Speaker 1: On this bonus episode of The Heat Check, we have
Speaker 1: a special guest, Chris Miles of NBA TV. Harlem's in
Speaker 1: the building. He is here in the previous big storylines
Speaker 1: from the new NBA season. I'm also enjoyed on this
Speaker 1: episode by my co host Nick aShw. It was recorded
Speaker 1: on my national rady show bet MG in the night
Speaker 1: without further Ado, William Let's drop that motherfucker beat that
Speaker 1: should be Rihanna.
Speaker 2: Break was breaking down all the biggest NBA storylines your children,
Speaker 2: So the Heat Check. The Heat Check was just a
Speaker 2: crack the best podcast covering all the drama around the association.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of games to go, and that's why
Speaker 3: we bring on our buddy Chris Miles NBA TV to
Speaker 3: start with. Well, we can start with this game. We
Speaker 3: can start with the offseason for the Lakers. We can
Speaker 3: look at the Denver Nuggets if you want. Let me
Speaker 3: tell you something, man, I despite the fact that right
Speaker 3: now the Lakers, Chris are down by fourteen after the
Speaker 3: first quarter, I do really like this Lakers team. I
Speaker 3: think they had a good offseason and I think they
Speaker 3: put themselves in a position to be real contenders in
Speaker 3: the West. This year, as long as, of course, Anthony
Speaker 3: Davis and Lebron James at least stay relatively healthy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, as long as this isn't a team
Speaker 4: that thinks, oh, we're going to do all of this again,
Speaker 4: be competitive and get swept by the Nuggets. I mean,
Speaker 4: I don't know why people are sleeping on at Denver Nuggets. Man.
Speaker 4: I thought to a lot of NBA people in the
Speaker 4: past week, Nick, and They're like, ah, Nuggets were one off,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, what are you guys talking about right now?
Speaker 4: Stop sleeping on the Nuggets. They just told the Lakers
Speaker 4: to wake up in the first quarter the first game
Speaker 4: of the season, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what's crazy, Chris is I'm talking to a
Speaker 1: lot of people too, and the one thing that keeps
Speaker 1: coming up is that Nuggets don't have a bench. Like,
Speaker 1: who do you really count on outside of that starting five.
Speaker 1: They lose Bruce Brown, they lose Jeff Green. It's like,
Speaker 1: before Bruce Brown and Jeff Green got to these Nuggets,
Speaker 1: this Nuggets team, it wasn't like they were highly coveted players.
Speaker 1: They got the bag because they contributed for the Nuggets
Speaker 1: and then they won a title. Do you think this
Speaker 1: is still the best constructed team in the NBA, or
Speaker 1: or do you worry at all about their death?
Speaker 4: You know, I just I think that's a great question.
Speaker 4: But I realized what the Denver Nuggets are, right, And
Speaker 4: this is old man Chris, family man Chris talking right.
Speaker 4: They are the kids tell you rode, okay when the
Speaker 4: tn't tell you ride wins all these awards and they're like, oh,
Speaker 4: it's the best family vehicle out there. And Charles Barkley
Speaker 4: drives a TI and tell you ride and he his
Speaker 4: kids have grown. Okay. Now what I'm saying to you
Speaker 4: is that's what the Nuggets are. They're a team that
Speaker 4: everyone's used to being Like a kid, I would never
Speaker 4: buy Kia. That's not the car I want to Now.
Speaker 4: The family people are like, oh, that's that's the best value,
Speaker 4: the best car out there that you can get. But
Speaker 4: then people who want like flashy range rovers are like
Speaker 4: add or like Nicola Ogice, I ain't played slowly. He
Speaker 4: plays like he's playing in mud. He's got ten to
Speaker 4: five and two in the first twelve minutes, the first
Speaker 4: nine minutes he's played, you know, in this regular season.
Speaker 4: Like that's who I think the tim Ver Nuggets are
Speaker 4: and you know what I'm buying into the key to
Speaker 4: tell you, Rod, if I could put more money into
Speaker 4: it while the stock is still at a good price,
Speaker 4: even though it's already won the awards, I'm putting more
Speaker 4: more money into it. That's where I'm having with the Nuts.
Speaker 3: The Celtics and the Bucks co favorites to win the
Speaker 3: NBA title and the East right now. Both had great offseasons.
Speaker 3: I absolutely love the fit with Dame in Milwaukee. I
Speaker 3: think it's perfect. I think his game completely compliments what
Speaker 3: Giannis has going on there. I know that you have
Speaker 3: been the president and CEO of the Honis fan Club
Speaker 3: from the very very beginning, long before he was an
Speaker 3: MVP candidate. Are though, are the Boston Celtics a team
Speaker 3: that you think is even with Milwaukee or are they
Speaker 3: maybe even better than Milwaukee at least right now on paper.
Speaker 4: So I'm also torn on this, Nick, because what I've
Speaker 4: always been a secret fan of daph porzingis as well,
Speaker 4: the originally Unicorn.
Speaker 5: You know that, yes, and and I'm like, oh, now
Speaker 5: he's in Boston. I mean, if you want to see
Speaker 5: a video of how much I love the Unicorn when
Speaker 5: he came into our studio last year. You can find
Speaker 5: it on YouTube, It's on my page. I'm just like
Speaker 5: looking up at him smiling, and you can tell by
Speaker 5: the end off.
Speaker 4: And he followed me back on the Twitter and I
Speaker 4: was like, we're friends now, Nick, We're friends. So I'm
Speaker 4: just torn, like King Yannis or King Kristaps, I don't know.
Speaker 4: The only thing I need now is for Winby to
Speaker 4: play with one of these guys. I'm like, Oh, my
Speaker 4: brain's gonna explode. What am I gonna do there? So
Speaker 4: I don't really have that answer for you. I would
Speaker 4: love to see them play in the Eastern Conference finals,
Speaker 4: but somehow Miami's gonna be there again that I'm gonna
Speaker 4: be like, Oh, the Miami Heat and their boring style
Speaker 4: of play.
Speaker 3: Don't even put that in the universe. Please. I do
Speaker 3: not want to see the Miami Heat go on a
Speaker 3: playoffrunt to get I'm done.
Speaker 4: Oh no, I don't want to see my spirit animal,
Speaker 4: Kyle Lottery, who should be working with me these days,
Speaker 4: right out there in the playhoffs man, not at all.
Speaker 1: I don't know why he's your spirit animal. And I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna leave that right there because I've got a
Speaker 1: lot of questions and we don't have much time, but
Speaker 1: maybe offline someday. What do you think Chris happens with
Speaker 1: Memphis now? Because Steven Adams done for the year, Brandon
Speaker 1: Clark done for the year, and I like Xavier Tillman fine,
Speaker 1: but he's not really a starting center for an entire year. Like,
Speaker 1: would you bet them to go under forty five and
Speaker 1: a half wins? Would you bet them to be a
Speaker 1: playing team or do you think that this is a
Speaker 1: team that could actually maybe go out and get some
Speaker 1: center help and who would that be?
Speaker 4: Well, Trista, what you will learn about me is I
Speaker 4: will go back to the tangent and tell you that
Speaker 4: Kyle Lowry and I are the same exact height and
Speaker 4: have the same body build. Yet he has made for
Speaker 4: jillions of dollars in the NBA. And when I saw him,
Speaker 4: he saw it all over my faith. We came up
Speaker 4: with a secret handshake that he is my spirit animal.
Speaker 1: That's how that works, that thick boy love.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, best, that's That's That's where I.
Speaker 1: Was going with it. But I just want damn wen.
Speaker 1: I don't know you like that, but maybe I.
Speaker 4: Do now, So here's the deal. When I look at
Speaker 4: the Grizzlies and I look, first of all, I look
Speaker 4: at the landscape out west, and I'm like, oh, somebody's
Speaker 4: got to drop, right, there's somebody that we're gonna have
Speaker 4: high early start season that can't finish there because there
Speaker 4: are other teams that need to rise, Like, for instance,
Speaker 4: the Lakers kind of need to rise out west right
Speaker 4: compared to where they finished last year. I think the
Speaker 4: Memphis Grizzlies are the team that falls. I think I
Speaker 4: believe in the Sacramento Kings UH as being a team
Speaker 4: that will you know, finish in the top five again
Speaker 4: this year. I believe one hundred percent obviously in the
Speaker 4: Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 5: UH.
Speaker 4: I think the Phoenix Suns have built a good enough
Speaker 4: roster that I can't see them finishing outside of top
Speaker 4: the top three, even if Booker's out for a while,
Speaker 4: Kadi's out for a while, I think they have enough
Speaker 4: guys that can lead them, you know, into a top
Speaker 4: three spot out west. So when you look at it,
Speaker 4: I go, Okay, John missing the first twenty five games,
Speaker 4: Brandon Clark out who was huge for them, Stephen Adams out,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, offensively, They're not gonna be the same
Speaker 4: Dylan Brook's gone, Like, there's just too many pieces of
Speaker 4: who they've been in the past four or five years
Speaker 4: that are not going to be playing the start this season.
Speaker 4: They're gonna to try to figure it out throughout the year,
Speaker 4: which also leads to more injury concerns, especially with Marcus
Speaker 4: Smart's been you know, his body has been through so much.
Speaker 4: I'm with you, I think the Grizzlies will be in
Speaker 4: the play in situation. I don't know what I have
Speaker 4: for wins because I think out West, even like forty
Speaker 4: four wins might have you in the plane, right, So
Speaker 4: I think they'll be in the play.
Speaker 3: What about the Thunder this year? I think the Thunder
Speaker 3: have a chance to make a big jump man.
Speaker 4: Well, Fassa, look the Thunder in the San Antonio Spurs
Speaker 4: the big Science experiments. I don't know if you saw
Speaker 4: that lineup that the Spurs put out there against the
Speaker 4: Warriors in the preseason game. But they're like Jeremy Sohan
Speaker 4: came into the league as the power forward. He will
Speaker 4: start at point guard. Who's like, what is going on
Speaker 4: the Thunder the same way they just put like six
Speaker 4: twelve basketball players out there, like, all right, what's your
Speaker 4: measurement is that six twelve or higher? You're on the floor.
Speaker 4: You're on the floor. You're on the floor. That's exactly
Speaker 4: what they do. I mean, Sga is sixty six legit,
Speaker 4: and I feel like taller than that when you see him,
Speaker 4: and he is their point guard and Josh Kitty is
Speaker 4: going to handle the rock a lot. I mean he's
Speaker 4: six seven plus. Like they're just balanced, talented, great defensive.
Speaker 4: Lander had a check home grins to that mix, which
Speaker 4: was like the perfect player they needed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know a lot of people were wondering whether
Speaker 1: OKC was gonna take Chad or whether they were gonna
Speaker 1: take the Jabbari, the difference between Jabbari and Powelo, because
Speaker 1: there was a lot of rumors about that back in
Speaker 1: the day. I'm curious speaking of Paolo, I love the
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic. They were fifty to one to win the
Speaker 1: division last year, and all three of us took them
Speaker 1: because we're high on them as a squad, Right, and
Speaker 1: Franz Wagner comes to FOBA and he balls like his
Speaker 1: name is Laurie Marketing. What do you think about Orlando
Speaker 1: this year, especially considering they have not just a lot
Speaker 1: of talent, but they have like ten guards on their
Speaker 1: twenty man roster.
Speaker 4: The glove don't fit in Orlando right now, and I
Speaker 4: think they're gonna have to figure that out. Apollo Van
Speaker 4: Carroll is the start they've been waiting for. The rest
Speaker 4: of that team is just like who fits where? Who
Speaker 4: did they need to move? When they signed Cole Anthony
Speaker 4: to that three year, thirty nine million dollar extension, I thought, Okay,
Speaker 4: somebody's getting moved. They don't want to lose the asset
Speaker 4: for nothing. That's how I see that. So until they
Speaker 4: kind of figured that out, and Anthony Black looks like
Speaker 4: the kind of player that's gonna need like three or
Speaker 4: four years in this league to like not make silly mistakes,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So it's like, Okay, they
Speaker 4: drafted this kid, and then you know Jeded Howard also
Speaker 4: is kind of like, yeah, I think he's gonna need
Speaker 4: three or four years to play an the NBA. Like
Speaker 4: they didn't draft you know, day one ready guys in
Speaker 4: this draft either. So I just think now they're primed.
Speaker 4: If there's a star in the market, I think they
Speaker 4: have all the assets to, like, if you're a team
Speaker 4: looking to rebuild. Yes, boll here are players, give us
Speaker 4: that asset back. But the way this team is constructed
Speaker 4: right now, I'm like, Okay, they're right there with like
Speaker 4: the Wizards and where I think they'll fit towards the
Speaker 4: finished towards the bottom of the East.
Speaker 1: Were you surprised that they took two guards so high
Speaker 1: in the draft this year because they get Jet Howard
Speaker 1: at eleven, they get Anthony Black at six, but Bla
Speaker 1: Kolabali sitting there, Jeris Walker is sitting there, Taylor Hendricks
Speaker 1: is sitting there, and I'm sitting there, why, Like.
Speaker 4: What are they up to? They need grown ups? They
Speaker 4: have enough like kids with potential and who is going
Speaker 4: to do what in the future. I was shocked that
Speaker 4: they kept those picks. I mean just I'm looking at
Speaker 4: the landscape around the league and I'm like, no, they
Speaker 4: need to go get like whatever star they can get
Speaker 4: that can score twenty something a game. I mean, Nick
Speaker 4: heard me say this. I was kind of like, you know,
Speaker 4: it's really interesting, not that Bradley Heal would want to
Speaker 4: go there, but like I seem like the perfect fit
Speaker 4: that if they can get someone next to Apollo who
Speaker 4: can score the same way. Then I look at them differently.
Speaker 4: Then I look at them as a playoff team or
Speaker 4: a team that I'm gonna pay closer attention to see
Speaker 4: what they're doing this season. Now looking forward, I think
Speaker 4: they have a bright future. I just this year, I
Speaker 4: just don't see it.
Speaker 3: I just don't, all right, So look at a couple
Speaker 3: of minutes talking to Chris Miles NBA TV. So Victor
Speaker 3: Weminyam is the favorite, no surprise, to win Rookie of
Speaker 3: the Year. We know the type of prospect he is,
Speaker 3: the type of hype that's around him. I feel like
Speaker 3: the only thing, besides obviously injuries put that aside, the
Speaker 3: only thing that keeps him from winning Rookie of the
Speaker 3: Year this year is if he has a good season.
Speaker 3: But people look at that and say, well, you didn't
Speaker 3: exceed the expectations that people may be unfairly put on
Speaker 3: you in the averages, like you know, seventeen and nine.
Speaker 3: Is there anybody else besides Wemby that you look at
Speaker 3: and say they're at least a threat to winning Rookie
Speaker 3: of the Year.
Speaker 4: Now, first of the foremost, Stude Anderson and chet Holmgren
Speaker 4: are gonna have good enough seasons to win the right
Speaker 4: let's just make sure we all understand that they're gonna
Speaker 4: put up Rookie of the year numbers. Here's the problem.
Speaker 4: I thought Winby was good, and then when I had
Speaker 4: to work preseason games doing like pregame shows, postgame shows
Speaker 4: because Wimby was playing, and I was like, WHOA, what
Speaker 4: is going on here? And so watching every moment of
Speaker 4: him on the floor, I'm like, oh, this is different.
Speaker 4: Like I didn't know he was this good at basketball, right,
Speaker 4: Like I knew he and now you know. I was
Speaker 4: at his first Summer League game. I was like, Oh,
Speaker 4: he's long, long, he can block shots. Oh he's he
Speaker 4: can don't Oh he does have a shooting touch. But
Speaker 4: watching him in preseason with actual NBA players was completely different,
Speaker 4: Like his decision making his help side defense, like Andrew
Speaker 4: Wiggins thinking he's opened five different times and shooting great
Speaker 4: shots and Wimby just denying him him and seeing like
Speaker 4: would we get these guys heads, I'm like, oh, Like,
Speaker 4: I don't know what to think of the Spurs. I
Speaker 4: have to watch their first ten games because I can't
Speaker 4: just automatically count them out now to that point, if
Speaker 4: the Spurs win own for thirty games. He is your
Speaker 4: rookie of the year, whatever stats he puts up, because
Speaker 4: he's gonna he's gonna have the highlights, he's gonna look
Speaker 4: the part. I think he's gonna be amazing. So if
Speaker 4: he plays the prerequisite sixty five and the Spurs win
Speaker 4: thirty games or more, he's your rookie of the Year.
Speaker 4: And there's no conversation to be at.
Speaker 1: Chris, who should I bet on for Coach of the Year.
Speaker 4: Oh, let's see what team is likely to overche Greg Popovich.
Speaker 4: What's the odds gonna pop?
Speaker 1: Oh? I mean, they've gotta be They've got to be
Speaker 1: pretty long. Let me see, how many games do you
Speaker 1: think the Spurs need to win? While Nick looks us up?
Speaker 1: How many games did the Spurs need to win for
Speaker 1: pop to win Coach of the Year.
Speaker 4: Well, they won twenty two last year, right, Papa bitch
Speaker 4: is thirty to one, Chris, Oh, man, put the money
Speaker 4: on that baby? Are you kidding me? Look, I'm only
Speaker 4: not that he's gonna win the awards, But you always
Speaker 4: have to look at it as the overachieving team or
Speaker 4: the thing that they Pop's gonna be. That man, Oh, look,
Speaker 4: at this lineup you put out there with why not
Speaker 4: thirty to one? That's the best and generous thing I've
Speaker 4: ever heard in my life.
Speaker 3: And the amazing thing is too, I mean they have
Speaker 3: they do have other decent talent besides just wenby their O.
Speaker 3: Sure they got the potential to actually really chump up
Speaker 3: and try to win games, as your Chris Miles NBA TV.
Speaker 3: Great talking to you, buddy.
Speaker 1: That's all the time that we have for this bonus
Speaker 1: episode of the Heat Check. Many thanks did Chris Miles
Speaker 1: and my bet MGM co host Nick Ash you of
Speaker 1: course my producer Scotland as well. Check out the feed
Speaker 1: folks for past interviews, past episodes that will drop unexpectedly
Speaker 1: like Manna from Heaven, and follow the Heat Check as
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