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Speaker 2: co slash MMA. All right, welcome to hoops tonight here
Speaker 2: at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody, hope all if you
Speaker 2: guys are having a great end to your week, well
Speaker 2: as promise, we're gonna get deeper into the NBA Draft
Speaker 2: today and we're just gonna do it mailbag style. I
Speaker 2: had planned on doing a mailbag at the end of
Speaker 2: this week anyway, and so many of you guys had
Speaker 2: so much, so many questions related to the draft and
Speaker 2: some of the trades that took place around the draft,
Speaker 2: that I figured we'll just use that as the format
Speaker 2: for today's show. So the main guys from the draft
Speaker 2: that we're gonna be hitting today obviously Bronny Broughny to
Speaker 2: the Lakers' biggest story in the league today, so we're
Speaker 2: gonna be hitting that. Baylor Shireman to Boston, this was
Speaker 2: a pick at the tail end of the first round
Speaker 2: that we didn't have a chance to hit yesterday. Ryan
Speaker 2: Dunn to the Phoenix Suns is another pick we're gonna
Speaker 2: be taking a look at. And then day Ron Holmes
Speaker 2: to the Denver Nuggets in their pursuit of finding a
Speaker 2: backup center for Nicole Joki. So those are the main
Speaker 2: draft prospects we're gonna hit today. But we're also gonna
Speaker 2: bounce around the league with a bunch of your guys's
Speaker 2: mail bag questions. So tons and tons of stuff to
Speaker 2: get into. You guys know the drive before we get started.
Speaker 2: Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss
Speaker 2: any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at
Speaker 2: underscore json LTS, you guys don't miss you announcements, don't
Speaker 2: forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast
Speaker 2: under Hoops Tonight, and then keep dropping mail bag questions
Speaker 2: in the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them
Speaker 2: throughout the rest of the summer. And I sincerely appreciate
Speaker 2: you all of you guys for participating in the We
Speaker 2: had tons of questions to choose from. Obviously can't get
Speaker 2: to all of them, but we're gonna get to a
Speaker 2: bunch of them today. All Right, let's talk some basketball.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna start with Bronnie our first mail bag question. Hey, Jason,
Speaker 2: I appreciate the way you break down the game. Do
Speaker 2: you think Bronni can meaningfully contribute to the Lakers this season?
Speaker 2: Forget the fact that he is Lebron's son. Isn't Bronnie
Speaker 2: the type of archetype that the Lakers are looking for.
Speaker 2: He's an athletic guard who can defend on the perimeter
Speaker 2: and has the potential to be a really good spot
Speaker 2: up shooter and close out attacker. So rather than diving
Speaker 2: right into his fit with the Lakers, I want to
Speaker 2: kind of hit the story as a whole first, and
Speaker 2: then we will get into that question, because that is true,
Speaker 2: his archetype is exactly what the Lakers need. But the
Speaker 2: question is whether or not Bronni is actually that type
Speaker 2: of player at an NBA level at this point, which
Speaker 2: is what we're gonna get into. So first of all,
Speaker 2: the story is going to be centered around nepotism, right.
Speaker 2: That's the main kind of point of contention in the
Speaker 2: media space today and among all basketball fans today. And
Speaker 2: I think it's unfair that it's even a topic, to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, because this is just a thing
Speaker 2: that is rampant around the league. As Adrian Woljnowski pointed
Speaker 2: out yesterday on ESPN, he said, quote people talking about nepotism.
Speaker 2: The NBA is full of nepotism, the ownership level, the
Speaker 2: front offices, coaching. I don't want to hear about it
Speaker 2: all of a sudden because Brownie James's father plays for
Speaker 2: the Lakers. It is rampant in this league. And this
Speaker 2: is something that I've personally learned just in my time
Speaker 2: covering the league. There are many people that I talk
Speaker 2: to around the league where I hear about this front
Speaker 2: office has this guy that's in this major role, This
Speaker 2: coaching staff has this guy that's in this major role.
Speaker 2: We've all made fun of or had moments where we've
Speaker 2: gotten some humor out of watching fanasas Antennakoumpo playing for
Speaker 2: the Milwaukee Bucks. It is rampant. So if you're like
Speaker 2: suddenly upset about it now, then it clearly has something
Speaker 2: to do with the way you feel about Lebron, which
Speaker 2: is a whole other topic, right that I don't have
Speaker 2: any interest in getting into. So the nepotism thing just
Speaker 2: it just doesn't matter to me. And then also just
Speaker 2: to be honest, and this is something that this is
Speaker 2: something that I try to generally do when I'm confronting
Speaker 2: these types of situations, I try to just put myself
Speaker 2: in that type of person's shoes. So like, for instance,
Speaker 2: if I had a child, and I had the capability
Speaker 2: to present my child with an opportunity that would give
Speaker 2: them a better chance of success, even if it wasn't
Speaker 2: necessarily the most fair thing in the world, would I
Speaker 2: say no, Would I not give my kid that opportunity
Speaker 2: out of some vain pursuit of fairness, or would I
Speaker 2: try to take care of my kid? And I don't
Speaker 2: have children yet, but like I have a feeling that
Speaker 2: if I have that capability, if I have the ability
Speaker 2: to give my child opportunities, I'm going to try to
Speaker 2: write and I certainly, certainly am not going to be
Speaker 2: critical of a parent for trying to give their children opportunities.
Speaker 1: Like if the.
Speaker 2: Discussion of whether or not it's fair totally different. That's
Speaker 2: a totally different discussion fair and nepotism is whether it's
Speaker 2: too rampant in our society. That is entirely different. However,
Speaker 2: it is rampant and in our society, And I personally am
Speaker 2: not gonna judge a parent for doing something like that
Speaker 2: when I can't definitively say that I wouldn't do the
Speaker 2: same thing if I was in that position. So just
Speaker 2: put yourself in that headspace. Chances are you do anything
Speaker 2: you can to help your kid. And that's exactly what
Speaker 2: lebron James did. Right. So, now that we can move
Speaker 2: back past the basic fact that, yes, Brownie James benefited
Speaker 2: from nepotism. Yes, it's rampant throughout the league, and no,
Speaker 2: none of us could actually say we wouldn't do the
Speaker 2: same if we were in that position. Now, let's talk
Speaker 2: about the basketball side of it. Bronnie is a lot
Speaker 2: better than his numbers at USC would lead you to belief. Right,
Speaker 2: he was shortly removed from heart surgery. Anytime you go
Speaker 2: an extended amount of time not playing basketball and then
Speaker 2: try to get back into playing basketball, there is a
Speaker 2: ramp up phase. Any of you guys who have dealt
Speaker 2: with an injury have felt this before. I personally, I
Speaker 2: broke my foot in my in between my first and
Speaker 2: second season playing in college, and I had to take
Speaker 2: a couple of months off. I came back in the
Speaker 2: first half of the season in non conference play, I
Speaker 2: literally was so bad. My coach removed me from the
Speaker 2: starting lineup and had like sit down meetings with me
Speaker 2: about what was going on with my production. And I
Speaker 2: was one of two full ride scholarships on that particular team,
Speaker 2: so I just wasn't living up to what the investment
Speaker 2: was from the coaching staff, and it was totally fair criticism.
Speaker 2: And then in the second half of the season, I
Speaker 2: played well enough to be an All conference selection. So like,
Speaker 2: I was two completely different players, because when I came
Speaker 2: back from that foot injury, I was just so distant
Speaker 2: from the game even though I was there, even though
Speaker 2: I was like back healthy, it took me forever just
Speaker 2: to like get back up to basketball speed to even
Speaker 2: look like myself. I was two completely different players. Several
Speaker 2: months apart just because of that turnaround, and this what
Speaker 2: Bronni went through beyond forget about just being disconnected from
Speaker 2: the game, talk about the trauma and everything that comes
Speaker 2: from that horrific situation that happened to him, But most importantly,
Speaker 2: he was away from the game for a while, and
Speaker 2: so stepping into Division one PAC twelve basketball from being
Speaker 2: disconnected from the game like that is a challenge. So
Speaker 2: I do believe that Bronni is a much better player
Speaker 2: than what his numbers would have led you to believe
Speaker 2: at USC. That said, I also don't think he's ready
Speaker 2: to play in the NBA yet, right, And that's the
Speaker 2: important kind of like sub context to the question. Right, Yes,
Speaker 2: his archetype is exactly what the Lakers need, a super
Speaker 2: athletic guard who can defend at the point of attack
Speaker 2: and knock down threes and attack closeouts and all that
Speaker 2: sort of stuff, Right, But he's too far away from
Speaker 2: being able to do that at the level. He needs
Speaker 2: to be a rotation player on a good NBA team,
Speaker 2: and that's what the Lakers are. Yes, they are a
Speaker 2: team that's perennially been in the play in but the
Speaker 2: last year they made it to the two years ago
Speaker 2: they made it to the conference finals. Last year they
Speaker 2: have forty six to forty sive wins, but they were
Speaker 2: every bit as good as the teams in the middle
Speaker 2: of the pack in the West. That more has to
Speaker 2: do with just how deep the West is with talent.
Speaker 2: The Lakers are a good NBA team, and Bronnie is
Speaker 2: not ready to be a rotation player on a good
Speaker 2: NBA team, right, So the truth of the matter is
Speaker 2: this is a developmental opportunity for Bronnie. This is just
Speaker 2: an opportunity for him to learn how to play potentially
Speaker 2: NBA basketball and to see if he's capable of it. Right.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if he's gonna get a roster spot
Speaker 2: or if he's gonna get a two way spot, but
Speaker 2: chances are the majority of his on court reps over
Speaker 2: the next few years will either be in g league
Speaker 2: games or in garbage time of NBA games, Like if
Speaker 2: the Lakers actually need a young guy to play point
Speaker 2: of attack defense and play off the ball offensively this year,
Speaker 2: in meaningful minutes, it's gonna be Max Christie. It's not
Speaker 2: gonna be Bronnie James. So this is he's not just
Speaker 2: gonna get jammed into meaningful NBA basketball. If he does,
Speaker 2: Bronnie ends up playing meaningful minutes this year and he
Speaker 2: doesn't deserve it in the rotation, then we will have
Speaker 2: a different conversation and I will come on the show
Speaker 2: and talk about how this is now becoming a problem
Speaker 2: because the nepotism is extending into affecting the Lakers' ability
Speaker 2: to win basketball games. But that is not where I
Speaker 2: expect this to go. I think he'll be in the
Speaker 2: G league, and I think he'll play in garbage time
Speaker 2: in the NBA. And if he does play meaningful minutes,
Speaker 2: it will mean that we all were way off in
Speaker 2: our evaluation of Bronnie and he's better at this point
Speaker 2: than we expect it. I don't expect that to be
Speaker 2: the case, but if we do see Bronnie play meaningful minutes,
Speaker 2: it will be because he got better at basketball. But
Speaker 2: the truth is he's gonna have to learn on the fly,
Speaker 2: and he's gonna have a few years to do it.
Speaker 2: And if he can convert his considerable athletic gifts into
Speaker 2: a functional NBA role player, then he'll stay in the league.
Speaker 2: And if he can't, and three years go by and
Speaker 2: it's clear that he's still really far away. Then he'll
Speaker 2: go play overseas or stay in the G League for
Speaker 2: a while, or he'll retire and do something different. He's
Speaker 2: gonna get his opportunity, right, And that's the thing. That's
Speaker 2: what I mean when I say it's a developmental opportunity,
Speaker 2: Like his opportunity has been gift wrapped for him, but
Speaker 2: he's not gonna get real NBA minutes unless he earns it.
Speaker 2: So I don't have any problem with it at all whatsoever.
Speaker 2: Obviously it's cool that Lebron gets to play with his kid.
Speaker 2: You'd be lying if you didn't say you were gonna
Speaker 2: watch and see what happens. Like he's the first Summer
Speaker 2: League game. It is gonna be him in Dalton connect
Speaker 2: playing against Houston and Reed Shepard and like we're all
Speaker 2: gonna be watching, right and so like it's interesting. I
Speaker 2: don't have any problem with it. If you have a
Speaker 2: problem with it, then you've conveniently looked the other way
Speaker 2: with every other example of nepotism in the NBA over
Speaker 2: the last forever. So it is what it is. It's
Speaker 2: a developmental opportunity for Brownie. We're gonna find out if
Speaker 2: he's an NBA player over the next few years within
Speaker 2: the Lakers organization. Next question, wish you discussed the Celtics
Speaker 2: selection of Baylor Shireman. Baylor seems to be one of
Speaker 2: the more pro ready guys in the draft and fits
Speaker 2: the current mold of what teams are looking for. Thought
Speaker 2: that was a great pick. Well, you're right, we didn't
Speaker 2: get a chance to hit him yesterday, so why don't
Speaker 2: we hit him today. So here's my little quick scout
Speaker 2: on Baylor shire Man. He's sixty six movement shooter, lefty
Speaker 2: out of Creighton. His jump shooting numbers from last year
Speaker 2: really good. Thirty nine percent on jumpers overall, thirty nine
Speaker 2: percent on catch and shoot jumpers, twenty six percent when
Speaker 2: he was guarded in forty nine percent when he was unguarded.
Speaker 2: That wasn't surprising to me on tape because he's a
Speaker 2: little bit of a ground bound shooter, a little bit
Speaker 2: of a set shooter with a low release point, so
Speaker 2: that means he needs more separation to get clean looks.
Speaker 2: He was thirty nine percent on pull up jump shots,
Speaker 2: hit a lot of pull up threes as well, so
Speaker 2: he was up over a point per shot. Attempt He
Speaker 2: was actually pretty successful on the ball at Creighton. He
Speaker 2: shot fifty nine percent field goals fifty nine percent as
Speaker 2: the shooter in ball screens overall, in ball screens including passes,
Speaker 2: he was ninety eight percent tile in efficiency one point
Speaker 2: three to three points per possession including passes. Albeit lowvall.
Speaker 2: He was only one hundred and forty reps all season long,
Speaker 2: so he was more of like a guy who's flying
Speaker 2: off the screens off ball, but he did have some
Speaker 2: on ball reps in ball screens. Not an ISO guy.
Speaker 2: He only ran sixteen ISOs all season, But as we know,
Speaker 2: within Boston's offense, he's not going to be used on
Speaker 2: the ball. What I think of him as within Boston,
Speaker 2: within the context of Boston's offense, is just a movement shooter,
Speaker 2: and he was a good movement shooter. Last year. He
Speaker 2: shot forty two percent coming off of screens. That was
Speaker 2: fifty five percent in effective field goal percentage when you
Speaker 2: weigh it for threes. Movement shooting in particular is very
Speaker 2: valuable within the context of Boston's offense. And the reason
Speaker 2: why is that's usually where you hide your weakest defender,
Speaker 2: right you hide your weakest defender typically on a movement
Speaker 2: shooter because they're not going to do as much stuff
Speaker 2: on the ball, and asking a guy just to chase
Speaker 2: and stay glued up to a shooter is probably the
Speaker 2: easiest defensive responsibility among all of the many different things
Speaker 2: that you can do at the NBA level. Aside from
Speaker 2: guarding a complete non threat offensively, guarding a movement shooter
Speaker 2: is the next easiest responsibility, right. So, like, that's where
Speaker 2: you tuck your weakest defender, right, So if you're tucking
Speaker 2: your weakest defender on, let's say Baylor Sirenman and you're
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum, or're Jalen Brown, or you're Derek White, you're
Speaker 2: trying to bring that weakest defender into the action. We
Speaker 2: saw this a lot in the finals when the the
Speaker 2: the Mavericks put when they put Luka Doncic onto Sam
Speaker 2: Houser right, and we saw lots of spamming Jalen Brown
Speaker 2: sam Houser two man game where Howser comes at the
Speaker 2: screen and Luca would end up switched on to Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown and then Jalen Brown would get downhill. And one
Speaker 2: of the reasons why that works is Sam Houser is
Speaker 2: a movement shooter, and so if Luca throws a hedge,
Speaker 2: then Houser can slip out of it and shoot a three.
Speaker 2: In Dallas, because Luca was so slow footed, they didn't
Speaker 2: have him hedge very much. They would just switch, and
Speaker 2: so as a result, that ended up with Luca on
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown or on Jason Tatum so much he'd give
Speaker 2: up dribble penetration and then their defense would fall apart.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So, like, in order to punish a team for throwing
Speaker 2: a hedge, or to force a team to switch an
Speaker 2: action like that, the guy has to be able to
Speaker 2: quickly slip out of the screen and knock down three
Speaker 2: point shots.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: That's the thing. If Sam Hauser was not a good
Speaker 2: movement shooter, then what Dallas would have done is either
Speaker 2: blitzed those ball screens or had Luca throw a hard
Speaker 2: hedge to cut off the driving lane and then recover
Speaker 2: to Hauser. They could not do that because if they did,
Speaker 2: they'd be giving wide open threes to Sam Hauser. That's
Speaker 2: what I like about the concept of a movement shooter
Speaker 2: within their offense. Right, teams are gonna tuck a weak
Speaker 2: defender on Baylor Shiremen then the Celtics can bring that
Speaker 2: defender into the action. They'll have no choice but to
Speaker 2: either hedge or to switch. And if they hedge, you're
Speaker 2: gonna be able to get Baylor wide open, catch and
Speaker 2: shoot threes on the move. If they switch, then Jason
Speaker 2: Tatum or Jaylen Brown can attack inferior individual defenders. That
Speaker 2: is the thing. It's it's part of it's fastating because
Speaker 2: it's clear that Brad Stevens has this like very clear
Speaker 2: basketball philosophy, right, and this is something that I think
Speaker 2: is important for a front office to have. You need
Speaker 2: to have like a year over year consistent philosophy. It
Speaker 2: tells me that you believe in something as a basketball mind.
Speaker 2: And it's clear that Brad Stevens wants everybody to be
Speaker 2: a threat. All eight rotation players for the Celtics last
Speaker 2: year were a threat. Baylor Shireman is going to be
Speaker 2: able to step onto an NBA floor immediately and take
Speaker 2: advantage of the attention that the Jays get, the attention
Speaker 2: that Derek White and Drew Holliday gets. He's going to
Speaker 2: get clean looks. Really, it just comes down to what
Speaker 2: he can do on the defensive end of the floor.
Speaker 2: Can he follow the path of Peyton, Pritchard and Sam
Speaker 2: Houser as lesser athletes who learn how to do well
Speaker 2: enough defensively to be a functional player that can stay
Speaker 2: on the floor. And I'd actually argue Pritchard and Howser
Speaker 2: both did a good job last year on the defensive
Speaker 2: end of the floor. Howser got multiple stops against Luca,
Speaker 2: Pritchard got multiple stops against Kyrie. Those guys did great, right,
Speaker 2: So the question is Cam Baylor shireman do that in
Speaker 2: a similar way to what Pritchard and Houser did. But
Speaker 2: I like it. It was just a It's a for
Speaker 2: a late first round pick to get a guy that
Speaker 2: can play rotation minutes in the NBA regular season and
Speaker 2: just kind of be another functional piece of that Boston
Speaker 2: five out attack. I really like the move.
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Speaker 2: What do you make of Ryan Dune at twenty two
Speaker 2: for Phoenix? His defensive tape is some of the best
Speaker 2: I have ever seen. Dude looks like Draymond out there sometimes.
Speaker 2: I had a lot of fun watching Ryan Dune this morning.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable defensive prospect, has great tools, unbelievable ground coverage, which
Speaker 2: is what we talked about a lot with Sam Vassini.
Speaker 2: If you guys remember, like his ability just to get
Speaker 2: from one part of the floor to the next is insane.
Speaker 2: I was watching film of him this morning, multiple plays
Speaker 2: one against Georgia Tech that I saw in one against
Speaker 2: Duke where he blitzed a ball screen out like thirty
Speaker 2: thirty five feet from the basket and then recovered. As
Speaker 2: the blitz came, the guard made the over the top
Speaker 2: pass to the short roll man. The short rollman came
Speaker 2: down the lane and engaged the low man and dropped
Speaker 2: it off to a cutter along the baseline. And on
Speaker 2: both plays, Ryan Dunn literally came from the blitz thirty
Speaker 2: thirty five feet away from the basket and recovered to
Speaker 2: the rim to block the guy cutting along the baseline.
Speaker 2: Imagine that like blitz, quick pass, over the top drop
Speaker 2: off for a cutter, and he was throwing the blitz
Speaker 2: and blocking the cutter at the rim multiple times in
Speaker 2: my film session this morning. That is ground coverage. That
Speaker 2: is the ability to be multiple places at once. He
Speaker 2: has the ability to throw an aggressive coverage to force
Speaker 2: a ball handler to get rid of the basketball and
Speaker 2: be the same guy who cleans up the mess that
Speaker 2: coverage produces on the back end. That is unbelievable defensive potential.
Speaker 2: He had crazy closeouts. There's just play against wake Forest
Speaker 2: where he got kind of caught. It was a cleared
Speaker 2: corner on the right side and the shooter was kind
Speaker 2: of relocating along the along the right wing and he
Speaker 2: got caught a little bit high and the swing pass
Speaker 2: was made and the offensive player caught it in the
Speaker 2: corner and done was way up on the high side,
Speaker 2: so there was an easy rip through move available. The
Speaker 2: way forest player rips to the baseline and Ryan Dunn
Speaker 2: closes out, chases him off the line, somehow manages to
Speaker 2: funnel and push him behind the backboard. The player tries
Speaker 2: to bully him back underneath the rim, Dune just swallows
Speaker 2: it up and swats him out of there, like just
Speaker 2: unbelievable ground coverage. He's a quick two foot jumper. He's
Speaker 2: got great instincts to kind of snuff out plays. It
Speaker 2: was just a lot of fun watching Ryan dun tape
Speaker 2: this morning. But at this point he's a legitimately bad
Speaker 2: offensive player. He was five for twenty seven on unguarded
Speaker 2: jump shots last year. That's an issue. He was fifty
Speaker 2: eight percent on layups. That's an issue for a player
Speaker 2: as big as he is. He can't put the.
Speaker 1: Ball on the floor.
Speaker 2: He can't make reads. So it's a developmental type of
Speaker 2: move for Phoenix right that if you can turn Ryan
Speaker 2: Dunn into a functional offensive player, then he suddenly becomes
Speaker 2: a huge asset for you as someone who roots for
Speaker 2: the Lakers. I can tell you have kind of had
Speaker 2: a similar experience further along with Jared Vanderbilt. Right, like
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt when he's actually like healthy, is one of
Speaker 2: the best perimeter defenders in the league, who's also an
Speaker 2: excellent defensive rebounder, who also is an excellent help side defender.
Speaker 2: He's this like Swiss army knife, do everything type of
Speaker 2: athlete that can do so much, but it's just really
Speaker 2: difficult to find a functional role for him. Two years
Speaker 2: ago when they made the Western Conference Finals run, he
Speaker 2: was such a bad corner three point shooter and he
Speaker 2: kept getting those wide open corner threes that it became
Speaker 2: an issue and the Lakers had to bench him. But
Speaker 2: that was in a four out offense where he was
Speaker 2: consistently spotting up beyond the three point line. Suddenly, in
Speaker 2: the springtime this year, before Vanderbilt got hurt, the Lakers
Speaker 2: actually managed to build a functional role for him as
Speaker 2: a dribble, handoff and roll guy, kind of like as
Speaker 2: a cutter. He was operating a lot more in movement
Speaker 2: in the floor rather than standing still in the corner,
Speaker 2: and he had a bunch of double figure scoring games
Speaker 2: and became like legitimately a functional part of the Laker offense,
Speaker 2: and that was when they were playing some of their
Speaker 2: best basketball in that time period, Right, So, like, that's
Speaker 2: what you've got to do with Ryan Dunn. You've just
Speaker 2: got to find a way to make him useful offensively.
Speaker 2: If you do, then he becomes this profoundly impactful player
Speaker 2: because of what he can do on the defensive end
Speaker 2: of the floor. But I just have a hard time
Speaker 2: believing that within the short term they're gonna be able
Speaker 2: to get enough out of him offensively for him to
Speaker 2: be a guy who's like a significant rotation player for them.
Speaker 2: But we will see, and Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and
Speaker 2: Bradley be able to do bring in a lot of attention,
Speaker 2: and so if there's anything in there for him in
Speaker 2: terms of functional offensive ability, this is a situation where
Speaker 2: he should be able to show that, But we will see.
Speaker 2: I kind of view him as more of a long
Speaker 2: term prospect for Phoenix. I'm gonna leave you, guys before
Speaker 2: we go to the next question with this quote from
Speaker 2: Sam Vassini. As you guys know, he's the guy that
Speaker 2: I trust the most when it comes to the draft.
Speaker 2: He said, quote, I cannot overemphasize Dunn's defensive level. He
Speaker 2: is in the top tier among all wings I've evaluated
Speaker 2: over the last decade and is on an All defense
Speaker 2: candidate long term and is an all defense candidate long
Speaker 2: term if his offense allows him to stay on the court.
Speaker 2: I thought he was one of the two most disruptive
Speaker 2: defenders in college basketball this season. That's quote from Sam Vassini.
Speaker 2: By the way, guys, he's he's literally the best. Is
Speaker 2: A draft guide that he has on the athletic is
Speaker 2: unbelievably comprehensive as information on family background, tons of information
Speaker 2: on strengths and weaknesses, extensive statistical history. It's just you
Speaker 2: guys got to check it out. He also will bring
Speaker 2: those guys on his show and go over tape on
Speaker 2: his YouTube channel. Like I can't say enough about the
Speaker 2: quality of Sam's content. You guys got to get over
Speaker 2: there and check him out. Next question, this was an
Speaker 2: interesting one. Which is the better foundation for a modern
Speaker 2: NBA roster a star guard center combo like Chet and
Speaker 2: Shake Kild justs Alexander or two star wings like Jalen
Speaker 2: and Jason for starters. I don't want this to become
Speaker 2: a debate about specific players. Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum
Speaker 2: at this point in their careers are a better duo
Speaker 2: than shake Yieldess Alexander and chet Holmgren. They're older, they're
Speaker 2: more experienced. They're just better basketball players right now. So
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to make it an argument between those
Speaker 2: two pairs.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Also, the Jays play alongside two thirty million dollar guards
Speaker 2: and a thirty million dollar center, so they kind of
Speaker 2: have that and the guard center combo, right, So, like
Speaker 2: it's just not even remotely comparable. I don't even want
Speaker 2: to get into that. So let's remove the names and
Speaker 2: let's just talk about the gist of the question. Would
Speaker 2: you rather have a guard center duo as a foundation
Speaker 2: or a Ford ford duo as a foundation? And my
Speaker 2: answer is pretty simple. It totally depends on the physical
Speaker 2: build of the players. Is the guard a good point
Speaker 2: of attack defender with size who can switch on to wings.
Speaker 2: Is the center a legit rim protector, but one that
Speaker 2: can also switch onto guards and slide his feet and
Speaker 2: guard in space. If so, I want the guard in
Speaker 2: the big and the reason why is they are more versatile.
Speaker 2: A guard center duo can attack and defend in multiple ways.
Speaker 2: On offense, they can run pick and roll, they can
Speaker 2: run pick and pop, but they can also match up
Speaker 2: Hunt with size and quickness. Right Like Chet in the
Speaker 2: long run will be able to beat switches by just
Speaker 2: shooting over the top and using his size. Shay gets
Speaker 2: a big on a switch, he's gonna be able to
Speaker 2: drive off of him or score with his like kind
Speaker 2: of step back mid range game. Right. So like a
Speaker 2: guard center combo can attack in traditional pick and roll,
Speaker 2: traditional pick and pop, and in switch situations attack matchups right.
Speaker 2: On defense, you can run a deep drop coverage right,
Speaker 2: you can keep Chet holmgun buy the rim and a
Speaker 2: drop right. You can play aggressive comfort coverages with him
Speaker 2: using his length, and you can switch. You can have
Speaker 2: Chet guard a guard on the Perimeter's got the length
Speaker 2: and quickness to kind of handle that sort of thing, right, Like,
Speaker 2: if you've got a guard that is also big enough
Speaker 2: to switch onto forwards, into guard in space, and to
Speaker 2: guard in the post and things along those lines. That
Speaker 2: is the versatility element that comes from a guard center combo.
Speaker 2: If you have wings, they're just a little bit more
Speaker 2: focused in what they can do right right, Like they're
Speaker 2: always going to be a switching look on defense. Can't
Speaker 2: run a drop coverage with a forward. They're just not
Speaker 2: tall enough to bother lob passes, right, So like you're
Speaker 2: gonna be you're gonna be switching almost exclusively with that
Speaker 2: type of kind of construction. And for the record, that's
Speaker 2: what the Celtics do a lot of switching. And then
Speaker 2: they run drop with chrisops porzingis right, who's their rim protector,
Speaker 2: kind of fitting the mold of this question right. And
Speaker 2: then on the on the offensive end of the floor,
Speaker 2: if you don't have a versatile offensive center, then scoring
Speaker 2: and pick and roll is harder. Just asking just just
Speaker 2: just take a look at that Dallas Minnesota series, right,
Speaker 2: like you've got you've got Rudy Gobert setting screens and
Speaker 2: rolling into the lane. It's an issue, right, It's hard
Speaker 2: to score that way. And so basically, like if you
Speaker 2: have a four type of setup where you just have
Speaker 2: a couple of scoring forwards, they're primarily gonna be hunting matchups.
Speaker 2: It's uniquely Chet's ability, or let's just say a star
Speaker 2: center's ability to function in multiple different ways offensively to
Speaker 2: be a dribble handoff Fulkrum, to be a pick and
Speaker 2: pop guy, to be a pick and roll guy, to
Speaker 2: be a guy who can be a vertical spacer in
Speaker 2: the dunker spot, like that dunk he had in Game
Speaker 2: six that put the put the Thunder up one before
Speaker 2: the final possession, just him sitting under the basket and
Speaker 2: just being a release valve for a quick little lob
Speaker 2: pass for a dunk. Like There's just a lot of
Speaker 2: different ways that those guys can look to attack on
Speaker 2: offense and on defense. You can run drop, you can
Speaker 2: run aggressive coverages, you can switch, and so again, like
Speaker 2: the guard center duo just has more versatility in the
Speaker 2: way that they can play on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 2: That said, it has to do with the physical build,
Speaker 2: because if the guard center duo involves some limitations, then
Speaker 2: it doesn't function as well. Right. Let's take Trey Young
Speaker 2: and Anthony Davis for instance. This is a trade that
Speaker 2: has been proposed a lot over the course of the
Speaker 2: last few months involving the Lakers and the Hawks. It's
Speaker 2: a trade I do not want to see. The main
Speaker 2: reason why is that's a small guard who cannot defend
Speaker 2: in multiple different ways in a big and Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: that can't shoot. So now most of those advantages that
Speaker 2: I just discussed don't exist. Your optionality on defense is
Speaker 2: not there. You pretty much have to either hide Tray
Speaker 2: somewhere or ask him to chase over the top of screens.
Speaker 2: You can't get away with a ton of switching with
Speaker 2: Trey Young on the floor, right, So like your optionality
Speaker 2: goes away. So it's a complicated question. If I had
Speaker 2: to pick between a big guard who is versaal and
Speaker 2: can defend multiple ways and a seven foot rim protector
Speaker 2: that has guard skills, then I want that over two wings.
Speaker 2: But if it's a tiny guard and just a rim
Speaker 2: protector that doesn't have a ton of versatility, then obviously
Speaker 2: I'd take the forwards. And that's why these kinds of
Speaker 2: conversations are always difficult, because it really has to do
Speaker 2: with just how good are you at basketball overall? Because
Speaker 2: you know, that sort of thing kind of complicates this questions,
Speaker 2: these questions. But foundationally, give me a versaal guard and
Speaker 2: a versaonal center just because I have more different, more
Speaker 2: coverage options on both ends of the four. Next question,
Speaker 2: why didn't the Thunder trade for KD They have the picks.
Speaker 2: I think the fit on defense would be awesome, as
Speaker 2: he can give them the length and maybe the rebounding
Speaker 2: that they need. And offensively he fits everywhere also would
Speaker 2: be a great story. And if he helps okay so
Speaker 2: you get a title, he can kind of redeem his
Speaker 2: whole career. It's just about the timelines. Kd's going to
Speaker 2: be thirty six by the start of training camp, and
Speaker 2: like you're looking for sustainable success. If you're Oklahoma City,
Speaker 2: like you trade for KD, You're the title favorite next year,
Speaker 2: no doubt, But any sort of injury disrupts that. Now
Speaker 2: Kd's thirty seven the following season, Like you're Sam Presty
Speaker 2: and those guys are going to be looking for sustainable success.
Speaker 2: It's like the it's kind of like what we've heard
Speaker 2: out of Denver. It's like they're more interested in winning
Speaker 2: three titles in five years than one title next year.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense? And so I think as much
Speaker 2: as Katie is a perfect fit, they got to look
Speaker 2: for somebody that matches their timeline better. Also, the Suns
Speaker 2: would want win now pieces, not picks. Okoloma City has
Speaker 2: more to offer in the way of picks. It just
Speaker 2: isn't a really good trade partnership in that regard. Next question,
Speaker 2: what about Denver getting to Dyron Holmes. Well, this is
Speaker 2: going to be our third draft evaluation here in the show,
Speaker 2: or fourth, I should say. It's just clear that Denver
Speaker 2: is trying to find a long term option at backup center.
Speaker 2: Daron Olmes is considered undersized for an NBA center. He's
Speaker 2: only six foot eight and three quarters without shoes, but
Speaker 2: he does have a longer wingspan and a higher standing
Speaker 2: reach than Zeke Naji, so he's a bigger frame than
Speaker 2: what they had at backup center last year. Obviously, I
Speaker 2: don't think DeAndre Jordan is an option either. Obviously I
Speaker 2: covered him with the Lakers, and yeah, his moments with Denver,
Speaker 2: but all of you guys who are fans know exactly
Speaker 2: what DeAndre Jordan is. He's a locker room guy, right.
Speaker 2: But what I like about de Ron Holmes is he's
Speaker 2: a prototypical five out big, especially on the offensive end
Speaker 2: of the fourdy He's one of the best role men
Speaker 2: in the country last year. He can roll hard and
Speaker 2: finish lobs above the rim. He can short roll out
Speaker 2: of traps, and he can pass pretty well out of
Speaker 2: those situations and he kind of demonstrated a little bit
Speaker 2: of a pick and pop game last year for Dayton.
Speaker 2: He's a really quick decision maker and ball mover. This
Speaker 2: is one of my favorite things about a center who
Speaker 2: plays in a five out system. You've got to be
Speaker 2: able to quickly flow into the next action. And one
Speaker 2: of the things I like about de Ron Holmes is
Speaker 2: when he catches on the perimeter, he makes quick decisions.
Speaker 2: If he doesn't see something that he likes as a
Speaker 2: shot attempt or as a role attempt, he's just going
Speaker 2: to quickly either make it out, let pass and go
Speaker 2: set the next screen, or flow into a dribble handoff.
Speaker 2: Like you'll watch these possessions where you'll see Darren Holmes
Speaker 2: set five ball screens and he's just like flowing into
Speaker 2: the next one, gets it, flows into the next one,
Speaker 2: rescreen rescreen, like the dude is just a super active
Speaker 2: set in five out that greases the wheels in the
Speaker 2: sense that he just flows into the next action. And
Speaker 2: as we know, in five out, ball reversal is vitally
Speaker 2: important getting the defense to switch sides, and the only
Speaker 2: way you're gonna do that is if you have a
Speaker 2: big that can quickly flow into actions on both ends
Speaker 2: of the floor. I just think he's gonna be a
Speaker 2: really natural offensive fit with Jamal Murray, a really nice
Speaker 2: ball screen partner. And we think about those bench units
Speaker 2: when Yo kich is off the floor. Especially in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: it's been mostly Aaron Gordon at center, and they're probably
Speaker 2: still gonna do that when they get into the postseason
Speaker 2: next year. But in the regular season last year, it
Speaker 2: was a lot of Zeke Nagy, Right. This gives you
Speaker 2: kind of like more of a traditional center type of
Speaker 2: option to run with Jamal Murray in those situations, so
Speaker 2: that Jamal can kind of run a similar style of
Speaker 2: offense to what he runs with Nikola jokicch and the
Speaker 2: sense that there's gonna be flow, he's gonna be coming
Speaker 2: off of dribbil handoffs. He's gonna have an option to
Speaker 2: throw in the short role that can make quick decisions,
Speaker 2: a guy who can hit picking pop threes. Again, Like
Speaker 2: the main issue with him as size, and that's what
Speaker 2: everyone's gonna be talking about as a negative, like will
Speaker 2: he be able to defend and rebound at the NBA level.
Speaker 2: But the Nuggets don't need him to become a starter.
Speaker 2: They just need him to be able to play when
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic is off the floor, right, So like that's
Speaker 2: an advantage Denver can give him an achievable role in
Speaker 2: the way that if you were drafting him as a
Speaker 2: foundational piece to be your starting center, then those concerns
Speaker 2: about defensive rebounding and size in general become an issue.
Speaker 2: But like I like this move for Denver. If you
Speaker 2: look at the center market, it just isn't great this
Speaker 2: summer in terms of free agency, So the draft was
Speaker 2: just a great place to look for discounted options. Holmes
Speaker 2: was actually one of the guys that I had my
Speaker 2: eye on for the Lakers at seventeen because they also
Speaker 2: need a better option at backup center. So I really
Speaker 2: like this pick up for Denver as a discount just
Speaker 2: a functional five out big that can set screens and
Speaker 2: roll and pop and at least try on the defensive
Speaker 2: end of the floor to do an effective job in
Speaker 2: those bench units for Denver. Next question, what do you
Speaker 2: think about the Washington Portland trade. I view it as
Speaker 2: a pretty weird move by the Wizards, especially after a
Speaker 2: big leap season from Avidya, which still has a lot
Speaker 2: of upside. I was surprised too. Denny was already tied
Speaker 2: up on an extension that has descending numbers, So like
Speaker 2: in the year twenty twenty eight, Denny Avdy is going
Speaker 2: to be making less than twelve million dollars, and I'm
Speaker 2: pretty sure that's after the new TV deal kicks in.
Speaker 2: So that's like, a, that's pretty crazy. I figured Dave
Speaker 2: trade Kyle Kuzma. He has more trade value around the league.
Speaker 2: Excuse me, he has more trade value around the league,
Speaker 2: and he's on a more expensive deal, so you could
Speaker 2: get more back in terms of trade return. And maybe
Speaker 2: they still will trade Kuzma, So we'll see in the
Speaker 2: long run. But I just looked at it as like
Speaker 2: an asset accumulation move, Like they clearly did not view
Speaker 2: Avdia as a foundational piece, otherwise you would have kept him. Right,
Speaker 2: They got the fourteenth pick in this draft, which they
Speaker 2: used on bub Carrington, who's got a big kind of
Speaker 2: scoring guard. Right, they got a future first round draft
Speaker 2: pick out of it, and the Malcolm Brogden, who they
Speaker 2: might be able to flip for even more draft compensation
Speaker 2: this summer. Right, so like they're just trying to start
Speaker 2: their rebuild, Right, I should say, restart their rebuild right
Speaker 2: like they took Alex Sar at number two. You're going
Speaker 2: all in on youth. If you have a guy in
Speaker 2: the rebuild that doesn't fit your timeline or doesn't fit
Speaker 2: the build that you're going for, you got to move
Speaker 2: in for compensation. That's what they did with Avdya as
Speaker 2: far as Portland goes. From what I understand, it was
Speaker 2: just a move about saving money because apparently they're in
Speaker 2: the luxury tax Yeah, you heard that right. The Blazers
Speaker 2: are a luxury tax team right now. Before the deal,
Speaker 2: they had four players on the books for next season,
Speaker 2: combining to make one hundred and twelve million dollars in trading.
Speaker 2: Malcolm Brogden helps them relieve some of that. Next question,
Speaker 2: what makes you think JJ's going to run five? That
Speaker 2: isn't Darvin's team anymore. JJ Redick's offensive pilosophy is five out.
Speaker 2: It's also the setup that most benefits this roster. The
Speaker 2: stretch that they had in the second half of the
Speaker 2: season was the best offensive basketball the Lakers have played
Speaker 2: in the Lebron era. It's just what makes the most
Speaker 2: sense given their personnel. I think JJ's gonna add complications
Speaker 2: and make it even better. I think he's gonna help
Speaker 2: them get it to the next level. And then the
Speaker 2: Lakers do not have a movement shooter, and so bringing
Speaker 2: Dalton Connect into that situation is a huge value in
Speaker 2: five out. When you have these bigs running these dribble
Speaker 2: handoffs and ball screens, having a guy that can fly
Speaker 2: off of that and if you're not attached, can shoot.
Speaker 2: That forces the screen defender to actually show on Dalton
Speaker 2: Connect as he's coming off of those actions. That's what
Speaker 2: opens up roles and slips for Anthony Davis and Lebron James.
Speaker 2: That's a dynamic in the offense that wasn't there last year.
Speaker 2: So JJ is a five out coach, it's the perfect
Speaker 2: fit for this roster. And with him just kind of
Speaker 2: adding complications. In the addition of Dalton Connect, I just
Speaker 2: expect a better version of the Laker off heading into
Speaker 2: next year. Why do you talk about Julius Randall as
Speaker 2: if he's just some sort of ancillary piece and not
Speaker 2: a two time All NBA player that is a key
Speaker 2: cog on this team. I have a ton of respect
Speaker 2: for Julius Randall. I think he is a player that's
Speaker 2: a little bit underrated in terms of what his ceiling is,
Speaker 2: as we've seen him make all NBA teams before. It
Speaker 2: has a couple It has to do with a couple
Speaker 2: of things. One, injury history has just been consistently unavailable
Speaker 2: and as a result unavailable and or playing injured, which
Speaker 2: has led to poor results. That's been part of it.
Speaker 2: And then two it's I don't think it's the right
Speaker 2: type of fit with this offense. The Knicks, I think
Speaker 2: are going to be a pretty active five out team
Speaker 2: next year with a lot of ball in player movement.
Speaker 2: Julius Randall is a ball stopper. In order to play
Speaker 2: in five out you have to be able to read
Speaker 2: and react and make quick decisions, and those are not
Speaker 2: strengths for Randalls. So it's not about whether or not
Speaker 2: Randall's good enough to be your second or third best
Speaker 2: player on a championship team. It has everything to do
Speaker 2: with whether or not he's the appropriate use of resources
Speaker 2: for this team, because he does make a lot of money.
Speaker 2: Because you do need to get a player that can
Speaker 2: play alongside McHale, bridges In Jalen Brunson and Dante Devincenzo
Speaker 2: and og And andob and So here's the thing. You
Speaker 2: just look at the trade market. And by the way,
Speaker 2: I in my breakdown talked about what it would look
Speaker 2: like if Randall stays. Randal stays, I'd probably take Dante
Speaker 2: Devincenzo to the bench and play mckal bridges at the two.
Speaker 2: I'm a big believer in like play your best players,
Speaker 2: So like I'd play Brunson, Bridges og Randall. You know,
Speaker 2: just just go all in your on your talent. If
Speaker 2: you do that, you have a small ball look for
Speaker 2: the Celtics where you can play Devincenzo at the two
Speaker 2: and play Bridges, An andob and Randall at the three
Speaker 2: four five. Like there's a version of this that works
Speaker 2: with Randall. My thing is I would just I would
Speaker 2: pruise the market. I'd pruise the market, and I would
Speaker 2: just look to see what you can get for Randall,
Speaker 2: because if you can get quality pieces or assets back
Speaker 2: that fit the actual motion of the team better, then
Speaker 2: that makes sense to me. Or like, like, let's say,
Speaker 2: for instance, from a money standpoint, what if you have
Speaker 2: the ability to withstand a lot long term deal for
Speaker 2: Isaiah Hartenstein by virtue of getting rid of Randall. I'd
Speaker 2: rather have Hartenstein at the five alongside Anonobe, Bridges, Devincenzo,
Speaker 2: and Brunson than have Randall on the team, but lose
Speaker 2: Isaiah Hartenstein a free agency right. So like they just
Speaker 2: got to figure out what makes the most sense in
Speaker 2: terms of what Randall's value is this summer. But at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, I just view him as
Speaker 2: a little bit of a clunky fit, even if I
Speaker 2: do respect him as a player, and so I would
Speaker 2: at least be exploring options to make better use of
Speaker 2: his salary slot. Next question, my buddies were having an
Speaker 2: argument on whether or not Caruso should start over Dort.
Speaker 2: I'm of the belief that Dort would be better in
Speaker 2: their driving kick offense than Cruso, but Cruso on some
Speaker 2: nights might be on the floor and closing lineups over
Speaker 2: Dort because of his knack to make winning plays. Also,
Speaker 2: my buddy feels like Chet is best with this group
Speaker 2: at the five, but I feel like they should look
Speaker 2: at him at the four. What are your thoughts couple things.
Speaker 2: Let's start with Chet as far as whether or not
Speaker 2: he plays the four or the five. It all just
Speaker 2: depends on what kind of player. Like if you're getting
Speaker 2: Isaiah Hartenstein at the center. I like that alongside Chet
Speaker 2: at the four because Isaiah Hartenstein is just a complete
Speaker 2: just just a pain in the ass on the glass right,
Speaker 2: which would address a specific need for Oklahoma City. He's
Speaker 2: a great five out, big, great dribble handoff folkram who
Speaker 2: can score on the roll and is a great offensive rebounder,
Speaker 2: also a great passer out of those situations. Love the
Speaker 2: fit there. Chet is a shoe in obvious fit at
Speaker 2: the four. If that's the case, I like Chet at
Speaker 2: the five if you can get him a big power forward,
Speaker 2: Like if you got a Jeremy Grant at that position.
Speaker 2: I like Jeremy Grant Chet home grind four to five.
Speaker 2: It all just depends on the type of player you
Speaker 2: can get. I don't want Chet at the four next
Speaker 2: to a bad center, and I don't want Shed at
Speaker 2: the five next to a bad power forward. It just
Speaker 2: depends on what kind of player that you can get.
Speaker 2: As far as Cruso and Dort, they're two very different
Speaker 2: types of players. Dort is like a more confident shooter
Speaker 2: and a guy that has a little bit more offensive upside,
Speaker 2: but Cruso is a higher floor offensive player. He is
Speaker 2: a better decision maker. He's not going to hijack as
Speaker 2: many possessions, really active off ball as a screener and
Speaker 2: a cutter watching him play on offense alongside Lebron James
Speaker 2: as a as a result of that kind of thing,
Speaker 2: I think defensively, he's a different type of player. I
Speaker 2: think Cruso is probably a better defensive player in terms
Speaker 2: of the overall number of guys he can guard. But Dort,
Speaker 2: I think is better for the bigger forwards, which is
Speaker 2: especially valuable in the later rounds of the playoffs when
Speaker 2: you run into your Lucas and your Tatum's and your
Speaker 2: Lebron's and your Kds and your Kawhi Leonards and just
Speaker 2: those all these huge forwards that we have in the league. So,
Speaker 2: like Dort, in all in all likelihood, it's it's just
Speaker 2: it's just optionality, right, Like there will be games where
Speaker 2: you close with jub Shay, Dort, Crusoe and Chet. There
Speaker 2: will be games where you close with Cruso in for
Speaker 2: Dort and with another big on the floor. There will
Speaker 2: be games where Cruso doesn't close, right, So like it's
Speaker 2: all about optional. Optionality is a good thing. You have
Speaker 2: the ability to tweak your approach based on your opponent,
Speaker 2: And so again you can't have enough. You can't have
Speaker 2: too many good basketball players, right and Cruso is just
Speaker 2: another really good basketball player. And again you turn the
Speaker 2: players didn't fit in your team and giddy into a
Speaker 2: player and cruise so that you're gonna be able to
Speaker 2: play one way or another. It is just a question
Speaker 2: of how often. Next question, with the Knicks acquiring McHale Bridges,
Speaker 2: do you now have them as the second best team
Speaker 2: in the East. If so, who would you have as
Speaker 2: your top four teams in these absolutely would have the
Speaker 2: Knicks at number two right now. I think Milwaukee and
Speaker 2: Philly will end up being the three and four, and
Speaker 2: both of those teams are capable of passing the Knicks
Speaker 2: for me at number two. But it's just so much
Speaker 2: as up in the air with them. I have no
Speaker 2: idea what Philly's roster is going to look like next year,
Speaker 2: and I have no idea what Milwaukee's roster is going
Speaker 2: to look like next year. Philly damn near has a
Speaker 2: clean cap sheet, and Milwaukee is probably going to look
Speaker 2: to make several trades this summer. So like, I just
Speaker 2: don't know what those teams are gonna look like I
Speaker 2: also think Orlando could crack into that mix this year,
Speaker 2: especially if they get some more off ball shooting. Like
Speaker 2: the East is gonna be tougher next year and certainly
Speaker 2: more deep with talent. But I think at this point,
Speaker 2: given what we know for sure, I think the Knicks
Speaker 2: are clearly the second best team in the league. Did
Speaker 2: you watch the JJ Reddick press conference. I think he
Speaker 2: showed that he has the right mentality about taking the
Speaker 2: job and knows what he's getting into and still seemed
Speaker 2: very confident. His answers in Chrismo were very impressive. In
Speaker 2: my opinion, I think he'll be able to connect with
Speaker 2: the players. Well, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Everyone
Speaker 2: knew JJ was gonna n aile the press conference. I
Speaker 2: liked the JJ higher, but the press conference for me
Speaker 2: wasn't going to be a major swing factor in that regard.
Speaker 2: Is just he's a professional. He's ammediate professional. Like it's
Speaker 2: just like he's good at being in front of camera
Speaker 2: and communicating his thoughts. And the thing that stood out
Speaker 2: to me like his attitude came through in a big way,
Speaker 2: which is like we see JJ Reddick as the media professional,
Speaker 2: but we forget he was a basketball asshole. And that's
Speaker 2: a good thing in my opinion, right, Like, that's the competitiveness, right,
Speaker 2: Like that's the best kind of guy that you want,
Speaker 2: is the guy that, like, when it's go time is
Speaker 2: a motherfucker, and then when it's off the court is
Speaker 2: a nice guy. Right, And like that's the kind of
Speaker 2: like competitive energy that you're looking for.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: You don't want him to grade on people behind the scenes,
Speaker 2: but you need him to be in the trenches warrior,
Speaker 2: right like it. And so that's kind of what I'm
Speaker 2: hoping for from JJ is the ability to do both,
Speaker 2: the ability to be diplomatic, the ability to be an asshole.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: And if you can do both, that's what gives you
Speaker 2: the ability to kind of like pick your spots of
Speaker 2: when to be hard and when to not. To identify
Speaker 2: different personality types, like, oh, this guy needs positive reinforcement,
Speaker 2: this guy needs negative reinforcement. As a basketball player, I
Speaker 2: needed negative reinforcement. I needed a guy. I needed my
Speaker 2: coaches to name call and tell me to stop being
Speaker 2: a bitch and to do that sort of that sort
Speaker 2: of thing resonated with me better. But I had teammates
Speaker 2: that like needed more coddling, that needed more positive reinforcement, right,
Speaker 2: and so like it just it's that's the type of
Speaker 2: personality dynamic that JJ is gonna have to to figure out.
Speaker 2: And I actually think he's got the ability to do both.
Speaker 2: Like he can do the good cop bad cop thing,
Speaker 2: and he can bring that competitive energy. I think, Like
Speaker 2: I think the attitude about when he got asked the
Speaker 2: question about when he got asked the question where he
Speaker 2: basically said, like, I don't give a when he was
Speaker 2: talking about what people think, Like, I think that energy
Speaker 2: will serve him well because this is a job that's
Speaker 2: gonna come with a lot of criticism, this is a
Speaker 2: job that's gonna come with a lot of negative energy online,
Speaker 2: and there's gonna be a certain amount of mental toughness
Speaker 2: that he's gonna have to show. But did the press
Speaker 2: conference surprise me in anyway? No, JJ's a professional. But
Speaker 2: I just I loved it. We got to see a
Speaker 2: little bit of his nasty side because I think that's
Speaker 2: gonna be a significant part of what makes him a
Speaker 2: good coach. All Right, we have three non basketball things
Speaker 2: before we get out of here. Jason, I'm listening to
Speaker 2: basketball content. I don't want spoilers for an episode I
Speaker 2: haven't seen yet. That's not cool. I am sincerely sorry.
Speaker 2: In our we did a mail bag, not a mail bag.
Speaker 2: I had a comment about the Acolyte the other day
Speaker 2: and I kind of spoiled what happens in the first
Speaker 2: couple of minutes of the show, and I should not
Speaker 2: have done that. That was a mistake. I am so sorry.
Speaker 2: Second one, comments about my nose. There were like twenty
Speaker 2: or thirty of you guys who asked what happened to
Speaker 2: my nose? I had that scratch on it. Those of
Speaker 2: you who guessed basketball were correct. I was high pointing
Speaker 2: a rebound and a guard tried to like swipe up
Speaker 2: at the basketball as I was coming down with it
Speaker 2: and like just missed everything, and like it was weird,
Speaker 2: like just straight up came across the tip of my
Speaker 2: nose with his fingernail, so like I didn't bust my
Speaker 2: nose or anything, but I just had this like really
Speaker 2: clean cut, which was super bizarre, like immediately started bleeding
Speaker 2: and everything. I obviously was super annoyed, but it is
Speaker 2: what it is. It's part of the game. I'm actually
Speaker 2: I was actually thinking about it. I am shocked that
Speaker 2: that hasn't happened to me more often since I started
Speaker 2: doing this, Cause, like I've been doing this on camera
Speaker 2: every day for two and a half years, and this
Speaker 2: is the first time I've had like a significant, like
Speaker 2: obvious face injury, right, And like it's not the first
Speaker 2: time it's happened to be playing basketball. I've got busted
Speaker 2: in the nose a bunch of times. I've had cuts
Speaker 2: and scratches, And I remember when I was just before
Speaker 2: I started playing in college. I was playing pickup at
Speaker 2: the University of Arizona one time, and this guy tried
Speaker 2: to take a charge on me at half court. Like
Speaker 2: I made a move in the open floor, running full speed,
Speaker 2: and the dude's slid in front of me and fell
Speaker 2: down and I ran into his head, and I had
Speaker 2: like an inch long Harry Potter scar which I still
Speaker 2: have right here, that goes up my forehead literally split open.
Speaker 2: He was bleeding. Ever, it was actually kind of funny
Speaker 2: because the kid who did it was a med student.
Speaker 2: So like suddenly as soon as I am like laying
Speaker 2: on the ground bleeding everywhere, the guy like started taking
Speaker 2: care of me as if he was a medical professional,
Speaker 2: and it was so funny because he was doing he
Speaker 2: was super nice and he was doing all the right
Speaker 2: things and he was just trying to take care of me.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I'm like, you just took
Speaker 2: a charge on me in a pickup game at half court.
Speaker 2: Now my forehead's busted. I was just I was so
Speaker 2: damn annoyed. But it's part of the game. Like I
Speaker 2: played basketball competitively four or five times a week, and
Speaker 2: so it's not the first time or it is. It's
Speaker 2: not the first time I've had a scratch on my
Speaker 2: face or some sort of laceration from basketball, and it
Speaker 2: probably won't be the last. And thankful that it hasn't
Speaker 2: happened too many times since I got started with the volume.
Speaker 2: Last question, Hey, Jason, loved the show. Wanted to start
Speaker 2: watching Star Wars, but I don't know where to start.
Speaker 2: Do you have any ideas? And again, before I get
Speaker 2: into this, I wanted to remind you guys, I do
Speaker 2: have a podcast where I cover TV shows and movies.
Speaker 2: Right now, I'm covering House of the Dragon as well
Speaker 2: as The Acolyte. I do it with my buddy Luke,
Speaker 2: who's my best friend. We do it right here in
Speaker 2: this studio. Very different vibe than Hoops Tonight, but it's
Speaker 2: another format that I use. This is the name of
Speaker 2: the show. It's called Two Sons as spelled exactly as
Speaker 2: it sounds. You can find it on YouTube as well
Speaker 2: as on your podcast feeds wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: We do pretty much like bi weekly content on that account.
Speaker 2: You guys can check that out there. But no secret,
Speaker 2: I'm a diehard Star Wars fan, and if you were
Speaker 2: starting from scratch with Star Wars, I'd start with the
Speaker 2: movies and I do them in order because I think
Speaker 2: that would make the most sense. So I'd watch Phantom Menace,
Speaker 2: Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, then a
Speaker 2: New Hope, Empire strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. The
Speaker 2: sequel trilogy sucks, but you gotta watch it, just by
Speaker 2: virtue of just being aware of what happened after that.
Speaker 2: Clone Wars and Rebels are really really good. Those are two.
Speaker 2: There are two cartoons that are on Disney Plus. But
Speaker 2: don't let the cartoon thing fool you. They are like deep, deep,
Speaker 2: deep Star Wars content. There's a little bit of like
Speaker 2: a childish element that you'll run into on occasional episodes,
Speaker 2: but the majority of it is really good. Rebels in
Speaker 2: particular was just an awesome, awesome show. All the Disney
Speaker 2: Plus content is good. Mandalorian Kenobi was good, Ahsoka the Acolyte,
Speaker 2: and then books if you're into the book side of it,
Speaker 2: Darth Baine books are really good. The Darth Plagis book
Speaker 2: is really good. The Throng books are some of my favorites.
Speaker 2: They're getting into thrown in the Ahsoka TV series that
Speaker 2: would be a good one. And then if you had
Speaker 2: the High Republic, a series I'm struggling with right now
Speaker 2: because it's a little bit weird, but that is some
Speaker 2: stuff that helps set up the world for the Acolytes,
Speaker 2: so it might be worth checking out. But that's just
Speaker 2: like an initial kind of list if you're looking to
Speaker 2: get into Star Wars. But again, those of you guys
Speaker 2: who are already fans, don't forget I had that other
Speaker 2: podcast for where we break that sort of thing down.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: That is all I have for today is always sincerely
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show,
Speaker 2: for taking the rest of the weekend off, and we
Speaker 2: will be back on Monday. For the start of free agency,
Speaker 2: and I will see you guys.
Speaker 1: Then the volume