WEBVTT - BONUS: Mavs Work In Progress, Timberwolves Big Three and More (Featuring: Dave Dufour) 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.880 You're tuned into Heat Check with Trista Quick. 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.640 On this episode of heat Check, we've got a special 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.320 interview with friend of show David four from The Athletic. 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.800 He is here to explain some very important details. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.119 Number one, why he doesn't care if he's right or 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.560 wrong on Twitter, why he prefers the Western Conference over 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:25.560 the Eastern Conference, what's the best region around the world 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:29.160 to help fuel the future of the NBA, and everything 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:31.880 in between. This is an awesome, wide ranging interview, so 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.120 let's get right into it. Nick, do me a favor 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:43.839 and drop that generic ass beat. Where do you want 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.159 to start in the NBA landscape? 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:51.919 I don't know. There's so much there really is a lot. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:53.960 It's funny. I was talking to my neighbor last night 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.840 and he was like, Oh, I know you've been busy 0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:59.800 because there's so much stuff happening in the NBA. I mean, like, 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:01.720 the Bucks are the best team in the league right now, 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.800 which they're also getting as healthy as they've been all seasons, 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:08.319 so maybe they've been the best team all along. I 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:08.800 don't know. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:10.320 That's what I wondered too. 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:14.039 And people asked me when Middleton was down and when 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:17.400 Drew had been injured and Giannis's hyper extension of his 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:21.280 knee came back, and I said to people multiple times, 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.959 I said, hey, everybody's crowning Boston, but just remember this 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.520 thing went seven without Chris Middleton. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.120 With Chris Middleton, it did. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:32.880 Look at one point in time like they were the 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:34.680 best team in the league, and now they're starting to 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:36.960 find their mojo. I find the Bucks to be not 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:41.959 nearly as interesting though as the drama to me, to like, like, 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:43.680 for example, the Mavericks. 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.680 Okay, the Mavericks to me are a fascinating team. 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.880 You like the dysfunction, Yeah, cause I feel. 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.200 Like things that function well really aren't that interesting. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.760 Okay. I mean there's suit sides to it. But you know, 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.120 my basketball brand loves when things go well. I love 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.680 to tell you why it's working rather than why it's 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.320 not working, because too often in the NBA, and this 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.480 is you know, this comes down to their personal preference thing. 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.200 Like I prefer to care about what happens on the 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.000 court and not necessarily what's happening between a guy's ears 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.520 off the court that's affecting him on the court. I 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.600 don't want to think about that stuff. So like when 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.040 teams are playing well, I don't have to think about Oh, well, 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:26.240 you know it was probably uplate watching conspiracy theory videos 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.840 on YouTube, you know, like you do the Bucks, nah Man, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.000 they watch pro wrestling and they go out and kick 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.400 ass playing basketball. So I tend to lean there. But 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.080 the Mavericks are a team that I unfortunately watch too 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:41.839 much of and have watched too much of. And yeah, 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.960 their dysfunction is very It starts at the top. You know, 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.399 you've got a coach that's like, hey, I'm just I'm 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.800 just a bystander. You don't don't mind me. I'm just 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.160 watching the games like you guys are I just got 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:54.880 a great seat. 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.440 Yeah, why do you think basketball wise? 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:00.839 Because I I don't really care. 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.200 Like you said, you don't care about the psychology of it. 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.639 You're a c They're missing good players. That's the problem, right, 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.560 Like they don't have good enough players. Getting Maxi back 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:11.239 is going to be good if as long as he 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.920 can stay healthy, that'll help their defense. But you know, 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.320 Christian Wood is a big problem, Like he kind of 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.200 is not very good and gets you know, I think 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:25.240 Jason Kidd has been proven right about Christian Wood. You know, 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:29.000 I think last night played eighteen minutes was minus sixteen. 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:34.760 Just ineffective, completely ineffective. So empty stats don't help you 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:37.600 out very much. And then the Kyrie the Kyrie Luca thing, 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:42.000 I'm less worried about because this is more normal two 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.720 guards trying to figure each other out. That's not dysfunctional. 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.240 The dysfunction is you don't have a coach that's putting 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:53.360 them into like cohesive sets or running plays to get 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.160 them to work together, like in two man game. And 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.120 then they're getting to end of games and you know 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.119 they're one and four now since the trade, and they're 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.000 getting to end up games and it's like, no, go ahead, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.160 your turn, which is great, like you love the selflessness, 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.200 but Luka Doncis had thirty nine points and was cooking 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.080 in the third quarter of that game. He had thirty 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.280 six in the first three quarters, only three in the fourth, 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.880 and it's like, wait a second. I understand that Kyrie 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.119 has been dubbed the King of the fourth quarter because 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.200 he's leading the league and scoring in the fourth, but 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.120 that's Luka Doncic and he's on a heater, as he 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.800 tends to be. So I'd rather Luca take the last shot. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.440 So I need Luca to be a little bit more selfish, 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.839 selfish out there Layden games, and I think, like that's again, 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.200 it's a coaching issue. They've got a coaching problem. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.520 Do you think Jason Kidd is even close to on 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:47.680 the hot seat one and number two? 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.360 Why is he just being the watcher. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.839 Shit? I mean, that's tricky, right because he's buddies with 0:04:54.880 --> 0:05:00.320 the owner, So I don't know who knows. I think 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.600 that they're at the point though, where they need to 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.760 start thinking about the Luca part of this a little 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.000 bit harder than anything else. They put all their chips 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.320 in the table between the Christian Wood and Kyrie trade, right, 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.400 Like they got these guys, they don't really have a 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.520 lot of assets. You give up He's not their best defender. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.640 Dorrian Finney Smith has not been the best defender on 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.400 that team this year. That's been Josh Green. But Dorrian 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.800 Finney Smith was probably their most important defender because of 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:29.279 his ability to slide between positions so seamlessly, and he 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.680 just knows the defense and he's really turned himself into 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:35.520 a knockdown shooter. But you gave up that guy, and 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:39.120 what you have left is not as good around Luca, 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.239 Like it's not maximizing what Luca does. Now, if Kyrie 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.320 hits like that's great, that's higher than just maximizing Luca. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.160 You've got two individual stars that can create off the dribble, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.200 and they can both shoot in the mid range and 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.640 both shoot threes three level scores, and that's great come 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:57.039 playoff time. But the key to their defensive run last 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.200 year was Dorian Finney Smith. The key to getting to 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.400 the conference finals was that defense, and Dorian Finney Smith 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.440 was sort of the lynchpin of the whole thing. And 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.320 so you've just punted on that identity, you know, two 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.800 thirds of the way through the season, and you're expecting 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.240 your coach that has not proven to be like an 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.960 ex's and O's wonk to figure this out on the fly. 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.719 And then now you've got two years left to Luka 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.760 Doncic and probably gonna lose Kyrie this summer, and Christian 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.039 Wood you didn't make a decision on, so you're gonna 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:27.560 have to make a decision on him in the summer. 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.840 And uh, it just looks like the beginning of the 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.960 end to me. Like I texted my my buddies that 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:36.960 I do the Mavericks pod with and I was just like, 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.000 this is it, mark this date, this is when when 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:44.520 the downfall started. I think we're gonna watch this guy 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.919 just basically start putting his foot out the door because 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.279 it's not working. So either they got to get a 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.599 new coach, someone that obviously Luca respects, which I've not 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.480 heard that he doesn't respect Jason Kidd. But they need 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.640 somebody that knows how to coach because Jason Kidd is 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:00.000 really not coaching this team very well. 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.479 Yeah, and you're right, like it feels if you're not 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.320 all in on Christian Wood, which which they're not and 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.800 they shouldn't be, and they don't. They don't like him, 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.120 like personally, they don't like his agent. Luca seems to 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.280 be the only one that loves christian Wood. But Christian 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.200 Wanan's not impacting winning, So you gave up pieces for him, 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.640 You give up pieces for Kyrie to rent him for 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.880 twenty five games. And now once they both are gone 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.360 this offseason, what do you really have without Dorian Finnie Smith. 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:32.320 You have a bunch of empty cupboards. You've got Reggie Bullock, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.680 You've got Josh Green, and that's in Maxi Klaybla. It's 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.520 it and a very overpaid Tim Hardaway Junior. I'm sure 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:41.680 you are hoping to move at the deadline, and we're 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.800 able to so if you're Luca, and I think every smart, 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:51.280 every smart individual person in their career can look around 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.200 at their surroundings and say is this best for me 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.720 long term? Even if I know I'm here for another 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.720 two years, I'm looking at some of these other organizations 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.360 and saying, I think this is a better place, a 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:08.240 better culture, a better fit to maximize my legacy. 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.920 I am really really tight with Nikola Jokic. Yep, you know, 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.840 I started thinking Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Junior and some 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:21.520 picks like does that get the conversation started. I'm not 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.560 look and I'm not saying that this guy's asking out. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.080 I don't know if that he'll he would even do that. 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.960 Maybe he just finishes the contract, goes a free agency. 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.800 But just they're not doing a good job of putting 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:35.760 a good team around him. They I think that they 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.160 were on the right path. Injury luck has really hurt them. 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.680 I mean, Maxi being out for as long as he 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.600 was obviously did him no favors, but they didn't They 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.560 would have been better off standing pat over the summer 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.439 than doing what they did. And you know, the Porzingis 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.200 thing not working out. I'm not blaming anybody for that 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.400 because Porzingis is a pretty good player. Just didn't work 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.960 with him and Luca And sometimes you don't. You can 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.400 think of fit as natural until you actually get it 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.120 on the court and you realize, well, Porzingis is not 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:05.560 that guy. 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.280 Ooh, let me ask you about this then, because I 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.400 wasn't planning on asking you, but it just popped in 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.320 my head when you said sometimes you think it's gonna 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:14.320 fit and it doesn't fit. 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.320 Does it ever fit with Rudy Gobert, Carl Anthony Towns 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:20.200 and Aunt Edwards. 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:22.760 Hell no, they gotta trade Karl Anthony Towns. They should 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:24.920 have traded Karl Anthony Towns when they've made the go 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.240 Beart trade. They could have gotten a haul over the summer. 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.200 I don't know. Is there a single player whose value 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:35.920 has dropped more that without getting old? Yeah, suffering an injury, 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:38.800 a big injury in the last three years. Remember all 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.000 the lists that used to come out where Karl Anthony 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.000 Towns is the best young big in the league, best 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.600 young prospect in the league. Now I never bought any 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.360 of that at all because to me, like his position, 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.680 you have to be able to defend to have value. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:56.880 I mean, he's John collins ish, but John Collins actually 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.960 protects the rim. Like there's some strong argument that you'd 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.160 rather have John Collins on your team than Karl Anthony Towns, 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.480 which is sad to say compared to where we were 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.840 three years ago. And of course Karl Anthony Town's great 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.520 shooter can shoot off the dribble, which for a big 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:14.280 is super valuable. But man, he does not fit. He 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.760 can't be the second best player there because he's not 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:18.959 the second best player there. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.640 Let me ask you this, then, does this actually mean 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.360 that we've been wrong about Tim Connolly this whole time? 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.839 Because if he doesn't see that on the front end, 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:28.960 what was that really? 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.160 I don't know if we're if it might be too 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.360 early to say we're wrong about him. I mean, he 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.480 did a really good job in Denver. That's that's the 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.679 track record that he's got, right, So we can't judge people. 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.280 People are really quick to jump on that go Bear 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.559 trade and they're like, oh, you overspent. By the way, 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.240 Gobart looked great against the Clippers, right, Like now they don't. 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.000 They like to play small too often. But something has 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:53.199 clicked with him and it could be health. I mean, 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.760 he really looked strong in that game, so that might 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.040 be a big, a big swing for them, and he's 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.400 been better since Karl Anthony Town's out anyway, But trying 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.800 to judge the go Beart trade today is impossible. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:06.640 It's impossible. It's impossible. 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:11.040 It's impossible. It's impossible. Look, it's possible, you can do it, 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.240 but we don't know, Like, no one should have expected 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.240 this team to be a championship contender this year, Go 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.560 Bear trade or not, but Top four is still in 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:23.720 reach for them. That was my I thought that they 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:26.240 would rack up a lot of regular season wins because 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.480 I actually thought that Karl Anthony Towns would come back 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.280 this season being really good shape, would be able to 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:34.680 you know, it's a lesser offensive role, maybe he would 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.679 play a little bit more defense, and it obviously he's 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.120 been hurt for a lot of the season. Well it's 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.439 been out for a lot of the seasons, so, you know, mysteriously, 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.600 So I just think that we don't really know what 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.040 it's going to look like. It sucks that they lost 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.839 Jared Vanderbilt in the Go Beart trade because that's a 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:55.280 guy that they I mean, look, they they gave up 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:59.840 a lot, okay, but go Beart in and of himself 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.440 is a top five defense right under normal circumstances. And 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.880 I think that that we're seeing that regression back to 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.640 the mean, Like we're seeing a team that you know, 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:14.600 has a dominant defensive center. And then what Anthony Edwards 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.840 is doing defensively, this is some you know, this is 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:23.520 like top five, top seven player sort of wow. Well, 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.080 I mean he's like he's on the MVP track to me, 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.360 and the defense is a big part of that. And 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.280 we know what he does offensively, but the way he 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.880 has stepped up defensively this season, that's like next level. 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:36.120 That's the leap that he's taken. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:37.920 Who does he remind you of? 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:41.240 I mean Michael Jordan really, I mean straight up, yeah, 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:41.959 of course. 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:42.840 Really it to me. 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.200 It feels crazy when I say that out loud, but 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.400 like that's the only He's obviously not him, but that's 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.679 the only in terms of the way that he plays. 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.480 Right, well, he's got like a physical dominance and it's 0:12:55.520 --> 0:13:00.199 different than than obviously different players, different style of play, 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.160 and he and the three ball for him. I mean, 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.960 the guy is probably gonna wind up breaking Steph Curry's 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.240 record wherever you know, or the previous record. He'll pass 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.240 Ray Allen at some point. Right, he may not pass 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.240 Steph because Steph could do this for another decade, but 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.920 the three ball being so powerful for him opens up 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.120 a lot. He gets to the basket and he can 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.120 just decide to get to the basket because he's got 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.080 the body for it. You know, it's funny that the 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.160 Karl Anthony Towlens brings up you know, he's eating hot 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:32.319 fries or whatever it was that he that what was Popeyes? Popeyes? 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:37.240 Which whatever, such a racially charged fast food chain. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.680 To choose to Popeyes is delicious, It's amazing. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.360 It's not Church's Chicken, but it's pretty good. So also, 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.720 calories are calories, and like the quality of calorie. I'm 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.559 not worried about a professional athlete like that. Guy puts 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.959 out enough work that that doesn't matter. So maybe should 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.160 he eat more salads, Sure we all should, but he 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.040 should keep eating the Popeyes because he's pretty good. But 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:04.320 he's in a like, he is incredibly strong, especially for 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:06.480 his age, and this has always been a thing for me, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.439 like as a scout, I love strength on the wing, 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.840 like I loved Kawhi Leonard coming out of college because 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.319 he was already so strong. He was also a decent 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.280 shooter already, but he was so strong that it puts 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.760 him ahead of the game and it applies defensively but 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.440 also offensively. We know now Kawhi is so good at 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.840 using that off arm to create space. Well, Anthony Edwards 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:30.680 has been able to do that basically since he got 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.240 into the league dropping his shoulder. I mean he's not 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.680 quite built like a wide receiver, but he's not far off. 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.560 You know. He's got good shoulders, got a good back, 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:40.920 and he uses his body in a way that it 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.360 reminds me of Michael Jordan. And then he's so under 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.840 control and just determined. Like that's the thing is that 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.440 it's kind of that mindset, which is funny to say, 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:51.680 but when you watch him play, it's like, God, he's 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:52.920 got a little bit of Jordan in him. 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:55.360 Yeah, he really does. 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.640 It's fun to watch him, and there isn't any comparable 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.720 player in today's air that you can really say, because 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:02.240 he's just. 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:06.040 So big, you know, And I don't know I said this, 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.160 maybe a month into the season. 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.520 Exactly what you're saying, which is the only way that 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.880 this pairing can work with Rudy Gobert and Edwards, is 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:16.120 Karl Anthony Towns just can't be on the floor. 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:16.720 You just can't. 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.680 The space that Aunt Edwards needs is just there's just 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:22.960 not enough space on the floor for them all to 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.840 have taking up space without that creating a clog in 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.640 the lane, which essentially neutralizes a lot of the things 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.360 that Aunt Edwards wants to do right and limit Sam 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:34.040 to a perimeter score. 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.840 Carl Anthony Towns is too good of a player for 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:39.080 you to just say, Okay, you're. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.080 Gonna go be Chris Bosh in Miami late stage. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.320 Kevin Love right now, by the way, Kevin Love and 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.400 Chris Bosh both better than Karl Anthony Towns when they 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:51.280 made that switch, better than he is right now to wow. 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.760 Oh yeah, come on, no, Look, he's not a winner. 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.720 I'm sorry. Like, you can put up numbers all day long, 0:15:57.760 --> 0:15:59.240 it doesn't matter if you don't win basketball. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.480 If you put Karl Anthony Towns on the Warriors. 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.800 Where he's the fourth best player. 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:06.720 Yeah, what what is what is that? 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.720 He probably he probably is frustrating. He probably winds up 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.560 being a lot like Dylan Brooks for them, Yeah, where 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.520 it's like this guy's taking up possessions and just doing 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.640 weird or dumb stuff. I mean he's not he's not 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.920 proven to be a guy that like makes other players better. Yeah, 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.040 you know, it's a little bit like it's like Anthony 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:30.560 Davis if you took away the All NBA Defensive Player 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.480 of the Year level defense, right, So it's like very 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:36.520 much like offensive style Anthony Davis, where it's like he'll 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.800 put up numbers, but man, I don't feel his offensive 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.880 impact all that often. Yeah, and with Karl Anthony Town 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.720 it's kind of the same way, but no defensive impact whatsoever. 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.720 So no disrespect for Anthony Davis mentioning him in the 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.640 same breath as Karl Anthony Town's here, but just the 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.840 lack of defense really just kills him. If he defended, 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.280 if he defended his position at an average level and 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.760 was able to just blend into the offense of what 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.200 they do, be the release valve. I mean, he could 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.119 be a guy who attacks off the dribble theoretically, he 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.600 just doesn't. So you know, I just don't I don't 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:10.920 think that that world exists. 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:28.920 I want to ask you about We talked about Tim 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:30.760 Conney and what the job he did for the Nuggets, 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:35.439 But I feel like I saw on your Twitter that 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.840 you don't like watching them based on you saying a 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.880 casual fan would like watching the Denver. 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.000 No, no, no, no no no, I love watching it. 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:45.320 You love watching them? 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:49.520 Well, it's good team basketball, right and casual. Look, casual fans. 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:51.720 What is the guy that you run into at the 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:53.520 bar when he finds out what you do for a living? 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:53.840 Oh? 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.160 Man, you know love watching the Warriors. The Warriors were 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.320 musty TV because the ball was flipping and flying all 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.959 over the place. It's not like watching pick and rolls 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.920 is boring. Yeah, pick and roll after pick and roll 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:08.840 after pick and roll and then going to the free 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:12.040 throw line. It's boring. I want to watch offense. I 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.359 want to watch stuff happen and low key. This is 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:16.719 one of the reasons why the NFL, I think, is 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.120 so much more popular. Number One, you have a more 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.919 educated fan based part of that is because just style 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.440 of the game, you get more time to explain. It's 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.640 also linear, so you're going in one direction. I can 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:30.320 tell you exactly what everyone's doing or as in basketball, 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.240 you've got actions that come away from the basket. You 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:35.919 know you've got there's just it's it's a little bit 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.600 more of a confusing game. It's a faster paced game. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:43.280 There's more possessions. But we love a good pass in 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.160 basketball more than we love a good dunk. Just straight up. 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.600 We love a good dunk, but a good pass. And 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:51.960 this is why Jokic is the perfect guy to put 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.840 in front of the masses, because the guy throws some 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.399 ridiculous pass that they have to go to replay to 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:01.560 show you three times a game. And that sort of 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.199 style of play where you have backdoor cutting, Aaron Gordon 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.680 catching lobs, Michael Porter Junior just can sometimes catch fire, 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.640 Jamal Murray takes some of the toughest shots that you've 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:12.320 seen in the league, and then Jokich just kind of 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.360 controls everything. That is to me a casual basketball fan, 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.040 which is what I am. Yeah, I'm I want to 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:23.280 just turn on a sport and watch it and enjoy it. 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:24.760 I mean, I do this for money, right, like I 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.199 do this for a living. But like when I watch football, 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.480 I'm not sitting there. I don't have the stat sheet 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.119 out I don't get paid to talk about football, so 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.119 I'm just watching the game. I want to enjoy it, 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.520 and so you know, it's just like that. Women's college 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:40.040 basketball is my favorite. The women's NCAA Division one is 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.560 my favorite domestic basketball because I turn it on. They 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:48.000 play good offensive systems constantly. There's a lot of variation, 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.520 right it's college basketball, and I don't have to care 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.600 about it. I just watch it, enjoy the hoops. It's great. 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:56.920 And I think that the Nuggets if you highlighted them, 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.960 the Warriors, you know, which we already have the track 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:01.879 record for it, and of course Steph Curry helps with that. 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.879 But I think team based basketball is what casual fans 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.480 are attracted to. If you wanted to get more more 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.320 eyeballs on your league, show them teams that play basketball 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.680