WEBVTT - Nuggets best team in NBA, Thunder title defense, Timberwolves leap | Northwest Division Predictions 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:17.080 The volume. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.320 the volume heavy Friday, everybody hopefull you guys are having 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.400 a great end of your week. We are continuing our 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.560 season preview series today with the Northwest Division, so that's 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.600 the Denver Nuggets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves, 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.919 the Portland Trailblazers, and the Utah Jazz. We're gonna be 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:34.479 touching on all five of those teams today. You guys 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:36.040 are the Joe before we get started. To subscribe to 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:37.920 the Hoops and I YouTube channel so you don't miss 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.760 any more of our videos. 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Our next mail bag will 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:08.319 be the week after we finish this season preview series. 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.720 All right, let's talk some basketball. So we're starting with 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:15.040 the Denver Nuggets today. A little quick recap of their offseason. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:19.760 They lost Vlaco Konsar, They lost DeAndre Jordan, Michael Porter, Junior, 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:26.040 Dario Sarich, and Russell Westbrook. They added Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway, Junior, 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:30.759 Bruce Brown, Jonas Valenschiunis, and essentially adding Deron Holmes who's 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:34.360 coming back from an achilles tear, a guy who was 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.360 drafted in the first round last year but got hurt 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.640 in training camp, I believe, or either right before training camp, 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:42.640 but he's gonna be coming back this season. Then another 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.040 guy they added this summer that I'm gonna have my 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.400 eye on is Kessler Edwards. I'll have to compete for 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.080 a roster spot. But his per thirty six numbers were 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.880 pretty impressive last season. In addition to being a big, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.880 physical perimeter athlete, he averaged ten points and seven rebounds 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.800 per thirty six minutes with a two point five to 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.560 one and assist to turnover ratio. Shot fifty percent from 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.000 the field forty one percent from three ninety two percent 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.480 from the line, so fifty to forty ninety A good 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:12.480 playmaker relative to most role players in that type of slot. 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:15.359 Two point three stocks per thirty six minutes. Another guy 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.239 that I think has a decent chance to impress in Nuggets' 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.280 training camp, So no way to look at this as 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.920 anything other than a massive influx of talent. I have 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.280 issues with the guy like Jonas Valancunis in a starting role, 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:35.560 but he's unquestionably a substantial upgrade from DeAndre Jordan as 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:40.200 a backup center. Cam Johnson is a better player than MPJ, 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.560 but I also think he's a better fit than MPJ 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:48.400 in this phase of the Nuggets contention window, which will 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.720 dive deeper into here in a minute. It won't be 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.360 hard for Deron Holmes to be better than Dario Sarach was, 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:55.720 and I think that the combination of Bruce Brown and 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.040 Tim Hardaway Junior is a big step up from Russell 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.720 Westbrook coming off. So this is quite simply the best 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:04.800 roster that Nikola Joka just had to work with in 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.440 his entire NBA career, and it's a big part of 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:09.960 why I'm so high on the Nuggets coming into this 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.760 particular season. Let's start with the Cam Johnson fit. We've 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:15.440 talked about this plenty over the summer, but i'll go 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.440 over quickly again here. I think Cam represents an upgrade 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.040 over MPG in two clear areas that I think will 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.760 help the Nuggets on both ends of the floor. First 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.000 is the fact that he's just a much better ball 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:31.160 handler than Michael Porter Junior. The lack of reliable ball 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.959 handling outside of guys like Jamal Murray and a little 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.320 bit of Aaron Gordon was a big part of why 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:40.680 Denver had to take high risk options like Russell Westbrook 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.800 or leaning a lot on a young Julian Strawther. Now 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.720 Mike Coel Porter Junior could scale up his offense a bit, 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.240 as we've talked about over the years, especially versus lower 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.880 level competition, but mostly in handoffs, and again that had 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.360 some limitations as you went against the higher level teams 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.640 in the league. I think Cam Johnson is just a 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.240 much better ball handler than Mike. He should be able 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:05.400 to actually run action both with Jokic and without Jokich 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.920 on the floor. I also like this in the context 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:09.720 of Tim Hardaway Junior, who should be able to come 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.800 in and run many of those same dribble handoff actions 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.200 that Michael Porter Junior ran with nikolea Jokic. In short, 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:21.039 the team has substantially more offensive firepower. Now, if you, 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.400 as a Nuggets fan, are worried about the catch and 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.320 shoot side of the catch and shoot side of things, yes, 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.599 Michael Porter Junior was taller. I'd argue at like pure 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.320 stand still shooting because of his height and the slight 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.040 increase in percentage, he's a little better than Cam Johnson there, 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.880 but it doesn't really manifest much in the percentages. Cam 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.800 was forty percent on catch and shoot threes last year, 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.360 so was Michael Porter Junior. Cam was forty four percent 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.279 on unguarded catch and shoot threes. Michael Porter Junior was 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.480 forty five percent. So not much of a statistical difference there, 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:52.760 even though we can admit that Michael Porter Junior is 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.600 probably a little better just because of his size and 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.800 that specific side of things. The second piece here is 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.000 the defensive end of the floor. In last year's version 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.320 of the team, Christian Brown was their primary point of 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.400 attack defender, and then if they ran into a situation 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.000 where they needed to guard another perimeter player that would 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.240 handle the ball, or if it was a bigger forward 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.760 that was handling the ball, they would have to deploy 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.760 Aaron Gordon there. They had no choice because Michael Porter 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:23.080 Junior is not a good perimeter defender. When Michael Porter 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.800 Junior is locked in, he can be a solid weak 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:27.840 side defender. He could protect the rim a little bit. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.800 He's a solid defensive rebounder, but he can't guard on 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:35.640 the perimeter. I'm not saying that needing to deploy Aaron 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.080 Gordon on the perimeter is the reason he got hurt, 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:40.880 but at this phase in his career, with the mileage 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.160 that Aaron has on his body, I'd prefer to not 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.760 ask him to do that as much. Certain matchups like Lebron, 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.880 James Kawhi Leonard, some guys that might be too strong 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.280 for Cam. Sure, but I think Cam is a perfectly 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.600 fine option to be your secondary point of attack defender 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.799 behind Christian Brown. That should allow you to keep Aaron 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.320 Gordon in helpside more, keep him rotating at the rim, 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.560 keep him there for defensive rebounding. Aaron Gordon had a 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.680 little bit of a drop off in his rebounding last year. 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:12.599 Wasn't just injuries. A lot of it has to do 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:14.760 with how often he had to be deployed on the perimeter. 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.120 I just think that that's a better all around foundation 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.640 for Denver's defense in general. I just think Km's a 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.359 better player than Michael Porter Junior, but he also is 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.640 a better option on both sides of the floor for 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.000 this phase of where Denver is in their title contention 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:33.160 with Jonis Valentcunis. The big thing I'm looking for is 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.840 scheme consistency. In years past, Denver would go small when 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:39.920 Yokich was off the floor much of the time. They 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.760 tried centers, obviously with to no avail, but they would 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.560 mostly go small and they do more switching on defense, 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.720 and Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray would mostly go matchup hunting, 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.359 and frankly, it just didn't work in the large sample. 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.280 They didn't really have any other option though, and that's 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.080 really the big difference here. They didn't have any options 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.160 that they could go to other than that going small, switching, 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:07.000 attempting to pick teams apart through matchup hunting with Gordon 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.000 and with Murray. Having yonas will allow them to play 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.400 a very similar style on both ends of the floor. 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.239 To the way they played with Nikolea Jokic right dribil 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.880 Handoff's two man game with Jamal Murray. Yonis can pick 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.320 and pop a little bit. Yonis can play out of 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.600 the post, especially against favorable matchups. No, he can't do 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:27.560 any of that stuff as well as Jokic can, That's 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.160 not what I'm trying to say. But against inferior NBA 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.520 talent that's coming off the bench for teams, he can 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.720 be reasonably effective there, and it allows you to continue 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.520 to run the same things that you're running. Even on defense. 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.760 You can continue to run your higher drop coverage, perhaps 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.360 with a guy like Deron Holmes operating on the back 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.040 line behind Yonas when he has to come up to 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:53.000 the level. It's not necessarily about winning those minutes with 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.880 Nikole Jokic off the floor. It's just about not hemorrhaging 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.400 points the way they had been last year. Once again, 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.640 Denver lost ten points per one hundred possession when yokich 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.880 was off the floor. That's just that's gonna make it 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:11.480 really difficult to win basketball games in the playoffs. In 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.640 one hundred and eighty three possessions with Yokich off, they 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.600 lost by thirty one point one points per one hundred possessions. 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:23.840 That is devastating to you, to your chances. Despite this, 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.200 they pushed OKC to seven and might have won if 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:31.920 Aaron Gordon didn't get hurt. To be clear, it's not 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.280 just about Yonas either. I want to be clear as 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:36.240 you kind of look down the roster. To me, it's 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.920 about everything. It's about having Bruce Brown, it's about having 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.880 Tim Hardaway Junior. It's about having Yonas Valanciunas. It's about 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:48.000 having options. I once had someone tell me money doesn't 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:53.600 give you happiness, but it gives you options. And I 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.080 felt that personally last week when we were moving up 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:59.000 here to Denver. We were doing our last phase of 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:01.720 our move. It was a three phase move, and we 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.640 got a trailer and we were driving it up through 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:09.120 up Interseate twenty five and we hit Albuquerque and rush 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.880 hour traffic in the morning, and literally I blew a 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.760 tire on my truck and I was able to get 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.960 a tow truck and I was able to get a 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.880 couple of tires and get back on the road. I 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.360 remember when I was much younger, my wife and I 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.560 were moving from Charlotte to Tucson, and we had all 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.400 of our stuff loaded up in two cars, and we 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:34.079 had our dogs with us, and it was a twenty 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:38.520 eight hour drive, and we were so broke. We literally 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:43.200 couldn't afford a hotel, like literally because of the dogs 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.160 and knowing that if you wanted to get a place 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.959 that would allow dogs or that would charge a dog fee, 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.200 it was going to be like three or four hundred 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.320 bucks for us to spend the night. We couldn't afford it. 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.280 And so we pushed through the night and it was 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.400 terrifying and I probably shouldn't have done it, and we 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.480 damn near got ourselves killed driving through West Texas in 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:03.920 the middle of the night, as I'm damn near falling 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.720 asleep on the road. I didn't have options then, whereas 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:13.760 something far worse happened driving up pulling a trailer, But 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.520 I had options. I was able to get a tow truck. 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:18.319 I was able to get the tires. I was able 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.200 to get us back on the road. In the past 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.200 for the Nuggets, when they would be watching the wheels 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:29.120 come off, quite literally, David Adelman would look at the 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:33.120 end of the bench and he wouldn't have those options, right, 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.280 He wouldn't have this player that can go out there 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.840 and patch the holes that could make things work in 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.320 those units when Yokic was off the floor. This is 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.120 what I mean when I say going beyond just yonis 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.400 so for instance, like one of the things that Mike 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.600 Malone would also do over the years is he'd be like, well, 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.760 I'm just going to stagger the starters more in with 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.440 the bench unit and just have Yokic carrier. Inferior units 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.520 have much more flexibility to do that now because I 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:08.559 know that Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Junior can score 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:13.079 with Nikola Jokic. I know that those guys Bruce Brown 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.520 can run regular pick and roll and inverted pick and 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.360 roll slipping out of it with Jokic, Tim Hardaway Junior 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.320 can run many of the same dribble handoff actions that 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.080 Nikola Jokic ran with Michael Porter Junior. They have the 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.360 options now to put more of their talent. They could 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:36.160 run Cam Johnson, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon with Jonas Valanciunis, 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.400 or in a bench group with Gordon at center and 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.160 have more talent on the floor during those units wellout 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.040 having to wear everybody out in the past, they have 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:49.200 to push minutes to do that. In general, this depth, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.000 it gives them options. It gives them the ability to 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:54.400 commit more to the defensive end throughout the entirety of 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.680 the regular season because of the just the ability to 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.600 keep everybody's minutes down and ask people to do more 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.720 game to game, they have so much more in the 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:08.200 way of options. He's looking at his hand of cards 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.440 and he has like three or four different ways that 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.960 he can try to attack the situation. That did not 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.240 used to be the case. And again, it's not about 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:20.000 winning necessarily those minutes, but maybe losing the Yokichov minutes 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.200 by one or two points per one hundred possessions instead 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.120 of by ten to fifteen points. That could massively improve 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.320 their chances both night tonight in the regular season and 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:34.000 when they get to the playoffs. As for the defensive 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.160 end of the floor, I thought last year was a 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.080 good example of them straight up switching, like flipping the 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:43.040 switch right. It's a concept that's very dangerous. It's a 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.440 concept that has burned veteran teams over the years, but 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:47.600 it has worked a few times in NBA history, and 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.520 it usually is teams that have won championships in the past. 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.520 To be clear, the Nuggets did not lose because of 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.480 their defense. They guarded Oklahoma City about as well as 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.720 they possibly could have a combination of having some high 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.520 end defensive personnel like Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown, they're 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.240 weaker defenders. Nicole Jokic and Jamal Murray both have very 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.480 high IQs, which allows them to scale up in those 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.000 situations just by being in the right spots as part 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:14.959 of the game plan. And credit to David Adelman. I 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.320 thought he did an excellent job of keeping Oklahoma City 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.480 off balance by constantly mixing up coverages and using a 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:24.720 lot of zone. But they were a brutal regular season defense. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.360 This year, I expect them to be closer to that 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:31.680 twelve to fifteen range. One because of depth. Like we 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.840 just mentioned, more good players means less of a necessity 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.800 to conserve energy night to night throughout the season because 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.719 you can keep people's minutes down, you know you got 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.199 enough good players to do it. And then two belief. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:44.920 I think this team's going to go into training camp 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.280 feeling like they have the opportunity of a lifetime to 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.280 hoist the trophy again this year. That should lead to 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.400 more buy in throughout the season. I think this is 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.200 the best team in the league. I think Jokic is 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.000 a substantially better player than Shake Gildas Alexander. I think 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.120 this roster is tailor made to his strengths. I think 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.720 if they can stay healthy, if they can get anything 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.120 close to the Jamal Murray they had in twenty twenty three, 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.880 I think they're gonna win the trophy. They have their vulnerabilities, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.080 especially against the second tier teams in the West, like 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.560 Minnesota has given issues because of their center rotation, the 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:24.600 Lakers because of Luka Doncicz Luca can cause some problems 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.880 for their pick and roll defense. But I still think 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.200 they're better than both of those teams, and I think 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.120 they match up really well with Oklahoma City, so they're 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.320 might pick to win the title this year. We'll get 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.640 into the actual contender rankings the week after we finish 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:42.160 our season previews. Today's show is brought to you by 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.000 our new presenting sponsor, hard Rock Bet. We are still 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.280 a month away from basketball tip off, but with hard 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.080 Rock Bet, the action never stops. The WNBA Finals start 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.600 this weekend. If you haven't placed your first bet, now 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.640 is the perfect time. Bet five dollars and if it wins, 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.160 you don't just get your payout, you also cash in 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.200 one hundred and fifty bonus bets on top. 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Gambling problem called 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.440 one eight hundred gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:14.240 or Virginia. Moving on to Oklahoma City Thunder. So, to 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.360 be clear, right off the top, I'm picking Denver to 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.920 win the title. But this isn't like a Denver with 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.440 Oklahoma City way down here. The gap is very small 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:23.360 to me. If anything, I'd say they're on the same tier. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.280 I just would pick Denver to beat Oklahoma City in 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.240 a series quick off season recap, they're basically the same team, 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.760 plus nikoloatopicch is coming back from an injury that caused 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.000 him to miss all of last year. I actually think 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.560 Topics could end up having like a decent sized role 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.880 on this team, because, as Indiana kind of exposed last year, 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:43.680 they do have a little bit of a ball handling deficit, 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:45.640 and I think they could use someone to help them 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.080 run their offense. For stretches help with some advantage creation, 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.240 especially when Shay is off the floor, so I wouldn't 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.120 be surprised if he plays quite a bit this year. 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:54.720 The story of the Thunder is going to be internal 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.640 improvement in this season. It's been an arms race in 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.160 the Western Conference all summer. The Nuggets added a bunch 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:04.480 of talent. We just covered that. The Lakers are getting 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.800 a better version of Luca and a massive upgrade at center. 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.240 The Rockets. Obviously they lose Fred van Vliet, but if 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.080 they can pull off a trade for a guard, they'll 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.880 be a top tier contender. The Clippers added a bunch 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:18.440 of depth. We covered that the other day. The Warriors, 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.439 if they get Horford, will be better. We covered that 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.240 the other day the MAVs will be a pain in 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.359 the ass after being out of the equation last year. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.080 The Spurs will likely join the mix in the Thunder. Rightfully, 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.159 for the record, they stood pat so if they're going 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:37.119 to keep up, they need internal improvements. Last year's Thunder 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.680 would lose to this year's Nuggets in my opinion. I mean, hell, 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.520 last year's Thunder damn near lost to last year's Nuggets, right, 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.720 So what does that internal improvement look like for Oklahoma 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.320 City to maintain the gap between them and the rest 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.520 of the league as they get better around them. First 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:59.600 and foremost, Shay's game management. She had a remarkable regular 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.280 season statistically, but his efficiency plummeted in the postseason, and 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.840 I thought his inconsistent game management was a big part 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.120 of how they had such an up and down postseason run. 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:11.920 Some nights he'd come out and do a great job 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.040 of setting up his teammates and looking for advantages, picking 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.480 his spots as a score and keeping everybody in rhythm. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.399 And another Knights, he'd come out gunning, and he'd take 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.560 the team out of rhythm. The stats here, we're insane. 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.760 When the Thunder won in the postseason, they had a 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:30.000 one to twenty offensive rating. When they lost in the postseason, 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:35.000 they had a one to ozh three offensive rating out 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.280 of the sixteen playoff teams. If you took all their 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.359 offensive ratings just in losses, that ranked eleventh out of 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.400 the sixteen teams. In short, their offense was awesome when 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:49.400 they won and legitimately terrible when they lost. Now two 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:53.040 Shay's credit. Every time the shit hit the fan and 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.920 the Thunder found themselves in like a must win situation. 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.720 I thought he managed those games extremely well and he 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.359 got the job done. That's the beauty of everything that 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.800 happened with the Thunder last year. In many ways, they 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:09.199 showed the warts of their youth and won anyway. And 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:12.320 that's what's scary about the potential future. Outside of Game 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:13.879 four of the finals, Game four of the Finals was 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:15.760 the one time I thought Shay kind of had a 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.480 bad floor game in a big spot, but even then, 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.280 he came alive down the stretch in the final minutes, 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.040 made the big plays, got the win that they needed. 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.640 But this year, at all likelihood, the margin for air 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.720 will be smaller. The top six teams in the West 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.560 are just better than they were last year, so Shay 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:37.120 becoming a more consistent game manager would go a long 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:43.320 way towards them helping avoid an upset. Ja Dubb's overall 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.760 development Jada was incredible in this playoff run, and for 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:48.879 that reason he ended up cracking my top twenty players 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.280 in our player rankings this year, but he was inconsistent 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:53.720 as well as many young players are. Like when Jay 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.440 Dubbs scored at least eighteen points, the Thunder went fourteen 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.080 and two, when he failed to score eighteen points the 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.359 thunder went too five. The biggest piece was mostly his 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.560 three point shooting. He was five for thirty four from 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.120 three in those seven games where he failed to get 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.080 to eighteen points. He did really it seemed like right 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:14.720 towards the end of the Nugget series it like clicked 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:18.040 for him. You could tell he like realized that no 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:19.879 one can stop him from getting to the rim. It 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:21.800 felt like one of the big aha moments for him 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:23.920 in his career. He's just starting to realize that he's 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.520 one of the most gifted basket attackers in the NBA. 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:28.120 We went over some of the stats in our player 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.360 rankings video that showed he's already one of the most 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.960 gifted drivers of the basketball in the entire league. But 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.120 if you can balance that out with the reliable three 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:38.880 point shot, that's where he's going to become a very 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:41.640 dependable night to night player. And again, when I'm talking 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:43.040 about this and I'm about to talk about chet in 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:44.840 a second, I'm not trying to be super critical of 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.119 these guys. I'm pointing this stuff out as a as 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:52.120 a reason to get excited these guys. How many teams. 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:54.560 You don't how any fans around the league are looking 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:56.639 at their team and they're like, we kind of are 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:58.600 what we are. We just have to hope we have 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:02.080