Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahkustak, NBA analysts for the Yes Network and Woe
Speaker 1: we are ready to get rock and I am joined
Speaker 1: by NBA dot Com Senior writer Michael C. Wright and
Speaker 1: Michael are you ready for this? Are you ready to
Speaker 1: get this season rolling?
Speaker 2: We backed baby Hi like it was a long summer.
Speaker 2: It was a very busy summer. But it's good to
Speaker 2: get back to work. I've already done two media days.
Speaker 2: I did the Mavericks media Day Friday and then Spurs
Speaker 2: on Monday, So I'm back in the full swing. Let's go.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say we got you just you just
Speaker 1: keep on rolling and we we're gonna get into it
Speaker 1: and get into the West. As you mentioned being at
Speaker 1: those media days, and there's a lot of interesting storylines,
Speaker 1: a few moves and changes, but there's one thing that
Speaker 1: does not change Denver Nuggets. They remain They remained defending champions.
Speaker 1: They had their fun this summer, celebrated with the parade,
Speaker 1: and in many ways really stayed consistent and kept the
Speaker 1: continuity of what they had going from last year in
Speaker 1: winning the title, beating Miami in five games.
Speaker 2: It's over.
Speaker 1: Last.
Speaker 2: The long wait is over that the forty seven years,
Speaker 2: But Denver Nuggets can finally call themselves NBA champions.
Speaker 1: They did lose Bruce Brown sound a nice little two
Speaker 1: year deal with the Indiana Pacers. Veteran presidence of Jeff
Speaker 1: Green and Ish Smith gone. But overall, I've got a
Speaker 1: lot of the same core group, including the two time
Speaker 1: MVP in Nicola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Junior, Aaron Gordon,
Speaker 1: the list goes on. So from your from your viewpoint
Speaker 1: of coming into this season, how do you frame where
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets are at in the context of title hopes?
Speaker 1: Once again in repeating.
Speaker 2: They are almost sarah exactly where they were last year. Look,
Speaker 2: you saw in the East, all the stuff that happened
Speaker 2: in Boston, you know, Milwaukee with Dame. Uh, there's things
Speaker 2: happening all over the West with the Phoenix Suns. And
Speaker 2: they say, you know what, We're just gonna chill. We're good,
Speaker 2: We're just gonna sit here and keep our continuity. And
Speaker 2: really it's a testament to the faith that they have
Speaker 2: in those guys on their roster, because Jamal Murray he's
Speaker 2: going to be another another year removed from that knee injury.
Speaker 2: He's gonna be better. He's not gonna be having the
Speaker 2: rest games and things like that, so he's gonna be
Speaker 2: able to get into a flow really fast. Okay. You
Speaker 2: look at Michael Forter Jr. Okay, he's had all these
Speaker 2: back injuries, you know, going all the way back to college,
Speaker 2: and last year he wasn't great in the finals or
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, but you started to see some of
Speaker 2: that athleticism come back. Like people don't realize how athletic
Speaker 2: that kid is. That dude can jump out the gym
Speaker 2: when he's fully healthy. But you started to see some
Speaker 2: of that in the player in the finals. And then
Speaker 2: you look at Nicola Jokic. Maybe I'm wrong here, Sarah,
Speaker 2: but you tell me. I'm sure you watched the finals too.
Speaker 2: It seemed like throughout the finals, throughout the playoffs, he
Speaker 2: gained more and more confidence, and it was kind of like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm starting to realize that I the singular person. I
Speaker 2: can do move all my pieces and do all this
Speaker 2: stuff and just kind of make everything work exactly how
Speaker 2: I wanted to accomplish the goal at hand. In whatever situation,
Speaker 2: and it seemed like he sort of got more and
Speaker 2: more confident as it went on. He's won two MVPs.
Speaker 2: He's up here, he's you know, at the peak of
Speaker 2: his powers right now. And so I just think that
Speaker 2: the only question marks I would have for the Denver
Speaker 2: Nuggets at this point is that second unit. But look,
Speaker 2: you got a guy like Reggie Jackson. They didn't even
Speaker 2: use him in the playoffs last year, and you know,
Speaker 2: he's got plenty of playoff experience. We saw him balled
Speaker 2: out in the bubble for the Clippers. You know, Christian
Speaker 2: Brown played great last year and he's gonna be you know,
Speaker 2: another year of experience, it's gonna be better. Uh. I
Speaker 2: hear a lot about this kid, Peyton Watson. They say
Speaker 2: he can really go. Haven't seen it yet because he
Speaker 2: didn't play a time. But you know, so that's the
Speaker 2: only question I really have, That's the only concern I
Speaker 2: would have is that second unit. But Michael Malone, he's
Speaker 2: one of the best coaches out there. He's gonna figure
Speaker 2: it out and they're gonna be just fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think the concept of for as much
Speaker 1: scrutiny as has been on them, of what they do
Speaker 1: in the regular season and then not going far in
Speaker 1: the postseason that that type of you know, that type
Speaker 1: of weight gets off your shoulder. You already win one.
Speaker 1: Yes to your point about about the injuries that they
Speaker 1: dealt with Jokic, who was breaking all sorts of records
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the postseason with his triple doubles.
Speaker 1: But but do you think given and we'll get to
Speaker 1: these other teams in the Western Conference, uh, and of
Speaker 1: course what the East obviously has done in their movement,
Speaker 1: do you think that they repeat? Oh?
Speaker 2: Now, see, that's tough because part of and we never
Speaker 2: want to admit it as writers, as reporters, analysts, there's
Speaker 2: some luck involved in it, you know. I mean, like
Speaker 2: the healthiest team that is playing at its best at
Speaker 2: a certain point in time, you know, sort of catches
Speaker 2: fire in the playoffs and you know, they run it
Speaker 2: and they go win the championship. And so I'm not
Speaker 2: sure that Denver can rely on on just that that
Speaker 2: good help that they had last year. You know, obviously
Speaker 2: we know every all the injury history over the years,
Speaker 2: Like last year was the first year that they had
Speaker 2: that whole team together. You know, they were playing without air,
Speaker 2: I mean without Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray for
Speaker 2: like a big part of you know, the year before,
Speaker 2: and so you know, just given their history, i mean,
Speaker 2: the history sort of indicates that they might, you know,
Speaker 2: have some injury problems, but I'm not sure they repeat,
Speaker 2: just because there are so many teams that that just
Speaker 2: got better this all season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I also think you can't overlook the loss of
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown and just the versatile piece that he became
Speaker 1: for that group. And obviously because of the money that
Speaker 1: he got in because of how we played well deserved
Speaker 1: on all ends, you understand, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Exactly, we didn't mention him, but he's also a great
Speaker 2: veteran piece for them that you know, sort of played
Speaker 2: a big role in the overall cohesiveness of that team.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1: It's yeah, it's it's and it's white stuff not to
Speaker 1: take the field when you when you look at some
Speaker 1: of the moves that have been made, and that's where
Speaker 1: I would go, and I'm going to head to the
Speaker 1: team next that I'm excited to watch the Phoenix Sons.
Speaker 1: Of course, new head coach in Frank Vogel and what
Speaker 1: he will be able to do with this group that
Speaker 1: has led by Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and now Bradley Beale.
Speaker 1: And I think there's been so much discussion about Damian
Speaker 1: Lillard trade holiday going to Boston. It happened so long ago.
Speaker 1: Now it seems like a lifetime of go of of
Speaker 1: Bradley be joining that Phoenix Sun team. They move off
Speaker 1: of DeAndre Ayton, the impact that we'll have bringing in
Speaker 1: use of Nurkic part of the multi team trade. But
Speaker 1: they also made some sneaky nice signings vets minimum signings
Speaker 1: of you know, the question was what can they do
Speaker 1: with this group now bringing in Bradley Beal and fortifying
Speaker 1: the rest of the roster, and there was some you know,
Speaker 1: you pick up Eric Gordon part of that. You have
Speaker 1: Grayson Allen that comes over from the traving. There's some
Speaker 1: small pieces that you wonder how they fit in. But
Speaker 1: it is highlighted by by book and by Durant and
Speaker 1: by Beale. What do you make of this Phoenix Sun's team.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you hit the nail right on the
Speaker 2: head when you talked about those supporting cast people that
Speaker 2: they brought in. To me, that is going to be
Speaker 2: the key. How do they fit around those stars and
Speaker 2: how do they sort of compliment them, because you know,
Speaker 2: Brad Beal with Kad, with Book, you're talking about what
Speaker 2: seventy five eighty points a game. I mean, like if
Speaker 2: you just go off their career averages, they're gonna give
Speaker 2: you seventy five eighty a game. And that's like on
Speaker 2: just a regular night. You know that that's not counting
Speaker 2: those nights they just go crazy, like like Book and
Speaker 2: Katie both did in that series against the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 2: So you know, you look at guys like Grayson Allen.
Speaker 2: You know he's a forty percent you know, career three
Speaker 2: point shooter. Youtah, he's almost a three point shooter. You
Speaker 2: got Eric Gordon, he is instant offense. I mean he'll
Speaker 2: give you fifteen twenty points off the bench a game.
Speaker 2: And so those guys are gonna be really big for them.
Speaker 2: And especially like when you start to get to those
Speaker 2: dog days of the season, you know where you know, Kate,
Speaker 2: Katie Book, you know, uh Brand, they're worn down. So
Speaker 2: now you need, you know, you need a little scoring
Speaker 2: punch from like the guys on your bench. So I
Speaker 2: think those were like huge moves. My only concern with
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Suns is I thought I think they might
Speaker 2: have downgraded a little bit of center, you know, DeAndre Aiden,
Speaker 2: Like I was really sort of interested and also excited
Speaker 2: to see how Frank Vogel would be able to use them,
Speaker 2: Like I thought that that would might it would like
Speaker 2: sort of you know, reinvigorate him, like sort of you know,
Speaker 2: give him, I don't know, I just give him a
Speaker 2: little juice going into the seasons. So I was a
Speaker 2: little surprised that they that they got rid of him
Speaker 2: and brought in Yrkic, I mean Nurkic and use of Nurkic.
Speaker 2: I mean he's a guy that he's been injured, you know,
Speaker 2: so much that it's sort of sapped his mobility, you know,
Speaker 2: like he's not a guy that you can really rely on,
Speaker 2: you know, switches and things like that. And so I
Speaker 2: think they're gonna have to be creative with, you know,
Speaker 2: how they defend. And also another concern of mine is,
Speaker 2: you know, Bradley Biel at Point Guard, I don't know,
Speaker 2: and and we just haven't seen him do it. And
Speaker 2: you know, he's an all world talent. He's got he's
Speaker 2: got the skills to do it. But we just haven't
Speaker 2: seen it yet, so I'm very interested to see how
Speaker 2: they look. I'm actually gonna be out in Phoenix for
Speaker 2: a couple of games that the first week of the season,
Speaker 2: so I'll definitely be We're.
Speaker 1: Gonna be We're gonna be tapping into how it looks
Speaker 1: in real life. And to your point, though they probably said, Okay,
Speaker 1: Bill can handle it, Booker's gonna have the ball in
Speaker 1: his hands all the time, the ran could have the
Speaker 1: ball in his hands all the time, you are, I
Speaker 1: am interested and surprised to your point about the DeAndre
Speaker 1: at In situation, unless he just you know, was not
Speaker 1: happy with the role and they perceived it the same role.
Speaker 1: But I do think defensively in particular to drop off
Speaker 1: with what they're looking at. But but a team that
Speaker 1: that obviously is going to have a target on their
Speaker 1: back given the way they look, what they're what they
Speaker 1: look like coming in. The other one, the Los Angeles Lakers,
Speaker 1: this this has been a fascinating you look back at
Speaker 1: last season, it felt like to they live two different
Speaker 1: lives of what it looked like in the first half
Speaker 1: of the season, changes that they made and how they
Speaker 1: finished last year. Of course, going to the Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 1: Coming out of that playing game, Lebron James will enter
Speaker 1: his twenty first season thirty eight years old.
Speaker 2: Lebron James a shout in history. Lebron stands alone. All
Speaker 2: the time scoring record now belongs to Lebron James.
Speaker 1: They got Anthony Davis and of course Austin Reeves was
Speaker 1: It was fun to watch his evolution, what he did
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, how he met the moment, and then
Speaker 1: even watching him too with Team USA, what he comes
Speaker 1: back as Ruiy Hatchamurrow was a big important piece of that.
Speaker 1: They pick up Gabe Vincent, Touring, Prince Jackson, Hayes, Christian Woods.
Speaker 1: See how some of those individuals factor in and play out.
Speaker 1: What's your expectations of the Lakers this year?
Speaker 2: Watch out, everybody, watch out, because they are going to
Speaker 2: be very good. You know, like Lebron, you know, I
Speaker 2: remember him talking about how like you know, he didn't
Speaker 2: know if he could still he still had the motivation
Speaker 2: to do the work necessary to be great. And you
Speaker 2: know he said coming back in media day the other day,
Speaker 2: he said that, you know he was really inspired by
Speaker 2: you know what took place with BRONI and you know,
Speaker 2: hopefully he gets back healthy and he gets back out
Speaker 2: on the floor pretty soon. But he said he was
Speaker 2: inspired by that. He's got a daughter playing volleyball. He
Speaker 2: was really inspired by his family. And you know, you're
Speaker 2: a former hooper. I'm a former college football player, and
Speaker 2: you know, like Lebron was talking about how like he
Speaker 2: didn't want to come back if he felt like he
Speaker 2: was going to cheat the game. And you know, just
Speaker 2: given you know, like you know what it's like the
Speaker 2: work that you have to put in to play the
Speaker 2: way he plays, and it's it's a hard thing to do,
Speaker 2: and he's been doing it for a long time.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Last year, like he was playing on the touring tendon,
Speaker 2: I think in his foot, he's playing on that and
Speaker 2: he's giving you twenty nine, eight and seven, I mean,
Speaker 2: and then the year before that even he averaged like thirty.
Speaker 2: You realize that just these past two years, he hadn't
Speaker 2: done that in like the previous twelve years. Last time
Speaker 2: he was averaging like almost thirty points was Cleveland. And
Speaker 2: I'm talking about Cleveland the first time, you know, when
Speaker 2: he first came into the league. So I think he's
Speaker 2: gonna be great. He worked out with Rudy Hatcheturo all summer,
Speaker 2: all summer long, and so you know Rui's gonna come
Speaker 2: back great. And Ruy looked good in the playoffs. I
Speaker 2: remember that series against Memphis. He lit up the Grizzlies
Speaker 2: in Game one, and then I remember Desmond Bang saying
Speaker 2: something like, well, you know, we'll see if he can
Speaker 2: do it again. And he did it again, and so
Speaker 2: you know that's he's going to be good. Austin Reeds,
Speaker 2: he's you know, coming in, he's confident, super confident. Started
Speaker 2: he just played with the national team. He's gonna be good.
Speaker 2: Van Doh, Anthony Davis, I mean, he gave you twenty
Speaker 2: five point ninety points I think last year, twelve and
Speaker 2: a half rebounds, two blocks a game. He's healthy, and so,
Speaker 2: you know, like that chemistry they sort of developed after
Speaker 2: the trade deadline. I think it sort of gives them
Speaker 2: a little momentum because they played well in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: It gives them some momentum coming into this season. And
Speaker 2: then it seems like this is the theme that we've
Speaker 2: been talking about the whole time we've been on this pot,
Speaker 2: that supporting cast, you know, like you said, they bring
Speaker 2: in gave Vincent Tory and Prince Christian Wood. He's gonna
Speaker 2: give you some he's gonna give you some instant offense too,
Speaker 2: Jackson Hayes and like, so you know, you look at
Speaker 2: a guy like Jackson Hayes, he's the perfect guy to
Speaker 2: have around when you know, for instance, they play Satan,
Speaker 2: Lakers go up against a team with like a bruising
Speaker 2: a bruising five. Well, now you can put Ade at
Speaker 2: the four, and maybe you can put christ Wood at
Speaker 2: the five or Jackson Hayes and so like they've got
Speaker 2: some interchangeability. They got some versatility in that roster now,
Speaker 2: and I think that's only gonna make them better to me.
Speaker 2: And I hate to say it because you know, like
Speaker 2: you know how it goes like when we were on
Speaker 2: these podcasts, it's almost like required that we have to
Speaker 2: talk about the Lakers because at the Lakers. So but
Speaker 2: they are at soon that is really going to be
Speaker 2: like they're going to be in a hunt. I think
Speaker 2: they're very much in a hunt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and even like the Gabe Vincent pick up the fact,
Speaker 1: I mean, what he was able to do and the
Speaker 1: put to your point about the confidence of each individual.
Speaker 1: Also Darvin Ham now when his second year, So it
Speaker 1: just as he continues to get more integrated and acclimated
Speaker 1: of what and how he wants to do things. You
Speaker 1: mentioned it the the sprint after the All Star break,
Speaker 1: and some of those came from from some great moves
Speaker 1: by Rob Polinka, but they finished in the seventh they
Speaker 1: end up going to the Western Conference Finals. We're going
Speaker 1: to be tapping into you quite a bit as you
Speaker 1: make that drive to San Antonio. Is Victor Webbin Yama
Speaker 1: in what it looks like with all the frenzy understandably
Speaker 1: so about what he will do in his first year
Speaker 1: in the n b A. What's your thoughts on what
Speaker 1: we can expect out of Wemby, because again we expectation
Speaker 1: of a generational talent obviously the skill, the size, all
Speaker 1: of it. But what can we feasibly expect out of
Speaker 1: him with this first team this season?
Speaker 2: First off, he's tall. He's really tall. I gotta tell you, Like, so,
Speaker 2: I had to do media day like TV for you know,
Speaker 2: NBA TV, and so they bring Victor over to me,
Speaker 2: you know I or I said or whatever, and it
Speaker 2: was the first time I had been like face to
Speaker 2: face with him, and I'm like I'm having a look. He's,
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, he's you. But you know, I like
Speaker 2: what's so cool about him? Not only him, but also
Speaker 2: the Spurs. You know, Coach Pop was talking to talking
Speaker 2: to us about like training camp is going to be
Speaker 2: a time for them to answer some really cool questions
Speaker 2: and like the Spurs are open to playing Winben Yama
Speaker 2: at the three, the four, or the five. You know,
Speaker 2: like they haven't pigeonholed him anywhere. And Pop said that
Speaker 2: what we wanna do right now is just watch him play.
Speaker 2: He said, like, you know, for the first week or two,
Speaker 2: we're not gonna say anything to him. We're just gonna
Speaker 2: watch him play, see how he fits, see what he
Speaker 2: does well, what he doesn't do as well. But I
Speaker 2: gotta tell you, everybody you talk to on that team,
Speaker 2: like every day they're like, man, like, just buckle up
Speaker 2: because every game or every other game, you're going to
Speaker 2: see something that you never saw before. And they're talking
Speaker 2: about like a practice, you know, Trey Jones, the point guard.
Speaker 2: He saw. He's saying that, like, so far, I have
Speaker 2: not thrown a love that he couldn't get to, you know,
Speaker 2: and like, so you're gonna see some amazing things from
Speaker 2: the kid, but at the same time, we sort of
Speaker 2: have to temper expectations. You know, yes, he's a generational talent,
Speaker 2: but that talent is not going to sort of flourish
Speaker 2: in year one. You know, it's gonna he's gonna have
Speaker 2: those games where he looks like he's an All NBA player,
Speaker 2: all time great, but then he's gonna have those times
Speaker 2: like where you're like, does he even know what he's
Speaker 2: doing out there? You're gonna see some of that, and so,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm really interested to see how it pans out.
Speaker 2: I gotta tell you know. He says right now that
Speaker 2: he's in the best shape he's ever been in his
Speaker 2: whole life. And he said the reason why is because
Speaker 2: he had never had access to the type of infrastructure
Speaker 2: that he has right now. And as you know, oh,
Speaker 2: the Spurs are sort of at the very forefront of
Speaker 2: this new thing, this new elite human performance. And he's saying, like,
Speaker 2: they can run tests, they can tell me exactly what's
Speaker 2: going on with my body. He was saying, like, I've
Speaker 2: learned more about my own body in the last two
Speaker 2: or three months than I've known like the last five
Speaker 2: ten years. And so you've got that at play. So
Speaker 2: the spurs are, yes, you want to cultivate him as
Speaker 2: a player, but they're also working on the body. And
Speaker 2: he said he's gained like five or ten pounds just
Speaker 2: in the last three months. And he said that he
Speaker 2: sort of wanted to stop at that five pounds because
Speaker 2: he didn't want to put on too much weight too quickly.
Speaker 1: And that's it. The muscle mass in the bulk in
Speaker 1: the right way, in the right progression, especially with that frame. Oh, Michael,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna be here for all of it. As always, we
Speaker 1: appreciate your time and we look forward to seeing you
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2: All right, We're going to catch you down the road.
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