Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Triste Quick. On this
Speaker 1: episode of the Heat Check, it's mid season grade time, baby,
Speaker 1: Part two. Time to go over the Western Conference. A
Speaker 1: lot of teams are gonna get grades that'll make their
Speaker 1: parents proud. Other ones may want to pretend like doll
Speaker 1: gated lots to cover Nick. So drop that generic ass
Speaker 1: fucking beat. So we've reached the halfway point of the season.
Speaker 1: It's time to give out these mid semester grades. Last episode,
Speaker 1: which was on Monday night Tuesday for you, we covered
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, So now we do the West. So
Speaker 1: let's break it down division by division. My Portland Trailblazers
Speaker 1: in the Northwest Division have to go first. They were
Speaker 1: the first to come to mind. And you know what,
Speaker 1: after careful can consideration, the Portland Trailblazers, they get a C.
Speaker 1: It's better than I wanted to give him. Honestly, uh,
Speaker 1: because of the moves right, the moves that they've made
Speaker 1: in the offseason. You can't really ask for much better
Speaker 1: than that. But they are underperforming in a big, big way.
Speaker 1: I love Jeremy Grant's fit on the team. I think
Speaker 1: he's probably a great third or fourth scoring option, best
Speaker 1: defender on the team most likely in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: point of attack, can guard you know, probably one through four,
Speaker 1: two through five, kind of a thing. Gary Payton, the
Speaker 1: second has been injured, but now that he's back, he's
Speaker 1: been amazing defensively, very good on ball defender, kind of
Speaker 1: guy that's disruptive, kind of guy that just is exactly
Speaker 1: who Portland needs. Scrappy, hardworking, annoying, amazing fit for Damian Lillard,
Speaker 1: the Nirkdee boy. He's shooting a lot of threes. Shooting
Speaker 1: a lot of threes. Is three point percentage is way up.
Speaker 1: His three point volume is way up. Everything else has
Speaker 1: been a little erratic, a little touch and go. Portland
Speaker 1: started out super hot, looked like they were number one
Speaker 1: in the West for maybe a week or so. They're
Speaker 1: in the plan right now, not even and I'm not
Speaker 1: even sure what they're gonna do to make a move.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they will make a move, but
Speaker 1: I think everyone expected that this is sort of a
Speaker 1: resetting year. You're getting Shade and Sharp back into the
Speaker 1: mix as a rookie. He hasn't played games before this
Speaker 1: since you know, high school, was chilling in Kentucky just
Speaker 1: doing homework and watching and you know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: to be encouraged in. But you're not necessarily saying that
Speaker 1: this is a successful year either. Denver Nuggets, oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm not just saying this. They get Nay, I'm not
Speaker 1: just saying this because of the number one team in
Speaker 1: the West. But holy shit, are they just fun and
Speaker 1: good Defensively? They're playing elite defense right now, especially in
Speaker 1: the games that they continue to keep focus. Aaron Gordon
Speaker 1: playing the best basketball of his entire career in his life.
Speaker 1: Guys like KCP Bruce Brown really good fits. Drafting Christian
Speaker 1: Brown aka Christian Brawn has been amazing. He's added to
Speaker 1: the versatility of this team. I like the development of
Speaker 1: Bones Highland. Add that to a healthy Jamal Murray. You
Speaker 1: add that to a healthy Michael Porter ju and your
Speaker 1: healthy Ish is pretty much all You're gonna get. Andy Jokic,
Speaker 1: who's playing better basketball than he's played in years and
Speaker 1: gonna win the MVP for a third straight time. Nobody's
Speaker 1: done that since Larry Bird. Insane. Boy, are they a
Speaker 1: dangerous team. They could win it all if they could
Speaker 1: play some defense when Yokic is not on the floor. Utah,
Speaker 1: Utah is uh is something special. Boy, God damn does
Speaker 1: Danny Ainge know how to take a mess and turn
Speaker 1: it into a bask yacht? Right? I mean he's like
Speaker 1: Jackson Pollock, just random spray pieces all over and you
Speaker 1: look up and you're like, oh my god, that's a vision.
Speaker 1: I think I love this Utah team. They are fun.
Speaker 1: I thought they were gonna stink. I thought that they
Speaker 1: were gonna just be right in the dumpster for Victor
Speaker 1: Wambin Yama. But man, they have a bunch of fun players.
Speaker 1: They have a boatload of unprotected picks. They have thirteen
Speaker 1: lightly protected or unprotected draft picks that are first rounders
Speaker 1: just from the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trade combined alone,
Speaker 1: just alone, just from that. They also got Lori Marknen
Speaker 1: that I mentioned him, He's probably gonna win Most Improved
Speaker 1: Player of the Year. He is now the leader in
Speaker 1: the clubhouse for that. They have Walker Kestler, who, let's
Speaker 1: be honest, is probably gonna be better than Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 1: He can do more things. Oh, you've got shared Vanderbilt
Speaker 1: nice piece versatil wise and you know that everybody that
Speaker 1: they're not gonna resign. All the old guys, all the
Speaker 1: guys that don't want to stay, they're gone. They're probably
Speaker 1: gonna end up flipping them for more pieces too. This
Speaker 1: team is good, This team in the future is bright.
Speaker 1: They're still in the play in picture. And they didn't
Speaker 1: even want to win. We didn't expect a goddamn thing
Speaker 1: from them. They get name minus. Minnesota gets an f
Speaker 1: really because of the trade with Utah. Danny Ainge fleeces them,
Speaker 1: like you know, that's saying if you can't spot the
Speaker 1: mark in the room that is you, you are said mark.
Speaker 1: That's the Minnesota Timberwolves. They're the mark. They gave away
Speaker 1: so much for a one dimensional center, like so many picks,
Speaker 1: so many players. The fit with Cat is not good.
Speaker 1: Will it ever be good? I don't know. Probably not.
Speaker 1: They could go down as making one one of the
Speaker 1: worst trade decisions in not just NBA history, but sports history.
Speaker 1: Minnesota they've got a bad record for bad trades, herschel
Speaker 1: Walker being one, remember that one like this is up
Speaker 1: there with the herschel Walker trade. But what's sadder than
Speaker 1: the actual trade itself is it's like a what could
Speaker 1: have been story? You know. They were fun, They were exciting.
Speaker 1: They had one of the best offenses in the league,
Speaker 1: up and down, talking trash, taking Memphis to the break.
Speaker 1: Pat Bev was creating culture there. He loved Minnesota. Kat
Speaker 1: was terrible defensively but flourishing in terms of his scoring.
Speaker 1: It was just a team you could get behind. You
Speaker 1: could say, oh yeah, the future's bright for the squad.
Speaker 1: They add a couple more pieces. They have a bunch of.
Speaker 2: Guys fun and all they got now is Rudy Gobah
Speaker 2: and a dry ass empty cupboard with just brown rice
Speaker 2: bagged up and maybe some cans of cannaloney beans.
Speaker 1: That's it. No shade to Aunt Edwards. He's he's everything
Speaker 1: to them. But now you got this guy that you've
Speaker 1: replaced all these young players for a lumbering oath who
Speaker 1: all he does is clog up space for your superstar,
Speaker 1: make his life harder, not easier. This is a puzzling
Speaker 1: decision that Tim Connelly made so early in his tenure
Speaker 1: that it's going to be analyzed for years and years
Speaker 1: and years to come. This team had the possibility of
Speaker 1: locking up a top four, top six spot, and now
Speaker 1: it looks like they're a playing team at best. Chris
Speaker 1: Finch probably gonna get fired, despite the fact that it
Speaker 1: is a success that they've gone six and four in
Speaker 1: their last ten. Just barely being five hundred is like
Speaker 1: taking him from the hot seat and putting him on
Speaker 1: the medium heat seat. Not good. By the way, someone
Speaker 1: commented on TikTok that if the Wolves had traded for
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson instead of Rudy Gobert, they'd probably be no
Speaker 1: worse than the fourth in the West. Like that team,
Speaker 1: with all its pieces and all of its picks, probably
Speaker 1: would be better than the MAVs right now. Let's be honest,
Speaker 1: think about that. What a fucked up situation for the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves. I feel bad from Minnesota fans. Man. They
Speaker 1: can't catch a break. Okay, see they're in the ninth
Speaker 1: spot right now, they get an a Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Can you just tell when you watch basketball and watch
Speaker 1: these teams do their jobs, you know, not just the
Speaker 1: actual basketball, but the work that goes on behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: They're just some teams with smarter decision makers than others.
Speaker 1: And that is Sam Presty, that's him. He's a monster.
Speaker 1: He is just miles ahead of other teams. Not just
Speaker 1: when it comes to deal making, when it comes to
Speaker 1: treating players well. Like you're hearing stories come out from
Speaker 1: guys who rehabilitated their careers there, like Al Horford saying
Speaker 1: that this is a first class organization. They treated me
Speaker 1: better than any place, and they didn't even intend to
Speaker 1: keep him right. Talent evaluation, incredible talent development, bringing on
Speaker 1: Chip England to help Josh Giddy shoot threes. He's playing
Speaker 1: at a level we have not seen from him before.
Speaker 1: He has a team everyone thought would be tanking in
Speaker 1: the ninth spot. The Thunder have well exceeded expectations. They're
Speaker 1: one win away right now from hitting their win total,
Speaker 1: which was twenty three wins. They have twenty two wins
Speaker 1: at the halfway part mark of the NBA season. Anybody
Speaker 1: think that was gonna happen? Did you think Sam Presty
Speaker 1: was gonna shut it down? Shay has been insane. At
Speaker 1: one point, he was the leader to win Most Improved Player.
Speaker 1: He's going to be an All Star this year. He's
Speaker 1: averaging thirty one, five and five. Josh Giddy is a
Speaker 1: bona fide star with court vision you could only hope
Speaker 1: to have in a player, not to mention. He can
Speaker 1: score and rebound and do all kinds of these things too.
Speaker 1: I love the fits of the two Jalen Williams that
Speaker 1: they got for nothing. They traded some random to move
Speaker 1: up in the draft, and now they get both Jalen Williams,
Speaker 1: one j dub one Jay Well, both good in their
Speaker 1: own right. Chet holmerun mind you hasn't played one game
Speaker 1: this year, not one, been out with the list frank injury.
Speaker 1: This team is good. They are more importantly than good,
Speaker 1: super fun. The future's bright. Everything they've done in the
Speaker 1: offseason was good, excellent, elite, and they're a fun ass
Speaker 1: team where you can't really knock anything that's going on
Speaker 1: right now.