Speaker 1: Break was breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines to
Speaker 1: the Heat Check.
Speaker 2: The heat Chack was Crista Craig, the best podcast covering
Speaker 2: all the drama around the association. Let's move forward.
Speaker 1: Let's move forward to the LA Lakers win total sitting
Speaker 1: there at forty seven and a half. They re signed
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, which was highway robbery. I'm not sure how
Speaker 1: they were able to sign him at that low of
Speaker 1: a deal, but he wanted to stay in LA to.
Speaker 2: Play with Lebron and I don't blame him.
Speaker 1: They re signed D'Angelo Russell to a team friendly deal.
Speaker 1: They re signed Jared Vanderbilt, and they drafted Hood Schafino
Speaker 1: over there from Indiana. They drafted somebody else who's not
Speaker 1: as important to this list. They added gave Vincent, Christian Wood,
Speaker 1: gave Vincent from Miami, Christian Wood from the Mavericks. Cam Reddish,
Speaker 1: who was on a bunch of teams. I think Portland
Speaker 1: was his last team. Jackson Hayes and Torrean prints. They
Speaker 1: lost Mobile and the Lakers they lay Oh.
Speaker 2: It's been woh, it's been a roller coaster of a year.
Speaker 1: They've remade their entire roster over the course of the
Speaker 1: trade deadline. They took momentum from that move to the
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals. They didn't get swept, but it was
Speaker 1: competitive all four games. That's like what me, as a
Speaker 1: Portland Trailblazer fan tells myself and others when I talk
Speaker 1: about how we competed against the Warriors in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: So I get it. It's like totally fair.
Speaker 2: They went from oh, boy is Rob plink.
Speaker 1: Of the worst GM in the league to like, wow,
Speaker 1: he made some fucking money moves. He I gotta give
Speaker 1: some a little bit of shine to Jesse Buss. I've
Speaker 1: been told I don't give enough shine to him. So
Speaker 1: they finished forty three and thirty nine seventh place, won
Speaker 1: the play in balled out before getting into the buzz
Speaker 1: saw that was Jokic and Jamal Mury Jamal.
Speaker 2: Nba as they call him. They put an end to
Speaker 2: a very.
Speaker 1: We'll call it a quick run in an emphatic fashion.
Speaker 1: That Lebron James pretended he was going to retire after
Speaker 1: that was how bad the demoralization was. He said at
Speaker 1: the post game conference, I'm not sure if I'm ever
Speaker 1: gonna play basketball game. That's where we're at this year,
Speaker 1: I think they're better. They did lose Lonnie Walker, Tristan Thompson,
Speaker 1: and like I said, Mobamba.
Speaker 2: Adding gave Vincent I think is interesting.
Speaker 1: Although Miami Heat fans are already saying that Laker fans
Speaker 1: are gonna hate him, so I don't know about that.
Speaker 1: Cam Reddish was supposed to be the most talented duke
Speaker 1: player in the class of Zion and RJ. Barrett, but
Speaker 1: he just hurt his ankle. He's a lot of upside
Speaker 1: and I don't know if he's going to be able
Speaker 1: to ever live up to that. Pelican Center and Jack
Speaker 1: ex and Hayes has a ton of potential, very long,
Speaker 1: very athletic, can do a bunch of different things. One
Speaker 1: of those I would call it modern centers. And Tourian Prince,
Speaker 1: who I love. Torrian Prince is a dog. He is
Speaker 1: going to be an integral part of whatever the Lakers do.
Speaker 1: And then you add Christian Wood and they stole them.
Speaker 1: They stole them, stole them. Vet Minimum that is some
Speaker 1: nice depth. Team was very very thin last year. They
Speaker 1: only played eight guys in their close out game against
Speaker 1: Denver and only one of them, one of them got
Speaker 1: six minutes. So the Lakers have an insane amount of length, athleticism,
Speaker 1: a lot of versatile pieces. If they can get something
Speaker 1: out of Ruey Hachi Mura, who played really well in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. By the way, Ruey Hachimura worked out with
Speaker 1: Lebron and Phil Handy, strength and conditioning coach, skills coach
Speaker 1: for the Lakers. But Phil Handy's been working out with
Speaker 1: Lebron for a very long time, and what do they do.
Speaker 1: They tried to teach Ruey how to be Lebron James.
Speaker 2: Woo wooh. That's exciting.
Speaker 1: Lakers won sixty six percent of their games after the
Speaker 1: trade deadline last year. If that carries over to this year,
Speaker 1: they'll win fifty four games. They're gonna be able, I think,
Speaker 1: to hum on all cylinders like they did after the
Speaker 1: trade deadline last year, except for now there's more depth,
Speaker 1: so you don't have to worry as much about your
Speaker 1: star players being healthy the entire season. Of course, you
Speaker 1: still have to all of it hinges on Anthony day
Speaker 1: to day, Davis and Lebron James playing a bunch of games.
Speaker 1: But Christian Wood, who averaged eighteen and ten last year,
Speaker 1: and Jackson haz are very very serviceable. Backups who have
Speaker 1: a ton of potential, a ton of upside, and now
Speaker 1: they basically have baby Lebron. Right, basically have Baby Lebron.
Speaker 1: This is a very dangerous team. They can very very
Speaker 1: easily make the Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: Again. I am bullish yet hoping for their demise.
Speaker 1: As a Portland Trailblazer fan and obviously a lifelong Dubs fan,
Speaker 1: let's move forward of Phoenix Suns. Fifty four and a
Speaker 1: half games is their win total by Vegas. They add
Speaker 1: buw Bull Love bu Bull from the Orlando Magic. They
Speaker 1: add Utah Watt Nabe aka Johnny Utah from the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 1: They add Eric Gordon from the Clippers. Ooh, that's a
Speaker 1: sneaky pickup. Nas Little and Keon Johnson come over in
Speaker 1: their trade. Grayson Allen comes over from the trade, Yusuf
Speaker 1: Nurkic comes over from the trade to Portland, and of
Speaker 1: course Bradley Beal has been stolen from the Washington Wizards
Speaker 1: for I think a dirty muffin a couple second round picks,
Speaker 1: they lose Domin ayton a Ton, they lose DeAndre Aton,
Speaker 1: they lose campaign to Moni Kamara, and of course Chris
Speaker 1: paul I am very surprised by what the Phoenix Suns
Speaker 1: have been able to do.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie to you.
Speaker 1: I thought they were barbecue chicken on a habachi. After
Speaker 1: the Bradley Beal trade, I was like, ooh, three guards
Speaker 1: and like, well, that's I think eighty five percent.
Speaker 2: On your salary cap. What are you gonna do now?
Speaker 1: I think they have four guys on their roster at
Speaker 1: that point, I was like, Okay, you guys all need
Speaker 1: the ball, and you have no depth and you have
Speaker 1: no money, so what you're about to do? Then they
Speaker 1: went out and signed a bunch of guys on very
Speaker 1: low contracts who want to get a ring and love
Speaker 1: playing with Kevin Durant. They went out and made some
Speaker 1: judicious trades and all of a sudden, they got very solid.
Speaker 1: It's very important because at the top of the roster
Speaker 1: are some players they get hurt all the time, all
Speaker 1: the time. So let's start with a detailed look at
Speaker 1: the losses. Three major pieces from the twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: finals run Chris Paul DeAndre Aiden campaign all have taken
Speaker 1: their talent somewhere else. Right huge part of what made
Speaker 1: that team so special, So they had to get some return.
Speaker 1: The return was massive Bradley for starters, Bradley Beal, let's
Speaker 1: be real. He is not a closer. He's never gonna
Speaker 1: do shit for you in a fourth quarter, even in January.
Speaker 1: But I tell you what, when you need some buckets,
Speaker 1: like midway through the second quarter, Bradley Beal can do
Speaker 1: that for you.
Speaker 2: Oh boy.
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal was a scoring leader in the NBA a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. He is an absolute bucket, a
Speaker 1: pure sweat guy, true and true. Cannot play defense worth
Speaker 1: a lick.
Speaker 2: But I don't know if it matters. I don't know
Speaker 2: if it matters. He is a bucket.
Speaker 1: The issue with Beal is the same as the issue
Speaker 1: with Kevin Durant. Durant hasn't played more than forty seven
Speaker 1: games in three of the last four seasons. Bradley Beal
Speaker 1: hasn't played a full season since twenty eighteen. Fifty seven games,
Speaker 1: sixty games, forty games and fifty games. Maybe you could
Speaker 1: say he was loafing maybe one of those seasons, maybe two,
Speaker 1: but come on now, not all four. He's been hurt.
Speaker 1: They traded DeAndre Ayton, who was a number one overall
Speaker 1: p for Yusuf Nurkic, who was discarded from Denver because
Speaker 1: they had a guy named Jokic and then he became
Speaker 1: the primary center for Portland. Broke his leg and it's
Speaker 1: never been the same really since doesn't really play deepense.
Speaker 2: Great guy in the locker room, I hear.
Speaker 1: I don't know how that helps you win a championship
Speaker 1: in terms of defending, but hopefully Frank Vogel will figure
Speaker 1: it out because that's his.
Speaker 2: Specialty with big men.
Speaker 1: They wanted to get rid of the locker room problem
Speaker 1: and that was DeAndre Ayton, so they discarded him, and
Speaker 1: they said, and they sold it to the world that
Speaker 1: Nurkic was a better fit, even though we know he's
Speaker 1: not as good. But also, to be fair to new
Speaker 1: owner Matt Isshpia, they have spent a lot of money
Speaker 1: and they had to give DeAndre ad In a MAX
Speaker 1: because they had to pick up that restricted free agency
Speaker 1: contract when he got offered.
Speaker 2: The MAX from Indiana.
Speaker 1: So they said, let's shed some salary cap and let's
Speaker 1: get on with our lives. Ishpi and crew have worked
Speaker 1: overtime to surround a starting five of Nurkic, kd Okog, Booker,
Speaker 1: and Beale with some firepower off the bench. They bring
Speaker 1: in Grayson Allen, a certified pest and a three point sniper,
Speaker 1: Eric Gordon kind of the same. Certified pest, three point
Speaker 1: sniper Utah watt Nabe can do so many damn things,
Speaker 1: but also really good three point shooter. NOAs little athletic
Speaker 1: can defend a lot of upside was buried on the
Speaker 1: bench in Portland. Bull Bull You've seen him be able
Speaker 1: to do some things as well from the perimeter. He's
Speaker 1: one of those unicorn seven footers. Keon Johnson can jump
Speaker 1: out of the gym. He's still very young, very raw,
Speaker 1: but ultimately you need bodies. When you have guys who
Speaker 1: consistently go out with injury. It is shocking, shocking in
Speaker 1: some ways because I thought the bench absolutely sucked for Phoenix,
Speaker 1: and now it might be one of their more strong points.
Speaker 1: The Suns, like the Lakers and the Clippers, are gonna
Speaker 1: be pretty much a slave to their injured list. If
Speaker 1: they stay healthy, awesome, If they don't, not so awesome,
Speaker 1: Red Alert WI bad shit.
Speaker 2: Even if one of the Big.
Speaker 1: Three has injury issues, it's gonna be tough to beat
Speaker 1: them anyway. You need multiple guys to go down in
Speaker 1: order for them to be kind of fucked. I do
Speaker 1: think though, there's a real shot that the Suns could
Speaker 1: be if people get injured, a playing team, But that's
Speaker 1: a bold prediction that we'll talk about another time. The
Speaker 1: Sun's finished fourth last year with a forty five and
Speaker 1: thirty seven record, But let's be real, there was a
Speaker 1: huge storm cloud looming over the team because Robert Sarver,
Speaker 1: their owner. He was removed for all the isms misogyny, racism,
Speaker 1: probably plagiarism, sexism, homo eroticism, I don't.
Speaker 2: Know, out of all the isms. He gotta let go.
Speaker 1: They said, you gotta sell a team. Boy, this is
Speaker 1: a team to watch, though, team to watch.
Speaker 2: And then finally is it a finally? It is the final?
Speaker 1: Isn't it?
Speaker 2: Yes? Is the finally? I can't even get them all straight.
Speaker 1: There's so many damn good teams on this division. We
Speaker 1: got to talk about the Sacramento Kings. Their win total
Speaker 1: fucking shady forty four and a half.
Speaker 2: That is a shady ass win total.
Speaker 1: This was a team that was third in the West
Speaker 1: last year.
Speaker 2: Were they not?
Speaker 1: They were additions? Sasha Vizenkov, euro League MVP Neurlans, Noel
Speaker 1: Big man JaVale McGee, big man Jalen Noel played really
Speaker 1: well for the Minnesota Timberwolves as a bench piece. Went
Speaker 1: from a ten day guy, two way guy to a
Speaker 1: real rotation dude. Jeremy Lamb I think he's washed. And
Speaker 1: Chris Warte who I think there's a lot of potential around.
Speaker 1: They lose Rashaun Holmes, but let's be real, Rashan.
Speaker 2: Wanted out of there.
Speaker 1: They lose to me as Kta, who they didn't have
Speaker 1: a spot for. They sadly lose Terence Davis who's still
Speaker 1: a free agent, Matthew Dilodova, and some other scrubs. The Kings,
Speaker 1: of course, were the the surprise team last year. They
Speaker 1: won the Pacific Division. What was it forty four to one?
Speaker 1: That was a nice little ticket, forty eight and thirty four,
Speaker 1: forty a and thirty four. They get better this year,
Speaker 1: and what the fuck does Vegas do? They say, we
Speaker 1: don't believe, we don't believe forty four and.
Speaker 2: A half wins we're gonna give you. That's some bullshit.
Speaker 1: Anyway, back to the Kings. They were so much fun
Speaker 1: to watch. They took the Warriors to the brink. They
Speaker 1: were Harrison Barnes opened three away from moving on in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They do lose a little bit of minor pieces,
Speaker 1: nothing too great of importance. We talked about the losses
Speaker 1: Delavdova's losses a clubhouse leader, of course, will be felt,
Speaker 1: but they do add Sasha for Zenkoff first basket in
Speaker 1: the preseason game, dribble handoff off the screen from Alex
Speaker 1: lenn three splash.
Speaker 2: Get used to it.
Speaker 1: Daron Fox just did an interview the other day and
Speaker 1: he said, if Zenkoff made one hundred and forty three
Speaker 1: out of one hundred and fifty shots in one drill
Speaker 1: and practice, the dude six' nine beast to. Guard gonna
Speaker 1: take him some time to move up in the, ROTATION i.
Speaker 1: Think but when he, does he has the ability to
Speaker 1: hit some big shots in big.
Speaker 2: MOMENTS i think a lot.
Speaker 1: Of kings, FANS i think a lot Of kings fans
Speaker 1: are expecting, things hoping things will work out with. Him
Speaker 1: but to, me the THING i like about This kings
Speaker 1: team is that they know how to. Win we cannot
Speaker 1: neglect the fact That sabonis had a torn ligament in
Speaker 1: his thumb the entire. Year did not shut it, down
Speaker 1: did not get. Surgery he continued to. Play he looks
Speaker 1: much better, already AND i think that's only going to get.
Speaker 1: Better so, far he's very. Underrated Darren fox very focused
Speaker 1: on HIS mvp campaign that he's telling, everyone Fuck TEAM.
Speaker 1: USA i don't care about. Them Keegan, MURRAY i think
Speaker 1: is gonna take another. Step he's gonna be better following
Speaker 1: his rookie. Year you watched him in the playoffs last
Speaker 1: year and he got really. Good come Like game, Three game,
Speaker 1: four he made a RECORD nba number of threes for
Speaker 1: a first year. Player Malik monk turned into a player
Speaker 1: that we always hoped he would. Be six man off the.
Speaker 1: Bench Davion mitchell was Strapping steph in games one and.
Speaker 1: Two he's joined By Chris duarte And Jalen, noel which
Speaker 1: means more. Defense one of the weak up week spots
Speaker 1: in this team last year was a backup.
Speaker 2: Center so what do they.
Speaker 1: Do they Add JaVale, McGee three TIMES nba champion for multiple,
Speaker 1: teams badly needed, experience and then they Add Neirleans, noel
Speaker 1: who also has a lot of. Talent if those guys,
Speaker 1: contribute woo, wooh this is a fifty win. Team it's
Speaker 1: a fifty one, team, folks maybe even, more maybe a
Speaker 1: fifty fifty two win.
Speaker 2: TEAM i think this team could be number one in The.
Speaker 2: WEST i.
Speaker 1: DO i think this will be the top team in
Speaker 1: The Western. CONFERENCE a lot of people are saying The
Speaker 1: kings are going to take step back this.
Speaker 2: Year not. Me i'm ten toes. DOWN i think it's the.
Speaker 1: Opposite this is a fifty two to four win team
Speaker 1: and once again one of the most fun teams to
Speaker 1: watch in the. League that is it for our division.
Speaker 1: Preview preseason games have just, started so we'll get into
Speaker 1: a full overview of what's popping around the league in
Speaker 1: the next. Episode but the big news since the latest
Speaker 1: episode is That Joel embiid has declared that he will
Speaker 1: play For TEAM.
Speaker 2: Usa WHICH i think is.
Speaker 1: Garbage not me as The.
Speaker 2: Patriot and me as AN nba. Fan why because that's
Speaker 2: just too.
Speaker 1: Stacked put him On Team. France see what they figure
Speaker 1: out Is Rudy gobert.
Speaker 2: Gonna get kicked off the? Team are they gonna try
Speaker 2: to play the two center?
Speaker 1: Thing what's gonna happen With victory? One But yama or Maybe.
Speaker 1: Cameroon i'd be fine with that. Too, france where he has.
Speaker 1: Citizenship there was lots of speculation when he played For.
Speaker 2: France there was a lot of. Friction, Ooh, rudy what
Speaker 2: do you?
Speaker 1: Think who oh gil bin Oh, Rudy oh bonjous auvoi
Speaker 1: and they're, like, no he's. Coming SO i think it's.
Speaker 1: Fascinating THE us needs a center. Badly but let's see
Speaker 1: if If Joel embiid isn't healthy In, april do you
Speaker 1: think he's healthy In?
Speaker 2: August he's healthy In?
Speaker 1: August, no, Dog maybe if he gets bounced in Early,
Speaker 1: april then he will be because he'll have four months to.
Speaker 1: Prepare he will be a big boost to THE us
Speaker 1: if they want to get the gold next, year Which
Speaker 1: i'm sure they.
Speaker 2: Do as for the rest of.
Speaker 1: The, league it's, chirp, chirp, quiet, Quiet.
Speaker 2: Nothing new on The harden.
Speaker 1: Front Somehow Peyton, pritchard who was asking for a, trade
Speaker 1: gets a fucking extension four, years thirty, million and they're.
Speaker 2: Like he's, like fuck, you fuck, you fuck. YOU i went,
Speaker 2: OUT i went out All.
Speaker 1: They're, like, hey how about seven and a half Millionaire
Speaker 1: and he's, like, okay sign on the dotted. Line Evan
Speaker 1: fournier is still pissed that The knicks haven't traded, him
Speaker 1: so they'll probably give him. Extension, right and Sniper Reggie
Speaker 1: bullock signed a one year deal.
Speaker 2: In houston for what.
Speaker 1: Reason who, knows but with the preseason, underway shit's gonna
Speaker 1: change in a. Heartbeat