Hoops Tonight - NBA Mailbag: Warriors & Lakers TRADE TARGETS, how Luka Doncic & Mavericks win Finals
November 23, 2024 • 44 mins
Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA mailbag segment. Jason discusses which players make the most sense for Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors and LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers to target in trades as the season goes on. Later, Jason breaks down what Luka Doncic must change about his game for the Dallas Mavericks to win an NBA Finals and why he expects Dallas to elevate their play as the season goes on.
Timeline:
4:00 - Introduction
5:00 - Hoops Tonight schedule
9:00 - How Pistons should build their team
13:30 - Warriors depth
15:45 - Is Kerr mismanaging younger talent?
24:00 - Would Warriors trade for Jimmy Butler?
32:00 - Speed vs. size
33:30 - How Magic have survived without Paolo
43:00 - Dalton Knecht
48:15 - Jason's ideal star player
51:30 - 5 most exciting players to watch
54:30 - De'Aaron Fox breakout
55:00 - Why Mavs will turn it on
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)
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Follow Jason Timpf on social:
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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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see dkang dot co slash b ball. All right, welcome
(01:38):
to Hoops to Night. You're at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody,
Hope ball. If you guys have had a great week
so far, got a jampackshow for you today. It is
a mail bag day. Got about a dozen questions. We're
me going all around the league. Thank you to those
of you guys who submitted questions. You guys are the
job before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to
Night YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of these videos.
Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys
don't misshow announcements don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever
(01:59):
you get your post under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's
also helpful if you leave a rating and a review
on that front. Also, we have brand new social media
feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the Hoops Tonight
channel where we're going to be releasing some reels and
stuff like that. To make sure you guys follow those feeds.
And the last, but not least, if you want to get
a mailbag question into our mailbags that we do on
Friday and occasionally an additional time during the week, we
(02:20):
drop them in the YouTube comments. Make sure you get
the questions there and we'll hit them at least every Friday.
All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason,
I'm a longtime listener and a few times recently it
feels like the mail bag has become responding to crybabies
instead of answering thoughtful questions, having unique conversations, etc. You
don't need to defend yourself against people aren't listening to
(02:40):
the show or delusional fans. Maybe using it to touch
on some younger, less talked about teams would be cool.
To love what you do. Man. First of all, thank
you for the kind words and the support. You're absolutely right,
and I owe you guys better than that. I shouldn't
be stooping to the level of responding to people that
are either trolls or people that are having arguments and
bad faith, and so I'm going to do a much
(03:02):
better job. I appreciate you calling me out on it.
You're right, I got to do better. I think you're right.
This mail bag should be more for getting into some
of the younger teams that we don't talk about as much,
talking about big picture basketball concepts, and getting to those
of you guys who have well meaning, well thought out questions.
So you guys have my word. I'll do better again.
I appreciate you calling me out on it. Next question, Hey, Jason,
(03:23):
I've been watching since the beginning. I have a little complaint,
and I know real life gets busy, but it seems
like we aren't getting as many videos as we did
last season. Last season, it felt like every night there
would be a quick reaction video. So far this season
there have been days with no videos. I just appreciate
your videos, brother, You're doing great. Just a fan complaint,
so I was just curious because I feel like, all
I do is work, but obviously I want to hear
(03:45):
you guys out, so I just dug into it. Tomorrow
is one month since the start of the season, or I
should say today, since it's airing on Friday. I'm recording
this on Thursday. But today, this Friday, represents exactly one
month since the start of the season. And I went
and looked, and we've done twenty four full episodes, which
means we're going more than once more than five times
a week. The general rule of thumb is in a month,
(04:07):
if you do if you work twenty two days, you're
working on average five days a week. Right, So like
we're going over five days a week, which is pretty
much in line with what we do during the regular season.
Right Generally speaking, we're going to release five new episodes
on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then usually about
one night a week, I'm going to pick a primetime
game and do an instant reaction, which we've done about
(04:30):
five times this season. Now, you're right. The very first season,
when I first started with the volume, we were going
every night. It was a nightly show, but obviously we
transitioned into hitting the big games, but having the shows
during the day, which I prefer because then I get
to really pour over the film. Like my opinion is
that the show is better in its current format because
(04:50):
I can really dig into the film methodically and meticulously
and give you guys better information. Even in the playoffs
when we go every night, I also go almost every
day because even though we're going every night and that's
the instant reaction and capitalizing on the urgency, I also
just need to watch the film. That's something that is
(05:11):
very important to me. It's been like that since I
played in college. It's just what you do. It's just
I like pouring over the film the day after the game. So, like,
the general thing you can expect from me on the
show is that from about the beginning of October usually
it's like mid September because I do so much season
preview content. From about the middle of September to about
the middle of April, you can count on me for
(05:33):
Monday through Friday, five days a week, plus about one
nightly show a week, usually geared around a big national
TV game. Then from the mid April to mid June,
you guys can count on me to go basically every
night and every day. Like those of you guys who've
been around during the playoffs, you know what it's like
we do. Last year, we averaged about like twelve brand
new episodes per week during the playoffs. Then after that,
(05:56):
during free agency, in Summer League and the trade market
and all that stuff, I go down to about five
days a week, and then in that August September stretch,
I'm going to go down to about three days a
week because it's the summer and that's when I'm going
to take a break. But that's been the cadence we've
been following for the last couple of years, and that's
pretty much what you can expect from the Channel moving forward.
But I understand, I know you just I know. I
(06:18):
just wanted to kind of dig into it, make sure
I was giving you guys what you guys expect from
me on the channel. Next question, Piston super fan here.
I believe the Pistons have hit on multiple draft picks
over the last three to four years and that cad
Ivy Duran is a good core to build around. We
have tried to be young and fun and ended up
being one of the worst teams in NBA history. We're
now trying to add some playable vets and win, but
(06:40):
will likely waffle under five hundred this year. All star
caliber free agents do not want to come to Detroit.
So what would be your suggestion? Suggestion? What would your
suggestion be to build this team without getting outrageously lucky
in the draft? Thanks love the show. Longtime listener, Again,
thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show.
A couple of things. First of all, I want get
too hung up on this year's results. As of right
(07:03):
now Thursday, when I'm recording this, you guys are the
sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. I think if I
told you that coming into the season, given what we
expected out of teams like Philly and Milwaukee and Indiana,
you'd probably be pretty stoked about being up at number six,
two out the gates. The schedule was really tough, and
you drop some games, but you've been a pretty serious
basketball team since then. I've watched about three or four
Pistons games, and when I watch them, they look big,
(07:25):
they look athletic, and they've got some smart young shot
creators and some talent that could pan out in the
long run. Even with that being the case, even with
me admitting and pointing out that I think that the
Pistons are having a pretty successful season to start. I
wouldn't get too hung up on this year's results. This
kind of goes back to some of the concept that
I've gone with with a bunch of different teams that
(07:46):
I've talked about over the last few years, in the
sense that you stand to gain a lot through natural
improvement over the years, right, like Jade and Ivy showing
a lot more flash as, like a downhill shot creator
knocking down shot at a higher level, Like having a
good season, Kay Cunningham having a good season. He's gonna
get better. Jayden's gonna get better. Jalen Duran right now,
(08:08):
he's kind of matchup dependent, right, Certain matchups he does
really well. Certain teams that can spread him out and
make him work more on the perimeter he can struggle with, right,
But he's I like that core a lot, and you
stand to get dramatic improvement from that core year over
year over the next few years, And so I wouldn't
get too hung up on this year's results as far
as the roster bill goes, this is where again, if
(08:28):
you like your build, you like your guards, you your
you have your shot creators, you like your defensive anchor. Okay,
the next step now is trying to find high level
role players in the draft, which, by the way, I
feel like the Pistons have done. That's what the SR.
Thompson pick is, That's what the Ron Holland pick is, right, Like,
(08:48):
these are athletes that you can count on to do
the dirty work around your best players. Now. The thing
with us are in Ron Holland is they were both
so young that there's gonna be a little bit more
of a long development kind of trajectory for those guys. Right,
But this is one of those things where you can
also look at in the draft drafting some older players.
Because you are correct, especially because of having to pay
(09:10):
kid Ivy and Duran, you're not going to get this.
Last summer was pretty much your last chance to get
like really high level role players through free agency, right,
And like to your point, I think that finding that
additional talent through the draft is the way to go.
I don't think you have to necessarily get very lucky though,
because when you're drafting, a lot of teams are looking
(09:31):
for substantial, splashy pieces. They're looking for a secondary shot creator.
They're looking for potentially the next star to run their franchise.
There are guys that end up in the draft that
are role player prospects. How the number one pick last year,
Zachary Risache was a role player type of prospect, right, Like,
there's older guys that end up in the draft, older
guys that don't have as much upside, but that can
(09:53):
do NBA ready things right away that kind of fit
the mold of what Detroit's trying to do. Dalton connect
falling to the Lakers is a classic example of that.
They're drafting at seventeen and they get a legitimate rotation piece,
right So that's the thing. It's like, you've got some
really athletic long term prospects and Ron holland Nsar Thompson,
maybe you start looking for, like some older players in
(10:14):
the draft that are a little bit like more of
like NBA ready type of guys, because that is where
in the draft you can get some discounted role players
relative to the overpaying that you have to do in
free agency a lot of the time. And so again,
I like the core, I like the direction this is going.
I think this season has actually been off to a
better start than people think. Our people are willing to admit.
I understand that, like under five hundred is never a
(10:36):
reason to be like super super excited. But the NBA
has like twenty really good teams, and the NBA schedule's tough.
The Pistons played a tough schedule out the gate. They're
gonna be fine. It looks like they're gonna get their
first chance to play some real meaningful either at least
a play in game or maybe even a full playoff
series this year. They're on the right track. It's just
about a couple of specific types of draft picks they
(10:58):
need to hit in the future, and then the player
development in house. Next question. This is in regards to
the warriors eleven man rotation. Part of that also is
helped by playing twelve guys because like ice hockey, you
need more shifts of bodies to constantly push at that pace.
It's a huge etch. And Steph is as an offensive engine.
Steph as is is a typo here. Steph is an
(11:21):
offensive engine that makes all eleven of those guys playable
in high efficiency offense. And Raymond as an enhancer allows
them to play against Draymond as an enhancer allows them
to play against big lineups. This makes perfect sense to me,
And this is something that I've been kind of keyed
in on a little bit. I think it's delicate because
it has to a lot of it depends on how
many good basketball players you have, right, Like if the Lakers,
(11:42):
for instance, started running an eleven man rotation, it could
get a little tricky with some of the guys that
they have at the tail end of their rotation right now. Right.
But the flip side of that is like when you
play this style though, style that the Warriors play heavy
transition both ways. That's the thing. Like the Warriors, as
of like two nights ago, the last time I checked,
had the best transition defense in the league, per cleaning
the glasses defensive points added per one hundred possessions metric. Right, So,
(12:05):
like that's a lot of work. That's a lot of
sprinting back in transition and like making sure that you're
flying around in the open floor. What they do in
offense in transition, the way they run around. I had
a play that I put in Tim's tape earlier on
Thursday where you guys got to see like how quickly
they run in the half court when they're trying to
run their action. So, like it's one of those things
where if you have eleven good basketball players, it does
(12:27):
make sense to me that you would go with a
bigger rotation in the regular season. Ice hockey's a great
comp it's the line shifts and the fact that your
best player might only play twenty two to twenty five
minutes a game because he's just cause skating is so
damn hard in terms of the cardio, right, And like
that's the thing like playing this brand of basketball, and
it extends to the half court too, with all the
(12:49):
ground that you have to cover in rotation, closing out
at great three point shooters that are spotting up twenty
five feet from the basket, right, So like, yeah, I'm
actually I'm actually kind of into this concept. Like the
the Lakers run a nine man rotation, but they play
at a slower pace and they've got some guys that
are a little bit more lethargic. But like, I'm with you.
I think if you've got ten eleven good basketball players,
(13:11):
you should run a longer rotation. Warriors fan, I'm grateful
for Kerr. I'm grateful to curR for the last decade,
but I'm also pissed at the way he's handling our
next generation. Why is Lindy Waters getting more playing time
than Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. It feels like two years
ago when Ty Jerome and Jeremy Lamb got playing time
over Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. I don't mean to hate
(13:32):
on Waters. I love having him, but I'm more interested
in seeing what Moody can do. And the last time
jk played crunch time, he won the game in overtime
against the Rockets. So this is one of those things where,
after all these years watching Steve Kerr, we just have
to understand his philosophy as a basketball coach. Why do
you everyone wants to cling to this narrative that like,
Steve Kerr hates Jason Tatum because they beat him by
(13:53):
fifty in a regular season game last year, or because
of what happened in the NBA Finals in twenty twenty two,
or something like that, And it's like, actually, the reason
why Steve Kerr played Derek White and Drew Holliday over
Jason Tatum is he kind of looks at the guard
position in his offense as a as a quick rate
(14:15):
and react player that has to be able to shoot
on the move. And if you remember, Jason Tatum was
not shooting the ball well at the time. And Jayson
Tatum isn't exactly a movement shooter either. He's a kind
of more of an ISO shooter, Like he's a guy
that you kind of want initiating the offense. Right. And
and the Olympic team they had already decided they were
going to be running through Lebron at the top of
(14:35):
the key, and they needed players that were going to
be more running in that action, in that Steve Kerr system. Right,
this is the same thing that's been happening happening with
the Warriors forever. It's like, oh, Brandon pazemskis getting all
these minutes, like all these guards are getting all these minutes,
while Moody is not getting as much, or Jonathan Kaminga's
minutes are less consistent. And that's all it is. Steve
(14:57):
Kerr trusts Lyndy Waters to be a threat off the
move as a shooter and to make decisions coming off
of those actions at a higher level than Moses Moody. Now,
Moses Moody to me is a very good player that
just kind of is a little bit of a clunky
fit in the Warrior system in the sense that he's
a good physical perimeter defender with size, which is like
(15:19):
there's a lot of value there. And I actually think
he's a pretty solid shooter when he can get his
feet set and he's open. He's worked hard as a
movement shooter. He's a better movement shooter than he was
a couple of years ago. He's a better movement shooter
than a lot of the guys that have come through
other development programs around the NBA. Right, but specifically within
the Warriors offense, Lindy Waters is a better movement shooter
(15:42):
who is a better decision maker in the decision zone,
which is like you come off the screen, you have
to immediately read the screen defender. He's too far back.
I and my guy's caught on the screen. I'm shooting
this thing. He's too far back and my guy's trailing,
but he's not completely attached. I want to methodically work
down into the lane and see if I can't warp
the defense a little bit. Once I get in there
the decision zone around that elbow, I need to make
(16:04):
quick reads based on what the health defense is doing,
and like Steve Kerr has traditionally trusted players that are
better and read and react situations in those rotation minutes,
and guards tend to be better read and react players
because they've been handling the ball since they were younger.
But like that's the thing is, Like I think Kuminga
(16:25):
still gets his opportunities and he's playing in this bench
role where he gets to come in and be more aggressive.
But I don't think it's like any sort of personal
vendetta or like philosophy involving wanting to be small. I
think it's literally just about that read and react decision
making and Steve Kerr trusting some of his guards over
the years more than he's trusted some of his forwards.
(16:47):
Last Warrior's question, and then we'll move on d Anthony Melton
being out for the season is a tough blow for
the Duves as he was the perfect off guard to
step and they're only real two way small perimeter player.
(17:10):
What should they do to make up for it? Regarding
their front court and secondary production issues. Do you think
there are any realistic chance that the heat would part
weighs with BAM and if so, could they get him
without completely gutting their roster. I think he'd be a
much better fit than someone like Giannis, and his contract
is more modest too, So obviously bad news about the
Anthony Melton. I'm just as bummed for him as I
am for the Warriors, just because that guy's just had
a nightmare stretch of injury luck over the last couple
(17:33):
of years. But I'm not as concerned about it in
their rotation, because, yeah, you're right, d Anthony Melton might
have been the best two way guard next to stef
maybe in terms of his defensive ability and his ability
to shoot and make plays in action, but you're so
deep at the guard that I just am not worried
about it. There's just so many other guys that can
do that job. It's really the front court that where
(17:55):
I think that they could use a real talent upgrade.
Bam would be a like, literally a dream fit, but
I just think he's going to be way too expensive,
and I also doubt that Miami moves him in a rebuild.
Like to me, if Miami continues to spiral and they're
not doing that bad, they're six and seven and Eric
Spolstra have botched a game where they could easily be
(18:17):
above five hundred right now in an Eastern Conference that
doesn't have many above five hundred teams. But let's say
that they keep spiraling. I think even if the Heat
looks to rebuild, they would still rebuild around Bam. He
kind of feels like the heart and soul of the
franchise in a lot of ways. He plays a very
specific position that is an anchor on both ends, which
is like, he's the guy that can anchor a defense
at the five spot as a drop big and a
(18:37):
switch big in a rebounder, and then on the other
end of the floor. He's kind of like the quintessential
five out big in the sense that he's really good
at dribble handoff action at the top of the key.
So like, even with his offensive limitations, he's still a
really good fulcrum on the offensive end, and he's a
defensive anchor, and he's at the right age, still has
a long a lot of good basketball left. Have a
hard time believing that they're going to move on from Bam.
(19:00):
I also think that they're kind of betting that BAM's
development is a shooter in the long run, and a
guy like kell El Ware is like a stretch five
next to him, that they might be able to play
him at the four and have a bigger front line.
So I don't think BAM is the option. Now. I
talked about Jimmy Butler a little bit yesterday and I
had some Warriors fans complain, like, oh, you can't give
up Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler. For the record, I
don't think you should do it unless you have to. Like,
(19:24):
if you have the opportunity to get a guy like
Jimmy Butler without including Andrew Wiggins, you do it ten
times out of ten. I mean, I'd imagine a lineup
with Steph Curry, and you know, I think you could.
You can maybe even consider getting away with a buddy
heeled in that lineup if you have Jimmy and Andrew
at the three four next to Draymond but Like, there's
a version of it where the Warriors just ask for
(19:46):
Andrew Wiggins if you want to make that deal. Now,
the reason why I said I would consider it, Let's
take a little bit deeper. One. The Warriors have been
going big in the starting lineup anyway, so there's kind
of like this one spot for Ford, which is at
the three with Andrew Wiggins, right, And in the event
that you have to flip at Wiggins for Jimmy Butler,
you still have Jonathan kaminga for when you go small, right,
(20:08):
you can imagine a Jimmy Jonathan Draymond type of look
with Draymond at the five. Right. But I'm not saying
you flip Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler right now. The
Warriors are a trade at the deadline type of team.
Why because there's no version of this where they're desperate. Yeah,
I have the perfect deal fell into their lap right now.
(20:29):
I would expect them to jump on it. But that's
not how teams trade. Usually. Teams usually want to wait
till the deadline because they want to weaponize the market. Right.
They want to get multiple teams bidding to drive up
the price. Right, That's how that works. So when we
get to February, you make a call. At that point,
we're going to know a lot in February. We're going
to know that Andrew Wiggins is either having a flashback
(20:50):
season like twenty twenty two, or he's more or less
the same player than he was last year. Right, Like
we have this like roughly I can't remember how many
games of Warriors to play, maybe fifteen at this point,
so you have like a roughly fifteen game sample. It's
a small sample still, but like when we get to Jane,
when we get to mid late January, we're gonna know,
like this is Wiggins is back. We're in good shape.
All right, let's do this. We're also gonna where Jimmy
(21:13):
Butler's at. He's been kind of rough to start this year, right,
but like we'll have a better idea of where Jimmy
Butler's at in mid January. So let's just paint a
picture here for a second. Let's pretend that Jimmy Butler
looks great in mid January, like really starting to get
his legs back underneath him. He looks great, he looks healthy,
(21:33):
he looks ready to go. Let's say that the Heat
are still foundering in the playing area around like the
seven eight seed, okay, and the Heat front office looks
at the situation and they goes, they go, we can't
beat Boston. Maybe they get their butts kicked by Cleveland
at some time around that uh, around that time too,
(21:56):
And so then the Heat start to have some serious conversations,
and they're like, Okay, our best past way to kind
of resetting here is why don't we make a deal
with Jimmy and let's say that the Warriors can pull
it off. And for the record, forget about Andrew Wiggins
for a second. Let's just set him aside. Let's just
say that the Warriors are able to make the deal
even without Andrew. But let's just say that they they're
able to get Jimmy Butler. Okay, all I want you
(22:18):
to think about is a big playoff game. Okay, don't
think about the regular season. As I talked about. As
soon as they got those two wins against the Pelicans
when Steph was out, I was all in on this
team as a regular season wins juggernaut. They're gonna win
a lot of regular season games because they're deep, they're fast,
they're well coached, they've got great leadership on the court
with Stephan Draymond. They're just gonna win a lot of
regular season games. Okay, So we get to mid January,
(22:41):
you already know you're going to be a home court
team in the first round, or more or less, that's
the trajectory you're on now. Just think about a big
playoff series. I want you to think about a second
round series against the Dallas Mavericks. They've got it together,
Dallas Mavericks are cooking with their system with Clay Lucas,
(23:02):
got his legs underneath him, Kyrie's hoopin, and it's a
two to two series and you're going into Golden State
for a pivotal game five or hell, you're in a
road game, whatever it is, big playoff game, big moment.
I'd want Jimmy Butler out there with Steph. You get
(23:23):
into those games and everyone's uncomfortable and everything's a rock
fight and everything's nasty, and having a big, strong forward
who has an alpha dog mentality, who is highly versatile
on both ends of the floor, a savage competitor that's
(23:44):
going to bring it. You just know he's going to
bring it, A true foxhole guy that competitively will match
Steph in those moments that could be the difference between
you getting the trophy and not getting the trophy. Flat out.
So I get it. Wiggins looks great, Jimmy looks old.
(24:04):
If they both look to this way in February, No
way I'm making that deal. I'm just saying you make
the call when you get to February. And if you
get to February and you look like a really good
regular season team that just lacks some top end firepower,
and a certain type of player becomes available in this
case talking about a Jimmy Butler, I do think you've
got to make that deal because that's the type of
(24:25):
deal that gives you the guy that you need next
to Steph, next to Draymond, that can be a foxhole
guy in that big moment, and he's the like I
wouldn't trade Wiggins for any other guy I wouldn't trade
Wiggins for I don't think. I don't think Brandon Ingram
is the guy that's good enough for a Wiggins deal.
I don't think Levine is good enough for a Wiggins
deal with the way he's playing right now. But Jimmy's
(24:47):
the one guy where I'm like, we have routinely seen
this guy when he is healthy in a playoff series.
He is regularly outplayed players that are viewed as above
him in the NBA hierarchy. I just would want him.
I'd want him in the battle with me if I
had an opportunity to have him in that situation. The
reason it's a mismatch is that speed gets slower and
(25:08):
size never gets smaller. Fatigue always favors the larger fighter
or basketball player as long as they're at similar levels
of fitness. So I actually don't think I agree with this.
The thing with the fight is you're trapped in a
ring on a basketball court. There's just a lot of
space to cover. And I actually tend to think that like, yes,
the bigger team in a rock fight when everyone's tired,
(25:30):
will have the advantage in the half court. But if
the faster team can spread you out and keep you
in transition, I think they can still do a lot
of damage. And more or less, I just think they
are generally in better physical condition. Now, to your point,
similar levels of fitness, that's fine, but they're faster and
so that they can have some success in transition. And
so if you again, yeah, if you're the bigger team
(25:52):
and you can keep things in the half court, I
do agree with you. But I just think that it
requires a certain type of big team, and a lot
of the big teams out there, teams like the six,
they're they're just so slow in transition. It just doesn't matter, right, Hey, Jason,
thoughts on the Magic winning six straight games. I thought
after Palo went down they were toast, but Franz and
the rest of the team seem to have stepped it
up in a big way. Now, the Magic did lose
(26:12):
to the Clippers on Wednesday night, but they won six
in a row before that. Franz Wagner has been leading
the charge. His jumper has been a little better. Last
year was at zero point eight three points per attempt.
This year it's at zero point ninety four. His passing
and pick and roll has been awesome. He does a
really nice job of like after he gets into you
know that like elbow area, right, so like after he
(26:33):
comes off of the screen and he's you know in
that like between fifteen and twenty feet from the rim,
he slows down in there and he gets really methodical.
And what ends up happening when he does that is
like there's a guy dribbling with a live dribble, you know,
in like around the paint. Close to the paint. There's
like an inherent like natural tendency of help defenders to
kind of suck in. And he's just done a really
(26:54):
nice job throwing rifles, kickout passes and generating good spot
up opportunities. Again, like, the league average in spot ups
is like something like it's like around like one point
zero seven, one point zero eight points per possession, and
in the half court a one oh seven one o
eight offensive rating is awesome compared to what most teams
get in the half court. The majority of teams in
(27:15):
the league don't even get a point per possession in
the half court, right, So, like, he's just really good
at generating spot up opportunities by being methodical in the
mid range and his ball screens. He's run one hundred
and seventy ball screens this year that have amounted to
one hundred and seventy nine points. He's getting one point
zero five points per possession out of the thirty players
in the NBA that have run at least one hundred
and fifty ball screens this year. That ranks eleventh, ahead
(27:36):
of guys like Damian Lillard, K Cunningham, Donovan, Mitchell Franz
is having an excellent shot creation season, and then Anthony
Black is having a really nice season. Now, he's only
shooting thirty two percent from three, but he's shooting forty
two percent on unguarded catch and shoots, which is important
because that's when you're open, right when the defense is
playing off of you. And he's had some really important
threes this year, including a game winner. He's converting spot
(27:59):
ups even though he's shooting only thirty two percent from three,
he's converting spot ups at one point zero eight points
per possession, which is a little bit above average, and
a big part of that is his closeout attacking. He's
a good athlete and once he gets his head of steam,
I mean, his finger rolls damn near above the rim.
Like he's just a good athlete in that situation. But
he's also just been a legitimate secondary creator. I remember,
I can't remember which game it was that I was watching,
(28:21):
it was the one where he hit the game winner,
where earlier in the same fourth quarter, he ran like
a little ball screen with Wendell Carter Junior and came
off engaged the screen defender. Perfect pocket pass, easy bucket
in crunch time, and like he's been doing that all season.
Just he's athletic enough to kind of really pressure the
rim when he's coming over the top of that screen,
and he just makes the basic passing raids that are available.
(28:41):
He's run one hundred and eighteen ball screens this year,
and he's over a point per possession. That's awesome for
a young guard, especially one that coming into the draft
was a guy that some guys had some some people
had some skill concerns about, right, But what has made
the Magic be able to go on a six game
winning streak without Pallow is the same thing that's made
them great for the last two years, which is their
defense and their rebounding. They've had a ninety six defensive reading.
(29:01):
They had a ninety six defensive rating in the six
game win streak. That's awesome. They grabbed fifty two percent
of available rebounds in that span, that's awesome. They did
a bunch of scoring in transition and off of turnovers.
They forced over seventeen turnovers per game in that six
game win streak, So like that's their bread and butter,
and then it's a high offensive floor brought by Franz
and Anthony Black doing a good job and then scoring
in transition off of those turnovers. They had a one
(29:23):
to fifteen offensive rating over that six game span. That's
pretty solid being down your best offensive player. Right, I'm
actually really worried about the Lakers tonight again. By the
time you guys hear this, this game will be over
and will know what happened, and hopefully the Lakers can
pull it out. They're favored, so maybe they can get
it done anyway. But this is the type of team
that always has given the Lakers problems. Really athletic guards
that can ball pressure d Loo and Austin and make
(29:45):
them uncomfortable picking them up full court, just bogging down
the Lakers' offense with ball pressure, which is something that
has happened all season. They have a lot of bigger
front court players that can switch Lebron ad action, So
like that sort of switching has always caused problems for
the Lakers. Now, with Palo being out and Wendell Carter
Junior did not play against the Clippers in the in
(30:05):
the the first front half of the back to back,
he might he might end up playing in the Laker game.
We'll see, But like, maybe they're down too many bodies
in the front court and it'll just be a little
bit easier for the Lakers to get some drible penetration
in their screening actions. But I'm worried about the magic
our team that force a lot of turnovers. They pressure
the ball well, and they get out in transition, and like,
what are the two main weak points for the Lakers.
They're like guard athleticism in transition and guard athleticism handling
(30:28):
ball pressure. And so like, I'm worried about the Lakers tonight.
Hopefully they can get the win, but that that's the
type of matchup, that problem that the Orlando Magic can present.
And again, like this is just I think they're I
think they're on a really good trajectory because they're just
super talented. Franz is having a better season than he
did last year. Pallow was playing great before he got hurt,
and he will eventually be back. They've got sized, they've
(30:49):
got defense, They've they're they're they're serious basketball team and
a real threat I think in the Eastern Conference. Hey, Jason,
(31:10):
love the show. I think a great trade for the
Lakers would be to somehow get Cam Johnson and Dorian
Finney Smith out of Brooklyn. It would solve their shooting
and athleticism issues. What do you think that would take?
I you know, I'm kind of zeroed in on the
three as the upgrade now too. It's it's ironic because
Originally I was zeroed in on the two. I was like, well,
you know, Rui's your three, Austin's your one. Just put
(31:32):
a really good athlete at the two. But the rise
of Dalton connect has changed my opinion on this. I
think the ultimate version of this team is Dalton as
a starter. I like Dalton as a starter for several reasons. One,
he is an off ball score, meaning like he doesn't
need the ball in his hands to be a real
threat on the offensive end of the four, which is
important because the Lakers run a lot of their offense
(31:53):
in the starting group through Austin and Lebron and even
through ad In like post ups and like high post stuff. Right,
So Dalton is an off ball score that compliments them perfectly.
Two terms of the defensive end of the floor, I
want Dalton playing with the highest IQ defensive players on
the court because that'll just make for an easier defensive
role for him, right, So, I think that makes a
(32:13):
part makes a good amount of sense. Three, he's super athletic,
right and so in the event that like let's say,
for instance, that you get a Dorian Finney Smith at
the three, then you're running out of lineup that has
Dorian Finney Smith, Dalton, connect Lebron, James Anthony Davis. Now
Austin Reeves is your fifth best athlete in the lineup.
When he's your fifth best athlete in the lineup, you're
(32:34):
an athletic team. If he's your third best athlete in
the lineup, you're not a very athletic team, right, which
is some of the issues that they've had over the
last couple of years. And so to me, like originally
I was thinking between Ruey and Dilo, ruis the better
player and a better fit with the starter, So like,
why don't we just go Ruey and then we'll find
somebody that's an athlete to fill in at the two, right,
(32:54):
And by the way, that was the decision that JJ
Reddick made with the rotation right bringing in a Cam
Reddish into that spot. But now that I see Dalton
as kind of the shoe in starter at the two
in the long run, now I'm thinking, like the even
post Lebron, post Lebron, you're looking at Austin Dalton ad
as the foundation of the franchise, right, So like it's
forwards that you're looking at as upgrades. And to me,
(33:16):
like Jared Vanderbilt is very much a theoretical player at
this point. Got another report that he's gonna be out
at least another two weeks the other day. So, like
Jared Vanderbilt's got a long way to go. But as
far as as far as like a cam Reddish goes,
there's severe offensive limitations. I also don't think he's necessarily
big enough to be the three. I prefer him kind
(33:37):
of playing at the two. Jared Vanderbilt, he's I think
Jared Vanderbilt is the right decision when he gets healthy
for the starters, like if I was coaching the Lakers,
and eventually, like I think, I think what JJ's doing
makes sense to me, like going Austin cam Ruey for
the short term, but then when Jared Vanderbilt's healthy, I
would go Austin Dalton Van do again. I think Jared
(33:58):
Vanderbilt he's surrounded by incredible offensive talent which can make
up for his offensive limitations, and Dalton is surrounded by
incredible defensive talent that can make up for his defensive limitations. Also,
all of a sudden, a very athletic group like Dalton
Vando lebron A d is an absurdly athletic two through five,
So like that makes some sense to me. I think
that would be like again, short term cam Ruey Vando
(34:20):
gets healthy Dalton vand do long term upgrade at the three,
it goes Austin Dalton. Whoever that future three is Lebron
and Ad Dorian Phinney Smith would be a perfect example
for me. He's like a stereotypical defensive three. He's a
very basic offensive player in terms of like shooting and
driving closeouts, which I think makes some sense in that
Laker starting group because again one of the important things
(34:41):
about Dalton. Dalton is a legitimate threat coming off of
screens that is going to grab a show, meaning like
when he comes off the screen, the screen defender is
gonna have to show on him. We've already seen a
lot of opportunity for Ad in particular to get open
off of those actions and to get switches where he
gets smaller defenders on. I did a whole break on
the Lakers offense and the Thursday Show that I recommend
(35:02):
you guys check out. But like to me, Dalton's offensive
ability to fly off of a screen and make a
play makes it less important for the three man to
be the kind of guy that can fly off of
the screen and make a play. So like, to me,
Dorian Phinney Smith makes a lot of sense. I think,
you know, Cam Johnson would be interesting. But like, I
still really like Dennis Schroeder. Like I've always liked Dennis.
He's a good ball, pressure player. He brings something to
(35:23):
that the Lakers don't really have, which is a guard
that can beat people off the dribble, which I think
would be really helpful. So like I think I'd look
for more of like a Dennis Dorian Phinney Smith type
of upgrade. I think Dennis Schroder would be a massive
upgrade over at Gabe Vincent for instance, which I was
wrong about when they went after Gabe instead of Dennis.
Mind you, Gabe was a different player in Miami than
he was with the Lakers. But Gabe I thought Gabe
(35:44):
was an upgrade over Dennis. I was wrong. Dennis is
a better player. He'd be an upgrade. So, like, the
Nets are gonna be fire sailing people, And if they
were able to get Dorian Phinney Smith and a guy
like Dennis, then it starts to make sense to me
where you can kind of see a rotation where it's like, Okay,
we have Austin Dalton dfs, yes, Lebron ad the bench
group is you know, you have Dennis leading the bench group.
(36:06):
It's hard to tell who goes out in a trade
like that, but let's say it's Dennis. Let's say it's
Max Ruy, you know, Jackson Hayes or Christian Kolocos. You'r
a nine man rotation, right, So, like, I think that
kind of tends to make more sense in terms of
the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Hello, Jason, can
you please explain your preference for offensive Swish army knifs
that average thirty points per game versus defensive juggernauts that
(36:29):
average thirty points a game. Personally, I prefer what Ad
and Yannis bring to the table versus what Luka and
Jokic bring. I find more value in players that can
score while single handedly anchoring a defense, especially in the
case of Ad, where he makes one of the worst
defenses in the league competitive just by virtue of being
on the floor while putting up thirty eleven in three.
Thanks so much for the content, and please ignore us
Warriors fans. It'll be better for your mental health. Again, overwhelmingly,
(36:51):
you guys are positive. I've done a bad job of
shining too much of a light on the negativity. That's
not gonna happen anymore. I do appreciate you guys. So,
first of all, there's no exact science. I personally believe
that I'd rather have the offensive like just surgical half
court shot creator because I believe it's easier as a
coaching staff and as a front office to make up
(37:12):
for defensive stuff elsewhere. Right, Like, are a lot of
these guys that are Anthony Davis and Giannis, They end
up having to cover for a week defensive players anyway, Right,
So Like, it's okay for your star to be that
weak defensive player if he's anchored by a ton of
defensive talent, as long as he does his job. Right,
that's the key. Right, Both archetypes have won. Anthony Davis
(37:34):
and Yannis are champions. Nikole jokicch and Steph Curry are champions. Right,
But what I do think is fascinating is the Hardin
and Luca types have not won a championship yet. And
the reason why, in my opinion, is the offensive guys.
The Steph and the Jokic types. They at least did
their job on defense. They competed on defense, they just
had athletical limitations. They won the title being solid defensive players, right,
(38:00):
So like that's really the key, but there is no
exact science. I have my personal preference. The reason why
I believe it is because I think I can anchor
a good offensive player through good coaching and management at
the in the front office. Right. But I mean, I'm
not saying you're wrong necessarily because there's versions of it
where Ad and Giannis have won, and so it really
(38:20):
is a matter of personal preference. And by the way,
this is one of the things that frustrates me as
far as like the guy's doing their job, like Stefan
yokis doing their job. There's this thing that happens in
the NBA where it's like a guy gets better at
something and then wins, and then everyone goes like you
owe him an apology, and it's like he won because
he changed, Right, Like that's that's the difference, right when Luke,
(38:41):
I think Luca will eventually win a title. He's not
my favorite player, but I think he's too freaking good.
Like I think I think Luca's gonna win a title eventually.
When he does, he will defend better, he'll be in
better shape, and he'll work harder on the defensive end.
He'll be less of a sive compared to what he's
been in the past. So what'll be funny is Luca
will win and then everyone will be like, oh, everyone
(39:02):
owes Luca an apology. He proved everybody wrong. Where are
the haters now? And it's gonna be like, actually, the
haters were right because Luca did need to improve on defense,
and he did eventually improve on defense, and now he
has the trophy, right, Like I can already just see
it happening. Luca. Eventually he's gonna win, and he's gonna
win because he's improved. And then everybody who was critical
in the past is gonna get criticism, which doesn't make
(39:23):
any sense to me. I two more and then we're
out here. This first one's a double to mail. That
question is from a pure entertainment standpoint. Who do you
think are the five most exciting players and teams to watch?
And two? What do you think about Daron Fox's breakout
games this weekend and his overall outlook So Okay, five
most exciting players, no particular order. Steph Curry. I just
love his combination of skilled, motor and competitiveness. Anthony Edwards
(39:47):
after the Lebron' Steph era, He's gonna be my favorite player.
I can just already tell. I love how psycho competitor
he is. I love just the athleticism. I find him
to be a very aesthetically appealing player. Kyrie Irving still
to me, like just just amazing the show that he
put on in that Warriors game that I covered last week.
Just his shot making still is one of the most
aesthetically appealing players in the league. Lebron James is still
(40:08):
someone that I really enjoy watching. I think he's just
a showman. He's got a gift for just being an
entertaining player to watch. Also, like it just feels surreal
to me to watch Lebron. I Like, I have a
friends giving thing tonight, so I can't watch the Magic game.
But like there's I'm so thankful that like seventy times
this year and I get to watch the games in
(40:29):
the morning for my job, right, But like it's funner
to watch it as a fan live, Like that's kind
of the other thing we talked earlier about the schedule.
One of the reasons why I like working in the
morning too is in addition to being able to put
on a more detailed show, it also allows me to
watch more as a fan the night of right. But like,
every time I sit down and like watch a Laker game,
I'm like, I just feel lucky. I'm like, it's the
(40:52):
year twenty twenty four, it's about to be twenty twenty five,
and we still get to watch Lebron James play like
serious basketball, Like it just feels like historic to even
be watching it. And then John Morant, specifically when he's
in Memphis, he just is such a showman. It just
it feels like every time John Morant plays in Memphis,
it's like an event and like you're gonna get four
(41:12):
to five ridiculous highlights. He's gonna light the crowd on
fire an additional ten times. John Moran's in that top
five for me as far as teams, Celtics and Warriors
because they run really beautiful modern basketball concepts that I enjoy.
Specifically the Celtics I really grew to appreciate over about
the second half of last season. The Lakers on offense.
They're my favorite team obviously, so that's part of it.
(41:34):
But two, they run a really pretty brand of offense.
I did a video breakdown in the show on Thursday
where like, they generated seventeen easy shots easy makes in
the second half just with awesome ball in player movement.
I find their offense to be very visually appealing Nuggets,
same sort of thing. I think Mike Malone does a
(41:56):
lot of really fascinating stuff to capitalize on Jokic double
teams and just how they are with their cuts in
their spacing. And then lastly the Suns when KD was healthy,
I thought they were playing a fun brand of basketball.
KD was playing incredible on both ends of the floor.
They were kind of surgical in the half court at
the end of games, and the shot making is always
really pretty with that group. So those are my five
most exciting players and teams in no particular order. And
(42:18):
then Darren Fox. I had him in my top twenty
five this year. I had him over Kyrie, And one
of the big reasons why I had him over Kyrie
is like I just trust him as a Number one
to be able to generate more rim pressure and more
quality shots for his team over the course of the game,
and he's really taken off over the course of more
than just this last year with a jump shot, and
it kind of reminds me of some of the stuff
(42:39):
with Aunt, where it's like, when you combine true elite
downhill athleticism with elite jump shooting, you become incredibly difficult
to guard. And I think that he's just kind of
entering a point right now where he kind of everything's
coming together for him and he's becoming a little bit
on the unguardable side, and he's on a pretty fun trajectory.
(43:00):
Darren Fox has become a really great player in this league.
Last question. Look as bad as the MAVs record is,
they are still top ten in both offensive and defensive rating.
What's the unwritten rule? Teams that are in the top
ten are in both our contenders MAVs are just like
the Bengals, slow start, but trust me, by the end
of the season, they're going to be a threat. PS.
I know the Bengals aren't doing good this year, laughing
my ass off. I have a feeling this year's MAVs
(43:21):
are going to look a lot like last year's MAVs.
It's going to be more because of health and continuity
as opposed to the trade market. But I think they're
going to have to go on a run at the
tail end of the season, and that's kind of what
I expect. I expect them to be one of those
teams that wins like twenty two of their last thirty
games and goes into the playoffs as a serious threat.
They're a team that, like you do, I think they
(43:41):
can win a championship without getting an up or seed.
Probably not just because that's what NBA history tells us,
but I do view them as a substantial playoff threat,
and no awkward start is going to change my opinion
on that. A lot of this is just Luca has
been hurt, he's hurt again, and Klay Thompson is a
different type of piece, a lot of different types of
pieces that or incorporating, which takes time to build dot continuity.
(44:03):
All right, guys, that's all have for today. I always
appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.
We'd be back on Monday with power rankings. I will
see you guys then the volume. What's up guys. 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
(44:24):
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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(01:38):
to Hoops to Night. You're at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody,
Hope ball. If you guys have had a great week
so far, got a jampackshow for you today. It is
a mail bag day. Got about a dozen questions. We're
me going all around the league. Thank you to those
of you guys who submitted questions. You guys are the
job before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to
Night YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of these videos.
Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys
don't misshow announcements don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever
(01:59):
you get your post under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's
also helpful if you leave a rating and a review
on that front. Also, we have brand new social media
feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the Hoops Tonight
channel where we're going to be releasing some reels and
stuff like that. To make sure you guys follow those feeds.
And the last, but not least, if you want to get
a mailbag question into our mailbags that we do on
Friday and occasionally an additional time during the week, we
(02:20):
drop them in the YouTube comments. Make sure you get
the questions there and we'll hit them at least every Friday.
All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason,
I'm a longtime listener and a few times recently it
feels like the mail bag has become responding to crybabies
instead of answering thoughtful questions, having unique conversations, etc. You
don't need to defend yourself against people aren't listening to
(02:40):
the show or delusional fans. Maybe using it to touch
on some younger, less talked about teams would be cool.
To love what you do. Man. First of all, thank
you for the kind words and the support. You're absolutely right,
and I owe you guys better than that. I shouldn't
be stooping to the level of responding to people that
are either trolls or people that are having arguments and
bad faith, and so I'm going to do a much
(03:02):
better job. I appreciate you calling me out on it.
You're right, I got to do better. I think you're right.
This mail bag should be more for getting into some
of the younger teams that we don't talk about as much,
talking about big picture basketball concepts, and getting to those
of you guys who have well meaning, well thought out questions.
So you guys have my word. I'll do better again.
I appreciate you calling me out on it. Next question, Hey, Jason,
(03:23):
I've been watching since the beginning. I have a little complaint,
and I know real life gets busy, but it seems
like we aren't getting as many videos as we did
last season. Last season, it felt like every night there
would be a quick reaction video. So far this season
there have been days with no videos. I just appreciate
your videos, brother, You're doing great. Just a fan complaint,
so I was just curious because I feel like, all
I do is work, but obviously I want to hear
(03:45):
you guys out, so I just dug into it. Tomorrow
is one month since the start of the season, or I
should say today, since it's airing on Friday. I'm recording
this on Thursday. But today, this Friday, represents exactly one
month since the start of the season. And I went
and looked, and we've done twenty four full episodes, which
means we're going more than once more than five times
a week. The general rule of thumb is in a month,
(04:07):
if you do if you work twenty two days, you're
working on average five days a week. Right, So like
we're going over five days a week, which is pretty
much in line with what we do during the regular season.
Right Generally speaking, we're going to release five new episodes
on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then usually about
one night a week, I'm going to pick a primetime
game and do an instant reaction, which we've done about
(04:30):
five times this season. Now, you're right. The very first season,
when I first started with the volume, we were going
every night. It was a nightly show, but obviously we
transitioned into hitting the big games, but having the shows
during the day, which I prefer because then I get
to really pour over the film. Like my opinion is
that the show is better in its current format because
(04:50):
I can really dig into the film methodically and meticulously
and give you guys better information. Even in the playoffs
when we go every night, I also go almost every
day because even though we're going every night and that's
the instant reaction and capitalizing on the urgency, I also
just need to watch the film. That's something that is
(05:11):
very important to me. It's been like that since I
played in college. It's just what you do. It's just
I like pouring over the film the day after the game. So, like,
the general thing you can expect from me on the
show is that from about the beginning of October usually
it's like mid September because I do so much season
preview content. From about the middle of September to about
the middle of April, you can count on me for
(05:33):
Monday through Friday, five days a week, plus about one
nightly show a week, usually geared around a big national
TV game. Then from the mid April to mid June,
you guys can count on me to go basically every
night and every day. Like those of you guys who've
been around during the playoffs, you know what it's like
we do. Last year, we averaged about like twelve brand
new episodes per week during the playoffs. Then after that,
(05:56):
during free agency, in Summer League and the trade market
and all that stuff, I go down to about five
days a week, and then in that August September stretch,
I'm going to go down to about three days a
week because it's the summer and that's when I'm going
to take a break. But that's been the cadence we've
been following for the last couple of years, and that's
pretty much what you can expect from the Channel moving forward.
But I understand, I know you just I know. I
(06:18):
just wanted to kind of dig into it, make sure
I was giving you guys what you guys expect from
me on the channel. Next question, Piston super fan here.
I believe the Pistons have hit on multiple draft picks
over the last three to four years and that cad
Ivy Duran is a good core to build around. We
have tried to be young and fun and ended up
being one of the worst teams in NBA history. We're
now trying to add some playable vets and win, but
(06:40):
will likely waffle under five hundred this year. All star
caliber free agents do not want to come to Detroit.
So what would be your suggestion? Suggestion? What would your
suggestion be to build this team without getting outrageously lucky
in the draft? Thanks love the show. Longtime listener, Again,
thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show.
A couple of things. First of all, I want get
too hung up on this year's results. As of right
(07:03):
now Thursday, when I'm recording this, you guys are the
sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. I think if I
told you that coming into the season, given what we
expected out of teams like Philly and Milwaukee and Indiana,
you'd probably be pretty stoked about being up at number six,
two out the gates. The schedule was really tough, and
you drop some games, but you've been a pretty serious
basketball team since then. I've watched about three or four
Pistons games, and when I watch them, they look big,
(07:25):
they look athletic, and they've got some smart young shot
creators and some talent that could pan out in the
long run. Even with that being the case, even with
me admitting and pointing out that I think that the
Pistons are having a pretty successful season to start. I
wouldn't get too hung up on this year's results. This
kind of goes back to some of the concept that
I've gone with with a bunch of different teams that
(07:46):
I've talked about over the last few years, in the
sense that you stand to gain a lot through natural
improvement over the years, right, like Jade and Ivy showing
a lot more flash as, like a downhill shot creator
knocking down shot at a higher level, Like having a
good season, Kay Cunningham having a good season. He's gonna
get better. Jayden's gonna get better. Jalen Duran right now,
(08:08):
he's kind of matchup dependent, right, Certain matchups he does
really well. Certain teams that can spread him out and
make him work more on the perimeter he can struggle with, right,
But he's I like that core a lot, and you
stand to get dramatic improvement from that core year over
year over the next few years, And so I wouldn't
get too hung up on this year's results as far
as the roster bill goes, this is where again, if
(08:28):
you like your build, you like your guards, you your
you have your shot creators, you like your defensive anchor. Okay,
the next step now is trying to find high level
role players in the draft, which, by the way, I
feel like the Pistons have done. That's what the SR.
Thompson pick is, That's what the Ron Holland pick is, right, Like,
(08:48):
these are athletes that you can count on to do
the dirty work around your best players. Now. The thing
with us are in Ron Holland is they were both
so young that there's gonna be a little bit more
of a long development kind of trajectory for those guys. Right,
But this is one of those things where you can
also look at in the draft drafting some older players.
Because you are correct, especially because of having to pay
(09:10):
kid Ivy and Duran, you're not going to get this.
Last summer was pretty much your last chance to get
like really high level role players through free agency, right,
And like to your point, I think that finding that
additional talent through the draft is the way to go.
I don't think you have to necessarily get very lucky though,
because when you're drafting, a lot of teams are looking
(09:31):
for substantial, splashy pieces. They're looking for a secondary shot creator.
They're looking for potentially the next star to run their franchise.
There are guys that end up in the draft that
are role player prospects. How the number one pick last year,
Zachary Risache was a role player type of prospect, right, Like,
there's older guys that end up in the draft, older
guys that don't have as much upside, but that can
(09:53):
do NBA ready things right away that kind of fit
the mold of what Detroit's trying to do. Dalton connect
falling to the Lakers is a classic example of that.
They're drafting at seventeen and they get a legitimate rotation piece,
right So that's the thing. It's like, you've got some
really athletic long term prospects and Ron holland Nsar Thompson,
maybe you start looking for, like some older players in
(10:14):
the draft that are a little bit like more of
like NBA ready type of guys, because that is where
in the draft you can get some discounted role players
relative to the overpaying that you have to do in
free agency a lot of the time. And so again,
I like the core, I like the direction this is going.
I think this season has actually been off to a
better start than people think. Our people are willing to admit.
I understand that, like under five hundred is never a
(10:36):
reason to be like super super excited. But the NBA
has like twenty really good teams, and the NBA schedule's tough.
The Pistons played a tough schedule out the gate. They're
gonna be fine. It looks like they're gonna get their
first chance to play some real meaningful either at least
a play in game or maybe even a full playoff
series this year. They're on the right track. It's just
about a couple of specific types of draft picks they
(10:58):
need to hit in the future, and then the player
development in house. Next question. This is in regards to
the warriors eleven man rotation. Part of that also is
helped by playing twelve guys because like ice hockey, you
need more shifts of bodies to constantly push at that pace.
It's a huge etch. And Steph is as an offensive engine.
Steph as is is a typo here. Steph is an
(11:21):
offensive engine that makes all eleven of those guys playable
in high efficiency offense. And Raymond as an enhancer allows
them to play against Draymond as an enhancer allows them
to play against big lineups. This makes perfect sense to me,
And this is something that I've been kind of keyed
in on a little bit. I think it's delicate because
it has to a lot of it depends on how
many good basketball players you have, right, Like if the Lakers,
(11:42):
for instance, started running an eleven man rotation, it could
get a little tricky with some of the guys that
they have at the tail end of their rotation right now. Right.
But the flip side of that is like when you
play this style though, style that the Warriors play heavy
transition both ways. That's the thing. Like the Warriors, as
of like two nights ago, the last time I checked,
had the best transition defense in the league, per cleaning
the glasses defensive points added per one hundred possessions metric. Right, So,
(12:05):
like that's a lot of work. That's a lot of
sprinting back in transition and like making sure that you're
flying around in the open floor. What they do in
offense in transition, the way they run around. I had
a play that I put in Tim's tape earlier on
Thursday where you guys got to see like how quickly
they run in the half court when they're trying to
run their action. So, like it's one of those things
where if you have eleven good basketball players, it does
(12:27):
make sense to me that you would go with a
bigger rotation in the regular season. Ice hockey's a great
comp it's the line shifts and the fact that your
best player might only play twenty two to twenty five
minutes a game because he's just cause skating is so
damn hard in terms of the cardio, right, And like
that's the thing like playing this brand of basketball, and
it extends to the half court too, with all the
(12:49):
ground that you have to cover in rotation, closing out
at great three point shooters that are spotting up twenty
five feet from the basket, right, So like, yeah, I'm
actually I'm actually kind of into this concept. Like the
the Lakers run a nine man rotation, but they play
at a slower pace and they've got some guys that
are a little bit more lethargic. But like, I'm with you.
I think if you've got ten eleven good basketball players,
(13:11):
you should run a longer rotation. Warriors fan, I'm grateful
for Kerr. I'm grateful to curR for the last decade,
but I'm also pissed at the way he's handling our
next generation. Why is Lindy Waters getting more playing time
than Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. It feels like two years
ago when Ty Jerome and Jeremy Lamb got playing time
over Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. I don't mean to hate
(13:32):
on Waters. I love having him, but I'm more interested
in seeing what Moody can do. And the last time
jk played crunch time, he won the game in overtime
against the Rockets. So this is one of those things where,
after all these years watching Steve Kerr, we just have
to understand his philosophy as a basketball coach. Why do
you everyone wants to cling to this narrative that like,
Steve Kerr hates Jason Tatum because they beat him by
(13:53):
fifty in a regular season game last year, or because
of what happened in the NBA Finals in twenty twenty two,
or something like that, And it's like, actually, the reason
why Steve Kerr played Derek White and Drew Holliday over
Jason Tatum is he kind of looks at the guard
position in his offense as a as a quick rate
(14:15):
and react player that has to be able to shoot
on the move. And if you remember, Jason Tatum was
not shooting the ball well at the time. And Jayson
Tatum isn't exactly a movement shooter either. He's a kind
of more of an ISO shooter, Like he's a guy
that you kind of want initiating the offense. Right. And
and the Olympic team they had already decided they were
going to be running through Lebron at the top of
(14:35):
the key, and they needed players that were going to
be more running in that action, in that Steve Kerr system. Right,
this is the same thing that's been happening happening with
the Warriors forever. It's like, oh, Brandon pazemskis getting all
these minutes, like all these guards are getting all these minutes,
while Moody is not getting as much, or Jonathan Kaminga's
minutes are less consistent. And that's all it is. Steve
(14:57):
Kerr trusts Lyndy Waters to be a threat off the
move as a shooter and to make decisions coming off
of those actions at a higher level than Moses Moody. Now,
Moses Moody to me is a very good player that
just kind of is a little bit of a clunky
fit in the Warrior system in the sense that he's
a good physical perimeter defender with size, which is like
(15:19):
there's a lot of value there. And I actually think
he's a pretty solid shooter when he can get his
feet set and he's open. He's worked hard as a
movement shooter. He's a better movement shooter than he was
a couple of years ago. He's a better movement shooter
than a lot of the guys that have come through
other development programs around the NBA. Right, but specifically within
the Warriors offense, Lindy Waters is a better movement shooter
(15:42):
who is a better decision maker in the decision zone,
which is like you come off the screen, you have
to immediately read the screen defender. He's too far back.
I and my guy's caught on the screen. I'm shooting
this thing. He's too far back and my guy's trailing,
but he's not completely attached. I want to methodically work
down into the lane and see if I can't warp
the defense a little bit. Once I get in there
the decision zone around that elbow, I need to make
(16:04):
quick reads based on what the health defense is doing,
and like Steve Kerr has traditionally trusted players that are
better and read and react situations in those rotation minutes,
and guards tend to be better read and react players
because they've been handling the ball since they were younger.
But like that's the thing is, Like I think Kuminga
(16:25):
still gets his opportunities and he's playing in this bench
role where he gets to come in and be more aggressive.
But I don't think it's like any sort of personal
vendetta or like philosophy involving wanting to be small. I
think it's literally just about that read and react decision
making and Steve Kerr trusting some of his guards over
the years more than he's trusted some of his forwards.
(16:47):
Last Warrior's question, and then we'll move on d Anthony Melton
being out for the season is a tough blow for
the Duves as he was the perfect off guard to
step and they're only real two way small perimeter player.
(17:10):
What should they do to make up for it? Regarding
their front court and secondary production issues. Do you think
there are any realistic chance that the heat would part
weighs with BAM and if so, could they get him
without completely gutting their roster. I think he'd be a
much better fit than someone like Giannis, and his contract
is more modest too, So obviously bad news about the
Anthony Melton. I'm just as bummed for him as I
am for the Warriors, just because that guy's just had
a nightmare stretch of injury luck over the last couple
(17:33):
of years. But I'm not as concerned about it in
their rotation, because, yeah, you're right, d Anthony Melton might
have been the best two way guard next to stef
maybe in terms of his defensive ability and his ability
to shoot and make plays in action, but you're so
deep at the guard that I just am not worried
about it. There's just so many other guys that can
do that job. It's really the front court that where
(17:55):
I think that they could use a real talent upgrade.
Bam would be a like, literally a dream fit, but
I just think he's going to be way too expensive,
and I also doubt that Miami moves him in a rebuild.
Like to me, if Miami continues to spiral and they're
not doing that bad, they're six and seven and Eric
Spolstra have botched a game where they could easily be
(18:17):
above five hundred right now in an Eastern Conference that
doesn't have many above five hundred teams. But let's say
that they keep spiraling. I think even if the Heat
looks to rebuild, they would still rebuild around Bam. He
kind of feels like the heart and soul of the
franchise in a lot of ways. He plays a very
specific position that is an anchor on both ends, which
is like, he's the guy that can anchor a defense
at the five spot as a drop big and a
(18:37):
switch big in a rebounder, and then on the other
end of the floor. He's kind of like the quintessential
five out big in the sense that he's really good
at dribble handoff action at the top of the key.
So like, even with his offensive limitations, he's still a
really good fulcrum on the offensive end, and he's a
defensive anchor, and he's at the right age, still has
a long a lot of good basketball left. Have a
hard time believing that they're going to move on from Bam.
(19:00):
I also think that they're kind of betting that BAM's
development is a shooter in the long run, and a
guy like kell El Ware is like a stretch five
next to him, that they might be able to play
him at the four and have a bigger front line.
So I don't think BAM is the option. Now. I
talked about Jimmy Butler a little bit yesterday and I
had some Warriors fans complain, like, oh, you can't give
up Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler. For the record, I
don't think you should do it unless you have to. Like,
(19:24):
if you have the opportunity to get a guy like
Jimmy Butler without including Andrew Wiggins, you do it ten
times out of ten. I mean, I'd imagine a lineup
with Steph Curry, and you know, I think you could.
You can maybe even consider getting away with a buddy
heeled in that lineup if you have Jimmy and Andrew
at the three four next to Draymond but Like, there's
a version of it where the Warriors just ask for
(19:46):
Andrew Wiggins if you want to make that deal. Now,
the reason why I said I would consider it, Let's
take a little bit deeper. One. The Warriors have been
going big in the starting lineup anyway, so there's kind
of like this one spot for Ford, which is at
the three with Andrew Wiggins, right, And in the event
that you have to flip at Wiggins for Jimmy Butler,
you still have Jonathan kaminga for when you go small, right,
(20:08):
you can imagine a Jimmy Jonathan Draymond type of look
with Draymond at the five. Right. But I'm not saying
you flip Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler right now. The
Warriors are a trade at the deadline type of team.
Why because there's no version of this where they're desperate. Yeah,
I have the perfect deal fell into their lap right now.
(20:29):
I would expect them to jump on it. But that's
not how teams trade. Usually. Teams usually want to wait
till the deadline because they want to weaponize the market. Right.
They want to get multiple teams bidding to drive up
the price. Right, That's how that works. So when we
get to February, you make a call. At that point,
we're going to know a lot in February. We're going
to know that Andrew Wiggins is either having a flashback
(20:50):
season like twenty twenty two, or he's more or less
the same player than he was last year. Right, Like
we have this like roughly I can't remember how many
games of Warriors to play, maybe fifteen at this point,
so you have like a roughly fifteen game sample. It's
a small sample still, but like when we get to Jane,
when we get to mid late January, we're gonna know,
like this is Wiggins is back. We're in good shape.
All right, let's do this. We're also gonna where Jimmy
(21:13):
Butler's at. He's been kind of rough to start this year, right,
but like we'll have a better idea of where Jimmy
Butler's at in mid January. So let's just paint a
picture here for a second. Let's pretend that Jimmy Butler
looks great in mid January, like really starting to get
his legs back underneath him. He looks great, he looks healthy,
(21:33):
he looks ready to go. Let's say that the Heat
are still foundering in the playing area around like the
seven eight seed, okay, and the Heat front office looks
at the situation and they goes, they go, we can't
beat Boston. Maybe they get their butts kicked by Cleveland
at some time around that uh, around that time too,
(21:56):
And so then the Heat start to have some serious conversations,
and they're like, Okay, our best past way to kind
of resetting here is why don't we make a deal
with Jimmy and let's say that the Warriors can pull
it off. And for the record, forget about Andrew Wiggins
for a second. Let's just set him aside. Let's just
say that the Warriors are able to make the deal
even without Andrew. But let's just say that they they're
able to get Jimmy Butler. Okay, all I want you
(22:18):
to think about is a big playoff game. Okay, don't
think about the regular season. As I talked about. As
soon as they got those two wins against the Pelicans
when Steph was out, I was all in on this
team as a regular season wins juggernaut. They're gonna win
a lot of regular season games because they're deep, they're fast,
they're well coached, they've got great leadership on the court
with Stephan Draymond. They're just gonna win a lot of
regular season games. Okay, So we get to mid January,
(22:41):
you already know you're going to be a home court
team in the first round, or more or less, that's
the trajectory you're on now. Just think about a big
playoff series. I want you to think about a second
round series against the Dallas Mavericks. They've got it together,
Dallas Mavericks are cooking with their system with Clay Lucas,
(23:02):
got his legs underneath him, Kyrie's hoopin, and it's a
two to two series and you're going into Golden State
for a pivotal game five or hell, you're in a
road game, whatever it is, big playoff game, big moment.
I'd want Jimmy Butler out there with Steph. You get
(23:23):
into those games and everyone's uncomfortable and everything's a rock
fight and everything's nasty, and having a big, strong forward
who has an alpha dog mentality, who is highly versatile
on both ends of the floor, a savage competitor that's
(23:44):
going to bring it. You just know he's going to
bring it, A true foxhole guy that competitively will match
Steph in those moments that could be the difference between
you getting the trophy and not getting the trophy. Flat out.
So I get it. Wiggins looks great, Jimmy looks old.
(24:04):
If they both look to this way in February, No
way I'm making that deal. I'm just saying you make
the call when you get to February. And if you
get to February and you look like a really good
regular season team that just lacks some top end firepower,
and a certain type of player becomes available in this
case talking about a Jimmy Butler, I do think you've
got to make that deal because that's the type of
(24:25):
deal that gives you the guy that you need next
to Steph, next to Draymond, that can be a foxhole
guy in that big moment, and he's the like I
wouldn't trade Wiggins for any other guy I wouldn't trade
Wiggins for I don't think. I don't think Brandon Ingram
is the guy that's good enough for a Wiggins deal.
I don't think Levine is good enough for a Wiggins
deal with the way he's playing right now. But Jimmy's
(24:47):
the one guy where I'm like, we have routinely seen
this guy when he is healthy in a playoff series.
He is regularly outplayed players that are viewed as above
him in the NBA hierarchy. I just would want him.
I'd want him in the battle with me if I
had an opportunity to have him in that situation. The
reason it's a mismatch is that speed gets slower and
(25:08):
size never gets smaller. Fatigue always favors the larger fighter
or basketball player as long as they're at similar levels
of fitness. So I actually don't think I agree with this.
The thing with the fight is you're trapped in a
ring on a basketball court. There's just a lot of
space to cover. And I actually tend to think that like, yes,
the bigger team in a rock fight when everyone's tired,
(25:30):
will have the advantage in the half court. But if
the faster team can spread you out and keep you
in transition, I think they can still do a lot
of damage. And more or less, I just think they
are generally in better physical condition. Now, to your point,
similar levels of fitness, that's fine, but they're faster and
so that they can have some success in transition. And
so if you again, yeah, if you're the bigger team
(25:52):
and you can keep things in the half court, I
do agree with you. But I just think that it
requires a certain type of big team, and a lot
of the big teams out there, teams like the six,
they're they're just so slow in transition. It just doesn't matter, right, Hey, Jason,
thoughts on the Magic winning six straight games. I thought
after Palo went down they were toast, but Franz and
the rest of the team seem to have stepped it
up in a big way. Now, the Magic did lose
(26:12):
to the Clippers on Wednesday night, but they won six
in a row before that. Franz Wagner has been leading
the charge. His jumper has been a little better. Last
year was at zero point eight three points per attempt.
This year it's at zero point ninety four. His passing
and pick and roll has been awesome. He does a
really nice job of like after he gets into you
know that like elbow area, right, so like after he
(26:33):
comes off of the screen and he's you know in
that like between fifteen and twenty feet from the rim,
he slows down in there and he gets really methodical.
And what ends up happening when he does that is
like there's a guy dribbling with a live dribble, you know,
in like around the paint. Close to the paint. There's
like an inherent like natural tendency of help defenders to
kind of suck in. And he's just done a really
(26:54):
nice job throwing rifles, kickout passes and generating good spot
up opportunities. Again, like, the league average in spot ups
is like something like it's like around like one point
zero seven, one point zero eight points per possession, and
in the half court a one oh seven one o
eight offensive rating is awesome compared to what most teams
get in the half court. The majority of teams in
(27:15):
the league don't even get a point per possession in
the half court, right, So, like, he's just really good
at generating spot up opportunities by being methodical in the
mid range and his ball screens. He's run one hundred
and seventy ball screens this year that have amounted to
one hundred and seventy nine points. He's getting one point
zero five points per possession out of the thirty players
in the NBA that have run at least one hundred
and fifty ball screens this year. That ranks eleventh, ahead
(27:36):
of guys like Damian Lillard, K Cunningham, Donovan, Mitchell Franz
is having an excellent shot creation season, and then Anthony
Black is having a really nice season. Now, he's only
shooting thirty two percent from three, but he's shooting forty
two percent on unguarded catch and shoots, which is important
because that's when you're open, right when the defense is
playing off of you. And he's had some really important
threes this year, including a game winner. He's converting spot
(27:59):
ups even though he's shooting only thirty two percent from three,
he's converting spot ups at one point zero eight points
per possession, which is a little bit above average, and
a big part of that is his closeout attacking. He's
a good athlete and once he gets his head of steam,
I mean, his finger rolls damn near above the rim.
Like he's just a good athlete in that situation. But
he's also just been a legitimate secondary creator. I remember,
I can't remember which game it was that I was watching,
(28:21):
it was the one where he hit the game winner,
where earlier in the same fourth quarter, he ran like
a little ball screen with Wendell Carter Junior and came
off engaged the screen defender. Perfect pocket pass, easy bucket
in crunch time, and like he's been doing that all season.
Just he's athletic enough to kind of really pressure the
rim when he's coming over the top of that screen,
and he just makes the basic passing raids that are available.
(28:41):
He's run one hundred and eighteen ball screens this year,
and he's over a point per possession. That's awesome for
a young guard, especially one that coming into the draft
was a guy that some guys had some some people
had some skill concerns about, right, But what has made
the Magic be able to go on a six game
winning streak without Pallow is the same thing that's made
them great for the last two years, which is their
defense and their rebounding. They've had a ninety six defensive reading.
(29:01):
They had a ninety six defensive rating in the six
game win streak. That's awesome. They grabbed fifty two percent
of available rebounds in that span, that's awesome. They did
a bunch of scoring in transition and off of turnovers.
They forced over seventeen turnovers per game in that six
game win streak, So like that's their bread and butter,
and then it's a high offensive floor brought by Franz
and Anthony Black doing a good job and then scoring
in transition off of those turnovers. They had a one
(29:23):
to fifteen offensive rating over that six game span. That's
pretty solid being down your best offensive player. Right, I'm
actually really worried about the Lakers tonight again. By the
time you guys hear this, this game will be over
and will know what happened, and hopefully the Lakers can
pull it out. They're favored, so maybe they can get
it done anyway. But this is the type of team
that always has given the Lakers problems. Really athletic guards
that can ball pressure d Loo and Austin and make
(29:45):
them uncomfortable picking them up full court, just bogging down
the Lakers' offense with ball pressure, which is something that
has happened all season. They have a lot of bigger
front court players that can switch Lebron ad action, So
like that sort of switching has always caused problems for
the Lakers. Now, with Palo being out and Wendell Carter
Junior did not play against the Clippers in the in
(30:05):
the the first front half of the back to back,
he might he might end up playing in the Laker game.
We'll see, But like, maybe they're down too many bodies
in the front court and it'll just be a little
bit easier for the Lakers to get some drible penetration
in their screening actions. But I'm worried about the magic
our team that force a lot of turnovers. They pressure
the ball well, and they get out in transition, and like,
what are the two main weak points for the Lakers.
They're like guard athleticism in transition and guard athleticism handling
(30:28):
ball pressure. And so like, I'm worried about the Lakers tonight.
Hopefully they can get the win, but that that's the
type of matchup, that problem that the Orlando Magic can present.
And again, like this is just I think they're I
think they're on a really good trajectory because they're just
super talented. Franz is having a better season than he
did last year. Pallow was playing great before he got hurt,
and he will eventually be back. They've got sized, they've
(30:49):
got defense, They've they're they're they're serious basketball team and
a real threat I think in the Eastern Conference. Hey, Jason,
(31:10):
love the show. I think a great trade for the
Lakers would be to somehow get Cam Johnson and Dorian
Finney Smith out of Brooklyn. It would solve their shooting
and athleticism issues. What do you think that would take?
I you know, I'm kind of zeroed in on the
three as the upgrade now too. It's it's ironic because
Originally I was zeroed in on the two. I was like, well,
you know, Rui's your three, Austin's your one. Just put
(31:32):
a really good athlete at the two. But the rise
of Dalton connect has changed my opinion on this. I
think the ultimate version of this team is Dalton as
a starter. I like Dalton as a starter for several reasons. One,
he is an off ball score, meaning like he doesn't
need the ball in his hands to be a real
threat on the offensive end of the four, which is
important because the Lakers run a lot of their offense
(31:53):
in the starting group through Austin and Lebron and even
through ad In like post ups and like high post stuff. Right,
So Dalton is an off ball score that compliments them perfectly.
Two terms of the defensive end of the floor, I
want Dalton playing with the highest IQ defensive players on
the court because that'll just make for an easier defensive
role for him, right, So, I think that makes a
(32:13):
part makes a good amount of sense. Three, he's super athletic,
right and so in the event that like let's say,
for instance, that you get a Dorian Finney Smith at
the three, then you're running out of lineup that has
Dorian Finney Smith, Dalton, connect Lebron, James Anthony Davis. Now
Austin Reeves is your fifth best athlete in the lineup.
When he's your fifth best athlete in the lineup, you're
(32:34):
an athletic team. If he's your third best athlete in
the lineup, you're not a very athletic team, right, which
is some of the issues that they've had over the
last couple of years. And so to me, like originally
I was thinking between Ruey and Dilo, ruis the better
player and a better fit with the starter, So like,
why don't we just go Ruey and then we'll find
somebody that's an athlete to fill in at the two, right,
(32:54):
And by the way, that was the decision that JJ
Reddick made with the rotation right bringing in a Cam
Reddish into that spot. But now that I see Dalton
as kind of the shoe in starter at the two
in the long run, now I'm thinking, like the even
post Lebron, post Lebron, you're looking at Austin Dalton ad
as the foundation of the franchise, right, So like it's
forwards that you're looking at as upgrades. And to me,
(33:16):
like Jared Vanderbilt is very much a theoretical player at
this point. Got another report that he's gonna be out
at least another two weeks the other day. So, like
Jared Vanderbilt's got a long way to go. But as
far as as far as like a cam Reddish goes,
there's severe offensive limitations. I also don't think he's necessarily
big enough to be the three. I prefer him kind
(33:37):
of playing at the two. Jared Vanderbilt, he's I think
Jared Vanderbilt is the right decision when he gets healthy
for the starters, like if I was coaching the Lakers,
and eventually, like I think, I think what JJ's doing
makes sense to me, like going Austin cam Ruey for
the short term, but then when Jared Vanderbilt's healthy, I
would go Austin Dalton Van do again. I think Jared
(33:58):
Vanderbilt he's surrounded by incredible offensive talent which can make
up for his offensive limitations, and Dalton is surrounded by
incredible defensive talent that can make up for his defensive limitations. Also,
all of a sudden, a very athletic group like Dalton
Vando lebron A d is an absurdly athletic two through five,
So like that makes some sense to me. I think
that would be like again, short term cam Ruey Vando
(34:20):
gets healthy Dalton vand do long term upgrade at the three,
it goes Austin Dalton. Whoever that future three is Lebron
and Ad Dorian Phinney Smith would be a perfect example
for me. He's like a stereotypical defensive three. He's a
very basic offensive player in terms of like shooting and
driving closeouts, which I think makes some sense in that
Laker starting group because again one of the important things
(34:41):
about Dalton. Dalton is a legitimate threat coming off of
screens that is going to grab a show, meaning like
when he comes off the screen, the screen defender is
gonna have to show on him. We've already seen a
lot of opportunity for Ad in particular to get open
off of those actions and to get switches where he
gets smaller defenders on. I did a whole break on
the Lakers offense and the Thursday Show that I recommend
(35:02):
you guys check out. But like to me, Dalton's offensive
ability to fly off of a screen and make a
play makes it less important for the three man to
be the kind of guy that can fly off of
the screen and make a play. So like, to me,
Dorian Phinney Smith makes a lot of sense. I think,
you know, Cam Johnson would be interesting. But like, I
still really like Dennis Schroeder. Like I've always liked Dennis.
He's a good ball, pressure player. He brings something to
(35:23):
that the Lakers don't really have, which is a guard
that can beat people off the dribble, which I think
would be really helpful. So like I think I'd look
for more of like a Dennis Dorian Phinney Smith type
of upgrade. I think Dennis Schroder would be a massive
upgrade over at Gabe Vincent for instance, which I was
wrong about when they went after Gabe instead of Dennis.
Mind you, Gabe was a different player in Miami than
he was with the Lakers. But Gabe I thought Gabe
(35:44):
was an upgrade over Dennis. I was wrong. Dennis is
a better player. He'd be an upgrade. So, like, the
Nets are gonna be fire sailing people, And if they
were able to get Dorian Phinney Smith and a guy
like Dennis, then it starts to make sense to me
where you can kind of see a rotation where it's like, Okay,
we have Austin Dalton dfs, yes, Lebron ad the bench
group is you know, you have Dennis leading the bench group.
(36:06):
It's hard to tell who goes out in a trade
like that, but let's say it's Dennis. Let's say it's
Max Ruy, you know, Jackson Hayes or Christian Kolocos. You'r
a nine man rotation, right, So, like, I think that
kind of tends to make more sense in terms of
the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Hello, Jason, can
you please explain your preference for offensive Swish army knifs
that average thirty points per game versus defensive juggernauts that
(36:29):
average thirty points a game. Personally, I prefer what Ad
and Yannis bring to the table versus what Luka and
Jokic bring. I find more value in players that can
score while single handedly anchoring a defense, especially in the
case of Ad, where he makes one of the worst
defenses in the league competitive just by virtue of being
on the floor while putting up thirty eleven in three.
Thanks so much for the content, and please ignore us
Warriors fans. It'll be better for your mental health. Again, overwhelmingly,
(36:51):
you guys are positive. I've done a bad job of
shining too much of a light on the negativity. That's
not gonna happen anymore. I do appreciate you guys. So,
first of all, there's no exact science. I personally believe
that I'd rather have the offensive like just surgical half
court shot creator because I believe it's easier as a
coaching staff and as a front office to make up
(37:12):
for defensive stuff elsewhere. Right, Like, are a lot of
these guys that are Anthony Davis and Giannis, They end
up having to cover for a week defensive players anyway, Right,
So Like, it's okay for your star to be that
weak defensive player if he's anchored by a ton of
defensive talent, as long as he does his job. Right,
that's the key. Right, Both archetypes have won. Anthony Davis
(37:34):
and Yannis are champions. Nikole jokicch and Steph Curry are champions. Right,
But what I do think is fascinating is the Hardin
and Luca types have not won a championship yet. And
the reason why, in my opinion, is the offensive guys.
The Steph and the Jokic types. They at least did
their job on defense. They competed on defense, they just
had athletical limitations. They won the title being solid defensive players, right,
(38:00):
So like that's really the key, but there is no
exact science. I have my personal preference. The reason why
I believe it is because I think I can anchor
a good offensive player through good coaching and management at
the in the front office. Right. But I mean, I'm
not saying you're wrong necessarily because there's versions of it
where Ad and Giannis have won, and so it really
(38:20):
is a matter of personal preference. And by the way,
this is one of the things that frustrates me as
far as like the guy's doing their job, like Stefan
yokis doing their job. There's this thing that happens in
the NBA where it's like a guy gets better at
something and then wins, and then everyone goes like you
owe him an apology, and it's like he won because
he changed, Right, Like that's that's the difference, right when Luke,
(38:41):
I think Luca will eventually win a title. He's not
my favorite player, but I think he's too freaking good.
Like I think I think Luca's gonna win a title eventually.
When he does, he will defend better, he'll be in
better shape, and he'll work harder on the defensive end.
He'll be less of a sive compared to what he's
been in the past. So what'll be funny is Luca
will win and then everyone will be like, oh, everyone
(39:02):
owes Luca an apology. He proved everybody wrong. Where are
the haters now? And it's gonna be like, actually, the
haters were right because Luca did need to improve on defense,
and he did eventually improve on defense, and now he
has the trophy, right, Like I can already just see
it happening. Luca. Eventually he's gonna win, and he's gonna
win because he's improved. And then everybody who was critical
in the past is gonna get criticism, which doesn't make
(39:23):
any sense to me. I two more and then we're
out here. This first one's a double to mail. That
question is from a pure entertainment standpoint. Who do you
think are the five most exciting players and teams to watch?
And two? What do you think about Daron Fox's breakout
games this weekend and his overall outlook So Okay, five
most exciting players, no particular order. Steph Curry. I just
love his combination of skilled, motor and competitiveness. Anthony Edwards
(39:47):
after the Lebron' Steph era, He's gonna be my favorite player.
I can just already tell. I love how psycho competitor
he is. I love just the athleticism. I find him
to be a very aesthetically appealing player. Kyrie Irving still
to me, like just just amazing the show that he
put on in that Warriors game that I covered last week.
Just his shot making still is one of the most
aesthetically appealing players in the league. Lebron James is still
(40:08):
someone that I really enjoy watching. I think he's just
a showman. He's got a gift for just being an
entertaining player to watch. Also, like it just feels surreal
to me to watch Lebron. I Like, I have a
friends giving thing tonight, so I can't watch the Magic game.
But like there's I'm so thankful that like seventy times
this year and I get to watch the games in
(40:29):
the morning for my job, right, But like it's funner
to watch it as a fan live, Like that's kind
of the other thing we talked earlier about the schedule.
One of the reasons why I like working in the
morning too is in addition to being able to put
on a more detailed show, it also allows me to
watch more as a fan the night of right. But like,
every time I sit down and like watch a Laker game,
I'm like, I just feel lucky. I'm like, it's the
(40:52):
year twenty twenty four, it's about to be twenty twenty five,
and we still get to watch Lebron James play like
serious basketball, Like it just feels like historic to even
be watching it. And then John Morant, specifically when he's
in Memphis, he just is such a showman. It just
it feels like every time John Morant plays in Memphis,
it's like an event and like you're gonna get four
(41:12):
to five ridiculous highlights. He's gonna light the crowd on
fire an additional ten times. John Moran's in that top
five for me as far as teams, Celtics and Warriors
because they run really beautiful modern basketball concepts that I enjoy.
Specifically the Celtics I really grew to appreciate over about
the second half of last season. The Lakers on offense.
They're my favorite team obviously, so that's part of it.
(41:34):
But two, they run a really pretty brand of offense.
I did a video breakdown in the show on Thursday
where like, they generated seventeen easy shots easy makes in
the second half just with awesome ball in player movement.
I find their offense to be very visually appealing Nuggets,
same sort of thing. I think Mike Malone does a
(41:56):
lot of really fascinating stuff to capitalize on Jokic double
teams and just how they are with their cuts in
their spacing. And then lastly the Suns when KD was healthy,
I thought they were playing a fun brand of basketball.
KD was playing incredible on both ends of the floor.
They were kind of surgical in the half court at
the end of games, and the shot making is always
really pretty with that group. So those are my five
most exciting players and teams in no particular order. And
(42:18):
then Darren Fox. I had him in my top twenty
five this year. I had him over Kyrie, And one
of the big reasons why I had him over Kyrie
is like I just trust him as a Number one
to be able to generate more rim pressure and more
quality shots for his team over the course of the game,
and he's really taken off over the course of more
than just this last year with a jump shot, and
it kind of reminds me of some of the stuff
(42:39):
with Aunt, where it's like, when you combine true elite
downhill athleticism with elite jump shooting, you become incredibly difficult
to guard. And I think that he's just kind of
entering a point right now where he kind of everything's
coming together for him and he's becoming a little bit
on the unguardable side, and he's on a pretty fun trajectory.
(43:00):
Darren Fox has become a really great player in this league.
Last question. Look as bad as the MAVs record is,
they are still top ten in both offensive and defensive rating.
What's the unwritten rule? Teams that are in the top
ten are in both our contenders MAVs are just like
the Bengals, slow start, but trust me, by the end
of the season, they're going to be a threat. PS.
I know the Bengals aren't doing good this year, laughing
my ass off. I have a feeling this year's MAVs
(43:21):
are going to look a lot like last year's MAVs.
It's going to be more because of health and continuity
as opposed to the trade market. But I think they're
going to have to go on a run at the
tail end of the season, and that's kind of what
I expect. I expect them to be one of those
teams that wins like twenty two of their last thirty
games and goes into the playoffs as a serious threat.
They're a team that, like you do, I think they
(43:41):
can win a championship without getting an up or seed.
Probably not just because that's what NBA history tells us,
but I do view them as a substantial playoff threat,
and no awkward start is going to change my opinion
on that. A lot of this is just Luca has
been hurt, he's hurt again, and Klay Thompson is a
different type of piece, a lot of different types of
pieces that or incorporating, which takes time to build dot continuity.
(44:03):
All right, guys, that's all have for today. I always
appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.
We'd be back on Monday with power rankings. I will
see you guys then the volume. What's up guys. 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
(44:24):
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.
Host
Jason Timpf
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