All Episodes

July 26, 2024 56 mins

Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA Mailbag segment. Are LeBron James and Team USA in trouble at the Paris Olympics after a bumpy set of exhibition games? What are the next steps for LeBron, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers to return to NBA Finals contention after a disappointing end to their 2023 season.  Who can Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors target to bolster their chances of a playoff run? Jason answers all these questions and more!

Timeline:

3:00 - Introduction

5:00 - Is Team USA not that good?

12:15 - What's going on with Joel Embiid?

14:15 - Is LeBron James best player on Team USA?

16:00- Why Olympics are great for players

24:30 - Hypothetical Lakers trades

28:45 - Are Lakers good enough for WCF?

34:00 - Have Nuggets improved this offseason?

37:45 - Is Reggie Jackson better than Russell Westbrook?

45:30 - What repeat does for Tatum & Brown's legacy?

47:30 - Will Thunder make a big move this season?

49:30 - Listener Argument: Why 2024 Celtics would beat 2020 Lakers

53:45 - Will D'Angelo Russell's defense improve?

54:30 - Are Pistons poised for a leap?

58:00 - Top 5 hopes for Acolyte Season 2

01:00:00 - Expectations for Grizzlies

01:01:00 - What's next move for Pelicans?

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)

#Volume #Herd

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(01:48):
to hoops tonight. You're at the volume heavy Friday.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
If all of you guys have had a great week,
We're doing a mail bag today. We're gonna be bouncing
all around the world of basketball. We're gonna hit some
tm USA stuff off the top. We're gonna bounce around
to about like ten ish NBA teams around the league
in various capacities. Even got a Star Wars question in there,
So we're gonna be going all over the place.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
You guys know the joke.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Before we get started, Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels.
You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
on Twitter, Underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss you announcements.
So forget about our podcast feed. Wherever you get your
podcast under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's really helpful if
you leave a rating and a review on that front.
And the last minute, least, keep dropping mail back questions
in those YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them
throughout the rest of the summer. And then, last but

(02:28):
not least, before we get started, just a little note
on how the schedule is going to look for the
next month or so. During the Olympics, we're gonna be
covering all of those games, certainly all of the USA Games,
probably a handful of other games involving some of the
other major national teams, and then it's gonna be kind
of mixed in with player rankings. We're starting player rankings
next week, and again I'm still trying to figure out

(02:50):
a way to kind of market the two different lists,
because the way I see it, there's kind of two
different ways to rank players. There's ranking them in a
vacuum and ranking them based on theircomplishments of the last season,
kind of like bragging rights in a vacuum. And I'm
trying to just kind of come up with a way
to kind of express that something catchy. So if you
guys got any ideas, drop them in the comments underneath

(03:12):
these videos. But we're gonna hit in an Olympics. We're gonna
hitting player rankings that should pretty much take us through
the month of August, and then when we get to September,
it's time to get started with season previews, and then
we're gonna start diving into each individual team, all of
their player acquisitions, so on and so forth, diving into
some different expectations for them heading into next season. But

(03:34):
on that note, let's hop into this mail bag. We're
gonna be going all around the league. It's gonna be fun.
First question, and these questions. Some of them came from Twitter,
some of them came from YouTube. It's kind of a
shmortgage sport. We had a ton of questions. Obviously, couldn't
get to all of them, but I do, as always
appreciate you guys for participating and giving us all those questions.

(03:55):
Question number one, it's crazy that USA had to be
rescued by Grandpa James. Yet again, wasn't this supposed to
be the new Dream team that would beat the ninety
two squad. Either way, this team isn't that good or
the rest of the world has caught up.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Either way, I'd.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
Be concerned if I was an American, so I did
not see this team as good as the Dream Team.
I think this is the third best national team that
I've seen. I should say I should actually say the
fourth best. It's tough to say that two thousand and
eight and twenty twelve team. There were some similarities, but
I think I think ninety two, two thousand and eight,
and twenty twelve all of those teams had the undisputed

(04:34):
best player in the world at that point in time,
like in ninety two. Obviously with Michael Jordan, you could
argue Scottie Pippen was in that conversation as well at
that point in time. I shouldn't say in conversation for
number one, but a lot of people have viewed Scotty
as the second best player in the world during that time,
coming into two thousand and eight, I think Kobe was
the best player in the world at that time. Lebron

(04:55):
was right on his heels. They were both on that team.
Twenty twelve, Lebron undisputed best player in the world, Kevin
Durant hot on his heels. Those two guys were all
on the team. This team doesn't have a single player
that's going to be considered in the same conversation as
Giannis or Luka Doncic or Nicole Jokic. So I don't
think they're as top end talented, but I do think
that they are a very well rounded basketball team. Now,

(05:18):
Steve Kerr has done some janky stuff with the lineups
that's made it tricky. I want to get more into
that in just a second, But I don't think this
is like an absolute world beating type of squad like
the ninety two, two, eight, twenty twelve teams in terms
of the absolute apex talent. It's more of like a
depth of talent kind of thing. They're not going to
just absolutely demolish everybody like the ninety two Dream Team

(05:41):
did simply because there's more international NBA talent now. I
saw an instagram kind of like graphic the other day
that showed that in the nineteen ninety two Olympic run,
there were fewer than ten NBA players playing for FOBA teams.
Now there's more than sixty. So that just gives you
a basic demonstration of how much NBA talent there is

(06:03):
playing overseas. And one of the things I talk about
a lot, I shouldn't say playing overseas playing for FOBA teams,
but I talk a lot about the concept of diminishing returns, right,
Like if every player has to fulfill responsibilities on the floor,
and superstars are famous for being able to take these
like big chunks of responsibilities, a lot of times you
need guys to fill in small roles. And when you
take a star level player and ask him to fill

(06:25):
a small role, like there's just not gonna be that
much of a gap. Like, for instance, Devin Booker and
what he does for Team USA is not that much
better than what other two guards are doing for other
FOBA teams, even though Devin Booker is a way better player.
It just has to do with the diminishing returns of
Devin Booker being in the type of role that he
is with tim Usa that said, they are underachieving to

(06:48):
this point. I do think that they are good enough
to go over there and win every game by around
ten to fifteen points. That's what I predicted last summer.
That's what I think should happen. That's what this team's
potential is. With the talent they have. They should go
over there and they shouldn't blow everybody out, but they
should at least win convincingly. They should win comfortably every

(07:10):
single one of these games. But that's not been the case.
They've been in a couple of knockdown, drag out fights,
namely with Germany and with South Sudan. Right now, that
is where we have to get to Steve Kerr in
the lineup structure, because the end of this question is
either way, i'd be concerned if I was an American.
My concern surrounding the team's performance, I'm holding off until

(07:32):
we actually see them play in some foeba uh these
Olympic games because in the showcase there's more of a
lack of urgency when it comes to Steve Kerr and
trying to figure out line of combinations that work, for instance,
doing line shifts that's not usually how basketball works. Usually
like yes up, two or three guys out, maybe one

(07:53):
or two guys out at a time, and you're kind
of like guys play longer shifts and it's more of
like a flow from unit to unit. Steve Kerr has
been doing line shifts. He's been going five in, five
out and just swapping guys out and then maybe mixing
up a little bit towards the tail end of these games.
And so I really just want to see the types
of lineups that Steve Kerr uses in the real games,

(08:15):
if he's still doing line shifts, if he still has
EMBIID with the starters. That's where I think there's some
vulnerability here, because with EMBIID with the starters and with
Anthony Davis and bam Adebayo with that bench group, there's
a little bit of like an imbalance. I talked about
this a lot in our last show, so I won't
go into as much detail, but the short version is
the starters really struggle to rebound and really struggle to

(08:37):
chase over the top of screens with embat in his
drop coverage. Well, look at the lineup. This guy, a
thirty six year old Steph who's turning thirty seven next year,
thirty nine year old Lebron is turning forty next year,
and Devin Booker that you're asking to chase over screens
with Drew Holliday, with Drew Holliday being the only guy
in that lineup that's a professional screen navigator, and you're
asking them to chase over with Joel Embiden drop coverage.

(09:00):
That's just a poor use of those players in their
skill sets. In addition to that, you're not rebounding well
with that group well for all the same reasons Devin
Booker average athlete at the NBA level, Steph Curry gonna
be thirty seven next year, Lebron gonna be forty next year.
Of course, you're not a great rebounding team. So, like
a lot of this is by simply adding making some

(09:23):
basic tweaks to the lineup structure, for instance, like swap
Devin Booker out with a guy like Jason Tatum, make
yourself a substantially better rebounding team. Jason Tatum can do
what Devin Booker does, move Anthony Davis into the starting lineup.
By the way, as far as Tatum with the starters goes,
that could also be Kevin Durant. Put Kevin Durant in
for Devin Booker, right, then if I have let's just say,
let's just say Tatum for the sake of this particular discussion.

(09:47):
If I go Steph, Drew, Tatum, Lebron ad and I'm switching,
I'm a substantially better defensive rebounding team and I'm substantially
more cohesive defensive unit because I'm running a scheme that
makes sense with those particular guys. I don't want Steph
chasing over screens. I don't want Lebron chasing over screens.
I don't want kd or. I want those guys switching.
And those guys all can switch pretty well. Drew can

(10:09):
guard up Steph. He's not the most athletic guy in
the world, but he's sixty three and he's pretty big
and strong, and he's pretty good at forcing guys to
take pull up jump shots over the top. Anthony Davis
can defend guards, Lebron James can switch those guys. That's
a switching unit in my opinion. Then you put Embid
with the bench group where they're struggling to score in
the half court, and embiids another offensive hub, a guy
that can really add some offensive firepower to that unit,

(10:32):
and so I want to see what they look like
in the real games, to see if Steve Kerr applies
those specific concepts, because if he does, I do think
Toosa is gonna win by ten fifteen every single game
and get out of there relatively comfortably. But I'm really
curious to see the strategy that they employ when they
get out there. Next question, what political reason would cause

(10:53):
him be to start? He's not a Nike athlete, he
plays for the Sixers and is not even born in America.
Were sure it's just not Steve Kirby stupid. I think
this has most mostly probably has to do with some
sort of under the table deal to try to get
MB to not play for France instead, right, like that
was the whole thing, was easy going to play for France.
And I don't know if it had to do with

(11:15):
the fact that tm USA needed a big and you know,
because like even you could argue if the TMOSA only
had a D and band, they might be a little
undersized on the front line, right, So like Tmosa kind
of needed a big France had Webbin Yama and Gobert, right, So,
like it's a little bit. Uh, but that probably had
something to do with it. But it's very possible that

(11:37):
there was some sort of deal underneath the table where
it's like, hey, I will leave the team France and
play for Team USA as long as you let me start.
That very well might have been worked out. I think
that's stupid. I think promised to play agreements are a
loser mentality, and I've seen them all over the place.
Obviously we've heard about it in the NBA in terms
of agency politics, but like I've seen it at the

(11:59):
college level. I've coaches promise starting spots. I've seen coach
I saw a juco coach once promise to guard at
twenty shot attempts a game. Like to talk about talk
about a loser mentality, right like, instead of like having
a player earn that right or having a player demonstrate
that he's deserving of that type of offensive workload. There

(12:22):
are these deals being cut that basketball games aren't won
by deals getting cut, They're they're won by basketball teams
organically taking shape by virtue of what is earned on
the floor. And so I'm not a huge fan of that.
I'm not sure if that's what happened, but that would
be an example of a political reason that would lead
and be to start like, hey, we'll start you, but

(12:42):
that's your kind of like, you know, the the dangling
bait to get you to leave Team France. Is Lebron
really the best player on Team USA or just the
most experienced playing with the star studded team. I do
think through through these five games to this point that
Lebron has demons in a small sample size, he is
the best all around basketball player in that group with

(13:04):
his size, strength, athleticism, playmaking ability, shooting ability, his downhill ability,
his ability to play bully ball around the basket. He's
demonstrated that to this point. Do I want Lebron or
Jason Tatum to start training camp tomorrow? I want Jason Tatum.
Do I Lebron or Anthony Davis to start training camp tomorrow?
I want Anthony Davis. Right, Like, at a certain point,

(13:27):
Lebron's age becomes a factor in the grand scheme of
an NBA campaign, from the tip off of training camp
to the Larry O'Brien Trophy in mid June, You're gonna
want a younger player, and I don't think Lebron belongs
in those conversations, because I just I all you have
to do is watch the Lakers. He's conserving energy in
a lot of areas throughout the eighty two just to

(13:48):
try to survive, right, But that's not the case for
this Team USA example. Right, like in these games, Lebron
is the best player in this small sample size because
he is healthy right now. He is in great shape
right now. He is you know, well rounded and ready
to go right now. And so, yeah, is Lebron the

(14:09):
best player on TMOSA?

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Is he the best American basketball player to start a
franchise with? Probably not, He's probably considerably further down on
that list. Do you think the Olympics are a precursor
of what's to come in the regular season? Like Lebron
and Kobe seasons after the Oaen Olympics. I'll just put
it this simple. There's no version of this where you
go and play against the best American basketball players in

(14:31):
practice and the best players in the world in games
over the summer. That doesn't make you a better basketball player.
It's really that simple. Every single player that went to
this tam USA camp is going to come out a
better basketball player, which would inherently lead them into more
productive NBA campaigns next year, provided their bodies hold up.
But like, as long as their bodies hold up, Like
there's nothing but good that comes from this, not even

(14:52):
to mention, just the conditioning element that you know, by
the time this is done, it's going to be what
mid August or late August, and and at that point
in time, they're a month and a half from training camp.
So like at that point you maybe take a week
or two off, but then you're gearing up for the season. Anyway,
I bet you there are gonna be guys who come
out of Team USA and just stay in the gym
and make sure they're ready by the time they get there.

(15:14):
A couple Lakers questions, next, do you think Max Christie
can be that athletic starting two guard that we need?
So you guys know how I feel about young basketball players.
The main thing I worry about with Max Christie is
his decision making, like when to pass, when to shoot,
what to do when he drives past his man in
a closeout situation, making reads in those situations. Those are

(15:39):
the areas that I worry about Max Christie. I think
he can shoot the ball fine, and I think he
can defend, But the question is can he make those decisions.
One of the things that sucks for Max is Darvin
Ham horribly misutilized him last year and played an inferior
player in cam Reddish over him all season long. And
so from that standpoint, like Max and get the reps

(16:00):
that you would have hoped that he would have gotten
over the course of last season. But I would imagine
that they'll start him at the two to start the season,
or maybe not start because of the d LO situation,
but they'll play him a lot at the two to
start the season, and it will be up and down,
and they are going to be highs and they're gonna
be lows, where he's a young player making young player mistakes.
That said, one of the things I think a lot

(16:21):
about with the Lakers, as it pertains to them needing
to make a deal last year. Their biggest weakness, as
I've said on and on, is having athletes on the perimeter.
So if Austin Reeves is a skill guard and Lebron
James is a forty year old forward and Anthony Davis
is a center, you really need athletes at the two
and three. And last year was d LO and Torrium

(16:43):
Prince bad athletes d Lo and Ruy Ruey who's big
but not particularly quick on the perimeter. And so this
is where it gets interesting because you have three players
that are kind of sort of getting added to the
roster even though they were on the roster last year.
Bex Chrissy was on the roster last year, didn't get used.
That's an athletic two guard. Gabe Vincent was hurt all

(17:03):
year last year. He is a guy that is a
pretty solid point of attack defender. Jared Vanderbilt is one
of the best point of attack defenders in the league
and is super versatile and can guard many different types
of ball handlers. Those guys were all Gabe and Vando
were unavailable for injury. Max Christy obviously was in the
Darvin Ham doghouse because Darwinham just just playing bad basketball

(17:26):
players or lesser basketball players for no reason. Right, So,
like those guys getting added to the mix, if they're
all healthy and ready to go, will help facilitate easier
regular season basketball for the Lakers, right However, can Gabe start?
I think he can next to Austin as long as
your three is awesome, and right now, your three is

(17:48):
not awesome. Can Vandos start? I think he can as
long as your two is awesome, But right now I
don't think there two is awesome, and so in the
long run, I still think the Lakers need up raids
of those types of roles. However, Max Gabe and Vando
just being healthy and ready to go at the start
of training camp will buy the Lakers the time to

(18:09):
make that deal at the deadline. Again, if you think
of it very simply, the Lakers have two draft picks
to use, and you probably have two seasons left of
Lebron playing at a pretty high level this year and
maybe next year. What that means is whatever your next
trade is, that has to be a hit that you

(18:31):
gotta get the right guys with that deal, right, and
so being patient, I'm not against it as long as
they actually do something at the deadline this year. What
they cannot afford is to make the mistake they did
last year, which is like, oh, d lo, he's playing
really really well, we're fine, we don't need to do anything,
and then you roll into the Nugget Series with the

(18:51):
exact same players and lose the exact same way. That
can't happen, right, And So I'm okay with taking that
group into the season because I do think a van
down Max can help in the eighty two to facilitate
some of that perimeter athleticism that they need. But at
the deadline, I think you have to do something, and
if they don't, I would be I'd be really disappointed.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
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Speaker 2 (20:09):
Next question Lakers' trades do the following move the needle
for you. Gabe Vincent in two seconds for Dennis Schroeder, Delo,
Jalen Houchepino, Cam Reddish in a first round pick swap
for Bruce Brown, Christian Wood in a twenty twenty nine
unprotected pick for Walker Kessler. I think that Bruce Brown
could end up costing a legit first round pick.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
We'll see. And with Danny Ainge.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
I'm always worried about what it's going to cost to
get a player from him. Let's take it a little bit.
Let's take it one at a time. Here, Gay Vincent
in two seconds for Dennis Schroeder. So part of me
really wants to see Gay Vincent with this team like
healthy for a long time, because I think there's a
lot of upside there with this point of attack, defense,
his ability to play off the ball. But one of
the things that I underrated about Dennis Schroder last summer,

(20:54):
I said that when they swapped out Dennis for Gabe,
I was like, I like this because this is a
player that's not quite as good as Dennis, but maybe
a better fit with the Lakers because he can play
off the ball. That was the main reason why I
was kind of pro that direction last summer. Where it
became aware that I was wrong about that was the

(21:16):
Laker roster had nobody that could beat anybody off the
dribble other than Lebron James, and that becomes a problem
in the half court when you're trying to get the
defense in rotation and generate quality shots. If Dlo needs
a screen and if Austin needs a screen and Anthony
Davis needs a post up, then you're in trouble, especially
against switching teams, because now you're asking forty year old

(21:37):
Lebron to do everything. And yeah, there were these moments
like against the Clippers where they were switching everything and
it got kind of bogged down, but then Lebron hit
a bunch of threes and it was fine, Right, But like,
that's a lot to ask, And so I've gained another
layer of appreciation for Dennis as just a speed demon
that can beat people off the dribble and how that
can be of value in the half court to generate

(21:57):
quality shots. So if I could turn gave to Dennis Schroeder,
I would personally, But that's just because I've gained a
new appreciation for Dennis, And again I'll own up to
the fact that that's the exact opposite of what I
said last summer. But again, every year I've covered the league,
I learned more and more about the game. Secondly, the
d lo Jalen Ri Chafino Cam Brittish for Bruce Brown.
Bruce Brown, for me, is the classic example of an

(22:20):
upgraded version of the Vanderbilt gave Vincent kind of Max
Christy trio, the perimeter athletes that play the two or
the three right. To me, Bruce Brown is a guy
that can bring a lot of like the Alex Crusoe
esque like big athletic guard, point of attack, defense, rebounding elements,
transition elements, while also being a plus offensive player, which

(22:43):
is something that you don't get out of Jared Vanderbilt,
which is something that that I think could be an
issue with Max Christi even in terms of his decision making.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Right.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
So, like, really really like Bruce Brown. Don't think you
could do it for a first round swap, But that
to me is really the direction that I would look
to go. I would split the first round hicks and
use them separately and try to get two upgrades either
a really good backup center in a two or three,
or maybe a two and a three, right like, those
are the directions that I would look to go Christian
Wood twenty twenty nine first round, unprotected first round pick

(23:13):
for Walker Kessler. I would like Walker Kessler if I
could get him for one pick. I just think that's
kind of unrealistic. But I really really liked the idea
of Anthony Davis playing alongside another rim protector for the
very same reason that you're watching these Team USA second
units be so good defensively. If you put Anthony Davis
next to another rangy athlete, it allows him to play
the low man position and to be underneath the basket,

(23:36):
helping on pick and roll, closing out to shooters on
the week's side, cleaning up the defensive glass. It's the
classic look we saw in twenty twenty and twenty twenty
one with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee and Marcassol and
Andre Drummond and those guys. Right like that, to me
is a look that would benefit the Lakers. I just
wouldn't give more than one pick for that type of deal,

(23:57):
And if I was giving up pick, I'd want to
really good player, someone that I think Walker Kessler fits
that bill, but there aren't many that fit that bill.
I would prioritize using the first round picks to upgrade
the perimeter athletes. Lebron and Ade have been the two
top performers on Team USA. KCP came out and said
he felt the Lakers should have beaten them as they

(24:18):
were up every game. Is this roster good enough to
at least make the Western Conference Finals? And what is
one move that can make to improve their fourth quarter execution?
So we went over a lot of moves earlier. I
thought the KCP quote was interesting because one of the
big things that stood out to me about Denver is
they just looked really tired throughout that entire playoff run.
And I think that that was interesting to see them

(24:39):
kind of own up to that. The one other thing
I wanted to respond to in this question is the
fourth quarter execution piece.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
The Laker fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Offense is fine. That was like a strength of theirs
last year. Actually, Lebron did a really good job making
and taking shots in those situations. They had good flow,
a rank, good action. Crunch time. Offense was not an
issue for the Lakers. It's actually been really strange for
me to see JJ Reddick and so many other people
talking about the Lakers fourth quarter offense. The number one
issue with the Lakers in the fourth quarter, especially in

(25:08):
the Nugget series, was defense. Like, what was that one game,
the Jamal Murray game winner? The first one? I think
it was game two. I want to say that they
scored on like nine of their last ten possessions, Like
they scored every single time down the floor. The Lakers
were scoring two. That wasn't the issue. The Lakers can score.
The Lakers were one of the best offenses in the

(25:28):
league the entire second half of the season that translated
into the postseason. Their issue is they don't have perimeter athletes,
so they always put an underqualified defender on Jamal Murray
or whoever the best perimeter player is on the other team,
and they can't get stops. That's why they lose. And
so like the focus on the fourth quarter execution piece
like JJ Reddick will help it the Lass more wrinkles.

(25:49):
They may even go up a level from where they
were last year, but they're not going to start reaching
another level as a fourth quarter execution team until they
improve defensively. In terms of their personnel. Last Lakers question
for we move on, what do you think JJ can
bring to the table that Darvinham couldn't even with the
flawed team they had last year. If you swap JJ
and at coach first Denver, could you see a different outcome.
I don't know if it would have been enough versus Denver. Again,

(26:12):
I still think their defensive personnel was the main issue there. However,
I put down three things that I think JJ could
help with one improved offensive execution. One of the things
that I've really grown to appreciate over the last year
is the importance of actually running action versus just freelancing.
You Laker fans know Krngis he works for Tim Cranis

(26:36):
does that b Ball Index a statistical platform. But he
did an amazing job last year cataloging the difference between
the way the Laker offense function when they ran sets
versus when they freelance, and it was a big gap.
And clearly that data ended up making its way to
JJ Reddick because he's made specific mention of it, I'm
not surprised at all. Cranis do is great work and

(26:57):
he probably should be working for a team somewhere right now,
and hopefully he does eventually at some point. But I
agree with him. I think he's hitting the nail on
the head. I'm glad that JJ knows it. The Lakers
need to stop freelancing so damn much, and they need
to run more organized offense.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
JJ Reddick will help with that.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Secondly, listening to data, all of that information about playing
Ruey or Vando at the three instead of Torrean Prince
was abundantly clear in the data from the early portions
of the season, and in spite of repeated data statistical
evidence that showed that Darvingham stuck with Torrean prints way
too long and it cost them dearly as they went

(27:32):
three and ten after the n season tournament and ended
up in the play in tournament. So like, just having
a guy who's willing to look at the evidence and
make the appropriate adjustments accordingly is going to be a
huge asset. And then lastly, coaching possession by possession. Famously,
Lakers fans refer to Darvinham as hot pockets because he
would just stand on the sideline with his hands in

(27:53):
his pockets. You watch all the great coaches, you watch
Eric Spolstra, you watch Tylu, you watch Mike Malone, you
watch Steve Kurr. These guys are up, They're animated. They
coach every possession, They demand excellence every possession. There is
an emphasis on attention to detail, and if JJ Redditt
can bring that, I think that would be a substantial

(28:15):
improvement for this team. Got Warriors question. If the Warriors
don't end up getting Lori markinin and then in parentheses puts,
I don't think the Warriors will want to give up
pods and or kaminga plus multiple picks plus multiple swaps.
What is another option for them to potentially target this
offseason to give Steph a true number two option to
contend for a title. Not a lot of great options
right now. I think that you never know what could

(28:36):
happen when you get to the deadline. But now you're
kind of looking in that after after marketing, you're kind
of looking in that like brandon Ingram Zach Lavine area,
and it's like, Brandon Ingram is a guy that I
think would be a terrible fit in their five out offense.
Brandon Ingram is a guy that, like when you put
the ball in his hands and you let him run
spread pick and roll. He's a gifted pull up shooter,

(29:00):
can get to the rim. He's one of the branding
Ingram is a sneaky, excellent passer, but I just don't
think he's a good fit in like a ball in
player movement motion heavy like read and react type of offense.
And then obviously with Levine, it's about money and health
and there's just a lot of risk there, and so
I think if they miss out on market and they'll
probably end up holding tight and seeing if they can

(29:20):
find something that develops closer to the deadline. Are the
Nuggets a worse starting five, but an overall better team
with the addition of Sarich Westbrook and developing Strawther and
Peyton Watson compared to last season.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Thanks for the great coverage. I hope your summer is
going well. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
My summer has been great. I just booked another trip
to Vegas with my wife to go see Dead End Company,
to go see him two more times. She's that's actually
for my birthday, which is gonna be a lot of fun.
But my wife and I haven't gone on a vacation
alone in a while, which is which will be fun.
And then we're going. We're turning around and leaving like
the very next day to go to Seattle, and we

(29:57):
got like an airbnb that overlooks Mount Rainier, and we're
just gonna kind of relax and get out of the heat.
It's been hotter in hell here in Tucson every single day.
So I'm looking forward to some time in the p
ANDWP the Pacific Northwest. The few times that have been
there recently, it's it's becoming quickly one of my favorite
places to visit in the summertime, and so I'm excited
to get up there. We're going up there for a week,

(30:19):
all right, So the Nuggets. Here's the thing I look at.
Everyone's kind of being slotted into different roles, right, So
the role that used to be Christian Brown, that's the
role that you're looking at for Julian Straw the right
like first guard off the bench, right, the backup point guard.
You're looking at Westbrook instead of Reggie Jackson, right, and

(30:43):
then at the two guard, you're looking at Christian Brown
instead of Contavious Colwell Pope. To be clear, I think
going from KCP to Christian Brown is a downgrade. I
really like Christian Brown. I think he's actually a better
defender than KCP, a more versatile defender because he's bigger
and stronger, but like offensively, there's a chasm between those
two guys, right, So I think that's a downgrade. We're

(31:05):
gonna talk Reggie Jackson Russell Westbrook here in a minute,
but I think that's a downgrade. But there's another question
there that we'll get to. And then Julian Strather is
a very interesting player. It's got good size, really silky smooth,
touched a lot of like interesting stuff in terms of
his skill development, I just don't think Julian Strather's ready
to be like a huge rotation piece next season. So

(31:28):
I'm a little concerned about that. I do think Peyton
Watson will be better, and that'll be good for him.
I think that's Peyton Watson just getting better year over
year is an improvement. But I do think as we
zoom out from that, I think we have to admit
that the Nuggets are a little worse this year than
they were last year. That said, I thought last year
they lost a little bit of their competitive fire. Micha

(31:48):
Malone said before last season that winning takes talent, repeating
takes character, and I don't want to say they failed
that test, because I mean, they were still up in
Game seven in the second round. But like, I think
we can all agree that they just didn't quite have
the juice last year, didn't quite have that extra bit
of like mph to them, you know what I mean.
And I think they'll have that this year. I think

(32:10):
that Jamal Murray's pissed off. I think that Nikola Jokic
is pissed off. I think the Nuggets are going to
be really, really good again next season. And so even
with those downgrades, and again I think we have to
acknowledge that Caseyp's not as good as Christian Brown. I
personally don't think Reggie I don't think Russell Westbrook is
as good as Reggie Jackson, which we'll get into in
a minute. And I don't think Julian Strather can do

(32:30):
what Christian Brown could do as a bench guard. Obviously, right,
different types of players, but still in terms of overall impact,
I think Christian Brown is better as a bench player
than Peyton Watson. Would that be in the case or
not Peyton watsondn't excuse me, Julian Strather, I'm confusing them.
I don't think Julian Strather is capable of impacting winning
off the bench as well as Christian Brown did last year.

(32:51):
Peyton wants it is a little bit better, but I
think if we zoom out, I think we have to
acknowledge that they got a little bit worse with personnel. However,
back with the chip on their shoulder, a little bit
of a revenge campaign. I actually think the Nuggets are
my pick to win the West next season. We'll see
as we get into training camp if I end up
changing my mind, but as it stands right now, I
still think the Nuggets are the best team in the

(33:13):
Western Conference. Next question, do you really think Reggie Jackson
is better than Russell Westbrook? I do, And here's why.
I covered Russell Westbrook very closely, and I watched a
lot of him with the Clippers last year, and I
have a feeling Nuggets fans will kind of come around
to my perspective on this. With Russell Westbrook, it's not

(33:34):
about what he can do well, and he does a
lot of things well. He's not a good regular season
defensive player, but he's a very like he kind of
becomes a freaky disruptive defensive player. In the postseason on
the ball, and then he'll make plays defensively off the ball.
But most of it with Russell Westbrook comes down to mistakes.

(33:55):
And I want to get to one more positive before
we get there, before we go to the negatives on offense.
In the regular season, he's gonna provide real rim pressure,
real transition pace, real playmaking. And he brought all of
those things with the Lakers, except for the high level defense.
But the Lakers didn't make the playoffs with Russ and

(34:17):
I believe he would have done that with the Lakers
as well. Here's the thing with Russell Westbrook, It's never
been about the good. It's been about the bad. I
have never seen a player make as many mistakes in
basketball games as Russell Westbrook does, and you Nuggets fans
will find this out pretty quickly. It's the kind of
leaking in to try to get a defensive rebound and

(34:39):
leaving a shooter open. It's the standing straight leged not
paying attention to someone just cuts right behind him for
an easy layup on the baseline. It's the missed box outs.
It's the poor decisions where like he'll randomly just in
transition see a three on three and twenty sixteen, Russ
woul dunk it, but twenty twenty three, Russ doesn't have

(34:59):
that juice, but tries it anyway and ends up missing
a layup and it leads to a transition opportunity. The
other way, it's the settling for bad jump shots. It's
the team's completely ignoring him and him not weaponizing that.
Like a lot of players get ignored.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
You know what they do.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
They constantly screen, they constantly cut, they constantly crash. Russ
doesn't do those things, and so it's not about the upside.
Russell Westbrook's upside is substantially higher than Reggie Jackson. Reggie
Jackson also makes some mistakes. Reggie Jackson doesn't make nearly
as many mistakes as Russell Westbrook does in basketball games.

(35:33):
Russell Westbrook think of it like this. Reggie Jackson is
the guy that in a game is going to do
six or seven good things and two or three bad things. Right,
Russell Westbrook is gonna do twenty twenty five good things
in like twenty five thirty bad things. Like it is
this like crazy oscillating back and forth, like oh my god,
that was incredible, to what the hell are you doing

(35:54):
to oh my god, that was incredible, to what the
hell are you doing? And sometimes it'll stack up like
mark my wordsuggets fans, there will be a game in
November where it's the end of the third quarter and
you're on the road in a big like you're on
the road in Oklahoma City and Jokic checks out with
five minutes left, and or maybe it's the start of

(36:16):
the fourth quarter that Jokich checks out or whatever it
might be. When you're gonna you're gonna have Russell Westbrook
come in, and there will be a sequence where, like
in a ninety second span, he does like five stupid
things and next thing you know, you look at the
scoreboard and instead of being down four, you're down fourteen.
Like that's that's the Russell Westbrook experience. It's these Sometimes

(36:37):
the mistakes come in waves too, And like I'm not
I'm not trying to hate on the guy, Like this
was literally what it was like when I was rooting
for him two years ago when he was a better athlete,
and he's gonna be an even lesser athlete at this
point in his career. So like I I will say
this and Zach Low from ESPN did a really nice
jot breaking this down. It's a low risk proposition for

(36:59):
Denver because if the fit doesn't work, you just bench
him or you cut it right like the Denver doesn't
need Russell Westbrook, so it's.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
Worth a shot.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
But do I think that Russell Westbrook is going to
solve the problems for Denver? I don't, and maybe we'll
say maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jokic and Mike Malone are
the first two basketball minds that can focus Russell Westbrook
in a way that works and makes sense. But I'm skeptical.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
The NFL seasons right around the corner. Will be breaking
down all the off season storylines on the Colin Cowherd
podcast My best takes guests like.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
My buddy Nick Wright.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Check out the Colin Coward podcast, part of the Volume Network,
available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Where is Jalen Brown rank in the top fifteen NBA players?
We're about to do our player ranking starting next week,
so I will let you guys know what does a
repeat do for Jason Tatum and Jylen Brown's legacy individually
and as a duo. It depends on who they beat,
Like if they let's say, like, for instance, like they
had a relatively easy pathway through the playoffs this year.

(38:20):
Let's say next year, it's like they beat that, like
the Orlando Magic in the in the second round, and
then they beat like the what either the Philly team
that has Paul George and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxi
or maybe that Knicks team that added Mikhale Bridges, and
then they go to the finals and they beat like

(38:40):
the Denver Nuggets or the Oklahoma City Thunder or someone
like that. Like, if they do that, I think that
this Celtics team all of a sudden enters into a
totally different conversation because there's the first team to repeat
since the KD Staph Warriors. You're following up a dominant
season with a more impressive playfforn. There's all sorts of
things there. Referencing Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum as a
duo is where it gets a little weird for me

(39:02):
because there's five thirty million dollar players, and I felt
the same way about the Warriors. Everyone'd be like, Oh,
it's Stephan k D. Stephan k D, and it's like, no,
it's not. It's Stephan kd and Klay Thompson and Draymond
Green and Andre Guidala.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
Like, these are historically.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Talented teams we're talking about here, they don't line up
with like Kyrie and Luca That that's a duo. That's
a duo, right, Like Lebron James and Anthony Davis on
the Lakers, that's a duo. What we're talking about with
this Celtics team, Like they have five players that in
the open market would command thirty million dollars a year.
That's that's totally different than a traditional duo. That said, like,

(39:41):
if Boston repeats next year, I think I think it
works wonders for both their legacies. For I think it
adds a whole other layer of legitimacy on last year's team.
I think a repeat would work wonders for the Seas. Hey, Jason,
I appreciate the hard work you put into the videos.
Do you feel like Oklahoma City are going to make
a big move this season or are we still another
year away? With the team competing at this level and depth,

(40:02):
it seems we're done and to let their picks resolve
into either even younger pieces. I agree, and I do
think that the Thunder will eventually make more of an
aggressive all in type of deal where they use a
lot of draft compensation. My guess is it'll be on
a forward. We talked going into the summer that there
was two directions they could go. They could either put
Shed at the ford next to a center, which is
what they're going to try with Isai Hartenstein this year.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
Or they could put a big forward.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Next to Chet, keep him at center right and just
kind of bolster the strength and physicality the front line
at that forward position. Going after Hertenstein was a really
smart move. I really like it as a counter to
what Denver brings to the table to because now you
can run a two big look. Really like it, but
I agree that I think they'll be on the lookout.
The thing is they don't have to rush. They're going
to be a dominant regular season team no matter what,
so they can wait for a really good deal around

(40:46):
the deadline. There's not even a rush in terms of
this particular season, in the sense that if they don't
find what they want at the deadline, they can wait
till next summer if they want to. I think this
team is really good and is a bona FIDE top
tier championship contender. Just go down the list. How is
their offensive shot creation? Well, can't do much better than
shake kills Alexander one of the best offensive engines in
the league. Jalen Williams is one of my favorite young

(41:07):
players in the league and awesome Number two. Chet Holmgren
brings a whole bunch of offensive firepower to this situation.
Isaiah Hartenstein is like a prototypical five outdribble handoff big
I think he's an excellent fit there. Okay, what do
they look like in terms of their physicality on the frontline? Well,
last year they sucked. Isaiah Hardenstein is a monster on
the glass and a guy that completely raises the physical
profile of the team. What do they like defensively, Well,

(41:30):
they got real rim protection and chet Holmgren. What do
they like at the point of attack? Lou Dord is
one of the best options in the league at the
point of attack. He's like the only guy I've ever
seen really truly frustrate Luka Doncic in a playoff series. Like,
they've got it all and the one thing they don't
have is a bigger chet at the five look and
the only way they're going to get that is by
trading for a forward, and my guess is that is

(41:52):
going to be what they keep their eye on throughout
the rest of this season heading into the trade deadline. Well,
this was a I asked after I gave my Lakers
Celtics take the other day for people to provide basketball
reasons why they disagree. And there was a bunch of
you guys who gave reasons, but I wanted to shout
out one of you guys. This is from Steven Smith. Hey, Jason,

(42:12):
love the show. Admittedly by a Celtics fan here, but
I can give you a few basketball reasons why I
think the twenty twenty four Celtics could beat the twenty
twenty Lakers. I know Anthony Davis was probably the best
defensive player in the league at the time, but the
way Boston spreads teams out with Porzingis would be hard
for the Lakers to guard. Jason or Jalen could run
two man game with kp at the top of the
key and give and have KP Pott forcing ad out
of the paint and giving Jason or Jalen driving lanes

(42:35):
to score or kick it to Drew or d White.
At that point, it becomes somewhat of a shooting contest.
Given this Celtics team was the most prolific three point
shooting team in NBA history, I believe we'd win that battle.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
Two.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Speaking of Drew and Derek White, I think you're discounting
just how good of a back court they are. Offensively,
Drew can easily out muscle Crusoe or KCP to get
to his spots. Derek can hit a catch and shoot
three from anywhere on the court. Defensively, they can limit
the Lakers other three starters, not Lebron and Ad, similar
to how they limit the MAVs other players in the
finals this year. With the twenty twenty Lakers. While the
twenty twenty Lakers have a front court advantage, we have

(43:06):
a back court advantage.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
Three.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yes, Lebron and Ad are much better duo than Jason
and jaln Are, but many believed Luca and Kyrie were
a better duo given they to Day two rolled over
a much tougher Western conference and we kicked their ass.
I think we showed this year that if you have
a great duo and give them the best supporting cast,
you can overcome a better player and a better duo.
In a seven game series, it would be very close.
But in a hypothetical matchup, I would go with the
Celtics in seven, although I wouldn't be surprised if the

(43:29):
Lakers ended up winning. Appreciate the great content, content, and
I hope this message finds you well. First of all,
thank you for taking the time to spell out your
basketball thoughts. One of the things that I talk about
all the time is that bothers me. It's like a
pet peeve. Is like I offer a basketball opinion and
the people that are just like that are just like,
fuck you, You're stupid, you rummy, you know, and it's
just like and it just turns into like a like

(43:51):
a shit talking contest, and that's just not productive. It
doesn't solve anything. I got into doing this for a
living because I love talking basketball. Like I used to
literally like walk through basketball and have these debates with
my college teammates when we were growing up, either on
buses or in hotels or after practice when we were
untying our shoes and stuff like. I love talking basketball.
What that means is I want to hear what you

(44:12):
guys think and taking the time to actually write out
why you think I'm wrong is something that is way
more productive and something I'm willing to engage with, and
so I appreciate you taking the time.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Steven.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
The only points that I'd pushed back on, and you
make a lot of good points. That group, that ad
Lebron Crusoe, KCP, Danny Green unit probably more of a
switching unit against Boston, so that would be how they'd
mitigate pick and pop. And what specifically what made that
Laker team good was their smaller players were really hard
to post up KCP. You guys watched KCP defending Karl

(44:47):
Anthony Towns in the post and just stripping him clean
because he's so good at waiting for you to expose
the basketball. Alex Cruso is like something crazy like two
hundred and twenty five pounds of solid muscle at six six,
Like he's a really difficult guy to bully. And Danny
Green's even bigger than him. So like they are big
on the perimeter, that twenty twenty Lakers team, and so
it's more of a switching look. And the idea there
is you switch and you contain the basketball. And again

(45:10):
I'm not saying you won't ever get dribble penetration, but
it's about flattening dribble penetration. A straight line drive past
Luka Doncic forces hard help, which leads to wide open
closeout opportunities. A good perimeter defender is going to make
those drives more of like a banana route, like a
flattened out drive, which makes it so the guys can
dig down instead of hard helping, which makes for easier closeouts.

(45:31):
It just allows you to kind of avoid that drive.

Speaker 3 (45:33):
And kick chain.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
So specifically, I think the Laker defense was really well
built for that Boston driving kick. I do agree with
you though, that the Boston backcourt was better. One of
the note on the duo thing, like Luka is probably
the second best player in the world behind Jokic, and
Kyrie's somewhere around the twenty to twenty fifth best player
in the world. Lebron was the best player in the

(45:55):
world in twenty twenty, and I had Anthony Davis at
number four that year. So like, it's not just that
they're a better duo than Tatum and Brown. They're a
way better duo even than Luca and Kyrie were. And
that's a big part. Like those two were just an
absolute wrecking ball that entire season. But I appreciate the comment.
You did a really good job breaking it down. I
think your take was super reasonable. Hey, Jason, love the show.

(46:17):
I'm a fan from Trinidad in the Caribbean. You have
a following here. I know you have said that usually
a basketball player is who they are around the age
of twenty six twenty seven, But isn't it possible for
del to improve his defensive skills and athleticism during the offseason.
I think he's a high level offensive talent aside from
when he gets in his own head. But I just
don't buy him saying I'm just not athletic at this

(46:37):
phase in his career. He's been trying. Trust me, there
is like a there's like a range of potential athletic
outcomes for every player, and likee, Delo has a range,
meaning he can get better, but there's a ceiling there,
and his ceiling is still too low to impact the
game as a role player the way guys like Derek
White do, for instance. All right, let's see Pistons question.

(47:01):
Hi Jason, thanks as always for your content. As a
depressed Pistons fan, last season was an absolute shit show.
Really tested my love of the game. However, I think
this offseason was quietly one of the best, considering the
overhaul of the front office and getting Fred Vinson to
help IVYSR. Holland improve their jump shot. People clown the
Tobias contract in the Tim Hardaway junior trade. I understand
when you win fourteen games, we don't deserve the benefit

(47:22):
of the doubt. But You've always mentioned the importance of
solid vets that can still play a high level to
help a young core develop good habits. When you're assessing
rebuilding teams, what signs apart from the win lost column
are you looking at to see if a group is
on the right path to take the next step? And
do you think this Pistons group can take a Houston
esque leap towards respectability for example thirty odd wins. I
do think that the Pistons are poised for that type

(47:43):
of leap. I'm met much of a believer in Kid Cunningham,
and quite frankly, last year was Manti Williams was not
playing their best basketball players and that kind of like
set them up for failure in a lot of ways.
I like the additions because they all make sense. Tobias
Harris is a guy that can play the four or

(48:03):
the three. I think he's gonna play a lot of
four for this group. But he's a glue guy at
this phase in his career. He's a dude that just
like that just kind of like fits in with other
basketball players. He can attack mismatches in the post, he
can go to work off the bounce, but he's a
guy who can also just kind of play a smaller
role and then shooting to create spacing. Blik Beasley and
Tim Hardaway Junior will help in that area, I think

(48:25):
the most. As far as like the adding vets piece, Like,
I'm a big believer that if you put a bunch
of young basketball players that don't know how to play together,
especially under a like a less than fantastic coaching staff,
there's not a whole lot for them to improve on
because they're not learning from any sort of experience, right

(48:46):
and so especially as long as those veterans don't take
away from their opportunities to learn. So, for instance, like
John Wall with Jalen Green doesn't make any sense because
John Wall is going to directly infringe on Jalen Green's
ability to kind of like have those opportunities to go
to work, right, Like what makes sense is you want
of these veteran players like Tobias Harris, Maliki's tim Ardowa

(49:09):
Junior that are going to play smaller roles and primarily
just serve as mentors for players. And Kaid's still gonna
play it the same way. Ja Nivey is still going
to play the same way, Jalen durn Is still going
to play the same way, and you just have the
ability to just kind of elevate the overall basketball iq
of those lineups. There are a lot of possessions where
like Kid Cunningham gets the defense in rotation and then
the play just dies from there because there are guys

(49:31):
that don't know how to properly attack closeouts or to
make the right reads in those situations. These guys will
help in those ways. As far as next year and
taking that leap, it's really just about can Kay Cunningham
continue to be the shot creator that he is, Can
you get obviously a little bit more competent coaching, and
then can you be adequate defensively in that front court?

(49:53):
Right with Jalen Dern and Tobias Harris, I think you're
a little undersized. I do think we'll see some Isaiah
Steuart still alongside him. Although I think Isaiah Isaiah Stewart
has kind of become an interesting trade target out there
for teams that need The center position is just such
a high value position, especially with all the up and
coming centers, guys like Embiid and Anthony Davis and NICOLEA. Jokic, Right,

(50:14):
and with that being the case, the especially with Isaiah
Stewart being kind of a little bit of a shooter,
I wonder if he's the guy that they can look
to trade at some point. But in the short term,
I think just adding some vets and just another year
of improvement from your young players and an improvement a
head coach could go a long way to putting that
team into that twenty five to thirty win range. One

(50:36):
of the top five things to you hope to see
when Slash if Acolyte is renewed for a season two.
I actually just broke this down in a lot more
detail with my buddy Luke on two Suns podcasts. We
actually just released that episode yesterday, so you can find
that again wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube
under two Sons podcasts. But the gist of it is, like,

(50:57):
I think that we saw Darth Plagas in the season finale, right.
He's a super interesting character because he's the guy who
basically set up the entire plan that Palpatine executed in
the Phantom Menace to get to the Chancellorship and then
obviously to start the Clone Wars, and so I think
it'd be really cool to dive into that you've showed Plagas.
I think it'd be really cool to go season two

(51:18):
centered around Kymer go way back to his Jedi fallout
with Vernestra, whatever happened there, and dive into how he
met Plagas and him becoming a Sith, And then the
tail end of season two, I would have the showdown
between Chymie and Plagas as they determine who's going to
become the Dark Order of the Sith and whatever they
decide to do with Kymier. At that point they can

(51:40):
figure out Season three, I would like to see them
dive into Plagas and Palpatine. I'd cast a young Palpatine
and I just do a whole I'd do like two
seasons of prequel content, like a little bit of young Palpatine,
a little bit of like older Palpatine with Plagas, and
just really dive into the backstory of how those two
kind of executed their plan that started in The Phantom Menace.

(52:02):
That's what I would do if I was running The Acolyte.
But again, check out our pod. It's a it's a
totally different format. I'm with my best friend. It's much
more casual. But we've done I think one hundred and
twenty six episodes now, so we've actually been around pretty long.
But we just did an Acolyte episode today or yesterday,
and then we also do House of the Dragon. Expectations
for John Morant and the Grizzlies. They have a solid

(52:23):
core that's still pretty young. I think they're going to
dominate the regular season next year. I don't know what
they're gonna look like as a playoff team. I need
to actually see them play, especially with all these new pieces.
I want to see where Gigi Jackson fits in all
of this. I want to see if Zach Edy can help.
I want to see if John Morank can continue to
play the way he did when he showed up in
the middle of the regular season last year. Can Marcus
Smart stay healthy. There's a lot of question marks there,
but I do think they're going to dominate the regular season.

(52:45):
I expect them to be a top four seed or
the Orlando Magic on the same tier as Philadelphia in
New York or is it too soon? I still think
they're behind that tier. I'd put them behind the Bucks too.
I just think they still need to until Franz Wagner
and Palo Buncarrol become better jump shooters. I don't think
they can enter that tier, but I do think that
they'll be a very good regular season team. Wouldn't be

(53:06):
surprised if they pass one of those teams in the
regular season. That said, I still view them as firmly
in that fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. Let's do
one more. This is a Pelicans question. Without a center
and with de Jontay Murray and CJ McCollum on the roster,
where do the Pelicans go from here? Who should they trade?
I would trade Brandon Ingram, And really my reasoning is

(53:27):
this simple. Brandon Ingram has not played sixty five games
in a season since he was a rookie. He's consistently
hurt and consistently playing below his peak. I'm a huge
brandon Ingram fan. When he's healthy, I think he's one
of the best passing forwards in the league.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
Really really nice.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
Primary shot creator when you can put the ball in
his hands and have him run, spread, pick and roll
when he's in shape and in rhythm.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
He's such a.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
Good scorer who can score at all three levels. Big
fan of BI, but he's constantly hurt, and he's kind
of a funky fit alongside the drive and kick kind
of profile that I see from a Dejonte, Murray, Zion
Williamson type of core. Also, CJ McCollum is a much
better spot up player than Brandon Ingram. Brandon Ingram was

(54:10):
an average spot up player. I want to say he
was at like one point zero seven points per spot
up possession. C J McCollum was one of the best
spot up players in the league last year. He was
up over one point three points per possession, so good
at shooting and driving closeouts. So like BI is not
only worth more in terms of getting returned, but CJ's
a better fit alongside Dejonte and Zion, And so that's

(54:32):
the direction that I'd look to go from there. Try
to flip him for a center. There's a bunch of
different actions directions they can go. You could look at
like athletic rim running centers, guys like Nick Claxton or
Clint Capella. There are guys who could shoot it a
little bit. I talked about Isaiah Stewart with the Pistons earlier.
He's a guy that you could try to put a
pry away from Detroit. Wendell Carter Junior from Orlando. You

(54:53):
could even look at I'm worried about this from a
defensive perspective, but what if Minnesota decides to move on
from Karl Anthony Town or if Chicago decides to move
on from Nikola Vusevitch. Those are a couple of other
guys as you could look at in terms of shooting
next to Zion Williamson. But I viewed them as a
drive and kick team in the future. I really like
the idea of Zion and dejhon Ta Murray beating people

(55:13):
off the dribble. Guys like Trey Murphy and CJ. McCollum
benefiting from that and close out situations because of their
ability to shoot and make moves in the in the
mid range. All Right, guys, that is all I have
for today. As always, a sincerely appreciate you for supporting
the show. We're gonna take the rest of the weekend off.
We'll be back on Monday to break down the Olympic
opener between USA and Serbia as well as we're gonna

(55:36):
I'm gonna start prepping the player rankings at that point.
We'll probably end up airing that on Tuesday, but we
will be back on Monday. I will see you guys then.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
The volume whats so guys.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us
if you guys would take a second and leave a
rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys
supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it.
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Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

Jason McIntyre

Jason McIntyre

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