Speaker 1: On this episode of the Heat Check.
Speaker 2: One series is over, another is headed to game six
Speaker 2: and Indie, Yes, the Knicks took care of business in
Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden and maybe, just maybe, and he's getting
Speaker 2: the case of the meat sweats with Okay, see waiting
Speaker 2: the winner.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to break down.
Speaker 2: So we have Keith Smith, the genius from spot Track
Speaker 2: and I thought it was fow Track for a very
Speaker 2: long time. So just very really really today to give
Speaker 2: us all the details on the finals as well as
Speaker 2: all the tea from around the league.
Speaker 1: Keith is the best.
Speaker 2: So Wyatt's dropped that motherfucking beat that should be Rihanna.
Speaker 3: You're listening to the Hottest the Hottest Indy a podcast
Speaker 3: out here. I said what I said, it's the heat
Speaker 3: Check check which stop.
Speaker 2: Crit So the Knicks you were dying scut check game cut.
Speaker 2: The Pacers lead in the Eastern Conference Finals now to
Speaker 2: three to two.
Speaker 1: It was so ugly.
Speaker 2: Immediately you could tell the Knicks had come to play.
Speaker 2: They were desperate, bloodthirsty, physical, intense, focused in a way
Speaker 2: that normally they have these lapses. A lot of out
Speaker 2: of control plays on both sides, particularly from the Pacers,
Speaker 2: and it has been a hot minute since the Pacers
Speaker 2: played a game with this many turnovers, which is nineteen
Speaker 2: nineteen turnovers for the Pacers, not the type of thing
Speaker 2: that they normally do. But the funny part was at
Speaker 2: various times in the second half the Knicks were up
Speaker 2: twenty and yet Madison Square Garden has seen enough of
Speaker 2: these games that they treated it like it was a
Speaker 2: three point game. That is how traumatized they are, and
Speaker 2: that's how traumatized they've been over time by the Pacers.
Speaker 1: But they had two things tonight that they absolutely needed.
Speaker 2: One with Karl Anthony Town's very aggressive in a monster
Speaker 2: game despite playing with a little bit of a knee contusion.
Speaker 1: The big Perr, the.
Speaker 2: Kitty cat was unstoppable. He was an a grown main coon,
Speaker 2: a grown man that was a big aggressive cat. We
Speaker 2: got it again from Karl Anthony Towns in one second
Speaker 2: quarter sequence. He had a smooth three sprinted back on
Speaker 2: defense and he was the first knick back, then helped
Speaker 2: defend the paint, led to a turnover, ran down to
Speaker 2: the other end and scored a two three possessions that
Speaker 2: he dominated in less than a minute, resulting in.
Speaker 1: Five Knicks points.
Speaker 2: He ended the game as the second leading scorer for
Speaker 2: the Knicks. What did he have in terms of his points?
Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Towns had twenty four, Jalen Brunson thirty two.
Speaker 2: Very interesting stuff. The other thing that the Knicks had
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson.
Speaker 1: I tried to.
Speaker 2: Tell the folks that I was on right after the
Speaker 2: game in the live stream. We should have known that
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson was gonna have one hell of a game
Speaker 2: because it was a law in order game. Baby done,
Speaker 2: don unduh. And like Mariska Haggerty from Waterer sdu if
Speaker 2: you don't know her, she's like Jalen Brunson's idol. He
Speaker 2: said that he's she's the only celebrity on Celebrity Roll
Speaker 2: that he gets excited about seeing.
Speaker 1: And he puts up thirty.
Speaker 2: Two to five and five on a night that almost
Speaker 2: every veteran the met in America had played his under
Speaker 2: thirty and a half. He was four to seven from deep,
Speaker 2: just looked incredible, unstoppable, unguardable, immediately hot from three, and
Speaker 2: I think when Jalen Brunson is hitting step back three
Speaker 2: splashed in your face, this team is very hard to beat.
Speaker 2: And he only played thirty four minutes and for Tibbs
Speaker 2: and a TIBs coach team. When are we getting that?
Speaker 2: When do we get a thirty four minute game from
Speaker 2: any star on a team that Tibbs coaches. No, Nick
Speaker 2: Starter actually had more than thirty six minutes. We got
Speaker 2: Precious che Chulia minutes, we got Landry Schamet chance, we
Speaker 2: got Delawn right minutes.
Speaker 1: It was insane. The Pacers were also ice cool, terrible.
Speaker 2: Halliburton had seven shots Turner and nem hard Nie Smith
Speaker 2: top and all were negative twenty or worse on Net ratings.
Speaker 2: Halliburton slash line was eight two and six, and two
Speaker 2: of those shots that he took were in the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter when the game was already over. I told Dan
Speaker 2: I was on the Dan Levatard stream right after the game.
Speaker 1: I told Juju, Tony and Dan. I thought maybe the
Speaker 1: Pacers just knew they didn't.
Speaker 2: Have it and said, we're just not gonna expend this
Speaker 2: much energy trying to get back into the game.
Speaker 1: We don't have it.
Speaker 2: That's not a punt, but it's kind of a punt.
Speaker 2: How bad was it?
Speaker 3: It was?
Speaker 2: We had Johnny Murphy minutes, Johnny Furfey minutes, excuse me.
Speaker 2: We had Jeris Walker minutes, we had Ben Shephard offensive fouls.
Speaker 2: We had just insane amount of players that you should
Speaker 2: not ever see for this many minutes, like our man
Speaker 2: Ben Mathurn was the leading scorer. Some Knicks fan on
Speaker 2: Reddit hired a witch on Etsy to place a hex
Speaker 2: on the Pacers and use the sixty percent off coupon
Speaker 2: to do so. Must have been saving up for some
Speaker 2: pizza and some some sort of beer champagne after the
Speaker 2: Knicks win.
Speaker 1: It worked, and.
Speaker 2: She's about to be the richest witch on the west
Speaker 2: in the planet right now because Knicks fans are jumping
Speaker 2: on board trying to put another He's on the Pacers. Now,
Speaker 2: we have an unreal Game six in Indiana on Saturday night,
Speaker 2: and I for one cannot wait.
Speaker 1: The Knicks are still alive.
Speaker 2: Their championship's odds dropped from plus twenty five hundred twenty
Speaker 2: five to one to sixteen hundred, but the Pacers still
Speaker 2: have two more chances to put a stake in their heart.
Speaker 2: And if they don't, we got a Game seven in
Speaker 2: the Garden on Monday night and.
Speaker 1: All bets are off up next.
Speaker 2: Keith Smith from spot Track, All right, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1: My guy.
Speaker 2: Keith smith Man host the Front Office Show podcast, The
Speaker 2: Man at Spoke Track, the Guy and the place that
Speaker 2: everybody goes to break down the dollars, to break down
Speaker 2: the sense. With this new CBA, it's more important than
Speaker 2: ever to get the download. And you and Trevor Lane
Speaker 2: together are just electric.
Speaker 3: Keith, I appreciate that. Yea, we have a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: Who would think a Celtics guy and a Lakers guy
Speaker 3: could come together and have a pretty fun podcast, But
Speaker 3: I think we managed to pull it off.
Speaker 1: That just shows you piece, give piece a chance.
Speaker 3: It's it basketball universal language.
Speaker 2: I want to start off with the teams in the
Speaker 2: West Okase finishing off Minnesota in five games, and there
Speaker 2: was really only one close good game to me. And
Speaker 2: then you saw also the Thunder blow out the Nuggets
Speaker 2: one game. You saw them blow out the Grizzlies one game,
Speaker 2: And to that, I kept going back to how skeptical
Speaker 2: people were all year of the Thunder and I just
Speaker 2: couldn't really understand it other than we haven't seen it before.
Speaker 2: What about you, like, what do you make of the
Speaker 2: fact that even NBA teams were hoping to draw the
Speaker 2: Thunder because they weren't afraid of them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the NBA is a weird sport in that unless
Speaker 3: you've done it, no one really believes you can. It's
Speaker 3: it's a lot of other sports don't really feel that way.
Speaker 3: It feels like in baseball or football, if you have
Speaker 3: a good regular season, they're like they're the best team
Speaker 3: maybe this year, and off we go. But in the NBA,
Speaker 3: you could win seventy games and the Thunder almost did
Speaker 3: and people are like, yeah, prove it to me in
Speaker 3: the playoffs. And it's part of that is the nature
Speaker 3: of it, right, it's seven game series. You gotta calm,
Speaker 3: you gotta bring it. You're gonna be tested. Nobody he
Speaker 3: gets super lucky. I don't think in the NBA. Every
Speaker 3: once in a while you get lucky with matchups. But
Speaker 3: you got to be healthy yourself. You got to win
Speaker 3: four times four times to win a title, and that's
Speaker 3: that's huge. So I think when you get into it
Speaker 3: with the Thunder, that was just it. People needed to
Speaker 3: see it. But I now's they making the finals better
Speaker 3: if removed all doubt. If anybody still has Deubt left,
Speaker 3: I don't know what to tell them at this.
Speaker 1: Point, it's kind of insane.
Speaker 2: Do you think it's also because it's a different type
Speaker 2: of game in the postseason, right, Like there's more disparity
Speaker 2: between what a regular season NBA game looks like and
Speaker 2: a postseason NBA game looks like than say NFL or
Speaker 2: college football or any other sport.
Speaker 3: I think there is. I think games get more physical.
Speaker 3: Pace slows way down in the playoffs. The thunder were
Speaker 3: they're They're clearly ready for the physical part of it.
Speaker 3: They love to play a physical game. The pace. I
Speaker 3: don't think they're super worried about the games slowing down
Speaker 3: a little bit. They're gonna do what they do, and
Speaker 3: I think that was some of the doubt there. They
Speaker 3: also extremely young team. They only have two guys that
Speaker 3: are over the age of thirty, that's Alex Crusoe and
Speaker 3: Kenrick Williams. So I think when you're relying on so
Speaker 3: much of your rotation and your key guys as young guys,
Speaker 3: I think there's a fact question of are they ready
Speaker 3: for this or are they gonna be ready? What are
Speaker 3: they gonna do when it's a close game late. I
Speaker 3: think some of the way they remove those questions are
Speaker 3: I don't really let them be close late. They're the
Speaker 3: best team I can ever remember, and I've been watching
Speaker 3: the NBA for a very long time at flipping games
Speaker 3: from a five point deficit to a fifteen point lead happens.
Speaker 3: And like I said, this morning, you walk to the
Speaker 3: fridge to get a drink and you come back and
Speaker 3: like what happened? Like where did this go? You know?
Speaker 3: They're just so good with the way they do that
Speaker 3: to start forcing the turnovers when they're at home, the
Speaker 3: crowd gets rocking and everybody's going, so yeah. Just a really,
Speaker 3: really good team.
Speaker 2: Defensively, the thing that I'm impressed about is that they
Speaker 2: basically just create these ten oher runs just off their
Speaker 2: defense alone.
Speaker 1: It's pretty nuts.
Speaker 2: I also thought it was interesting that the Thunder could
Speaker 2: go from losing by forty to winning by forty in
Speaker 2: the same series.
Speaker 1: What explains that to you?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think that was Mark Dagnall basically very early
Speaker 3: in the loss saying it's not happening tonight. I am
Speaker 3: not putting any more miles on my guys. I'm pulling
Speaker 3: the plug and that's it. Like he didn't mess around
Speaker 3: at all. I don't know that anybody really even got
Speaker 3: to twenty five thirty minutes in that game, because that's
Speaker 3: something a lot of coaches they'll they'll kind of keep going,
Speaker 3: keep going until there's seven eight minutes left in the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter, and then maybe they'll finally give up. And
Speaker 3: then he was like, it doesn't matter in the playoff
Speaker 3: we lose by one hundred, it doesn't matter. It's one game,
Speaker 3: y know, we'll come back and play again tomorrow. We
Speaker 3: still have a good series lead, and let's go. And
Speaker 3: I think that's huge. I think too often coaches are like, no,
Speaker 3: let's chase, we don't want to get embarrassed. Let's keep going,
Speaker 3: keep going. And it's just not the way to handle it.
Speaker 3: I don't think I think you want to. You'll pull
Speaker 3: the plug early. And then yeah, like you said, they
Speaker 3: get these runs in these games and it's like an avalanche.
Speaker 3: They start turning you over live ball turnovers leading to
Speaker 3: runout baskets, and the next thing you know, it's the
Speaker 3: lead is expanded and you're kind of out of the
Speaker 3: game and you're standing around looking around like what just happened?
Speaker 3: Like where did this come from? So yeah, they're just
Speaker 3: a really really good team.
Speaker 2: So Shae MVP, I've been really excited about Shay since
Speaker 2: probably I mean when Chris Paul came over to the
Speaker 2: Thunder and we saw what he could be, and even
Speaker 2: back when they got Pokashvski and everybody's excited about him,
Speaker 2: and Shae felt like he was kind of the next
Speaker 2: man up even back then. But what I find to
Speaker 2: be so fascinating about Shay's ascent I've never heard maybe
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson, but again, he kind of came out of
Speaker 2: quote unquote nowhere as well, the foul merchant controversy, the
Speaker 2: asterisk around him being the scoring champion and the MVP
Speaker 2: Doris Burke saying the words foul merchant. Why do you
Speaker 2: think it's becoming such a storyline with him when so
Speaker 2: many great NBA players of the course of history have
Speaker 2: been quote unquote also foul merchants.
Speaker 3: Yeah, That's the thing that's been kind of bothersome to
Speaker 3: me is a lot of great scorers have been guys
Speaker 3: who pile up, pile up free throws, and I think
Speaker 3: with with like, even if we go back more recent history,
Speaker 3: James Harden was that way with the Rockets when he
Speaker 3: was winning the MVP, and in that conversation he was
Speaker 3: getting the free throw line of time. And I think
Speaker 3: there's two parts. One is nobody really likes free throws,
Speaker 3: right that they're kind of the worst part of the game,
Speaker 3: Like it just everything stops. It's one guy and you
Speaker 3: watch for a minute he takes two free throws and
Speaker 3: then we move on with the rest of the game.
Speaker 3: It's like that part annoys people. And then I think
Speaker 3: a lot of it is the thunder are there. It's weird.
Speaker 3: It usually takes winning a couple of times for this
Speaker 3: to happen. But they're kind of already flipping the script
Speaker 3: where people like, I don't really like this team, like
Speaker 3: some of it is. They're kind of brash, right, they'll
Speaker 3: talk trash, they'll they'll you know.
Speaker 2: Like a better version of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Speaker 3: Exactly. Yep, yeah, exactly. And I think I think people,
Speaker 3: you haven't wont anything yet, you know, shut it, shut up,
Speaker 3: we don't want to watch it. But I think the
Speaker 3: reality is like you have some of that. And then
Speaker 3: I think there are some questionable calls in there, but
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna scream and yell at about it, yell
Speaker 3: about it. It's what happens, you know. It's fine I
Speaker 3: think for shake Yo, just Alexander in particular. The issue
Speaker 3: with him is he moves like like one of I
Speaker 3: compare him to when you go buy a car dealership,
Speaker 3: they've got that blow up guy and he's kind of
Speaker 3: like winking all over and stuff like that's what it
Speaker 3: looks like to me with him, Like he's just like
Speaker 3: one of those blow up things, and it's like he
Speaker 3: gets these angles and I say, he's slithery, like that's
Speaker 3: what he reminds me of it. And there's times he
Speaker 3: just draws fives that other guys wouldn't draw, but more
Speaker 3: often than not, they're there. And my overarching thing with
Speaker 3: this point is the less folks worry about the officiating
Speaker 3: in games, the more you'll enjoy the game. Like just
Speaker 3: watch the game, like it's it's I see so many
Speaker 3: people there and it's the same people on social media
Speaker 3: every game it's that's a bad call, that's a bad call.
Speaker 3: That's a bad call, and it's like, what, like is
Speaker 3: that why you watch to call bad calls? Like just
Speaker 3: you know, I don't know. I have a hard time
Speaker 3: with that much complaining about the refs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the referee police, they want to like the free
Speaker 2: throw disparity police. The Laker fans are big free throw Yeah.
Speaker 1: I tell you that.
Speaker 2: It's it's incredible too, because maybe it also is because
Speaker 2: the thunder are so physical themselves, and then you see
Speaker 2: Shake get so many touch fouls.
Speaker 1: Do you think that that has anything to do with
Speaker 1: it either, Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think so. I think there's definitely some of that
Speaker 3: in there as well. And I think, you know, for
Speaker 3: all of the things that the thunder uh do really well,
Speaker 3: they gave up a lot of free throws in their games.
Speaker 3: I think they were, Yeah, I just looked it up.
Speaker 3: They were twenty six in free opponent free throws this
Speaker 3: year for free throws per you know, per field goal attempt.
Speaker 3: So that's really not good. And but that's part of it.
Speaker 3: Then when you play that physical defense, you're kind of
Speaker 3: in a way daring the referees call all the files right,
Speaker 3: like we're gonna do what We're going to challenge you
Speaker 3: with this, and that gets to be a little bit
Speaker 3: tricky with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I want to get your thoughts on Jalen Williams J
Speaker 2: DUB because man, if you juxtapose the Denver series outside
Speaker 2: of Game seven, he was I mean there were legit
Speaker 2: pundits being like, can Jada be your second score on
Speaker 2: a championship team?
Speaker 1: Do we have to rely on chets development more?
Speaker 2: What do you have in game six, six, seven, and ten,
Speaker 2: shot three for sixteen from the field, And then you
Speaker 2: juxtapose that with Game four against Minnesota where they needed
Speaker 2: these points from.
Speaker 1: Him in a game that could have been in Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Win thirty four, three and five on thirteen for twenty four. Like,
Speaker 2: what's your take and your thoughts on him and kind
Speaker 2: of what we've seen blossom before our very eyes and
Speaker 2: his impact on this team and offensively and defensively.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think when you look at his full body
Speaker 3: of work regular season plus playoffs, he's terrific. And that's
Speaker 3: why he made All NBA. That's why he made all defense.
Speaker 3: Really versatile defender. There were moments I think people have
Speaker 3: kind of forgotten because it was so long ago. Chet
Speaker 3: Holmgren out and as a Hardenstein out, he was playing
Speaker 3: the five for them. You're starting games at center, and
Speaker 3: he's like, I think they list him at six's eight,
Speaker 3: but he's like six' six at, best and did they
Speaker 3: were holding up and doing what they do and playing
Speaker 3: hyper aggressive and and all. That he's you, know arguably
Speaker 3: one of the more versatile defenders we have in the entire.
Speaker 3: League and then, offensively his his game is really rounded out.
Speaker 3: Nicely he came in as a pretty good playmaker and
Speaker 3: a guy who could, score but he's really turned into
Speaker 3: a terrific score. Now AND i think what's unfortunate is
Speaker 3: if this was the middle Of march and he was
Speaker 3: going through a slump like he was going, through we
Speaker 3: do always just kind of, know whatever he's in a,
Speaker 3: slump what happens in the? Playoffs it, starts, well he's
Speaker 3: not clutch and he can't. Win he's not going to.
Speaker 3: Perform AND i think what we're really looking at is
Speaker 3: already he just went through it a little bit and
Speaker 3: now he's you, know kind of back on. Track AND
Speaker 3: i think that's that's important context to bring into it
Speaker 3: of sometimes guys just go through. Slumps things.
Speaker 2: Happen, yeah it's tough if you get in slumps during
Speaker 2: multiple playoff series or multiple years of playoff. Series AND
Speaker 2: i think that was what people were, wondering, Was, man
Speaker 2: when the lights are bright and the let leverage is,
Speaker 2: high is JDub going to rise to the, occasion and
Speaker 2: then you see the game six Against denver and you're, like,
Speaker 2: whoh we've seen these moments where he shrunk before and
Speaker 2: is this a slump or is this like who he?
Speaker 2: Is kind of like what we think About James, harden,
Speaker 2: right like so, talented but when the lights get, bright
Speaker 2: we haven't seen a lot of really Great James harden.
Speaker 3: Performances, yeah absolutely, Right AND i think the for, ME
Speaker 3: i would need to see it. More this is really
Speaker 3: this team's second real, run, right so like let's see
Speaker 3: what it looks. Like AND i think the fact that
Speaker 3: and he does that big games and then people kind
Speaker 3: of want to excuse, him, Right it's, like YEAH i had,
Speaker 3: thirty but they won by, forty so who? Cares, well
Speaker 3: well that still, counts, Right it all still, Matter like
Speaker 3: it's it's. There and a lot of teams are front.
Speaker 3: Runners like that term's always made me laugh a little
Speaker 3: bit when it's, like you know all the teams are front? Runner, well,
Speaker 3: yeah of course they are when things are going really.
Speaker 3: Good of course you know teams are front. Runners but,
Speaker 3: YEAH i think he's really. GOOD i THINK i think
Speaker 3: too That Mark diagnal just sticks with, him right and
Speaker 3: just keeps going with him and doesn't try to do
Speaker 3: anything where it is all, right we're, gonna you, know
Speaker 3: take him off the, court like he just trusts his,
Speaker 3: guys even Like Lou door we've seen go through some
Speaker 3: really awful shooting slumps throughout the course of these, playoffs
Speaker 3: but he just keeps rolling with him because it's, like
Speaker 3: that's my, guy, Right i'm gonna trust that when it's
Speaker 3: when it's really, needed it'll be. There and that goes
Speaker 3: a long way with players to have when their coach
Speaker 3: has their back like.
Speaker 2: That from a cap standpoint or just a transactional, STANDPOINT
Speaker 2: i want to get your thoughts on this because you've
Speaker 2: probably seen the the meme going around or the graphic
Speaker 2: going around where It's Richard Lewis Sam presty Turning Richard
Speaker 2: lewis into this whole thundered like the paper clip into the,
Speaker 2: house right with the trade exceptions and Turning Paul george
Speaker 2: Into shay and five first.
Speaker 1: Round all this from all of the.
Speaker 2: Experience that you've had analyzing THE nba on a transactional,
Speaker 2: level can you put how impressive this GMing is historically
Speaker 2: from what you've seen in your.
Speaker 3: Career, yeah it's way way way up, there because this
Speaker 3: is a team, that outside of a couple of years
Speaker 3: which were very intentional down, years from the Time Sam
Speaker 3: pressy has taken, over hasn't really been. Bad The seattle
Speaker 3: team was starting, over they GOT, kd they Get Russell,
Speaker 3: westbrook the team, moves then they're. Good they're good for
Speaker 3: a number of years In Oklahoma. City then POST Kd,
Speaker 3: westbrook as they started to move into a little bit
Speaker 3: of a different, error it was, like all, right, well
Speaker 3: we've Got Chris paul and we're still pretty. Good and
Speaker 3: then they were good into the. Bubble then coming out of,
Speaker 3: That presty was, like all, right but we're not good.
Speaker 3: Enough we don't want to be just a playoff, Team
Speaker 3: So i'm Gonna i'm gonna strip it, right But i'm
Speaker 3: not getting rid OF. Sga we're gonna build around. Him
Speaker 3: got him on a good, contract and they just kept adding,
Speaker 3: pieces adding. PIECES i like TO i have a MEME
Speaker 3: i created in post all the. Time whenever they make a,
Speaker 3: trade it's like it's the guy walking with his girlfriend
Speaker 3: looking at the other girl and it's Like Sam presty
Speaker 3: with draft, picks but he's, like oh more draft. Picks
Speaker 3: cause that's just you know how these things seem to
Speaker 3: go for years in his, trades like it's it is
Speaker 3: incredible that he's built. This and the great thing is
Speaker 3: everybody's the discussion point since, yesterday AND i think some
Speaker 3: of it is it's people trying to cope with the
Speaker 3: fact of, like all, right, well this team won't be
Speaker 3: around for too, long, right because how are we gonna
Speaker 3: deal with these? Guys they're set up really.
Speaker 2: Well it kind of kills like a long Time keith,
Speaker 2: yeahs like sixty six years or.
Speaker 3: So, yeah it really, is because you HAVE i tweeted
Speaker 3: it out last night in the aftermath of them winning
Speaker 3: fourteen of fifteen players through twenty, six twenty seven or
Speaker 3: under team control either they're, signed they have The thunder
Speaker 3: of an option for, them or they have their restricted
Speaker 3: free agent. Rights they're going to get, Expensive there's no
Speaker 3: doubt about. That but the nice thing for The thunder
Speaker 3: is as they get, expensive when they Extend williams and
Speaker 3: they extend Home grin and then they have to do
Speaker 3: a new deal WITH, sga the cap will continue to go.
Speaker 3: Up it's not going to go up ten percent every,
Speaker 3: year but it'll go. Up that'll make those contracts more.
Speaker 3: Palatable and then the other thing that comes in, is,
Speaker 3: yeah they may Lose Aaron wiggins Or Isaiah joe or Even,
Speaker 3: hartenstein but they still have all these extra draft picks
Speaker 3: that they can start to, replenish and that's going to
Speaker 3: be how they'll build it. Up and in these next
Speaker 3: couple of years where they probably don't have roster spots
Speaker 3: for all the draft picks they, Have Sam presci will, say, hey,
Speaker 3: Well i'll take one And i'll turn it into two later,
Speaker 3: Ya i'll take take one this, Year i'll turn it
Speaker 3: into one down the, line and that's gonna be how
Speaker 3: they're going to keep backfilling those rotation spots around the
Speaker 3: three main, guys and that's why they should be able
Speaker 3: to extend this window out for a.
Speaker 2: While. Yeah, yeah it's pretty, impressive especially considering it's a small.
Speaker 2: Market and we'll talk About indiana as, well because they
Speaker 2: did something similar but in a totally different. Way BUT
Speaker 2: i do want to just get your thoughts On minnesota
Speaker 2: because again a lot of people.
Speaker 1: Were not sold on this.
Speaker 2: Team posts, Uh Karl Anthony towns trade And Julius rendall
Speaker 2: kind of seemed like he was just there temporarily as
Speaker 2: a salary, match and he's sort of turned some things
Speaker 2: around outside of this last series AGAINST okc and they
Speaker 2: found their.
Speaker 1: Rhythm you.
Speaker 2: Know obviously The Julius randall injury was a, blow but
Speaker 2: he came back so much. Better if you're A wolves
Speaker 2: fan knowing what's, coming knowing about the cap situation and
Speaker 2: the new ownership and what they're probably going to have
Speaker 2: to do make, change he's got multiple guys that are
Speaker 2: now free. Agents is but you're also coming off of
Speaker 2: Two Western Conference finals appearances back to. Back is this
Speaker 2: a glass, full half full or a glass half empty?
Speaker 3: SCENARIO i think it's half, full mostly Because Anthony edwards
Speaker 3: is that. GOOD i know he had a little bit
Speaker 3: of a Rough West, finals BUT i kind of liked
Speaker 3: what he was saying coming out of that of, like,
Speaker 3: Hey i'm gonna be better next year AND i want
Speaker 3: to get back here again AND i want to go
Speaker 3: further next. Time and then you're talking to somebody who
Speaker 3: was The celtics, guy you, know covering the team. Forever
Speaker 3: i've been a fan my whole. Life they beat their
Speaker 3: heads against the wall in The East finals a million
Speaker 3: years in a. Row it felt like and then finally
Speaker 3: broke through AND i have faith With edwards that'll get.
Speaker 3: There AND i love that he's talking about, like, HEY
Speaker 3: i want to do this For Mike, conley, RIGHT i
Speaker 3: want to get him over the hump and get get.
Speaker 3: Further AND i think they're set up fairly well with.
Speaker 3: Things they're, again very expensive, team but we've got a
Speaker 3: little bit of. Flexibility we'll see what happens With randall
Speaker 3: And reed in their. Options they may end up Losing Ni,
Speaker 3: Kile Alexander. Walker we'll see. That it really comes down
Speaker 3: to how deep into the second apron do they want
Speaker 3: to go? Again do They are they okay with that
Speaker 3: because now that the ownership transition is moving, forward are
Speaker 3: they gonna kind of put the brakes on things or
Speaker 3: is it just gonna Be Tim connolly in the front office, saying,
Speaker 3: hey we got to back off because we can't do
Speaker 3: a lot to improve the. Roster we'll see where it.
Speaker 3: Goes but it's a really forward thinking group there In.
Speaker 3: MINNESOTA i like the way they kind of just they
Speaker 3: do things in a little bit of a different way
Speaker 3: and that that's that's been fun to see. Them LIKE
Speaker 3: i thought The Rob dillingham trade a year ago at the,
Speaker 3: draft was really inspired of a way to let's add
Speaker 3: some high level talent when we don't have a lot
Speaker 3: of assets inability to do. SO i thought they were
Speaker 3: smart with doing that so AND i like that they're
Speaker 3: also saying they're gonna play their kids. More get let's
Speaker 3: get dealing him And channon in the fold next. Year
Speaker 3: let's really try to work them in the rotation so
Speaker 3: then you're you're not as relying on, five, six seven.
Speaker 3: Guys you can go ten deep when you need to
Speaker 3: in the.
Speaker 1: Playoffs what do you think the future looks like For?
Speaker 2: Rudyobert because when he had his contract, extension it kind
Speaker 2: of looked like it was in albatross then and now
Speaker 2: thirty five million.
Speaker 1: Dollars doesn't look that bad at.
Speaker 2: All and he's such a such a firebrand and like
Speaker 2: a controversial player in the, playoffs specifically because he'll have
Speaker 2: these epic games like he did against The, lakers and
Speaker 2: then he'll disappear and pretty much be on a milk
Speaker 2: carton like he did In game one against the Thunder,
Speaker 2: like what do you think this team feels about?
Speaker 3: Him, YEAH i think they're. Committed that's why they gave
Speaker 3: him the, extension and you're absolutely. Right this is the
Speaker 3: thing with these, contracts and IT'S i, Mean i'm not
Speaker 3: turning down thirty five. Million if everyone wants to throw
Speaker 3: it my. Way if people watch this way to contact.
Speaker 3: Me it's in My twitter. Bio let me. Know if
Speaker 3: you got millions laying, around, WELL i think With Rudy,
Speaker 3: gobert the thing is anybody on those kind of, contracts
Speaker 3: as the cap continues to go, up it's just about
Speaker 3: percent of cap, Now like that's what you really have
Speaker 3: to focus on versus just the raw dollar amount because
Speaker 3: the raw dollar amounts they're, staggering, Right they're gonna be.
Speaker 3: Crazy Kate Kate cunningham's contract is. Huge the CONTRACT sga
Speaker 3: can sign, for it's gonna be. Ridiculous you, know we're
Speaker 3: we're closing in on five hundred million dollar contracts here
Speaker 3: pretty soon over you're gonna have one hundred million dollar
Speaker 3: a year player within probably the decade like. That but
Speaker 3: that's just where things are. Going SO i, think now
Speaker 3: what what we look at is when we look in
Speaker 3: percent a, cap it's pretty. Good now With, GOBART i
Speaker 3: think this is why it's important to Keep bake nas
Speaker 3: reed in the, fold because you want to have somebody
Speaker 3: else to turn to on those nights When gobart is
Speaker 3: just he just doesn't have. It he's not. There he's you,
Speaker 3: know a zero on, offense and the defense isn't exactly
Speaker 3: what you. Need but more often than, not you, know
Speaker 3: even with the offensive, challenges you're gonna have somebody can
Speaker 3: really be a game changer on, defense and that's. Huge so,
Speaker 3: YEAH i think they're pretty happy to have him and
Speaker 3: have him at the number they got him.
Speaker 2: At, yeah we'll see what happens With nasried because if
Speaker 2: they lose, him boy oh, boy that makes things a
Speaker 2: lot more problematic for. Sure let's turn to The knicks
Speaker 2: and The, Pacers. Keith there's a lot of chatter About
Speaker 2: brunston right.
Speaker 1: NOW i Love.
Speaker 2: Brunson he's probably one of my top five favorite players to,
Speaker 2: watch especially in the fourth. Quarter and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of chatter about whether The knicks can win with them
Speaker 2: on the highest level with him as their ONE. A
Speaker 2: and there's also now conversations about whether you can win
Speaker 2: With brunson and kat together because of the defensive deficiencies
Speaker 2: that they both. Have what are your thoughts as you
Speaker 2: watch the game and analyze it about that.
Speaker 3: Notion, yeah clearly their hope was putting together the perimeter
Speaker 3: trio Of Bridges anenobian heart would be enough to cover
Speaker 3: For towns And. Brunson but once you get into the
Speaker 3: higher levels of the, playoffs you're going against teams that
Speaker 3: they're just they're gonna wait and work to get you
Speaker 3: to a spa where it just doesn't matter how good
Speaker 3: three of your five defenders. Are if there's one guy
Speaker 3: that can't hold, up they're gonna find them and they're
Speaker 3: gonna go after, them and they're gonna try to, really you,
Speaker 3: know make it. Happen SO i think with The, knicks
Speaker 3: it's just gonna have to be a conversation around what
Speaker 3: can you do. SCHEMATICALLY i thought they did a better
Speaker 3: job Against boston than they've done Against indiana of kind
Speaker 3: of baiting The celtics, into, hey you know, what you
Speaker 3: want to attack, this and then it's but as you're Attacking,
Speaker 3: towns we're gonna have somebody else digging in on the
Speaker 3: weak side to. Help we're gonna do these. Things we're
Speaker 3: gonna make it, Harder we're gonna we're gonna press you
Speaker 3: out to half court or even beyond where by the
Speaker 3: time you finally get to the matchup you, want there's
Speaker 3: four seconds left on the shop clock and you have to.
Speaker 3: Go problem, is Against indiana that doesn't work because they
Speaker 3: just race the ball up the floor and they're getting
Speaker 3: into their stuff with seventeen seconds on the shop, clock
Speaker 3: and then then it is all, right you you maybe
Speaker 3: stop the first thing we want to go, to but
Speaker 3: we'll just a second action and move forward with. That
Speaker 3: so that's a little bit of a challenge. There SO
Speaker 3: i don't want to throw it all, away but it
Speaker 3: sounds crazy to say it because it's A TIBs coach,
Speaker 3: team but you almost gotta lean into your offense a
Speaker 3: little bit more and really, say all, right you know,
Speaker 3: what we we can't stop these. Guys not that means
Speaker 3: you don't try, defensively but let's go with a little
Speaker 3: bit more. Offense let's try, to you, know pick up
Speaker 3: our own. Pace that's the one ISSUE i have With Jalen.
Speaker 3: BRUNSON i love him, too but, man he wants to
Speaker 3: play slow and play in the half. Court and there's
Speaker 3: times with that knicks and it was Against, boston it
Speaker 3: stood out at times in Against indiana where just get
Speaker 3: the ball up the, floor get. Going there's easier offense
Speaker 3: then you're having to work so deep into the shot.
Speaker 3: Clock but, yeah it's, tough but not impossible to build
Speaker 3: around A bruns And towns led.
Speaker 2: Team you're right, too because the thing that you see
Speaker 2: sometimes at the end of games is just a lot
Speaker 2: of dribbling by bruntson and it's a lot of we
Speaker 2: know exactly what you're gonna. Do you're telegraphing that It's
Speaker 2: brunton and Only. Brunson if they could get a little
Speaker 2: bit more chaotic Like, indiana a little bit more whack
Speaker 2: a mole where you don't know who's gonna have the hot,
Speaker 2: hand then it almost Makes brunton even more.
Speaker 1: Potent when you do go to.
Speaker 3: Him, yeah, move, Move just get into your stuff quicker like.
Speaker 3: That that's my biggest thing.
Speaker 2: With, them push the pace off of makes Is Tom
Speaker 2: dibbodeau underrated or overrated as a.
Speaker 3: Coach he's rated properly, rated you. Know IT'S i think
Speaker 3: he's done a really good job of getting teams to
Speaker 3: a level where it is better than what they were
Speaker 3: before he came. IN i don't know that he is
Speaker 3: a true championship level. COACH i do have some. Doubts
Speaker 3: one of my big things and it's minutes police sound the, siren,
Speaker 3: right is his team's d often worn down by the
Speaker 3: time they get deep into the playoffs because he pushes
Speaker 3: them so hard in the regular. Season but on the flip,
Speaker 3: side that comes with a really good regular season. Results
Speaker 3: so it really, is you, know where are we trying
Speaker 3: to go when the goal is win a whole lot
Speaker 3: in the regular season and in the, Playoffs but it
Speaker 3: doesn't always work out that, way SO i. Think but
Speaker 3: he's by no means a bad. Coach i've heard some
Speaker 3: people suggesting, like this guy's not even. Good it's you,
Speaker 3: know the matter of the talent that he, has AND
Speaker 3: i don't think that's true at. ALL i think he's
Speaker 3: does what he, does AND i think this PARTICULAR nixt
Speaker 3: team they don't have the talent to play the way
Speaker 3: he wants to. Play that's WHY i think you've seen
Speaker 3: him go To Mitchell. Robinson that's a lot more the
Speaker 3: defensive style he, wants or it is let's press out,
Speaker 3: high let's hedge, hard, recover get back to, it and
Speaker 3: he can't do that with talents because he's just not
Speaker 3: that kind of.
Speaker 2: Defender, yeah he has a style of a play he
Speaker 2: wants to institute that may or may not be twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five championship. Caliber The, pacers, Though, keith they're kind
Speaker 2: of like a mix Between okac in the sense that
Speaker 2: the GMing that got this team here is just so fucking,
Speaker 2: Impressive like you just look at, it and, You i'm
Speaker 2: sure know all About Aaron nesemith from the time he
Speaker 2: was buried at the back of the bench For Romeo
Speaker 2: langford back in the, day and both of, them both
Speaker 2: of them were buried. Together you're, right but you were, wondering,
Speaker 2: okay like what Was indiana thinking Moving Malcolm brogden for For?
Speaker 2: Aaron Meet Nei smith and and the list kind of
Speaker 2: goes on and on in terms of the moves that they've.
Speaker 2: Made but the way that they were also remind me
Speaker 2: a little bit of The wolves in the sense that
Speaker 2: they went to the conference finals the year before and
Speaker 2: had a horrible first start to the year where we, thought,
Speaker 2: oh my, god, like Is tyree's haliburt not that? Good
Speaker 2: like or is he still working through that hamstring injury
Speaker 2: that he was working on the year? Before are they
Speaker 2: a for real team or did they just get fluky
Speaker 2: to get to this place and they've shown that they
Speaker 2: are they are no fluke and they actually look more
Speaker 2: impressive this year than they did last. Year can you
Speaker 2: talk a little bit about just juxtapose the the GMing
Speaker 2: between WHAT okc did and and What indiana, did and
Speaker 2: like Why indiana maybe even more or impressive or at
Speaker 2: least equally.
Speaker 3: Impressive, yeah okaysee built a lot of theirs through draft and,
Speaker 3: development And i'll Include sga in. That they did not draft.
Speaker 3: Him they acquired him via, trade but they developed him
Speaker 3: into this through through their, process Where indiana was a
Speaker 3: little bit more Of they definitely did some draft in,
Speaker 3: development but there's a lot more of smart trades to
Speaker 3: get their. Guys Getting haliburton For, Sabonis i'm Not i'm
Speaker 3: still not going to kill The kings BECAUSE i think
Speaker 3: there's a little too much of forgetting where the teams
Speaker 3: were at at the time that trade was. Made but,
Speaker 3: yeah obviously The pacers have come out ahead on. That
Speaker 3: haliburtons now you, know regular L nba guy And sibonis
Speaker 3: is merely a very GOOD nba center WHO i happen
Speaker 3: to like quite a bit as a. Player but then
Speaker 3: The siakam trade last, year which was just a perfect,
Speaker 3: fit right that we need a power. Forward it can
Speaker 3: go out and score and do some stuff for. Us
Speaker 3: we can get. Him let's go get, him let's get this.
Speaker 3: Done just amazing trade. There and then like you, say
Speaker 3: Getting Nee smith in a trade where The brogden deal, was,
Speaker 3: well we Have. Halbard now we like this nem hard, Kid,
Speaker 3: like we don't really Need Malcolm brogden, anymore let's move him.
Speaker 3: Off Innee smith was the guy they. Got they also
Speaker 3: got to pick in that, deal and In Nei smith's
Speaker 3: big problem With boston was every time he was like
Speaker 3: already starting to come, along he get hurt. Again and
Speaker 3: then it was like all, right and then it became
Speaker 3: very clear he's never gonna have a very big role
Speaker 3: With Tatum brown in the fold because he's just not
Speaker 3: gonna be how it. Goes so now he glenns, there
Speaker 3: he's been very. Good and then the rest of their, GUYS.
Speaker 3: Tj McConnell really underrated acquisition when they went out he got,
Speaker 3: him and he's just he's just a pest like AND
Speaker 3: i mean that is a complete, compliment but he's just,
Speaker 3: Yeah he's just always up in you and doing stuff
Speaker 3: where it's, like, man, like would you get away from? Me,
Speaker 3: like you, know just annoying out there the way he,
Speaker 3: plays and it's so. Good but then he Drafted, mathern
Speaker 3: WHO i Think matherin gives them another level of like
Speaker 3: kind of chaotic. Energy you never kind of know what
Speaker 3: he's gonna. Do and there's times when even in this,
Speaker 3: series he had a game the other day where it
Speaker 3: wasn't going so, good So Rick carlile just pulled him.
Speaker 3: OUT i was, Like i'm not gonna play you because
Speaker 3: you're a little out of. Control and Then Ben, sheppard you,
Speaker 3: know got the minutes. Instead and then the other Night
Speaker 3: mathen was out there doing his thing and looked really
Speaker 3: good and he Played he's scored like twenty points in
Speaker 3: like twelve minutes or. Whatever it, was so, like, hey
Speaker 3: it's just a really smartly constructed. Roster and THEN i
Speaker 3: Think Rick carlile as the coach so key Because Rick
Speaker 3: carlile doesn't necessarily want to play super fast and up.
Speaker 3: Tempo that's never been his. Style BUT i think he's
Speaker 3: a smart enough coach to know this is what works
Speaker 3: for the. GUYS i have let's, go let's get after
Speaker 3: it this.
Speaker 2: Way, yeah he really has adapted his team's scheme to
Speaker 2: the personnel that he. Has he's almost the inverse Of Tom,
Speaker 2: thibodeau Where Tom thibodau' is, like this is What i'm
Speaker 2: running regardless of the personnel THAT i, have And Rick
Speaker 2: carlile has done a really great job of doing the.
Speaker 2: Opposite more coaches need to do that is, like that's
Speaker 2: kind of what being a coach is is using the
Speaker 2: ingredients that you have in the kitchen and chaffing it.
Speaker 2: UP i do Think Tyrese halliburton as good as he
Speaker 2: was last, year especially in The Ntason tournament and some
Speaker 2: of the moments that we've seen with. Him he talked
Speaker 2: to a bunch of high, end you, know greats in
Speaker 2: terms of point guard. POSITIONS i know that something came
Speaker 2: out recently that he was talking to super just about
Speaker 2: how to balance the.
Speaker 1: Scoring load with the facilitating.
Speaker 2: Load and it FEELS i don't know about, you but
Speaker 2: it feels like he's taken a huge.
Speaker 1: Leap in the last two.
Speaker 2: Series just the moments that he's given us and the
Speaker 2: presence of, mind for, example to miss that free throw
Speaker 2: intentionally and shoot the three and you, know the fake
Speaker 2: the jab step and hit it right in the. Face
Speaker 2: there was just so many of. Those oh my, god
Speaker 2: this is now etched in. History i'm kind of stunned
Speaker 2: that people Thought Tyrese haliburton in the. League his peers
Speaker 2: thought he was the most overrated.
Speaker 3: Player, yeah that's a little, crazy and THAT i think
Speaker 3: often in those surveys that they, do there's a lot
Speaker 3: of that's rooted in jealousy of, like, MAN i should
Speaker 3: have been On TEAM usa and he didn't even. Play
Speaker 3: he was at the end of the bench and all
Speaker 3: the things got that get said about. Him But i'm with.
Speaker 3: YOU i think he is now as a point guard.
Speaker 3: Mastered for, me arguably the most important skill a point
Speaker 3: guard can, have which is controlling the pace of the.
Speaker 3: Game and it is not just game to. Game it's
Speaker 3: possession of. Possession if it is the best thing for
Speaker 3: us is to fly down the. Floor he gets that
Speaker 3: going and the keys it and off they. Go if
Speaker 3: it is, nope we're gonna slow it down And i'm
Speaker 3: gonna find the matchup we need to go. To not
Speaker 3: always for, himself it might be the best thing for
Speaker 3: me to do is pull the defense defender over, here
Speaker 3: get it over To nemhar to get it To, sam
Speaker 3: And siakam attacks because he's got. It my my job
Speaker 3: is keep the other defenders out of there by pulling
Speaker 3: them off to the other side of the. Floor he
Speaker 3: is really good at, that and that those are the
Speaker 3: things that the very best point guards, do the Magic
Speaker 3: johnson back in the, day Or Steve nash Or Chris.
Speaker 3: Paul for, YEARS i always said With Chris, paul you
Speaker 3: play the game of whatever Speed Chris paul wants to play.
Speaker 3: That if he wants to play, fast we're all playing fast.
Speaker 3: Today if he wants to play, solow we're all playing.
Speaker 3: Slow And Tyres alburn's now there, too and he does
Speaker 3: just such a good job of varying it within. Games
Speaker 3: it's everybody thinks of the pacers as all they do
Speaker 3: is run and run and. Run but like watch when
Speaker 3: they play play The, knicks or if they make the,
Speaker 3: finals there'll be moments where it Is, nope the best
Speaker 3: thing to do now is slow it, down lead the
Speaker 3: clock a little bit and. Go and he's equally as
Speaker 3: good at.
Speaker 2: That how do you assess the matchup BETWEEN i think
Speaker 2: obviously you know it might not be done. Tonight obviously
Speaker 2: we're recording this earlier than the show's coming. Out but
Speaker 2: how do you assess AN Okac pacer final like matchup?
Speaker 2: Wise do you think that that looks, like.
Speaker 3: Yeah give the advantage To okay, See BUT i think
Speaker 3: it's going to be closer than people think because they
Speaker 3: kind of counter each other in ways that are really.
Speaker 3: Good The pacers are actually fairly solid in interior defense
Speaker 3: With Miles turner kind of lurking as a help. Guy
Speaker 3: that helps when you've Got sga And Jalen williams who
Speaker 3: just want to get downhill over and over and over.
Speaker 3: Again they've got good athletes Because siakam's pretty good, Athlete
Speaker 3: Nie smith good. Athlete then you've Got Obi topping good
Speaker 3: athlete coming off the. Bench so some of those drives
Speaker 3: and lobs and those, things they're gonna be competitive on,
Speaker 3: Those they're not just gonna give them Up ah with.
Speaker 3: Ease and THEN i Think indiana they control the. Ball
Speaker 3: they don't throw the ball away very, often and the
Speaker 3: thunder we talked about it. Before they feed so much
Speaker 3: off turnovers and really getting that ball and getting it
Speaker 3: running the other way and all those. Things that's so
Speaker 3: huge for, them AND i don't know that that's gonna
Speaker 3: be there quite as. EASY i just think it's gonna
Speaker 3: be an overall depth of options that will Wear they
Speaker 3: will just Wear indiana down. Eventually BUT i do, think you,
Speaker 3: know if that's the series we, get AND i think
Speaker 3: that's where we're probably, ADDED i think it's gonna be
Speaker 3: a really fun, finals a lot better THAN i think
Speaker 3: a lot of people, are, like, Well i'm not watching.
Speaker 3: This who cares about these two? Teams you're gonna miss
Speaker 3: out on some really good.
Speaker 2: Basketball, yeah, fun, competitive high level. Firework anything's bound to
Speaker 2: happen type of. BASKETBALL i. DO i can't let you
Speaker 2: go without talking about The. Celtics just a rough way
Speaker 2: to end the season in so many, ways the catastrophic
Speaker 2: leads that they let slip away In game one And game. Two,
Speaker 2: obviously The Jason tatum injury now extends past this.
Speaker 1: Year another team that's been.
Speaker 2: Very clear everyone's reporting is that they're gonna get less.
Speaker 1: Expensive what does that mean to?
Speaker 2: You because that could mean we get rid of Kristavs
Speaker 2: porzingis and we bring on some you, Know south expirings
Speaker 2: and then we maybe call. Them that could mean we
Speaker 2: get rid Of Drew holiday AND kp all the way
Speaker 2: to oh, well maybe we explore reloading and moving on
Speaker 2: From Jalen, brown WHICH i don't think would, happen but
Speaker 2: those rumors are out here.
Speaker 3: Too, Yeah i'm ready for anything this. Summer part of
Speaker 3: the wild card is it is a new ownership group coming.
Speaker 3: In one of the things That i've said for months
Speaker 3: before obviously their run, ENDED i didn't think if they
Speaker 3: were in the finals, again or obviously if they won
Speaker 3: the finals, again that the first steps for a new
Speaker 3: ownership group was going to be let's start trading guys
Speaker 3: because we need to get. CHEAPER i Know celtics, fans
Speaker 3: they wouldn't stand for. It they would have rioted if
Speaker 3: that was the case, NOW i, think and it's not
Speaker 3: the right exact term to, use but they have a
Speaker 3: little bit of cover on doing that BECAUSE i think
Speaker 3: most folks are, like, eh it's probably gonna be a
Speaker 3: little bit of a gap. Year and that's WHAT i
Speaker 3: think it's gonna, be is just a step, back as
Speaker 3: they kind of said a little. BIT i think there's
Speaker 3: a good chance someone Like Drew holiday gets, Moved Chris
Speaker 3: porzingis maybe gets. MOVED i Think Sam hauser is maybe
Speaker 3: the most logical guy to get. Traded It's Sam houser
Speaker 3: being a really good bench shooter on a team that's
Speaker 3: not a title. Contender it's like having a really good
Speaker 3: closer on a bad baseball. Team what's the, Point like
Speaker 3: it doesn't really. Matter and they've got a guy Like
Speaker 3: Baylor shireman in the fold now where it's, like just
Speaker 3: give him those minutes and see what he can. Do
Speaker 3: SO i think what we're really looking at with them
Speaker 3: is it's probably gonna take a series of transactions to get.
Speaker 3: There there's not gonna be one big transaction because that
Speaker 3: would mean dealing with the nets and be, like, hey
Speaker 3: you want to eat this one contract for holiday or For,
Speaker 3: portzingis and that would clear everything they need to. Clear
Speaker 3: BUT i don't think that's gonna be how it, goes
Speaker 3: BECAUSE i don't think they think they're excited about the
Speaker 3: idea let's give up draft capital to do. That BUT
Speaker 3: i think a series of transactions over a couple, cycles so,
Speaker 3: offseason trade, deadline the next, offseason that's how they're gonna
Speaker 3: get themselves under the second. Apron i'm with. YOU i
Speaker 3: don't think they'll Trade Jalen. BROWN i don't know that
Speaker 3: it's completely off the. Table, clearly they've had him in
Speaker 3: trade talks previously that you, know he felt a certain
Speaker 3: way about, that but it didn't end up, happening and
Speaker 3: he came back great and won a. Title but he's
Speaker 3: also dealing with a knee, injury so he'll take a step.
Speaker 3: Back the good news is The Eastern cofford, stinks so
Speaker 3: they can be a little worse and still probably be
Speaker 3: a playoff. Team and the good news With Jason tatum
Speaker 3: is all the reports that are coming out is he
Speaker 3: had this surgery very, early very, quickly basically within twenty
Speaker 3: four hours of it, happening and all the indications are
Speaker 3: if you get it done very quickly and in the
Speaker 3: manner that they repaired the, injury you can return quicker
Speaker 3: and better then most guys have from These achilles tears that,
Speaker 3: said they're not gonna rush him. Back they're not gonna be,
Speaker 3: like get back on the floor and by the trade
Speaker 3: deadline or by The All star break or anything like.
Speaker 3: That BUT i think if he's, ready they'll bring him.
Speaker 3: Back it might look a little bit Like Brandon clark
Speaker 3: did a couple of seasons ago with The, griz where
Speaker 3: it was at the end of a lost. SEASON a
Speaker 3: lot of, people why are they Bringing Brandon clark? Back they,
Speaker 3: stink they're, Terrible but it was get them back out,
Speaker 3: there let him go, through all. Right they can play in.
Speaker 3: TRAFFIC i could play in a. CROWD i got knocked,
Speaker 3: down somebody fell into my. Leg it's not the end
Speaker 3: of the. World i'm. Good so that, way when we
Speaker 3: start the next, season you just started free and clear
Speaker 3: and you're ready to, Go so that that's kind of
Speaker 3: be how that might might might play out.
Speaker 1: Here, yeah so you expect major. MOVES i.
Speaker 3: Do, yeah it's it would be at this point in my. Opinion,
Speaker 3: IRRESPONSE i don't care about the luxury, tax But i'm
Speaker 3: not paying, It like what pay pay it half a
Speaker 3: billion dollars if you want. To that's. You you bought the,
Speaker 3: team don't you know you need to pay that PART
Speaker 3: i don't care. About WHAT i care about is the
Speaker 3: roster restrictions that come from being a Second apron, team
Speaker 3: And boston's now starting to feel the weight of those
Speaker 3: where becomes a lot harder to make moves and becomes
Speaker 3: a lot harder to improve the. Team and you have.
Speaker 3: Holiday he's thirty. Five porzingis is NOW i think he's,
Speaker 3: thirty but he misses a lot of time every. Year
Speaker 3: this year was a lot with this mystery, illness which
Speaker 3: hopefully gets resolved over the offseason and he's healthy and,
Speaker 3: okay but you know it's gonna be something else he's
Speaker 3: gonna miss some. Time SO i think this is a
Speaker 3: good chance to reset a little bit and see where it.
Speaker 3: GOES i know Some celtics fans are, like, hey IF
Speaker 3: i gonna watch a year At Peyton pritchard And Derek,
Speaker 3: white you, know shooting contests for forty minutes a, night that's.
Speaker 3: FINE i can do. It you, know there's a lot
Speaker 3: of people, like we want a. Title we're still one
Speaker 3: up on The. Lakers it's all, Right, like let's keep
Speaker 3: going because that's a major goal For celtics fans at this. Point.
Speaker 2: YEAH i THINK i interviewed you the day that the
Speaker 2: NEW cba came out and we had no idea really
Speaker 2: even what to make of it at that. Point now
Speaker 2: that we've seen the ramifications of, it The celtics obviously
Speaker 2: being example number one in terms of how it affects
Speaker 2: what you can and can't do and even if you're
Speaker 2: a title, team what you can do with your roster
Speaker 2: and what you're forced to. Do do you think this is,
Speaker 2: now looking at it and holistically this is a good
Speaker 2: thing for the, LEAGUE i don't know.
Speaker 3: YET i think so is Where i'll say It's AND
Speaker 3: i tend to be a lot more conservative with these,
Speaker 3: things like we. Weren't we were days into the NEW
Speaker 3: cba rules and effect and people are, like this is.
Speaker 3: Ruining it's ruined to THE, nba and then no trades
Speaker 3: will ever get made. Again and then we just had
Speaker 3: the craziest trade deadline we've ever. Had this summer is
Speaker 3: gonna be. Wild there's more big names available than. Ever
Speaker 3: teams will find a, way you, know it's Like Jurassic, park,
Speaker 3: right life finds a, Way like they'll they'll figure it.
Speaker 3: Out they're gonna make things happen for. ME i. THINK
Speaker 3: i think parody is, good BUT i don't like it
Speaker 3: if we start breaking teams up too, Quickly like if
Speaker 3: we get to a position where the thunder like we
Speaker 3: just we got to move one of our three best,
Speaker 3: players that's not. Good like in THAT i don't think
Speaker 3: they're gonna have, to but if they have, to that's not.
Speaker 3: Great you want trades to be made out of basketball,
Speaker 3: reasons not just true financial. Reasons and it's rare that
Speaker 3: trades are made solely just about on court. Reasons it's
Speaker 3: always for one team or another about the salary cap
Speaker 3: in the cap. Sheet so BUT i think it's okay
Speaker 3: as long as we can still get some teams that
Speaker 3: it's like AND i know that team like The. Warriors
Speaker 3: part of the fun with The warriors was we all
Speaker 3: loved the first couple of seasons with The, warriors then
Speaker 3: everybody hated them two seasons, later, right because it's, well
Speaker 3: what do they, Say you become the, hero then live
Speaker 3: long enough to become the. Villain like that's that's what
Speaker 3: happened with The. Warriors and you know, what. Dynasties you
Speaker 3: either want to root for them or you want to
Speaker 3: root against. Them AND i think those are good for,
Speaker 3: for you, know sports in general. Anyway and so, Yeah
Speaker 3: I'M i let's, see you, know let's let it play
Speaker 3: out for a couple more years and then then we'll
Speaker 3: have a better handle on.
Speaker 2: IT a Team keith that maybe made a trade for financial,
Speaker 2: reasons but they told us that they made them for basketball.
Speaker 1: Reasons he's A Dallas mavericks.
Speaker 2: Who got absolutely dragged all season long after the, deadline
Speaker 2: only to be a playing team and fuck around and
Speaker 2: get the first White american born player to go number
Speaker 2: one since LIKE.
Speaker 1: I don't even.
Speaker 2: REMEMBER i, know it's BEFORE i was, born AND i,
Speaker 2: REMEMBER i know it's a name THAT i don't really
Speaker 2: even have stuck into my. Cerebellum and that's Not Larry.
Speaker 2: Bird so now they're messing around and they Get Cooper,
Speaker 2: flag what do you see for them this? Offseason, like
Speaker 2: we've got The kyrie? Injury any chance he doesn't sign With?
Speaker 2: Dallas like do you think that the pr disaster has
Speaker 2: been mitigated By? Flag are there some people still kind
Speaker 2: of a little suspicious about what this franchise is doing or?
Speaker 3: What, yeah and this is. TIMELY i just posted their
Speaker 3: offseason preview on spot track. TODAY i it's what an
Speaker 3: incredible you, know uh luck to have that happen in the.
Speaker 3: Lottery AND i don't buy into conspiracy theories or any of.
Speaker 3: That you you've worked in the media a long, time So,
Speaker 3: vie there's media members in the, room and we would
Speaker 3: love nothing more than to break that, story right it's,
Speaker 3: rigged AND i saw how you, know good luck getting
Speaker 3: all those people plus thirty teams to all. Agree, yeah
Speaker 3: the best thing for our league is to Give Dallas Cooper.
Speaker 3: Flag why do The pelicans want?
Speaker 2: That?
Speaker 3: Right, like that's not a. Thing so that, said it's
Speaker 3: funny because this always happens at draft when you're a
Speaker 3: month out from the draft. Book maybe you, know could
Speaker 3: they draft somebody? Else, no, like take that out of the.
Speaker 3: Mix It's Cooper. FLAG i had a chance because he
Speaker 3: went To Montvert academy for the last couple of, years
Speaker 3: right down the road from my, house SO i saw
Speaker 3: him play a. LOT i think the thing that gets
Speaker 3: forgotten with how good of a prospect he. Is this
Speaker 3: kid is. Eighteen he should be a high school senior right.
Speaker 3: Now he should be graduating high school like this week
Speaker 3: here in the state Of, florida and and here we
Speaker 3: are he's prepping for the draft and prepping to go
Speaker 3: to The. Mavericks all that, SAID i think they're gonna Resign.
Speaker 3: KYRIE i think they're gonna keep. HIM i think they're
Speaker 3: gonna do what they need to to have him in the.
Speaker 3: Fold and THEN i think we're going to see them,
Speaker 3: basically go get another point guard that can play For
Speaker 3: kyrie un til he's ready to. Go kyrie has been
Speaker 3: very adamant he's gonna be back earlier than people. THINK
Speaker 3: i think there's a good chance that. Happens kyrie's not
Speaker 3: trying to protect ten more years of a. Career he
Speaker 3: probably knows he's got four or five years left that
Speaker 3: on the top end, Anyway so why not come back
Speaker 3: a little. Early i'm not trying to protect an entire career,
Speaker 3: here AND i think they got a chance to be pretty.
Speaker 3: GOOD i think they can flip this very. Quickly they've
Speaker 3: now got front court depth that they didn't have. Before
Speaker 3: you can trade some of. It gonna be a little
Speaker 3: careful because he gets. Hurt derek G liively's been hurt
Speaker 3: his first couple of years, too so you don't want
Speaker 3: to sell all of it off to get your guard
Speaker 3: that you, need but you can do some of. IT
Speaker 3: I i think they're gonna turn it around very very.
Speaker 3: Quickly as far As MAVs fans, GO i think the
Speaker 3: true fans of the, TEAM i think a lot of
Speaker 3: them have kind of for you, know forgive and forget.
Speaker 3: Right it's, like now we Have cooper, flag let's go.
Speaker 3: That you, know obviously they've sold a ton of season tickets,
Speaker 3: now so they feel pretty good about. THAT i think
Speaker 3: where they've lost is like the the, uh the people
Speaker 3: Became MAVs fans because they Were luca, fans like a
Speaker 3: lot of The european, fans they're never ever coming, Back
Speaker 3: like that's, Done you're You're. Finnah you need to get
Speaker 3: the Next Dirk oh for that to bring those guys.
Speaker 1: Back and no longer A MAVs Fin, yeah.
Speaker 3: Exactly, yeah that's been not great. Either so, yeah so
Speaker 3: they're they're they're they're in trouble, there but, YEAH i
Speaker 3: think they'll trade that that off for Having cooper in
Speaker 3: the fold and feeling pretty good about.
Speaker 2: That speaking of the, draft before we let your, ROLE
Speaker 2: i would love to get your. OPINION i, mean it
Speaker 2: feels like it's just It's, cooper It's Yellen, harper and
Speaker 2: then who the hell, Knows and a lot of it
Speaker 2: could be team specific for, you who's your sleeper in this,
Speaker 2: Draft like who's the kid that rises and who's the
Speaker 2: kid that that, sinks like like we saw with With
Speaker 2: cam and The Houston rockets a couple of years.
Speaker 3: Ago oh, Yeah Kim, Wbmore, yeah we'll know he's gonna
Speaker 3: be a top ten pick and went in the. Twenties,
Speaker 3: yeah it's he's not gonna fall that. Far he may
Speaker 3: not even fall past. Three i'm a little worried About Ace,
Speaker 3: bailey Like i'm just not when he he didn't, measure you,
Speaker 3: know like big at the, combine that's that's a little
Speaker 3: worrisome for. Me if he'd come in AND i know
Speaker 3: they do it without shoes and all that, silliness which
Speaker 3: Is i've never, understood we don't play. Barefoot who? Cares but,
Speaker 3: anyway when he didn't come in at six nine without,
Speaker 3: SHOES i think that was a little more. Worrisome the
Speaker 3: kid's never seen the top shot he won't, take which
Speaker 3: can be, good but it's also not. RIGHT i think
Speaker 3: he's gonna be a good, player BUT i am a
Speaker 3: little worried about. HIM i kind of have him AND.
Speaker 3: Vj edgecombe as the next two guys kind of almost
Speaker 3: in a tier of their, own Behind flag Than, harper
Speaker 3: than those two sleepers THAT i really kind of. Like
Speaker 3: i'm a, big big fan Of Jani broom out Of.
Speaker 3: AUBURN i have him way higher than most people. DO
Speaker 3: i think he should be a mid to late first round.
Speaker 3: PICK i think he's really. GOOD i think he does
Speaker 3: things that help teams. Win there's just not a lot
Speaker 3: there as far as like super athleticism or those kind of.
Speaker 3: Things but he's a good, rebounder he's a smart, defender
Speaker 3: he can pass the ball quite. WELL i Like A'san
Speaker 3: newell quite a, bit as is just a, bouncy athletic
Speaker 3: forward WHO i think is going to really help. Teams
Speaker 3: kind of reminds me a little bit of What jayden
Speaker 3: McDaniels is for The. WOLVES a little bit worse of a,
Speaker 3: shooter but a little bit better of an. Athlete so
Speaker 3: he's SOMEBODY i really. LIKE i like their queen, too you,
Speaker 3: know if anybody's noticed singing, Trend, YES i do like
Speaker 3: some of the kids who went to Mont Vert, academy
Speaker 3: but they just had a loaded group that. Year But
Speaker 3: queen's gonna be a be a good fun player as.
Speaker 3: Well so those are some of the guys THAT i
Speaker 3: like in the like first round area outside Of broom
Speaker 3: who may end up slipping into the second round.
Speaker 2: Just falling up On Ace, Bailey did it bother you at?
Speaker 2: All outside of his size stuff that in his. Measurements
Speaker 2: that some of the things that he said at the,
Speaker 2: combine LIKE i have no, WEAKNESSES i need to not
Speaker 2: work on.
Speaker 1: Anything i'm.
Speaker 3: Good, yeah as long as he knows that's not, TRUE
Speaker 3: i don't really care very much if you, know wherever
Speaker 3: he gets drafted, to whether It's philly Or charlotte or
Speaker 3: you know somebody, else you, Know, Utah, washington if he
Speaker 3: slips a little further than we, think as long as
Speaker 3: the day one when he gets the training camp he
Speaker 3: kind of. KNOWS i guess summer league, camp, like, yeah
Speaker 3: you're not, Perfect, like, like, yo what are we. Doing
Speaker 3: these guys come in so confident, Now AND i think
Speaker 3: that comes from when you're really, good like he. Is
Speaker 3: you've been playing against pro level guys for probably since
Speaker 3: he was fourteen years. Old he's probably been in gyms
Speaker 3: against other, pros and he probably does feel really. Good
Speaker 3: and that's part of what makes these guys really, special
Speaker 3: is they believe in, that you know so. Much SO
Speaker 3: i don't have a huge issue with, it but, yeah
Speaker 3: it WAS i let's have a little bit more, humility
Speaker 3: like you, know because now what you've done is you're
Speaker 3: gonna come in the league and everybody's gonna be, Like, okay,
Speaker 3: kid let's let's show.
Speaker 2: You, yeah let me show you how you're welcome to
Speaker 2: the rookie welcome to the league moment really. QUICK i
Speaker 2: want to get your thoughts On Walter Clayton, junior BECAUSE
Speaker 2: i think what we saw from him in the tournament
Speaker 2: six to. Three maybe he's less than sixty three and
Speaker 2: Just wikipedia tells me he's six to.
Speaker 1: Three but this kid can get. Buckets, Key yeah you.
Speaker 3: Can't so you, Know, Tristan i'm not that. Tall he
Speaker 3: if he's six to, three Then i'm like six feet
Speaker 3: tall And i'm not anywhere near six feet, Tall so
Speaker 3: he's HE'S i think he's a lot closer to like
Speaker 3: six foot or six to. One but he does. SCORE i,
Speaker 3: mean this kid is. Tough talk about, confidence but in
Speaker 3: the right. Way if there's the right way to have,
Speaker 3: confidence he you, know every SHOT's gonna go in like
Speaker 3: he wants the ball in the big. Moments we spent
Speaker 3: some time talking About Jalen. Brunsay he reminds me a
Speaker 3: little bit of A Jalen brunson style, player where it's
Speaker 3: Like i'm gonna go out here And i'm gonna do my,
Speaker 3: thing And i'm gonna supreme. Belief his big question will
Speaker 3: be can he hold up. Defensively if he can hold up,
Speaker 3: defensively he can be a really really GOOD nba. Player at,
Speaker 3: worse think he's gonna be a really good bench. Guard
Speaker 3: and that you know clearly has. Value we've seen a
Speaker 3: lot of guys turn that into really good. Stuff like
Speaker 3: people get critical about like six, men BUT i always
Speaker 3: remind People Lou williams And Jamal crawford had twenty year
Speaker 3: careers as six, Men like you can be awesome in
Speaker 3: that role for years and years and. Years and if
Speaker 3: that's all it turns into for, Him, okay that's not
Speaker 3: the end of the, world BUT i think it might
Speaker 3: even be. More I'm I'm i'm excited to see what
Speaker 3: happens with him. Now THAT uf team was was tough
Speaker 3: and they got after. IT i, mean and he was
Speaker 3: a huge part of why the one of the national.
Speaker 3: Title AND i can't wait to see what happens with
Speaker 3: him in THE.
Speaker 2: Nba huge buckets Against, houston huge buckets Against, yukon contested
Speaker 2: buckets falling to his right and backwards from deep in the,
Speaker 2: corner just ridiculous stuff from From Walter Clayton.
Speaker 3: Jr Those aliburton shots right where it's like, yes, wait,
Speaker 3: wait drive and, No i'm gonna, yeah turn it. Around yeah,
Speaker 3: Yeah i'm Gonna i'm gonna go one hundred miles an
Speaker 3: hour to the free throw. Line Then i'm gonna turn
Speaker 3: around and go back and shoot a step back three
Speaker 3: and it's gonna go in and And i'm already jogging
Speaker 3: back on defense before it's through the. Rim like day he.
Speaker 3: SUPREME i, mean confidence pours out of that.
Speaker 2: Kid, yeah awesome, Stuff, Keith thanks so much for coming.
Speaker 2: On we'll have to have you on in the off
Speaker 2: season as. Well and, Uh i'll see you In vegas
Speaker 2: if you.
Speaker 3: Go, Yeah i'll be. There i'll be there hoping up
Speaker 3: WITH Us Sports business classroom this, year So i'm super,
Speaker 3: excited so we'll definitely catch up.
Speaker 2: Then, awesome, fine Fine keith The Front office show along
Speaker 2: With spots WHICH i always mispronounced the spo, track BUT
Speaker 2: i Think i'm not the only. One definitely follow him
Speaker 2: to break down all the dollars and cents of the,
Speaker 2: sports but his actual basketball takes her fucking fire as.
Speaker 1: Well that's all the time that we have for this
Speaker 1: episode that he.
Speaker 2: Checked come Back monday for an all new episode and
Speaker 2: check out the feed for past episodes that unexpectedly come,
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