Speaker 1: On this episode of The Heat Check. Yes, sir, it's
Speaker 1: a Sunday night and it is preview time, previewing every
Speaker 1: team in the NBA by division, starting with Oh Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Rolls, Royce, the Golden Goose, the Jordan Number one
Speaker 1: type of division. That's the Pacific Division, the Big Boys, Kings, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers.
Speaker 2: And Sons.
Speaker 1: So many damn stars in this division and it's likely
Speaker 1: all five teams are gonna.
Speaker 2: Make the playoffs this year.
Speaker 1: So also, we have a great interview with CBS Sports
Speaker 1: Radio and NBA insider Bill Ryder oh Man. Folks, the
Speaker 1: NBA season is just right around the corner. We already
Speaker 1: got preseason games, So come on, William, do me a
Speaker 1: favor and drop that generic ass beat what should.
Speaker 2: Be Rihannes all the biggest NBA storylines, Lord till did
Speaker 2: so the heat Check. The heat Check was just a
Speaker 2: crazy the.
Speaker 1: Best podcast covering all the drama around the association. NBA
Speaker 1: camp is under way, folks, so it's about that time.
Speaker 2: Time to preview the NBA divisions for the new season.
Speaker 2: There's a lot that's happened so.
Speaker 1: Far in the off season. Obviously, the Damian Lillard thing
Speaker 1: was overwhelming. Yeah, it was. It was pretty much what
Speaker 1: we all thought about all offseason. That in Harden and
Speaker 1: so a lot of the players who have moved teams.
Speaker 1: I bet you forgot Bradley Beal was even on the Suns, right,
Speaker 1: happened so long ago.
Speaker 2: I bet you.
Speaker 1: Didn't even remember that Eric Gordon is on the Suns.
Speaker 1: So let's preview the division and get into it, because
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are some things that you need to remember.
Speaker 1: We will not miss any of the news. You know
Speaker 1: that we're not going to miss any of the tea.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to make sure, though, while it's still
Speaker 1: the quiet season, that maybe we get everybody up to
Speaker 1: speed for every damn team. We start out with the
Speaker 1: Pacific Division. They have five teams, all of which you
Speaker 1: can make a very serious argument could win the title
Speaker 1: this year if the right things happen right, if the right,
Speaker 1: right right things happen for the team. But we gotta
Speaker 1: start with the team that I affectionately call our dubs.
Speaker 1: Long time everyone knows, longtime lifelong Warriors fan, that's me.
Speaker 1: So we gotta start there. Gotta give the Kings of
Speaker 1: the Hill their props.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, they.
Speaker 1: Didn't even get to the Western Conference Finals last year,
Speaker 1: but that is not There was a lot happening around
Speaker 1: the team.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Oh, Draymond punched, fucked up the vibe anyway. Golden State Warriors,
Speaker 1: their win total is sitting there at forty eight and
Speaker 1: a half wins, which means that Vegas thinks they're gonna
Speaker 1: win me somewhere between forty eight and will they Let's
Speaker 1: get into it. The new editions. Chris Paul Brandon, Pojaempski,
Speaker 1: Poja Semski.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, dar Yo Sarich, Rudy gay
Speaker 1: Uzman Garuba, that's a sneaky one.
Speaker 2: Remember he was the first round pick.
Speaker 1: Rodney McGruder who has beef currently probably still with Clay
Speaker 1: Thompson and Draymond Green.
Speaker 2: Remember Clay called.
Speaker 1: Him, I think he called him a bitch or something
Speaker 1: like a couple of years ago, made NBA TV. Everyody's like, ooh,
Speaker 1: Clay's the Savage Clay Clay Clay, and then Draymond got
Speaker 1: on National TV and said something else I mean about him,
Speaker 1: but he's on the team. Corey Joseph from the Detroit
Speaker 1: Pistons also on the team sneaky pickup out is Jordan Poole.
Speaker 1: Out is Dante DiVincenzo, Andre Igwa Igwa gimme Igwa Dalla
Speaker 1: and James James I got taken second overall and no
Speaker 1: one knows why heisman.
Speaker 2: The Warriors started out last season. It was just a mess.
Speaker 1: Is who has the tape? Who leaked it? Why did
Speaker 1: Jordan Poole get hit in the face? What he say
Speaker 1: to Draymond apparently the new leaks coming out, or that
Speaker 1: he said that Draymond Green was Steph Curry's overpriced backpack,
Speaker 1: which I heard it was actually even worse than that.
Speaker 1: The puncher ends up getting one hundred million dollar extension
Speaker 1: for all the trouble, doesn't get suspended for all the
Speaker 1: trouble that he calls, and Jordan Poole, the guy who
Speaker 1: got assaulted, ends up in Washington, DC on one of
Speaker 1: the most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Seems fair, seems fair?
Speaker 1: Right, that's Siberia, Folks. Rough break for Jordan Poole. But
Speaker 1: at least he's got Kuzma to show him off in
Speaker 1: Chocolate City, little nightclub actions, show him where all the
Speaker 1: fashion is. See what's popping off on U Street, and
Speaker 1: I tell you the block is hot. I know it
Speaker 1: from personal experience.
Speaker 2: The block is hot on U Street twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1: The big addition, of course, is Chris Paul, the point
Speaker 1: god CP three, The same guy that I said might
Speaker 1: be a big issue for the Suns is now on
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Why why did I say he might be
Speaker 1: a big issue? Let me recap what I said after
Speaker 1: the trade went down. Chris Paul averaged twelve five and
Speaker 1: seven in the playoffs, which was which was off his
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three season average of
Speaker 1: fourteen four and nine. So that's obviously in itself the
Speaker 1: least productive number in his entire seventeen year career. Even
Speaker 1: in Chris Paul's rookie year he averaged sixteen to five
Speaker 1: and eight, and that was his worst statistical season until
Speaker 1: last year. And remember this, Chris Paul's final game as
Speaker 1: a Phoenix Sun. He was a minus three nine And
Speaker 1: I think he's thirty nine years old, so sweet justice.
Speaker 1: He missed twenty three regular season games last year.
Speaker 2: Yep, thirty nine years old.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: We did a little mass school.
Speaker 1: What exactly Golden State expects from this slow, undersized point
Speaker 1: guard who could probably give you twenty two minutes.
Speaker 2: Fifty eight sixty games.
Speaker 1: And then, of course we know about the playoffs what
Speaker 1: he's gonna do there, which is not a lot. Apparently
Speaker 1: Steph thinks the world of Chris Paul because they've been
Speaker 1: playing pick up, according to Steph all summer, to help
Speaker 1: them prep for the season.
Speaker 2: I know this though.
Speaker 1: The one thing I will say that's a positive is
Speaker 1: I saw Chris Paul get like just throw an absolute
Speaker 1: dime back door to Klay Thompson. He did not even
Speaker 1: expect because he's probably never.
Speaker 2: Seen it in his pro career from a teammate.
Speaker 1: The Warriors team obviously had had some issues.
Speaker 2: It's not just chemistry. Staying healthy is going to be
Speaker 2: the biggest one. And it's not Paul only and his
Speaker 2: what was.
Speaker 1: That Chris Paul's secret juice, secret stuff, but Klay Thompson
Speaker 1: as well. He needs the secret stuff of him himself
Speaker 1: because he is on the back end of his career
Speaker 1: with an acl and an achilles tear that happened not
Speaker 1: too long ago. Steph, of course, always has to be healthy.
Speaker 1: When he's not healthy, the team is a lottery team,
Speaker 1: and especially Draymond Green, who's, by the way, check's notes
Speaker 1: already hurt, already.
Speaker 2: Hurt yep our Dubs.
Speaker 1: Little ankle injury for our Dubs. In addition, the team
Speaker 1: needs to learn how to win on the road again,
Speaker 1: because they were an absolute disaster away from the Chase Center.
Speaker 1: I do think the biggest issue is probably depth. They
Speaker 1: brought in a seventeen year vet.
Speaker 2: Let me say that again.
Speaker 1: They brought in a seventeen year vet, not seventeen year old.
Speaker 1: A seventeen year vet in Rudy Gay and a journeyman
Speaker 1: Rodney Magruder, Dario Sarich and twelve year pro Corey Joseph.
Speaker 1: They were like, remember when we said we're gonna go
Speaker 1: two timeline thing, we are, but the timeline word going
Speaker 1: is back back in the time. We're only taking guys
Speaker 1: that have been in the league fifteen years and longer
Speaker 1: twelve if you're really good. There's still Kaminga and Moody,
Speaker 1: the babies of the crew. Although Kaminga all off season
Speaker 1: was rumored to WANTA Trade was not.
Speaker 2: Happy with his usage in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Not exactly a super deep bench, But listen, our Dubs
Speaker 1: always contenders as long as they have Steph Curry, Kevon
Speaker 1: Looney and a very healthy, very productive Draymond Green.
Speaker 2: They have Klay.
Speaker 1: Thompson who's now playing power forward full time and who
Speaker 1: many people say is washed, but did lead the NBA
Speaker 1: somehow with three hundred and one made three pointers last year.
Speaker 1: They also have the unsung hero, which I just referenced.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Kevon Looney. Tough, durable on court IQ
Speaker 1: is out of this world. He's one of the most
Speaker 1: effective rebounders in the league. Steve Kerr had many glowing
Speaker 1: things to say about Keavon in the playoffs, but this
Speaker 1: one stuck out. He said, I think Loune is one
Speaker 1: of the best centers in the league.
Speaker 2: I really do.
Speaker 1: People don't recognize it because he's not dunking, shooting threes.
Speaker 2: And all that stuff. But the guy is a flat
Speaker 2: out winner. He's a machine. We wouldn't be here without him.
Speaker 2: That's facts.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't have gotten out of the first round without
Speaker 1: Kevon Looney last year. I know it, I saw it,
Speaker 1: and he was effective. Golden State is going to be
Speaker 1: at least a regular season force this year because in
Speaker 1: the Steph era, they usually are I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: this team is any better than last year when they
Speaker 1: won forty four games.
Speaker 2: I see him about the same this year.
Speaker 1: I can see them very easily being a playing team,
Speaker 1: or I could see them being a five or six
Speaker 1: eight seed.
Speaker 2: This is gonna be one of those things that comes
Speaker 2: down to the world.
Speaker 1: As an aside, maybe the biggest loss of the off
Speaker 1: season was Bob Myers, their longtime GM, the architect of
Speaker 1: the dynasty. When this team needs help, it's always been
Speaker 1: able to find a rabbit of the hut because Bob Myers.
Speaker 2: What is my man, Mike Dunleavy Junior going to do
Speaker 2: to fill his shoes?
Speaker 1: Big shout out to Mike Dunleavy Junior. You have made
Speaker 1: it in life. You are a Portland legend. One thing
Speaker 1: is for sure. Of course, the Warriors are gonna be
Speaker 1: very fun to watch. I am not sure our dubs are.
Speaker 1: I can't actually say is dynasty, Baby, We're back, can't
Speaker 1: mush us.
Speaker 2: Let's move on to the LA Clippers.
Speaker 1: Their win totals sitting there at forty six and a
Speaker 1: half by Vegas. This is who they've added kJ Martin.
Speaker 1: They have re signed Russell Westbrook, they got Josh I
Speaker 1: don't wear underwear, Primo, Xavier Moon, and Jordan Miller out
Speaker 1: of Miami. They lost Eric Gordon. But let's be real,
Speaker 1: this team just hasn't made at many moves. They've been
Speaker 1: looking and trying and waiting to scoop up James Harden
Speaker 1: for a discount, and that has not happened yet. But
Speaker 1: let's be real. No team has more questions coming into
Speaker 1: this season, and no team has done less to address
Speaker 1: their issues than the LA Clippers. That is why the
Speaker 1: Clippers are my.
Speaker 2: Team of this division.
Speaker 1: Ah, I want to believe, I want to, but they
Speaker 1: are in desperate need of a real point guard and
Speaker 1: are currently holding up the Philadelphia seventy six ers kind
Speaker 1: of at gunpoint for James Harden. You will take this
Speaker 1: one first round pick and you will like it. They're
Speaker 1: offering Marcus Morris, Rob Covington, Oh my god, Roco a
Speaker 1: first round pick and a swap. Daryl Morey is like, bitch, please,
Speaker 1: I do not want Roco, Are you fucking serious?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: I want Terrence Man Baby, the versatile six seven long wingspan,
Speaker 1: can't play point guard, can't play small ball five.
Speaker 2: And the Clippers were.
Speaker 1: Like, no, we don't have a lot of young assets,
Speaker 1: so we kind of don't really want to give them up.
Speaker 1: So that's where we're at on the trade. Even though
Speaker 1: Woj says they are disinclined to up their offer because
Speaker 1: there is no other offer, we know that everyone knows
Speaker 1: that any NBA fan knows there are no other offers
Speaker 1: for James Harden. They did bring in a couple of
Speaker 1: young players of interest. kJ Martin played the right way
Speaker 1: when he played for the Houston Rockets. He's Kenyan Martin's son.
Speaker 1: Kenyan Martin lives in LA. This is gonna be an
Speaker 1: amazing fit. I think for him, a new star for
Speaker 1: his career. He gets out from under what was clearly
Speaker 1: a very dysfunctional organization until emy Udoka came in. He
Speaker 1: probably is gonna carve himself out a nice little role.
Speaker 1: They signed Josh Primo on a two way contract because
Speaker 1: let's be honest, they're not giving him anything more than
Speaker 1: that after what he's been accused of doing. But the player,
Speaker 1: Josh Primo, outside of all the semantics involved, this is
Speaker 1: a fine, fine young player. Clippers loved him. I remember
Speaker 1: talking to Jerry West about Josh Primo right after the
Speaker 1: draft two summers ago.
Speaker 2: He loved him.
Speaker 1: They wanted to pick him up before San Antonio snaked them.
Speaker 1: So they are thinking, we got Josh Primo at a discount. Baby,
Speaker 1: Oh boy, we have a guard of the future. So
Speaker 1: what are these Clippers other than the forty four and
Speaker 1: thirty eight fifth seed from last year? Very talented, pretty
Speaker 1: much off an injured team facing a bunch of new
Speaker 1: crackdown rules from the NBA on you guessed it, what
Speaker 1: we're calling the Kawhi Rule low management. Kawhi is saying
Speaker 1: he's healthy. PG is saying he's completely healthy. But with
Speaker 1: those two, those guys are like the basketball version the
Speaker 1: LA Chargers, And I can't tell which one is Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen and which one is Mike Williams.
Speaker 2: Who is gonna be the Mike Williams of this.
Speaker 1: Year's LA Clippers.
Speaker 2: I don't know. It's like whack a mole.
Speaker 1: One year it's PG, one year it's Kawhi, then back
Speaker 1: and forth and back and forth again. Kawhi has never
Speaker 1: played more than fifty seven games, never played more than
Speaker 1: fifty seven games in his time in Los Angeles. Paul
Speaker 1: George has averaged forty seven games per season in LA
Speaker 1: as well. Harden not exactly the guy that you want
Speaker 1: leading your franchise when you have multiple marquee stars.
Speaker 2: Down with an injury. So I don't know how he
Speaker 2: really helps them.
Speaker 1: The upside in theory great.
Speaker 2: Do you really want to give up Terrence Man for him?
Speaker 2: Does it really move the needle for you? Does it?
Speaker 2: Because it doesn't for me.
Speaker 1: The Clippers have been skating by on their potential for
Speaker 1: a very long time, and I just can't believe anymore.
Speaker 1: I've been I've been hoodwinked. I have been bamboozled for
Speaker 1: too many years. I've been on the Clippers hype train
Speaker 1: now for since they got Kawhi, since twenty nineteen, and
Speaker 1: I am done.
Speaker 2: If I have to be.
Speaker 1: Super optimistic, like I said, I'm gonna try to put
Speaker 1: a brave face on Josh Primo could be very good,
Speaker 1: maybe bones Highland. I saw him throw behind the back
Speaker 1: pass to Kawhi Leonard in a preseason game tonight, so
Speaker 1: there's that.
Speaker 2: Xavier Moon.
Speaker 1: I watched him be absolutely unguardable in Summer League. I
Speaker 1: called him trash. I'm sorry, I didn't know. I wasn't
Speaker 1: familiar with your game.
Speaker 2: Xavier Moon.
Speaker 1: I wasn't familiar with the fact that you are a
Speaker 1: mid range machine, and so if.
Speaker 2: He's that at the next level, this could get very interesting.
Speaker 2: Maybe they'll be very fun.
Speaker 1: Maybe it'll be Josh Primo and Xavier Moon the back
Speaker 1: court of the LA Clippers future. Just in time, those
Speaker 1: household names, just in time. Today debut a very new
Speaker 1: stadium that's very expensive. But mostly I'll be waiting. I'll
Speaker 1: be sitting there, waiting for the inevitable injuries which will
Speaker 1: derail a team that I was sure was going to
Speaker 1: the finals the past three years. Fool me once, shame
Speaker 1: on me, booy, fool me twice. Can't get fooled again.