robinson the third and Justin Holiday. To be
Speaker 1: honest with you, guys, I haven't seen too much of them.
Speaker 1: I haven't watched a ton of either of them, but
Speaker 1: I know that I would prefer those other two names
Speaker 1: I mentioned over them. The reason why dar Danilla Gallinari
Speaker 1: is number one on my list is he is a
Speaker 1: textbook high i Q player that's just gonna fit really,
Speaker 1: really well alongside Lebron James. Now. One of the issues
Speaker 1: that he had and okay see is he was asked
Speaker 1: to be too much. Danila Gallinari was basically like a
Speaker 1: second option on that Thunder team on any given moment
Speaker 1: on the floor because he'd play with you know, Chris
Speaker 1: Paul and Shake Gils Alexander had their offensive responsibilities, but
Speaker 1: Daniella Gallanari was running a lot of pick and roll.
Speaker 1: He's doing a lot to generate offense on that team.
Speaker 1: On the Lakers, with the way that their identity is structured,
Speaker 1: you can count on the Lakers putting him into a
Speaker 1: little bit smaller role offensively. He will run pick and roll,
Speaker 1: he will run stuff with the ball in his hands,
Speaker 1: but he can do it kind of like when he
Speaker 1: has it going and when it's free flowing in the
Speaker 1: flow of the game. He's not going to be demanded
Speaker 1: to do that sort of thing on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. He's a classic case of a guy
Speaker 1: that you can ask to fill an easy defensive role. Hey, Danilo,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you get blown by You just
Speaker 1: got to chase him off the three point line, and
Speaker 1: if he beat you out the three point line, you've
Speaker 1: got to be next in rotation and get to somebody
Speaker 1: else on the floor that's uncovered, which is a lot
Speaker 1: easier job than asking a guy to be at lockdown
Speaker 1: individual defensive player. So from that standpoint, I think he's
Speaker 1: a natural fit. He can shoot the ball, so he's
Speaker 1: good for spacing. He can attack close outs. He's got size, uh,
Speaker 1: and he's got enough quickness to fit into the Laker
Speaker 1: defensive scheme as a perimeter player. UM and just all
Speaker 1: in all, he's with what the Lakers would ask him
Speaker 1: to do. I think he'd be a home run hitter.
Speaker 1: The other three names I have on my list are
Speaker 1: all what I would consider veteran minimum guys, guys that
Speaker 1: have almost no chance of fetching big paychecks around the league.
Speaker 1: Jerald Green. There's a story out that Gerald Green wants
Speaker 1: to go to Houston again, but Houston's cap is completely
Speaker 1: messed up and their owner is a total cheap uh,
Speaker 1: total cheap guys. So at this point, chances are, uh,
Speaker 1: there's a good there's a good opportunity that Houston won't
Speaker 1: bring him back. And he's an example of just another
Speaker 1: wing that brings some athleticism that you could ask to
Speaker 1: play a really simplified role in this offense and on
Speaker 1: this defense, and uh, and you can have him regardless
Speaker 1: of your cap situation. Ryan Anderson was another name I
Speaker 1: brought up. Again, doesn't fit into the defensive scheme, but
Speaker 1: what he helps you with is he's a really really
Speaker 1: good shooter that on any given random night in Charlotte.
Speaker 1: You know, on a Tuesday in February, you can ask
Speaker 1: him to play fifteen minutes and he'll be able to
Speaker 1: fit alongside Lebron James. Even though he might hurt you
Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the ball, he eats up
Speaker 1: minutes and he can help you from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: of getting through that seventy two game grind in a
Speaker 1: four month stretch, it's just death. And then the last
Speaker 1: name I put on there Razimman Schumpert. This is a
Speaker 1: classic example of a guy who could fit into that
Speaker 1: like lesser version of a Contavious Caldwell Pope type of role.
Speaker 1: You put him as an off guard. On offense, he's
Speaker 1: spotting up and attacking closeouts, and then on the defensive
Speaker 1: end of the ball. Ball pressure has always been one
Speaker 1: of his strong points. You put him in ball pressure.
Speaker 1: He's a little bit undersized, so he can't like guard
Speaker 1: big old rangey wings. But as long as you can
Speaker 1: force him off the three point line, that's what you
Speaker 1: have Anthony Davis and all those centers for. It's a
Speaker 1: it's a it's a brilliant structure to the way that
Speaker 1: there uh their scheme works so as far as trade
Speaker 1: targets go, I am totally anti. I'm totally anti Chris Paul. UM.
Speaker 1: I don't think that he's worth what you'd have to
Speaker 1: pay in terms of salaries to get it fit the
Speaker 1: to get it to fit. The only universe in which
Speaker 1: I think Chris Paul makes any sense as if he
Speaker 1: takes a buy out, which really is down to Chris Paul.
Speaker 1: And if we've learned anything about Chris Paul and his
Speaker 1: comments on this subject, he's not taking a pay cut.
Speaker 1: So unless okay, see feels so deeply indebted to Chris
Speaker 1: Paul that they're willing to cut him a check for
Speaker 1: forty million for the next two years to leave, then
Speaker 1: I don't see this thing happening. And so chances are
Speaker 1: I think he ends up getting traded to someone else.
Speaker 1: Um If if the Lakers do throw in a ton
Speaker 1: of salary reason role players and toss away all their
Speaker 1: depth to try to get Chris Paul, I think that
Speaker 1: would be a catastrophic mistake. UM. Bradley Beale is completely unrealistic.
Speaker 1: The two names that I put down that I think
Speaker 1: are decent fits that make sense with the salary that
Speaker 1: would work, not only in the short term, but for
Speaker 1: the long term for the Lakers was Spencer Dinwittie and
Speaker 1: uh In Victor Oladipo. So these are guys I think
Speaker 1: Spencer didn't what he makes around sixteen million, and then
Speaker 1: Victor Oladipo's in that twenty million dollar range. Um. Both
Speaker 1: of them are coming up on new contracts in the
Speaker 1: future soon. But both of them represent players that fit
Speaker 1: a a role, a kind of a hole in the
Speaker 1: roster that we talked about a lot last year, which
Speaker 1: is just another playmaker alongside Lebron. So in this situation,
Speaker 1: you'd have to ditch Rondo altogether as part of your offense,
Speaker 1: because again, like we talked about, you don't want to
Speaker 1: lose your identity, your identities. Most of the offense runs
Speaker 1: through Lebron and runs through Anthony Davis. And so what
Speaker 1: I like about Spencer Dinwoodie is in his time in Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: he showed an ability to succeed on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the floor while not necessarily having a super high
Speaker 1: usage rate and by being kind of from time to
Speaker 1: time being under involved in the offense. And so from
Speaker 1: that standpoint, I think he's a perfect fit as a
Speaker 1: third ball handler. A third star, so to speak, on
Speaker 1: this team, and quite frankly, I think Brooklyn needs to
Speaker 1: make a move that involves one of their two big
Speaker 1: perimeter backup players, which is Carris LeVert and Spencer Dinwoody,
Speaker 1: because they don't have any depth and they don't have
Speaker 1: any dirty work guys, and so the move there would
Speaker 1: be Crusoe and Kuzma and whatever salary filler you need
Speaker 1: to put together um for Spencer Dinwoodie. Spencer dinwood he
Speaker 1: slides into that, uh that a starting guard role kind
Speaker 1: of where Crusoe is playing in the finals. I know
Speaker 1: you guys all love Cruso. I love Caruso too, and
Speaker 1: he'd be great on the contract next season, but he
Speaker 1: will eventually get paid and the Lakers aren't going to
Speaker 1: be the ones to pay him. So you lose one
Speaker 1: year of Alex Caruso for whatever your future is with
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwoody. And Victor Oladipo is another great example of
Speaker 1: that as well. You get to basically try out Victor Oladipo.
Speaker 1: You get to see what he's worth in a one
Speaker 1: year sample size, and then it's your move if you
Speaker 1: want to resign him next year, or if you want
Speaker 1: to let him go. UH and then Kuzma, same exact problem.
Speaker 1: You're getting rid of Kuzma, but you're eventually gonna have
Speaker 1: to pay him way more than what his actual production is.
Speaker 1: So it's a simple trade off of two guys that
Speaker 1: you're probably not gonna eventually want to pay in Kuzman
Speaker 1: and Curus. So for a player that's an instant fit
Speaker 1: right now, which is that third guard in Dinwoody in
Speaker 1: an Oladipo, And then with either player, you kind of
Speaker 1: have the flexibility of what you want to do signing
Speaker 1: them long term. And the biggest thing there is you're
Speaker 1: banking on. You know, that identity I talked about works
Speaker 1: for right now, and I believe it will work at
Speaker 1: least through next season. But eventually Lebron will slow down
Speaker 1: a little bit, and when he does, you need to
Speaker 1: have a backup plan centered on some other form of
Speaker 1: high volume ball handler and Uh as somebody that can
Speaker 1: keep you know that you can still use Lebron as
Speaker 1: a as kind of like a second option ball handler
Speaker 1: when he's thirty eight thirty nine years old, but you've
Speaker 1: got somebody that can be that guard that can run
Speaker 1: a lot of actions with Anthony Davis actions with Lebron
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. So yeah, like I said, no,
Speaker 1: CP three, Bradley Beal is not a realistic target. I
Speaker 1: really like Spencer Dinwititi spend Spencer Dinwitty, and I like
Speaker 1: Victor Oladipo. So Um, the last question I have from
Speaker 1: the mail bag set that I received earlier, and then
Speaker 1: I'll take one or two from the questions. So if
Speaker 1: you guys have any questions, UH, drop him in the
Speaker 1: comments here. Um. But the last question I had was
Speaker 1: from a buddy of my name, Travis, who I played
Speaker 1: against in college and now he's an assistant coach at
Speaker 1: a university out in California. He asked me to rank
Speaker 1: the following duos, not counting any trades or offseason moves,
Speaker 1: just what you think of these duos if you had
Speaker 1: to pick him for the next five years. And the
Speaker 1: duos that he sent me were Luca and Cristaps Porzingis,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Jamal Murray and Nikola Yogich,
Speaker 1: Joe l em Beat and Ben Simmons, and then Devin
Speaker 1: Booker and DeAndre Aten. And so this one was tough
Speaker 1: because I think there's a difference between, you know what
Speaker 1: you could expect from one of these guys next year,
Speaker 1: one of these duos next year, in which you can
Speaker 1: expect from them in the next five years. I put
Speaker 1: I picked Luca and Kristaps Porzingis first, and it really
Speaker 1: was simple for me. I think Lucas I think I
Speaker 1: ranked him seventh in my top ten players in the league,
Speaker 1: and that's based on where he is absolutely at this moment.
Speaker 1: But if he becomes even an average defender and above,
Speaker 1: and if he becomes an average three point shooter, so
Speaker 1: instead of shooting percent from three, shoots thirty seven percent
Speaker 1: from three, And if he becomes a decent positional defender
Speaker 1: who just knows where to be and knows how to rotate,
Speaker 1: knows how to just be in the right spot, even
Speaker 1: though he's never asked to be a shutdown defensive player.
Speaker 1: If he figures those two things out, he's a top
Speaker 1: three or four player in the league. And Christap Sporzingis is,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not the kind of guy that you
Speaker 1: think of as a traditional second star, but he is
Speaker 1: a natural fit with Luca as a as a spacing
Speaker 1: five and a guy that you can throw the ball
Speaker 1: down to on the block when Lucas off the floor,
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. So I definitely take him
Speaker 1: moving forward. Secondly, I would take Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum.
Speaker 1: I I ranked Tatum as the eleventh best player in
Speaker 1: the league this year, just ahead of Jimmy Butler at twelve,
Speaker 1: and I I think Jayson Tatum is one of the
Speaker 1: two guys in there, one of the few guys in
Speaker 1: the league that can say that they check two of
Speaker 1: those elite boxes that I always talk about, elite defensive versatility,
Speaker 1: elite isolation scoring, and elite playmaking. Tatum checks two of
Speaker 1: those boxes. He's elite as a defensively versatile player and
Speaker 1: he's elite isolation score and so from that standpoint, I
Speaker 1: really like him moving forward. And then Jalen Brown is
Speaker 1: your textbook UH awesome wing player that can fend all positions,
Speaker 1: can get you twenty points a night. Uh. Those two
Speaker 1: guys are built to succeed in the playoffs, and I
Speaker 1: think you're gonna see them in the Eastern Conference Finals
Speaker 1: just about every year for the next few years. UH
Speaker 1: third out ranked Yokich and uh Murray. I ranked them
Speaker 1: third because of the fact that what we saw from
Speaker 1: this last postseason run um Uh it was one of
Speaker 1: the biggest upsets in NBA history, and it was built
Speaker 1: on the fact that Yokich is such a gifted playmaker,
Speaker 1: and it's such a gifted the postseason performer because he's
Speaker 1: so smart he can pick these defenses apart over the
Speaker 1: course of his seven game series. My big question and
Speaker 1: the raison the reason why I don't have these guys
Speaker 1: ahead of Luca or or Tatum and Brown is the
Speaker 1: fact that Jamal Murray has somewhat of a track record
Speaker 1: of being an inconsistent postseason performer, and it's really hard
Speaker 1: to say whether or not this most recent run in
Speaker 1: the bubble can really can be depended on moving forward.
Speaker 1: And so from that same point, if I had a
Speaker 1: gun to my head, if I had, if I was
Speaker 1: a betting man and I had to pick these duos
Speaker 1: in order, I would pick Um, I would pick Murray
Speaker 1: and Yokich third. Based on the fact that I can't
Speaker 1: really necessarily depend on Murray. Fourth, I put him beat
Speaker 1: and Simmons. The irony of this list that Travis sent
Speaker 1: me is he's texted them to me in the order
Speaker 1: that I would have ranked them in. But I had
Speaker 1: Joel Embiat and Simmons fourth, simply because of the fact
Speaker 1: that I think they are a really clunky basketball fit.
Speaker 1: They make a ton of sense defensively on paper in
Speaker 1: the regular season. But I do have some concerns about
Speaker 1: Joel Embad as a versatile defender against the absolute best
Speaker 1: of the best teams, Teams that will force him to
Speaker 1: guard on the perimeter, teams that won't allow him to
Speaker 1: hawk the paint. I mean, you just saw in that
Speaker 1: series with Miami when when Miami put uh Kelly Olynok
Speaker 1: on the floor and Anthony Davis was forced to guard
Speaker 1: on the perimeter, Miami was able to kind of neutralize
Speaker 1: a lot of Anthony Davis's defensive impact. And then in
Speaker 1: Game six, when they leaned too heavily on Bam at
Speaker 1: a bio, you saw Anthony Davis play one of the
Speaker 1: best defensive games that we've ever seen because he completely
Speaker 1: locked down the paint because he had no interest in
Speaker 1: guarding Bam as he kept spotting up on the elbows. So,
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, like, I worry a little bit about
Speaker 1: em beats defensive versatility when like the really really good
Speaker 1: teams will force him to guard out on the perimeter,
Speaker 1: and then we all know about Ben Simmons. He has
Speaker 1: been in his last few postseason runs. He's basically been
Speaker 1: relegated to a guy who has to operate out of
Speaker 1: the dunker spot and UH can't necessarily run offense against
Speaker 1: teams that are packing the paint and forcing him to
Speaker 1: be a you know, a primary scoring option. So it's
Speaker 1: a really clunky fit. I think they're easily the most
Speaker 1: likely players to get traded and moved around and UH,
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, I had them fourth on my list,
Speaker 1: and then Booker and eight and I had fifth. Eighton
Speaker 1: is the worst player on this list in my opinion
Speaker 1: by a decent margin. He showed some potential last year,
Speaker 1: uh towards the end of the year as a as
Speaker 1: a guy who was a type of you know, three
Speaker 1: and D type of center who could space the floor
Speaker 1: but also operated as a rollman and and finish around
Speaker 1: the rim a lot um. I just my thing with
Speaker 1: Eton is he's just another version of you know, we
Speaker 1: have this new we have this new kind of resurgence
Speaker 1: of centers right that is happening around the league. But
Speaker 1: it's important to understand that, like, who are the two
Speaker 1: best centers not traditional guys. You know, Yokich, this kind
Speaker 1: of chubby, slow, you know, guy who's incredibly skilled and
Speaker 1: his basketball quees off the charts, and he can pass
Speaker 1: unbelievably well, and he's a you know, a dead eye
Speaker 1: shooter and a really good, you know, kind of crafty
Speaker 1: score around the rim. And then I've got Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: who's just a complete athletic freak who can shoot from
Speaker 1: the midrange, you can shoot from the three point line,
Speaker 1: and can do all of these things from a versatility standpoint.
Speaker 1: And guys like Embiid and guys like Eton, who's just
Speaker 1: a worse version of Embiid. Those guys kind of represent
Speaker 1: you know, leftovers from a bygone era, and while their
Speaker 1: size represents, you know, a defensive option to throw at
Speaker 1: those super elite centers. I do worry about whether or
Speaker 1: not they'll always just be an inferior version of those
Speaker 1: guys when they get into a playoff series with them.
Speaker 1: I actually really really do like Devin Booker. I I
Speaker 1: am a fan of what his skill set represents in
Speaker 1: today's NBA is an elite isolation score, but he's beneath
Speaker 1: a lot of the other guys on this list. He's
Speaker 1: beneath Tatum, He's beneath a Luca in the sense that
Speaker 1: he's not a great elite playmaker and he's not a
Speaker 1: great elite defensive player. So from that standpoint, he's the
Speaker 1: guy who only checks one of those boxes, and it
Speaker 1: kind of puts him in a situation where um uh,
Speaker 1: in a playoff series, he's just gonna be coming up
Speaker 1: against better players. So I've got you know, I talk
Speaker 1: all the time about those three things, elite defensive versatility,
Speaker 1: elite isolation scoring, and elite playmaking. Between Booker and Eton,
Speaker 1: I'm getting maybe one of those. I'm getting elite isolation
Speaker 1: scoring from Booker, but I'm not getting playmaking. I'm not
Speaker 1: getting defense. And with Aiden, I'm not sure that he's
Speaker 1: defensively versatile and his ability to guard on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: He's not an elite isolation score and he's not an
Speaker 1: elite playmaker. So from that standpoint, just following kind of
Speaker 1: my traditional, uh, you know, ideologies that I follow in basketball, uh,
Speaker 1: those those guys just aren't necessarily the type of player
Speaker 1: that I would put my confidence in um in the
Speaker 1: next five years. So on that note, I had question
Speaker 1: all the questions that I received in the broadcast were
Speaker 1: associated with the Laker off season stuff, which I already
Speaker 1: talked about, Like I said, I'm gonna do a much
Speaker 1: longer drawn out version of that with RAJ later on
Speaker 1: in this quote unquote NBA summer. But anyways, I really
Speaker 1: really appreciate all of you guys for tuning in as usual.
Speaker 1: This will be re released as a podcast here probably
Speaker 1: in the next five minutes. If you guys have haven't
Speaker 1: taken the time to rate a review, I would really
Speaker 1: appreciate if you guys would do that for me. It
Speaker 1: means a lot to me. Uh. And next Wednesday, I
Speaker 1: have Tommy coming on to go over my top ten
Speaker 1: list and my MJ lebron stuff, So that will probably
Speaker 1: unless there's some big story that comes up over the weekend,
Speaker 1: that will probably be my next podcast. But yeah, so
Speaker 1: we've already this already four episodes, so I can't believe
Speaker 1: how fastest is moving. And I I you know, I UH.
Speaker 1: The last one that I did yesterday already has over
Speaker 1: two thousand listens. And I'm just extremely thankful for you
Speaker 1: guys and and UH and the support that you've given
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to the journeys, So have a
Speaker 1: good rest of your night and I'll talk to you
Speaker 1: guys next week.