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Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,

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Speaker 1: presented by FanDuel here at the volume. Happy Monday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I just wanted to get my two cents on our

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Speaker 1: first little bit of drama in the NBA off season

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Speaker 1: this round the calendar, sport that we love so much,

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Speaker 1: that is getting off to a spicy start. So Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irving is apparently having trouble with the Brooklyn Nets and

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Speaker 1: their contract negotiations, which, by the way, we all saw

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Speaker 1: coming when Kyrie was, you know, demonstrating a complete and

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Speaker 1: total lack of self awareness after the season saying things like, oh,

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Speaker 1: this is an equal partnership between me and Kevin and Joe,

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna build this thing, and I'm excited to

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Speaker 1: come back and make all of this work. And then

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Speaker 1: literally the Nets came back and they were like, actually,

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Speaker 1: we're interested in people that actually want to show up

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Speaker 1: to work and people who are actually in this with us,

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Speaker 1: not just talking about being in this with us. So

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Speaker 1: we were not surprised. I'll read this wheat from Sham's

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Speaker 1: Urania this morning. Sources Kyrie Irving and the Nets are

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Speaker 1: at an impasse in conversations about his future in Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: clearing way for the seven time All Star to consider

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Speaker 1: the open market. The Lakers and Knicks and Clippers, if

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Speaker 1: you click on the article, expected to emerge among potential suitors.

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Speaker 1: So I wanted to come at this from a couple

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Speaker 1: of different angles. First of all, I expect there to

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Speaker 1: be a resolution here um the Brooklyn that's simply don't

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Speaker 1: have nearly enough talent. I'll get into this a little

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Speaker 1: bit more here in just a couple of minutes. But

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Speaker 1: you could argue, even if you do retain Kyrie, even

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Speaker 1: if Ben Simmons comes back at a hundred percent, and

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Speaker 1: even if you make some quality moves this offseason. You

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Speaker 1: might not have enough. You know, the playoffs are all telling.

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Speaker 1: The playoffs are revealing. There's no hiding. It exposes everything.

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Speaker 1: It will expose your weaknesses as an individual, and it

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Speaker 1: will expose your weaknesses as an organization. It will also

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Speaker 1: expose your strengths as you get to that stage. But

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Speaker 1: there's no hiding. There is no b s ing. There

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Speaker 1: is no fooling anybody in the NBA playoffs. And there

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Speaker 1: was one team that seemed to be on a different

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Speaker 1: level than all of the other teams in this playoff field.

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Speaker 1: Not that they were the worst team, but in terms

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Speaker 1: of their performance relative to the rest of the field.

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Speaker 1: You guys saw the New Orleans Pelicans as an eight seed,

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Speaker 1: fight like hell against the Suns and almost beat them. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: they benefited from some injury luck there as well, but

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Speaker 1: they showed a great deal of fight. You know. You

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Speaker 1: saw um even the weaker teams like the Atlanta Hawks

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Speaker 1: clawback and get one against Miami. Brooklyn never even really

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Speaker 1: threatened Boston after that first game when Jayson Tatum had

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Speaker 1: the game winning layoup, even on their home floor. They

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Speaker 1: didn't show any fight, and most importantly, they seemed at

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Speaker 1: a massive physical mismatch. My biggest fear for Brooklyn is

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Speaker 1: not their top end talent. I know what Kevin Dury

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Speaker 1: can do. I even know what Kyrie can do, and

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Speaker 1: I think he's fine as a number two. I don't

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Speaker 1: think it's a Kyrie Irving problem. What it is is

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Speaker 1: down the roster, they don't have what Boston has and

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Speaker 1: what Golden State had, and what Miami has, and what

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Speaker 1: all of the good teams around the league have, which

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Speaker 1: is a bunch of guys. You need about a half

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Speaker 1: dozen to functionally round out a rotation, like at the

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Speaker 1: low end, four guys, but you need guys between six

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Speaker 1: five and six nine. They can guard multiple positions and

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Speaker 1: can drible passenger shoot to some capacity. They don't have

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Speaker 1: to be great at those things, but they have to

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Speaker 1: be good at those things. And instead Brooklyn was basically

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Speaker 1: running out there with Andre Drummond, a guy who's big,

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Speaker 1: a guy who has moments offensively, but isn't doesn't really

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Speaker 1: have the high level basketball i Q necessary to function

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Speaker 1: in that setting. Isn't polished enough offensively and defensively. He's

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Speaker 1: all over the place. He's sometimes he's on, sometimes he's not.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes he makes these all world defensive plays and other

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Speaker 1: times you won't even jump for a Locke and you'll

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Speaker 1: be like, what are you doing? Man? Trust me? I

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Speaker 1: know played for the Lakers last year. You know, Bruce Brown,

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Speaker 1: really really solid defensive player. He fits that mold to

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Speaker 1: a t. A little bit limited offensively, but that's one

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Speaker 1: guy that works. That's one The problem is as they

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Speaker 1: let James Johnson go, and they were running a lot

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Speaker 1: of Kessler Edwards there and and he wasn't ready. They

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Speaker 1: didn't have enough of those guys. There's a lot of

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Speaker 1: Patty Mills too small, a lot of Seth Curry too small,

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Speaker 1: a lot of you know, Gore on drag. It's not

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Speaker 1: athletic enough at the position. They have a weakness there

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Speaker 1: that I'm not sure that Ben Simmons can fill. At

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Speaker 1: the very best case scenario, they will be a functional

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Speaker 1: team that's not deep enough. So because of those things,

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Speaker 1: it is imperative for them to retain Kyrie, regardless of

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Speaker 1: how you feel about the contract. So my guess is

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Speaker 1: one of two things will happen. Kyrie will either opt

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Speaker 1: in and essentially play out this year in his contract.

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Speaker 1: If he shows up to work every day and has

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Speaker 1: a good season, he can rejuvenate his value around the

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Speaker 1: league and eventually get his max contract next summer. That's

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Speaker 1: the best case scenario for Kyrie, right what I would

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Speaker 1: do if I was the Nets. If he doesn't opt

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Speaker 1: in and threatens to be a free agent, I would

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Speaker 1: just sign him to the big deal. If Golden State

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Speaker 1: could flip D'Angelo Russell for a player and Andrew Wiggins

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Speaker 1: that ended up being their second best player in this

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Speaker 1: playoff run, then I feel like I could do the

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Speaker 1: same thing with Kyrie Irving, who's a better basketball player

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Speaker 1: than D'Angelo Russell. So, no matter what, they should not

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Speaker 1: let him go. I believe this is all just posturing

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Speaker 1: to help Kyrie and his negotiations. But no matter what,

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Speaker 1: they can't afford to let him go. What's Kevin Durant

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Speaker 1: gonna do If you lose, lose Kyrie Irving to some

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Speaker 1: other team and he's going at this next year with

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Speaker 1: Ben Simmons and a bunch of role players, now you're

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Speaker 1: now you run the risk of pissing him off and

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Speaker 1: getting him to demand a trade. So I do believe

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Speaker 1: this is just a leverage player. I do, But let's

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Speaker 1: let's pretend, for the sake of argument, that this does

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Speaker 1: go south and Kyrie puts his vote down. He's been

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Speaker 1: known to do that. What he did in Cleveland when

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Speaker 1: Lebron wanted him trade it, he was like, get me

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Speaker 1: out of here. If you don't, I will get knee surgery.

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Speaker 1: And that threat worked and Cleveland got rid of So

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Speaker 1: let's say there's some bad blood. Kyrie takes it personally.

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Speaker 1: You tweeted out a little jeff of him laughing. Uh,

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Speaker 1: this are not him laughing, but some other person laughing

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Speaker 1: this morning. So obviously he's having some fun at at

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Speaker 1: everyone's expense with this as well. But let's just pretend

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Speaker 1: he's he's leaving the Clippers. You know, the the Knicks

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Speaker 1: are are a wild card, and who the heck knows

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Speaker 1: what they're gonna do. They would have to create cap

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Speaker 1: space and either to conduct a sign and trade for

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Speaker 1: Kyrie or a third team involved to dump a bunch

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Speaker 1: of salary so that they could open up space for Kyrie.

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Speaker 1: But either way, I find them uninteresting because the Knicks

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Speaker 1: just simply aren't good enough. So Kyrie ends up going

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Speaker 1: to the Knicks. Good for Kyrie, I'll have a big stage.

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Speaker 1: You can put up number and the Knicks aren't doing anything.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers and Lakers are what interests me. The Clippers,

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Speaker 1: I said in in the show that I recorded on Sunday,

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Speaker 1: I talked about how you know um, I talked about

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Speaker 1: how next year I've I've viewed Golden State as a

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Speaker 1: runaway favorite at this point, but the biggest threat to

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Speaker 1: them out in the West is the Clippers. They're better

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Speaker 1: version of Boston, and I went into detail on that.

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Speaker 1: I won't go any further, but if you can somehow

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Speaker 1: upgrade the Reggie Jackson position to a player of Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irving's caliber, and knowing what Kyrie Irving is capable of

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Speaker 1: defensively when he actually is trying, which we haven't really

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Speaker 1: seen much since two thousands sixteen, that's a really interesting

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Speaker 1: fit there. And you know, the biggest thing that you

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Speaker 1: have to worry about with the Lakers and the Clippers

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Speaker 1: is the hard cap. The hard cap essentially is if

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Speaker 1: you make a trade assigning trade, you no longer have

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Speaker 1: the functionality of using exceptions to go over the cap.

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Speaker 1: Once you get to the hardcap, you're done. It's like

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Speaker 1: that's all there is to it, and your best bet

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Speaker 1: is to sign veteran minimums at the end of the

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Speaker 1: season because you can get the pro rated salary which

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Speaker 1: will fit tightly into the in the small gaps between

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Speaker 1: you and the hardcap. So it's it's very complicated. For

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Speaker 1: a team like a Lakers, that can be extremely damaging

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Speaker 1: because you don't have enough players right now. The Clippers

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Speaker 1: have a lot of guys and they're all under team control,

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Speaker 1: and whatever they work on this offseason is gonna be

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Speaker 1: just tiny moves on the margins, right So if you

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Speaker 1: can bring Kyrie in and it hardcaps you, who cares

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Speaker 1: because you don't need any more guys. You've got enough pieces.

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Speaker 1: So the Clippers actually it makes a little bit more

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Speaker 1: sense than the Lakers. If the Lakers were to pull

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Speaker 1: it off. The trick is is you've got so much

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Speaker 1: salary tied up elsewhere on the roster that now you

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Speaker 1: run into the predicament that you might only be able

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Speaker 1: to sign, you know, four or five veterment veteran minimum contracts.

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Speaker 1: You might be going into the season with like ten

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Speaker 1: guys and a bunch of open roster spots. It can

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Speaker 1: get really tricky with the math because of how much

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Speaker 1: money is tied up in their stars. Also, I think

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Speaker 1: it gets really complicated because the only really way you

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Speaker 1: can get Kyrie's you've gotta trade Russ. So now you've

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Speaker 1: got to convince someone to take Russ. Brooklyn is not

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Speaker 1: going to take them. Why would they, So, like you're

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Speaker 1: you're in this predicament where I mean, unless you can

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Speaker 1: convince k d to hunt another season of his prime

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Speaker 1: to play with Russ to then have a bunch of

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Speaker 1: cap space after, I mean, maybe, but I I view

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Speaker 1: that as a huge long shot. The far more likely

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Speaker 1: scenarios they'd have to find a third team and they'd

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Speaker 1: have to send Russ there with draft compensation, and then

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Speaker 1: that team would have to send quality players to Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: It just gets really difficult to pull off. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: obviously I like to fit. Kyrie and Lebron were a

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Speaker 1: perfect fit. Kyrie kind of perfectly encapsulate some of Lebron's

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Speaker 1: specific weaknesses and needs. Lebron is a very good three

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Speaker 1: level score, but Kyrie's uh is a touch better. As

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Speaker 1: a shot creator in specific matchups, Lebron is ten times

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Speaker 1: the basketball players, So don't take it like that. Lebron

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Speaker 1: absolutely can create his own shot. Lebron absolutely can attack matchups.

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Speaker 1: He's the second best basketball player to ever play the game.

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Speaker 1: But Kyrie, as you saw in Cleveland, his ability to

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Speaker 1: create his own shot off the bounce was very valuable

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Speaker 1: to Lebron, especially in possessions where he wants to rest.

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Speaker 1: And then, as we've always known Lebron for being the

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Speaker 1: best playmaker and all of basketball, doesn't actually like doing

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Speaker 1: that all the game. He wants to be able to

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Speaker 1: throw the ball to somebody and have them do it

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Speaker 1: for him for long stretches of the game. That's why

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Speaker 1: Dennis Shrewder was acquired, That's why region Rondo was acquired

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Speaker 1: in season, and that's why they went after Russell Westbrook.

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Speaker 1: It's a it's it's something that Lebron is always held

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Speaker 1: as something that is urgently important to him. So Kyrie

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Speaker 1: checks that box. And we already know he's a natural

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Speaker 1: basketball fit, So I like it. The only thing that

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Speaker 1: concerns means the Lakers have an issue with perimeter size,

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Speaker 1: and they have for the last season and it deemed

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Speaker 1: lethal for them this year. It doesn't matter how big

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Speaker 1: you are in the front court. If you've got too

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Speaker 1: many Avery Bradley's on the floor and too many guys

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Speaker 1: that are just getting bullied by the bigger guards around leaked.

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Speaker 1: For those of you guys who listened to my um

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Speaker 1: top five things that I learned this season when we

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Speaker 1: got to the XS and ose portion, perimeter size continued

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Speaker 1: to be one of the biggest things that I value,

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Speaker 1: So I like it for both teams. It's just unrealistic

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers, difficult for the Clippers, and more than

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Speaker 1: likely this is all leverage play and he's gonna end

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Speaker 1: up Stain. And then last note I wanted to hit.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers and Nets are in big trouble. Lebron and

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Speaker 1: kde are in big trouble. The Clippers are gonna be back.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna be better. The Bucks are gonna be back.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna be better. Boston might not make any moves,

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Speaker 1: but you've got Tatum and Brown one year deeper, more

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Speaker 1: scar tissue, the pain of loss, getting them to approach

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Speaker 1: the game with even more intensity than they have in

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Speaker 1: years past. There's a lot of a lot of motivation

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Speaker 1: there for them. You know, the Sixers with Harden and

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Speaker 1: Embiid are gonna be back, and at a higher level,

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Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot more talent in the league

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Speaker 1: next year as everybody gets healthy and gets back into it.

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Speaker 1: The Nets and Lakers simply do not have enough right now,

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Speaker 1: and even if they hit home run summers, they will

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Speaker 1: not be the most talented teams in the league, which

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Speaker 1: means they instantly fall into that second tier of contenders

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Speaker 1: where it's like, you can win a championship, but things

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Speaker 1: gotta break right for you. Dud's gotta get hurt, somebody's

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Speaker 1: gotta get upset, a lot of things gotta go your way.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean they can't win. I wouldn't count them out,

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Speaker 1: and you're stupid if you count out Katie or Lebron.

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Speaker 1: But it's a long shot at this point, and they're

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Speaker 1: both in trouble, and I don't I don't think it'll

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Speaker 1: be I don't think it'll be a surprise at all

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Speaker 1: if you see Lebron and Katie start getting a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a wandering eye. Today, we're gonna be going

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Speaker 1: through the five biggest things that I learned from this

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Speaker 1: playoff run, and then obviously we've got a packed week

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Speaker 1: this week. I'm gonna try to start digging into NBA

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Speaker 1: draft stuff tomorrow morning. The NBA Draft is coming this

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Speaker 1: Thursday before we get started. Follow me on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: underscore Jason lt. That's where you'll see announcements about anything

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Speaker 1: that we've got coming up this summer, any specific plans

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Speaker 1: that we have for contents, just a good way to

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Speaker 1: stay up to speed with what we're doing. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: to subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel, and if you

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Speaker 1: miss any of these shows for whatever reason, you can

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Speaker 1: find them under my podcast feed, which for the time

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Speaker 1: being is under Lakers Tonight. So obviously, after the NBA

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Speaker 1: Finals were over, we wanted to dig into all of

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Speaker 1: the NBA Finals story lines, and there are additional storylines

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Speaker 1: there that will get into further this summer, things like

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Speaker 1: player rankings and things like you know where Steph falls

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Speaker 1: on the all time list. But I need a lot

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Speaker 1: of time to dig into a lot of stuff for that,

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Speaker 1: so that'll be a little bit further down the line.

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Speaker 1: But what I like to do around this time of

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Speaker 1: year is kind of recap all of the things that

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Speaker 1: we learned from this season, because I think it's important

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Speaker 1: to take lessons to help our analysis as we look forward,

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Speaker 1: to help with our predictions, to help with all of

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Speaker 1: that stuff. And we did learn a lot in this

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Speaker 1: playoff run, a very very interesting playoff run with a

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Speaker 1: ton of good teams where I think the right team won.

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Speaker 1: And when the right team wins like this, it's there's

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Speaker 1: some process stuff that we can key in on. So

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Speaker 1: the number one thing that I learned from this postseason

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Speaker 1: is that the Golden State Warriors are easily the best

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Speaker 1: team heading into next year. I know that in Vegas

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Speaker 1: through the preseason favorite, but I think it things look

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Speaker 1: even better for them than they appear on the surface.

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Speaker 1: I'm very, very briefly touched on this with Colin and

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Speaker 1: of Game six, but if you really think about it,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of things that didn't go Steph or

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Speaker 1: or Draymond or Clay or the Warriors is way this year.

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Speaker 1: You probably heard Draymond in the postgame conference saying, don't

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Speaker 1: let us get this one. Y'all messed up? You let

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Speaker 1: us get this one. And the reason why they say

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Speaker 1: that is this was kind of a gap year. They

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Speaker 1: didn't have the same I mean, they obviously wanted to

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Speaker 1: win a title, but they were under the impression that

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Speaker 1: they wouldn't be able to get it this year. At

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Speaker 1: least something there was some internal doubt. Draymond himself has

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Speaker 1: said that you had a lot of young guys in

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Speaker 1: the rotation. You know, Steph was had a weird season.

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Speaker 1: He was hurt towards the end of the season. That's

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Speaker 1: the underrated, well, one of the most underrated parts of

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Speaker 1: this playoff run. Steph didn't touch a basketball, it touched basketball,

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Speaker 1: didn't play any basketball going into Game one of the

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Speaker 1: of that playoff series against Denver because of that sprained foot.

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Speaker 1: Didn't have time to build up and get his rhythm,

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Speaker 1: didn't have time to get his body ready for it all.

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Speaker 1: He just was thrown into the fire in the in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. Draymond had his back issue, and Clay I'm

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Speaker 1: sure if you asked him, if he was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be playing in an NBA Finals game, he'd

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Speaker 1: probably prefer a good full season to get his legs

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Speaker 1: underneath them and to get his field for the game back.

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Speaker 1: He didn't have that luxury. All of those guys are

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Speaker 1: going to have that luxury next season. Steph had a

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Speaker 1: really bad regular season shooting wise compared to the way

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Speaker 1: he used to be to play over the previous half decade. Right,

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Speaker 1: that's probably not gonna happen this year. He proved in

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Speaker 1: the postseason that that was flukey. What happened in the

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Speaker 1: regular season was fluky. So you can expect a better

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Speaker 1: version of Steph next year. Looking at Clay Thompson, this

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Speaker 1: is a guy who had two catastrophic lower body injuries.

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Speaker 1: There is a delay in that process when you have

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Speaker 1: that kind of injury. There's like the physical element, but

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Speaker 1: then there's the mental element, there's a confidence element. I

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Speaker 1: broke my foot between my first and second year playing

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Speaker 1: college basketball, and it was funny because I I my

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Speaker 1: first time playing was showing up to the campus. I

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Speaker 1: had to take two months off immediately before the season,

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Speaker 1: and I remember stepping on and playing three on three

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Speaker 1: like one of my first nights on campus and nearly

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Speaker 1: dying because I was in such terrible, like cardio shape

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Speaker 1: from not playing for so long, and it took me

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Speaker 1: a long time to get back. I mean that entire

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Speaker 1: first half of the season, non conference play, I was

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Speaker 1: a shell of myself. Even in that second half of

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Speaker 1: the season, I played significantly better. I ended up making

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Speaker 1: the All conference team, but I still wasn't me. I

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Speaker 1: still wasn't the same athlete that I was the previous season.

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Speaker 1: It took me until the following season to really feel

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Speaker 1: like I had my body back, to have the confidence

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Speaker 1: to be able to plant that footh hard, to have

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Speaker 1: that confidence to really take off. There's a difference between Oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm taking a one durable pull up when I'm

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Speaker 1: messing around at the gym and I am like really

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Speaker 1: pushing my body to the limit to get separation in

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Speaker 1: the NBA Finals. You guys see the difference and what

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about there, there's like another level physically. I

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Speaker 1: think Clay will get there next season. I think Clay

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Speaker 1: will physically be at a point where he feels as

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Speaker 1: close as he's gonna get to what he was before

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Speaker 1: the injury. It was unrealistic to expect him to get

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Speaker 1: there in this postseason, and he still gave you enough

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Speaker 1: to get the trophy. So that's a lot of stuff

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Speaker 1: to be excited about there. And Draymond Graen was dealing

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Speaker 1: with a back issue. He didn't really start to look

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Speaker 1: great physically until the second half of the NBA Finals.

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Speaker 1: And then most importantly, Jordan Poole, you know, he struggled

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Speaker 1: for at certain stretches of the postseason where it looked

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Speaker 1: like he was getting targeted too much defensively. Early on

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Speaker 1: in the Boston series, it looked like he might not

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Speaker 1: even be able to play, And by the end of

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Speaker 1: that series he was absolutely imperative to Golden State and

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Speaker 1: their success with the scoring punch he was bringing off

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Speaker 1: the bench. Colin Coward himself said after Game six, and

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Speaker 1: I thought this was really smart. He said, That's what

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Speaker 1: Boston needed, was just somebody who could effortlessly give you

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Speaker 1: fifteen points on the strength of his offensive skill set,

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Speaker 1: and Jordan Pool gave you that with a little heater.

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Speaker 1: He talked a cot In perimeter shooting there in Game six.

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Speaker 1: Another year of development for Jordan Pool, another year of

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Speaker 1: reps during the regular season for Jordan Pool. Same thing

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Speaker 1: for Jonathan Cominga and Moses Moody. You know, Moses Moody

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Speaker 1: to me is a very very very classic wing role player,

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Speaker 1: very reliable type of guy that you can plug into

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Speaker 1: any rotation, and he demonstrated that against Dallas. But he's

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Speaker 1: going to be ready for that next season with another

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Speaker 1: year of Summer League, another year of training camp, another

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Speaker 1: year of Steve Kirk giving them reps in the regular season.

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga is a little bit more of a wild card.

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Speaker 1: Right Like, on any given night he looks unplayable because

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Speaker 1: he's young and inexperienced and doesn't have the offensive polish.

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Speaker 1: But then you see him on other nights and he

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Speaker 1: looks great. Another summer league, another training camp, another eighty

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Speaker 1: two games of regular season basketball. For all of those guys,

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Speaker 1: with all of that that I just laid out, Steph

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Speaker 1: having a better season, Clay having a better season, Jordan

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Speaker 1: Pool being one year better, Cominga and Mooda Moody being

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Speaker 1: one year better, draym On Green being healthy as opposed

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Speaker 1: to dealing with the stuff that he dealt with. There's

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Speaker 1: a version of this story or Golden State is a

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Speaker 1: much better team next season than they were this season,

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Speaker 1: and as a result of that, they absolutely should be

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Speaker 1: considered the favorites, not just in terms of uh throwing

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Speaker 1: on or in respect to the champion, but just a

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Speaker 1: simple matter of basketball talent. The biggest questions are gonna

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Speaker 1: be what they do on the periphery. Otto Porter Jr.

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Speaker 1: Can you retain him? That will be a question. He

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Speaker 1: was a very useful role player this year. He's probably

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Speaker 1: going to be in that mid level exception market this year.

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Speaker 1: Is Golden State gonna be able to retain him or

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Speaker 1: are they gonna lose it? That's a question mark Gary Payton.

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Speaker 1: The second, it's another guy that it's going to be

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Speaker 1: really interesting to see what kind of attention he gets

429
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:43,840
Speaker 1: in the free agent market this year. Are they gonna

430
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: be able to retain him? And then the big one

431
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 1: is COmON Looney. Now the Warriors have his bird rights,

432
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 1: So with Kevon Looney, it's really just a matter of

433
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,119
Speaker 1: what Joe Lacob is willing to pay. Now. I have

434
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,160
Speaker 1: heard from people who are connected to the Warriors that

435
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: they will do anything to prevent Kevin Looney from walking.

436
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,320
Speaker 1: It would it would choir and outrageous offer for them

437
00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,040
Speaker 1: to let him split um. Too many people in that

438
00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:08,880
Speaker 1: locker room are so close with Kievan and are so

439
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,160
Speaker 1: are so dependent on him, and they know how important

440
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 1: he is that they're not going to let him go.

441
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 1: So I expect him to bring him back. The big

442
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,200
Speaker 1: mistake that they could make that I hope they don't

443
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,760
Speaker 1: and that Warriors fans should be scared of, is that

444
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 1: we don't need Looney because James Wiseman is that guy camp.

445
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 1: Anybody who pushes in that direction. I view that as

446
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,280
Speaker 1: a very dangerous gamble. There's a lot of intel with

447
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,880
Speaker 1: James Wiseman that he doesn't even like basketball that much.

448
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 1: That like, he's not itching to get back out onto

449
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,480
Speaker 1: the court. That's why everyone was so irritated when they

450
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: saw him working out during the NBA Finals. It's like, dude,

451
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,639
Speaker 1: you you're not even actually really making an attempt to

452
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,080
Speaker 1: be out here. You could have been out here if

453
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,400
Speaker 1: you wanted to be out here. There was some weird

454
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,360
Speaker 1: stuff there. Now, who knows. James Wiseman might still very

455
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,479
Speaker 1: well develop into a fantastic prospect, but I think betting

456
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,440
Speaker 1: on him to be Looney for you next year would

457
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 1: be a catastrophic mistake. Bring back Looney. Wiseman needs years.

458
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,919
Speaker 1: Wiseman might need to three need to three years to

459
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,399
Speaker 1: really be a foundational center in the n b A.

460
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,640
Speaker 1: And so they retaining Looney is going to be their

461
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,679
Speaker 1: biggest um. Is gonna be the most important thing for

462
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:21,399
Speaker 1: them to do this offseason. And then, as it is

463
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,720
Speaker 1: always the case, like I always say, keep your eyes

464
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 1: and ears out for one additional guy. Don't be don't

465
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,159
Speaker 1: be uh Milwaukee, Don't let p J. Tucker go and

466
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 1: then suddenly find out against Boston that you have one

467
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,160
Speaker 1: one wing, one like one rotation piece like a grace

468
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:39,720
Speaker 1: and Allen that is not giving you enough, and you

469
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 1: wish you had a better player there. You don't want

470
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 1: to make that mistake. That's why I would try to

471
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 1: retain Otto Porter Jr. With the mid level exception if

472
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 1: they could. The two teams that I see is the

473
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 1: biggest threat to Golden State next season out west is

474
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,520
Speaker 1: the Clippers. They are a better version of Boston when

475
00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:58,800
Speaker 1: they're actually healthy, and they have all their guys, when

476
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 1: they have Kauai and Paul George, with Nick Patum, with

477
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 1: Marcus Morris Sr. You know, with zobots Was, with Reggie Jackson,

478
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 1: with whoever it is that they plug into those spots.

479
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 1: Terrence Man is another good one. All of those guys

480
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 1: um when they're healthy, they have the same type of

481
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: defensive versatility and talent that Boston had with significantly better

482
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 1: offensive players. You know, I was thinking about this a

483
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,239
Speaker 1: lot the other day, Like as good as good as

484
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,520
Speaker 1: Tatum was for stretches of the postseason, he also had

485
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,439
Speaker 1: these ugly stretches and then he was really bad in

486
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: the finals. I was asking myself the other day, I'm like,

487
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,680
Speaker 1: is Paul George better than Jayson Tatum, And like, gun

488
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,679
Speaker 1: to my head, even though I think Tatum is a

489
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 1: better defensive player and a better athlete, right now, I

490
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,919
Speaker 1: trust Paul George more as a decision maker and as

491
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: a guy who can run your offense. And then Kawhi

492
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 1: Leonard is just in another stratosphere than any of the

493
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,760
Speaker 1: guys that I just mentioned, So you that that's gonna

494
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: be the biggest threat to Golden State out west next

495
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 1: year is a healthy Clippers team that does a lot

496
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 1: of the same things that Boston did in terms of

497
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 1: perimeter mismatches, but with significantly higher level offensive organization and

498
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,919
Speaker 1: then an actual superstar. They can go toe to toe

499
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,640
Speaker 1: with Steph and has done so before and Kawhi Leonard

500
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: in two thousand nineteen. And then out out East, it's Milwaukee.

501
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,439
Speaker 1: If Milwaukee finds one more piece and Chris Middleton gets healthy,

502
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 1: and you, honest, who I think is the best basketball

503
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 1: player in the world, takes one more leap, then all

504
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: of a sudden, Milwaukee becomes a bigger threat, but it

505
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: easily Going into next season, I think Golden State is

506
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: the favorite alright, number two the second of the five

507
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 1: lessons that I learned this postseason. For number two, I

508
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: just want to go over some xs and those things.

509
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: And there's four specifically that I put down perimeter defense,

510
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: the value of playmaking, the lack of need for traditional centers,

511
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,120
Speaker 1: and the value of coaching. Let's started perimeter defense. Golden

512
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 1: State demonstrated this resoundingly in the finals. As the game

513
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 1: has become more spread out, as more teams are going

514
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,399
Speaker 1: four out, one in or five out as opposed to

515
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 1: a two big system, or having a rollman and a

516
00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,920
Speaker 1: guy in the dunker spot, those kinds of things. As

517
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,000
Speaker 1: teams have gone away from that, there's been more offensive

518
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: talent on the floor ditching. You know, you're seeing look

519
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 1: at all the centers you saw play this year. Their

520
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: rim running centers. Guys like a guy like Rob Williams, right,

521
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,399
Speaker 1: or a guy like you know, Maxi Kleiba, right, or

522
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:16,959
Speaker 1: a guy like Bama at a bio. It's a lot

523
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,439
Speaker 1: of like more modern like Kevan Looney is kind of

524
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 1: a rare thing in the sense that he plays a

525
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: traditional center role, but he's actually you know, uh, he's

526
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,120
Speaker 1: doing perimeter player stuff. He's containing ball handlers, he's uh

527
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: able to make decisions in the short role, those kinds

528
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 1: of things that there's there's a specific archetype of player

529
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 1: you're seeing there. And then the four, whoever was playing

530
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 1: the power forward that's gone. That's just another wing now.

531
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 1: And for some teams another guard, you know, like Golden

532
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 1: State for a while was playing Andrew Wiggins at the

533
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 1: four with the with their new death lineup right, So like,

534
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,199
Speaker 1: as a result, there's now at any given moment at

535
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 1: least four, if not five guys on the floor for

536
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: either for any team that can drim, pass and shoot.

537
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,760
Speaker 1: So as a result, it's gotten a lot more driving,

538
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 1: kick heavy, and more than ever, it's important to contain

539
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: ball handlers to keep people in front. So one of

540
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,879
Speaker 1: the biggest lessons I learned in this playoff run in

541
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 1: terms of XS and os, is just how important perimeter

542
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:20,320
Speaker 1: defense is. The NBA Finals swung on Clay Thompson, Gary

543
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 1: Payton the second, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green, containing Tatum

544
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 1: and Brown sitting on their right hands, making them drive

545
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 1: left where they were primarily pull up jump shooters instead

546
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,679
Speaker 1: of guys who could get to the rim. As a result,

547
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 1: Boston couldn't get consistent drivel penetration and as a result,

548
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,399
Speaker 1: they couldn't get into their driving kick game. I pointed

549
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 1: this out several times, but Boston generated twenty three wide

550
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,199
Speaker 1: open threes in Game one and never had more than

551
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 1: thirteen in any game after that. That's because Boston or

552
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: Golden State figured out that they had to keep people

553
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: in front, and they just challenged their players to do

554
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 1: the job, and they did, and Kerr gave them a

555
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: good game plan and they were able to do it.

556
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 1: So when we're watching these teams this offseason, when we're

557
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,159
Speaker 1: looking at rosters, and as we're watching teams in the

558
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 1: regular season, we need to pay attention to what their

559
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 1: personnel looks like on the perimeter and their ability to

560
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,439
Speaker 1: contain and are they doing the job because there are

561
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 1: also teams out thereho have the personnel, but the guys

562
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 1: just don't do it. But you have to be able

563
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,880
Speaker 1: to keep ball handlers in front. The second big xs

564
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 1: and those lesson I learned is just how important playmaking

565
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 1: is and our game management. You know, uh, the ball handling,

566
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, but the idea of

567
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,639
Speaker 1: offensive organization, a player that is capable of being the

568
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 1: person who gets you organized on offense. You know, there's

569
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,919
Speaker 1: value in the scoring archetype, there's value, and adjacent Tatum,

570
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 1: there's value, and a Kevin During a great deal of value.

571
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 1: That's what I was as a basketball player. It's what

572
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: I still am to this day. My skill set is

573
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,000
Speaker 1: that of a three level score. That's what I do

574
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,080
Speaker 1: when I play with the team. I have to fill

575
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 1: in the gaps. But the thing that I bring to

576
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: the table is my scoring, right So I'm not trying

577
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: to undercut that as a value, but I do think

578
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 1: that teams absolutely must have somebody who can manage the game.

579
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: It We think of Boston as a team that came

580
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 1: very close, right two wins away from win in the

581
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: NBA Championship, but they damn near blood against Miami and

582
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,240
Speaker 1: they damn near blood against Milwaukee, And a huge part

583
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 1: of that was that exact weakness that I'm referencing here.

584
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be your heliocentric guy at

585
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: the top of the key making all the decisions Allah

586
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 1: Luca don Chitch, James Harden, or even Lebron James, who

587
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 1: was a much better version of that than those guys are.

588
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 1: It can be Steph. You can manage a game off

589
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 1: the ball. You can manage a game in so many

590
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: different ways, but you need to have a grown up

591
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 1: on the court, an offensive grown up, a high basketball

592
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 1: like you, guy who can handle a basketball, who can

593
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 1: get people in the right spots, and who has the

594
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 1: ability psychologically in terms of their command of the team

595
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: to get things back on track. For instance, Steph cannot

596
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: have the ball sometimes, but guys won't take stupid shots

597
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: because they know better. How many times do you see

598
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 1: somebody kick the ball to Draymond Green or to Gary Payton,

599
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 1: the second on the perimeter, and rather than shoot the

600
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 1: wide open three, they work it back around to Steph.

601
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: It's the that's the psychological command of the team that

602
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,840
Speaker 1: Steph has. That's how he manages the game. So there

603
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:07,680
Speaker 1: are a bunch of different ways to do it. Yoki

604
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: kind of has his own unique twist on it as

605
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 1: a center, right. But we have seen time and time

606
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,960
Speaker 1: again that against these top tier defenses, the really good,

607
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,880
Speaker 1: well coached defenses that have good personnel that consistently make

608
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 1: you do things that you don't want to do, that

609
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:28,200
Speaker 1: consistently make you uncomfortable, those teams require you to have

610
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 1: a guy who is your adult in the room offensively.

611
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,960
Speaker 1: We saw that become a lethal flopper for Boston and

612
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 1: we will continue to see that over the years with

613
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: teams that go into these types of playoff runs without

614
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: that important piece uh the third one. Traditional centers. Again,

615
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,600
Speaker 1: we talked about this a little bit earlier with Kevon Looney.

616
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 1: There are a handful of examples or exceptions of traditional

617
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 1: centers who can function in the NBA. Guys like Kevon Looney,

618
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: who brings so much as an offensive rebounder, who can

619
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: guard on the peri immittur, which is immensely important, and

620
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: who are smart offensive players, meaning they never force things.

621
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: Kevin Luney never takes a shot or forces anything around

622
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,360
Speaker 1: the rim. That's a bad shot. But Rob Williams again

623
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,400
Speaker 1: rim runner, big athletic, can cover ground on the perimeter,

624
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,600
Speaker 1: can get up and down the floor and transition You're

625
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 1: There are rare examples of that, but for the most part,

626
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,800
Speaker 1: it's your hybrid forward centers that bring the most value

627
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: on the stage. It's the Draymond Greens, It's the Bam

628
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,479
Speaker 1: out of Bios, It's the Maxi Kleiba you who actually

629
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,360
Speaker 1: flashed lots of defensive potential in this postseason run. Those

630
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: are the guys that matter. So when you see teams

631
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 1: out there that are like, oh, I think we need

632
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: Dwight Howard, you know, like, if Dwight Howard goes back

633
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: to the Lakers on a minimum contract, is a backup center,

634
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,440
Speaker 1: that's fine. But if you are building your team as

635
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: functionally with a starter or a key rotation piece as

636
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:59,239
Speaker 1: a slow, old fashioned plotting center, you are building your

637
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: team around us isle of basketball that will force you

638
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 1: to bench that guy when it matters, and then you'll

639
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: be forced to in the playoffs to retool on the

640
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 1: fly and force and learn how to play a different

641
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 1: style of basketball. Any team that has an old fashioned, plotting,

642
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: traditional center in their main rotation is setting themselves up

643
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:18,920
Speaker 1: for failure in my opinion. And the last, but not

644
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 1: least coaching, I thought emil Udoka was out coached in

645
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals. Had disagreed with his drop coverage strategy.

646
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 1: I didn't think he did nearly enough to try to

647
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,480
Speaker 1: get the ball out of steps hands the way that

648
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 1: almost every other team in the NBA does. And you

649
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: saw teams like Eric the Miami Heat with Derrik Spoelstrat

650
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,480
Speaker 1: and the Warriors with Steve Kerr, have significant advantages over

651
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,480
Speaker 1: the course of this playoff run. I was so impressed

652
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 1: with Steve kerr strategy that he used to throw Boston

653
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: out of rhythm, the way that he uh was willing

654
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,560
Speaker 1: to risk his best help defender, Draymond going away from

655
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: the basket to contain Jalen Brown. That was a big risk,

656
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 1: but he understood, if we contain on the perimeter, we

657
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 1: don't need help. We can bait these guys into bad

658
00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: isolation possessions. And I just I thought Steve Kerr had

659
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: his most impressive playoff run as a coach, and I

660
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,720
Speaker 1: thought it was a great reminder just how important this

661
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: kind of stuff is, not just on the defensive vent,

662
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: but on the offensive end as well, in terms of

663
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 1: organization and spacing. Look at how bad the Lakers were

664
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 1: this year with their floor spacing. Look at how the

665
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 1: Warriors just had that figured out. One credit to Email Yudoka.

666
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 1: He had their spacing principles down pat with a hand,

667
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,560
Speaker 1: with the exception of a handful of games where I

668
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,920
Speaker 1: thought he got like when Draymond went on Jaalen Brown

669
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 1: in Game two, and then he was just putting Jalen

670
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 1: Brown in positions where Draymond could still help. There was

671
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that I disagreed with there, But

672
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 1: for the most part, email Udoka had them in really

673
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 1: classic four out one in spacing with Rob Williams on

674
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 1: the floor and classic five out spacing when he was

675
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: off the floor. Coaching matters in the NBA, and this

676
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,479
Speaker 1: this playoff from was the resounding example of that. So

677
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 1: back to the big list, number three superstars still run

678
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:07,080
Speaker 1: the show. Eight of the last eleven NBA titles were

679
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,759
Speaker 1: won by Steph Curry or Lebron James. The other three

680
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:16,720
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard and Janice. You know, there are rare exceptions,

681
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,320
Speaker 1: like one of that quiet one of those Kahiet Leonard titles.

682
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,359
Speaker 1: Kauai wasn't really a star, so there are rare exceptions.

683
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:26,760
Speaker 1: You know, Dirk Knovitski in two thousand eleven not a superstar,

684
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:32,759
Speaker 1: but like kind of was offensive superstar outplay Lebron James

685
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: and Dwyane Wade in the playoff series. But for the

686
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: most part, if you don't have one of the guys,

687
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:44,399
Speaker 1: you're not winning. And so every team out there needs

688
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: to be building with a clear path. You either have

689
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 1: that guy and he's young and you're developing him, or

690
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 1: you're developing young players who you can trade for that guy.

691
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,040
Speaker 1: Anybody who's not looking for that guy is looking in

692
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 1: the wrong place. I was really curious coming into this

693
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,400
Speaker 1: playoff run to see whether or not this would shift

694
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 1: the other way. And the example we were looking at

695
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: there was Phoenix. Remember those of you guys have been

696
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 1: watching the show for a while. Phoenix would have been

697
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 1: a great example of a team that lacked top end

698
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 1: talent but had talent down the roster and was able

699
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 1: to overcome that. Now, Phoenix looks damn near fraudulent when

700
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:28,319
Speaker 1: we really look back to Paul George without Kawhi lent

701
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,560
Speaker 1: Or taking them to six games in the Conference finals

702
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:32,920
Speaker 1: last year, the Lakers having a two one lead on

703
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,120
Speaker 1: them before Anthony Davis got hurt, right, and then what

704
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,920
Speaker 1: Dallas did to them this year. So the question is

705
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,960
Speaker 1: to whether or not superstars still matter was answered pretty

706
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 1: resoundingly this year. You still need one of the guys.

707
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 1: You you mainly need either stephor Lebron, but you definitely

708
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,279
Speaker 1: at least need one of the guys. And I mean,

709
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 1: what does that really mean? I don't think it's a

710
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,440
Speaker 1: coincidence that Jayson Tatum struggled in the NBA Finals. I

711
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 1: don't think it's a coincidence that Jalen Brown was inconsistent.

712
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,680
Speaker 1: I don't think any of that stuff is a coincidence.

713
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,840
Speaker 1: The reality is only a select few players in the

714
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 1: league play well on the biggest stages. It takes a

715
00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:18,760
Speaker 1: Steph or a Lebron or a Kauai or a Janice

716
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,800
Speaker 1: or a Kevin Durant to be on this stage against

717
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,839
Speaker 1: the very best defenses, with the biggest pressure, and for

718
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,560
Speaker 1: them to be comfortable and to play well. I mean,

719
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:33,080
Speaker 1: even Jimmy Butler, who has had a handful of unbelievably

720
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 1: dominant games in the NBA playoffs on big stages in

721
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,839
Speaker 1: the last few years, it's all surrounding a bunch of

722
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 1: like mediocre to clunkers. It's like forty one night and

723
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 1: then he's bad the next night. To be consistently great

724
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,319
Speaker 1: on this stage, there's only a tiny handful of guys

725
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,440
Speaker 1: who can do it, and Steph was the latest, and

726
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:55,520
Speaker 1: it's just it's just been a it's just been there.

727
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,080
Speaker 1: Another resounding example of the way this this stage Dambia

728
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:03,680
Speaker 1: Playoffs works well. I mean, we gotta Stephan lebron Man

729
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,640
Speaker 1: and just an incredibly stacked era of NBA talent. Those

730
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:13,280
Speaker 1: two guys have clearly separated themselves from the rest. Number four,

731
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,440
Speaker 1: The Lakers are clearly at a competitive disadvantage compared to

732
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,319
Speaker 1: other teams in the league. They're nowhere near well run

733
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,680
Speaker 1: enough to get to make up for some of the

734
00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,840
Speaker 1: advantage the smart teams have around the league, right, and

735
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,520
Speaker 1: then they don't have the money to compete with the

736
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 1: really rich teams in the league. The Warriors are probably

737
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,719
Speaker 1: going to pay Kevon Looney this summer, and when you

738
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,880
Speaker 1: factor in luxury tax, it could cost them tens of

739
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:46,040
Speaker 1: millions of dollars additional each year. But the Warriors make

740
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 1: as Colin pointed out to you guys on the show

741
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:51,360
Speaker 1: last week, the Warriors make seven hundred million dollars in

742
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,319
Speaker 1: revenue a season, which is almost four times as much

743
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 1: as the average NBA team, So they have this advantage

744
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:03,520
Speaker 1: in money that they can throw at guys. The Lakers

745
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,280
Speaker 1: are not well run like some of the smarter, poorer

746
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 1: teams around the league, and they don't have the money

747
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,880
Speaker 1: to hang with the rich teams in the league. So

748
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 1: you're gonna lose players because of money, and you're gonna

749
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 1: miss out on opportunities because you've got a general manager

750
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 1: who doesn't know how to build a basketball team in

751
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 1: this league, went out and built a team full of

752
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 1: short guys this year, as if that's ever worked in

753
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: NBA history. They don't have a guy who's grinding in

754
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,399
Speaker 1: the film room, watching hundreds of NBA games every year

755
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 1: to learn what works. So they don't have the money,

756
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:40,120
Speaker 1: they don't have the basketball operations, and they're relying heavily

757
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 1: on a Lebron James was in his twentieth season, and

758
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:47,000
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, who doesn't appear to be nearly as motivated

759
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 1: as he was in Here's what I expect, And I'm

760
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 1: gonna do a deeper dive on the Lakers here soon

761
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: as we get a little bit closer to free agency.

762
00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,680
Speaker 1: But here's the reality. I think Lebron, even though he'll

763
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,000
Speaker 1: never admit it, is deeply irritated that Steph got another title.

764
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,279
Speaker 1: It's just the competitive nature in him. If he wasn't

765
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,399
Speaker 1: like that, it'd be weird. And he's gonna go into

766
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 1: this season as motivated as he was in I expect

767
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 1: a remarkably locked in Lebron James, and I expect Anthony

768
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,840
Speaker 1: Davis to follow suit because the criticism is getting too loud,

769
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,120
Speaker 1: and when Lebron's next to you work in his butt off,

770
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,600
Speaker 1: you just have to join it. But they will not

771
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,560
Speaker 1: have the personnel. They don't have the right guy in

772
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,360
Speaker 1: the seat to make the necessary moves. They're too paranoid

773
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 1: about holding onto those draft picks. They have this Russell

774
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,799
Speaker 1: Westbrook predicament, and they have nothing. They don't have a

775
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:43,959
Speaker 1: single high level role player under roster control. Austin Reaves

776
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:45,600
Speaker 1: is the closest thing to it, and I really like

777
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,839
Speaker 1: Austin Reaves, but if he's like starting for you at

778
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,879
Speaker 1: the three, that's not enough. They need guys and they

779
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,200
Speaker 1: just so. What I expect from the Lakers this year

780
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:59,040
Speaker 1: is for them to be a good team. They're not

781
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,560
Speaker 1: gonna be the bad they were this year. They're gonna

782
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,360
Speaker 1: be a good team. They're gonna be much more well coached,

783
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 1: much more bought in. I expect Lebron and A d

784
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,440
Speaker 1: to be on the court more frequently. I expect them

785
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 1: to be a good team, but they won't be a

786
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,279
Speaker 1: great team. They won't have the personnel they certainly won't

787
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,479
Speaker 1: be deep. They'll be fortunate to find three or four

788
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: guys that are quality role players to put alongside Lebron

789
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: and a d and it will be in comment on

790
00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:24,960
Speaker 1: them to play big minutes on all the biggest stages.

791
00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 1: When it comes time to crunch down the rotation in

792
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,439
Speaker 1: the postseason, They're not gonna have a lot of guys

793
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,800
Speaker 1: that they can count on. But it makes no mistake

794
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,760
Speaker 1: if you're a Laker fan, like You've got the Lebron

795
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,920
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis thing going for you, but your team

796
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,640
Speaker 1: is at a competitive disadvantage. You're not as smart as

797
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:44,879
Speaker 1: the poor teams in the league, and you're not as

798
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,640
Speaker 1: rich as the rich teams in the league, and that

799
00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: will forever hold you down until until they figure out

800
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,400
Speaker 1: that money part, until Jeanie Buss gets a real basketball

801
00:40:55,440 --> 00:41:00,359
Speaker 1: person in that President of Basketball Operations chair. And then, last,

802
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,680
Speaker 1: the last big lesson that I learned from this postseason,

803
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 1: Janice is the best basketball player in the world. For

804
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,439
Speaker 1: the record staff was unbelievably incredible. And Steph. I haven't

805
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,439
Speaker 1: finished my list yes yet, but Steph will be number two.

806
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:16,839
Speaker 1: I think Steph is at the top of the tier

807
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:22,600
Speaker 1: below Jannics, but I think his physical dominance. Janice's physical

808
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:27,480
Speaker 1: dominance has reached a point of invincibility. The way that

809
00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:32,279
Speaker 1: Boston guarded Milwaukee doesn't resemble the way they guarded Steph.

810
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,920
Speaker 1: Boston ran drop coverage on Steph willingly, conceding pull up

811
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,200
Speaker 1: jump shots to him to prevent Boston or to prevent

812
00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 1: Golden State from getting into their four on threes. They

813
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:47,279
Speaker 1: were conceding points to Steph to prevent everybody else from

814
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,160
Speaker 1: getting going. That was the strategy, and it had moments

815
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: where it looked good, but then it also had a

816
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:54,600
Speaker 1: lot of moments where Steff was going off and you

817
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:57,840
Speaker 1: were losing. So I disagreed with the strategy. That was

818
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:01,520
Speaker 1: not the strategy that used against Janice. Joannice saw the house.

819
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 1: They had Horford a Grant Williams at the point of

820
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,400
Speaker 1: attack on him. Marcus Smart a little bit towards the

821
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,440
Speaker 1: end of the series, and every time he had the

822
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,440
Speaker 1: ball there were two defenders keyed right in on his

823
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 1: driving lanes. They were like, we don't care if anybody

824
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:18,000
Speaker 1: else shoots, we are not letting Janice get going, And

825
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 1: that dude still ran them over and still put up

826
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:25,279
Speaker 1: monster numbers. And still damn near one this series without

827
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:29,399
Speaker 1: his co star. It is his physical dominance has reached

828
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,480
Speaker 1: a point of invincibility, and that series was a revelation

829
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 1: of Janice's playmaking. It was the first time that I

830
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 1: felt like he legitimately took a leap to the point

831
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,120
Speaker 1: where he's a functional playmaker in the NBA, A guy

832
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,520
Speaker 1: who can literally and consistently make teams pay for sending

833
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:51,320
Speaker 1: multiple defenders to him. That's I always said. That was

834
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,759
Speaker 1: what scared me the most about Janice, not the three

835
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,319
Speaker 1: point shot, not the turnaround jumper, not the floater in

836
00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 1: the lane. His ability to make plays for his teammates.

837
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:02,960
Speaker 1: And he was magnificent as a playmaker in that series.

838
00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:07,680
Speaker 1: And then on defense, he's arguably the best defensive player

839
00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 1: in the world. He can protect the rim like Anthony Davis.

840
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 1: He can cover on the perimeter like he's Kawhi Leonard.

841
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:15,839
Speaker 1: He plays hard all the time, so you can use

842
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:18,879
Speaker 1: him as a foundational piece in the regular season. He's

843
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: He's a Swiss army knife that can do anything. I

844
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:25,200
Speaker 1: think there's a gap between him and the next guy.

845
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:27,279
Speaker 1: I used to think there was like a top tier

846
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,719
Speaker 1: stars and it was like Lebron, it's death, you know,

847
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 1: Johannis and k D and like maybe Kauai if he's healthy. Right,

848
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:36,880
Speaker 1: But now, to me, it feels like Yanni's kind of

849
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,000
Speaker 1: took that leap, and then the tier below it, it

850
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,920
Speaker 1: feels like steps on top of that tier, but everyone

851
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 1: else has kind of jumbled in down there. I have

852
00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:47,840
Speaker 1: I I have not seen a player be able to

853
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,080
Speaker 1: dominate a game physically on both ends of the floor

854
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:54,000
Speaker 1: like this since Lebron, and I think I think he

855
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,479
Speaker 1: goes into this season as the as the definitive best

856
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 1: basketball player alive. And I do think him where the

857
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:05,360
Speaker 1: healthy uh Bucks team with one additional pieces the biggest

858
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 1: threat to the Warriors. That said, I still think the

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00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:10,200
Speaker 1: Warriors are the favorite next year. All right, guys, that

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00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: is all I have for today. Like I said, we're

861
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,359
Speaker 1: gonna get into some NBA draft stuff this week. Please

862
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:16,880
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you

863
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,160
Speaker 1: guys can see me breakdown at least just what my

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00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 1: game plan is for the summer. You get some announcements

865
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,360
Speaker 1: there and you'll know what's coming. As always, I sincerely

866
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:25,120
Speaker 1: appreciate your guys to support and I will see you

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00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:43,440
Speaker 1: in a couple of days volume