On today’s episode, Jason and Super Producer Rob G (Robert Guerra) kick things off by discussing the Denver Nuggets' demolition of the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were good - not great - and Denver still cruised. This just appears to be a bad matchup for Miami, and it seems pretty clear at this point that their Cinderella run is going to end early. Later, the guys hit us with a deep dive into the uncertainty surrounding the Boston Celtics. Joe Mazzulla is coming back as the head coach, but will All-NBA swingman Jaylen Brown be joining him? J-Mac and Rob agree that the Celtics would be crazy to trade away their second best player. In fact, they argue that Boston should actually look to add another star rather than subtract one. Finally, the guys close the show with a quick discussion on the Phoenix Suns head coaching search. Why aren't candidates lining up around the block to coach Kevin Durant and Devin Booker? There's clearly more going on in the desert than the public knows about.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntire. What is up
straight Firefam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight Fire for Friday,
June second. Game one of the NBA Finals was last night,
actually tonight. We're recording this about forty five minutes after
(00:30):
the Nuggets stomped and yes they did. They stomped out
the Miami Heat one by eleven. Covered the spread. I
told you Nuggets minus nine was the butt and it
came through pretty easily. And as a smart man once said,
this is as bad as it gets for the NBA.
You basically have Adam Silver before Game one saying, hey,
(00:51):
this Ja Moran situation. Yeah it's bad, but we're not
going to talk about it until after the finals. We
got more information. Not good. John Morant one of the
premier players in the league, an All NBA talent, and
the NBA doesn't even want to talk about it. Then
you get to the game and it's like Miami just
does nothing. After the first quarter. Uh, Denver races to
(01:11):
a seventeen point halftime lead and I think according to
the stats and Rob you can check me on this.
Three shots at halftime for Jokic and they were up seventeen. Miami, listen,
it's gonna be a tough, tough task for the Heat
to win this series. It's gonna be a tall order
for the Heat to win a game in this series. Now,
I said, Nuggets and seven and they did not even
(01:33):
look great. They scored one hundred and four points. I
drove home my kid from chess club with a bunch
of his buddies, and they're all like, oh, Miami's coming
back in game two. Jimmy Buckets is gonna get give
him a business. I said, guys, did you watch what
the Nuggets did to the Lakers. I kept hearing the
Lakers were gonna, Lakers are gonna hang, Lakers are gonna
get a game, They're gonna make adjustments, and Denver swept them.
(01:57):
The last time Denver lost two games was against Devin
Booker and Kevin Durant when both of them went volcanically
hot and erupted for a billion points and Phoenix not
of the series at two. Last I checked, Yeah, Miami
doesn't have anybody resembling Kevin Durant or Devin Booker on
(02:19):
the squad. And here's a stat that is gonna just
make the blood boil. Of Miami Heat fans. So this postseason,
when Jimmy Butler attempts twenty five or more shots, Miami's
eight and two. For some reason. In Game one, all
Jimmy Butler could do was fourteen shots. Just could not
get on track. They seem more focused Miami did about
(02:42):
their zone defense and tweaking it, and yeah, for a moment,
you know, when Yokich went to the bench in the
first half, it looked like the zone was working, and
then Uncle Jeff Green got loose. I mean, he didn't
have a monster game. He had four points, but those
were I believe with Jokic out and he looked like
he knew what he was doing inside. And then you know,
Jokic comes back and the zone is kind of rendered useless. Jokic,
(03:03):
of course, I'm bearing the lead. He's the guy. Twenty
seven points, fourteen assists, ten boards, triple double in his
first NBA Finals appearance. When the game was won in
the first half, the second half was all double digits.
I think briefly Miami cut it to nine, and then
Denver just ran away and hit at the end. In
the first half, Jokic scored or assisted on thirty three
(03:26):
first half points five different players. Jokic is just finding
everybody for open looks or threes. His teammates were ten
of twelve off his passes. Like, Jokic is just an
unbelievable passer, his vision is extraordinary, and Miami has no answers.
I thought maybe we would see Kevin Love in an
effort to defend Jokic DNP coach's decision, we saw more
(03:51):
of Highsmith, who's kind of a thick tree trunk kind
of dude. But you know, you know, he actually played
kind of well. He had eighteen points in twenty three minutes.
But defensively he's useless against Yokic, and when you try
to double him, he's kicking it out to Murray. And imagine,
oh if, oh, by the way, what if Michael Porter
Junior hit his threes. He was two of eleven from deep,
fourteen points. Like Denver did not play their A game,
(04:15):
They played probably their B game. I don't even think
this was a B plus game. Twenty nine percent from
deep and they win handily by eleven. Like I don't,
Miami's gonna have to have one of these games where
they just are not missing from the perimeter like you know,
they're four wins against Boston and I don't see that.
I mean, they had an edge from three thirteen threes.
But again, when Jokic can take three shots at a
(04:39):
half and they're leading by seventeen, you've got major problems.
I guess the big positive was bam Atabayo. He had
twenty six points on a career high twenty five shots
at thirteen boards. But you know, the Nuggets win handily
and all of a sudden. This is one of those
NBA finals where it's like, ooh, Miami better show up
(05:02):
in game two Denver, by the way thirteen and three
in the playoffs, and if they get a double dissial lead,
they're as good as anyone at choking you out eleven
and oh when the Nuggets lead by double digits in
the playoffs, Rob I wanted to come on here and
make a case like, Okay, Miami can do this. They
could tweak this. Again, you don't want to overreact to
one game, but I remember Rob, when we sat here
(05:22):
after game one, we were like, oh, this is Rue
Hachima thing kind of interesting. You put Hachi Mora on
Yo kich you have ad as like the roamer. They
don't have that. For Miami. There isn't a player that
can contend with Jokic and you have Bam roaming. I
don't see that scenarios or Rob. I gotta say it's early.
I'm not throwing in the towel Denver trail for thirty
(05:45):
four seconds in this game and they win handily and
they did not play their best effort. My guy, Jamal Murray,
He's gonna lead me to the Player's Points title twenty
six for Jamal Murray, he's a killer. And Rob, I
don't know. I can't really make a case that Miami
has a shot in the series after one game.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, I mean, if you're not gonna throw in the towel,
I'll definitely do it. And I said before the series
that I really wanted to pick Denver in a sweep,
but I had too much respect for Spoe and Jimmy Butler,
so I said I'm gonna amend it to Denver in
five and that's what I settled on. And now I
feel stupid because I think this is going to be
a sweep. There is absolutely nothing that I saw from
(06:25):
Miami in Game one that makes me think they even
have a shot to win this series. They threw the
kitchen sink at Denver. Defensively, I mean, they held to
one hundred and four points, right, but even in the
fourth quarter when they turned a twenty one point deficit
and got it down to nine. As you touched on briefly,
(06:46):
they're running that tricky zone that they have. They have
actually a couple of different zones, but they're running a zone.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I think.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They had one three one, they had two to three.
They had something looked like a three to two gime
in this It was just the Yeah, they were doing
everything and Yoki gets the ball right in the middle
of the paint, ten foot jumper, wide open, misses Jamal Murray.
Next possession down, twelve foot jumper, wide open in the paint, misses.
Third possession, Jokich just the ball in the middle, kicks
(07:13):
it out to Porter Junior, wide open corner.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Three.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
He just misses. So it was it wasn't anything that
Miami was doing to stop them. It was Denver's just
missing shots. And if that's all you can hope for
as you're, you know, trying to win a series or
win a game, that's not gonna work against a team
that's been this good, this consistently good, as Denver has
(07:38):
throughout this postseason. You need to be able to make
them uncomfortable. And I don't think Miami has the horses
at all to make them uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
It's disappointing Struce and Duncan Robinson a combined one of
sixteen shooting and one of fourteen from three. And I'm
sure Miami Heat defenders, Hey, hey, Strusan Duncan Robinson will
pick it up. We're not too worried. This is just
one game, an off night for them. Here's the problem.
They had off nights in the Boston series where they
were unconscious and making shots from deep and being a
(08:10):
great three point shooting team. This version tonight, what you saw,
That's what they were for eighty two games in the
regular season. Struce is off. What are you gonna do?
Caleb Martin, who was? I mean, people are joking around
that he's like the second coming of Steph Curry against Boston.
I saw stat rob that he hit sixteen of twenty
(08:31):
jump shots against Boston inside the arc jump shots sixteen
or twenty, Like, you can't continue that. Kevin Durant may
do something like that. Caleb Martin so then gets to
start one of seven. You know, I just I don't
see a path of victory. I would say their best
opportunity would be feed Jimmy Butler and just hope and
pray that he can get guys in foul trouble, that
(08:52):
he can have one of those nights where he is
ungodly and Miami somehow scrambles a win and they can
go home one one. But I don't no, Rob, it
was one of those games where, honestly, by third quarter,
I'm jotting down in my notes, like why doesn't anyone
want the Phoenix Sun's job? That's the kind of thing
I'm putting in my notespad, And it's like, geez, you know,
could we even squeeze a full podcast out of the
(09:14):
Denver nuggets of Miami heat? Like I know people are
concerned about ratings, I don't really care that much. I'm
not a TV executive. I'm a content provider. So I'm
of the belief that, like, hey, I would love a
long series. That'd be awesome, wonderful, more gambling content or
chatter leading right into the NBA Draft. I don't think
we're gonna get that so you know, Game two obviously
(09:35):
must win. I will say the biggest factor for me,
robbetting into Game two is you get an extra day
of rest for the Miami Heat, hoping that they're not
gassed after that seven game series against the Celtics. You
get an extra day of rest at altitude. They will
have been there I think now for five days. Maybe
their bodies have acclimated and maybe they can pull a
rabbit out of the hat in Denver Game two. But
(09:57):
I'm not very optimistic, Rubb.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, you shouldn't be. And you know much has been
made of the Miami Heat only shooting two free throws
in Game one, and obviously that's a big star. I
think that was the NBA record. I mean, so I
don't know this yet. We haven't seen the officials report yet.
For Game two, I'm willing to bet that Adam Silver
(10:20):
is going to go full David Stern and put the
cooler in Scott Foster for Game two and ensure that
Miami's getting at least fifteen free throws I think closer
to twenty to do everything they can to extend this series,
because coming in you don't care about TV ratings, but
coming into the NBA Finals. It was the best TV
ratings they've had in twenty twelve through the first three rounds.
(10:42):
Obviously a lot of that was Warriors Lakers. I mean,
that was just a monster for them. But can you
imagine Adam Silver going up to ESPN and trying to
renegotiate this TV deal and you have what could be
a four game suite between two mid market team franchises
and what may be the lowest TV rated final since
(11:03):
the Bubble.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It has one of those It has a feel of
like an NCAA tournament where you get a bunch of
upsets and those are thrilling and exciting and oh my gosh,
the juice, the drama, and then you get to the
final four and you've got like Vanderbilt against Cornell or so,
you know, one of these just like non sexy matchup.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
The final four we just had.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
She's I gotta think of San Diego State was there? Yukon?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Mm hmm. Yukon was the only brand name that was
in it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I've already forgotten the other two teams. Do you know
them off the top of your head?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I know one of them was Purple Denver. They had
that that that short guy Ian in Madison Square Guarden.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They didn't make the funnal four.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, but I liked him because I.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Think they lost in the.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
F au and alert.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, the alert. That's right. Yeah listen. Now,
as as San Diego State, I think they want on
a buzzer beater in the semi final, which is a
great shot, fun game, but again, the juice, the excitement.
It's like, you know, on the day off, we're gonna
talk about Miami heat strategies. I don't think so at
any rate. I think we can move on. Some news happened,
(12:14):
Uh well, I guess technically Thursday, while I was recording
doing the Heard on TV, Brad Stevens came out and
defended his coach, Joe Missoula and said Joe Mizula will
be back undeniably. Now, this came on the heels of
a report from I think the Boston Globe that Ime
Udoka in Houston, the former Boston coach, was plucking three
(12:36):
assistants from the Boston staff, taking three coaches from Joe
Mizula's staff. Maybe they think that, you know, Joe's in
over his head and he's probably gonna be one more
year and then done. But Davie Balen in Boston, and
then came the discussion, like what do you do with
Jalen Brown again. I think we'll probably end up disagreeing
(12:58):
on this staunchly rob. I don't see how you can
trade an All NBA player when his stock is low
after a game seven, when he has eight baskets and
eight turnovers. I think that's stupid. That's bad business. That's
the same idea of the Warriors trading Jordan Pool when
his stock is horrible. I think Jalen Brown's twenty six
tatum is twenty five. We all know you gotta crawl
(13:22):
before you can walk in the NBA, and the list
is out there that KD didn't win till he was
twenty eight, and Lebron didn't win till he was twenty
seven or whatever the numbers are seth Curry twenty seven.
Like you, it doesn't happen instantly, okay. I know they've
had their chances three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals
in the last four years, only broke through once. You know.
(13:45):
I went on the herd and I actually said I
would do the opposite instead of trading Jalen Brown do
you think the Warriors were nervous in twenty sixteen when
they lost the three to one lead the seventy three
win Warriors rob So they win seventy three games, they
blow through the postseason, and then they're up three to
one on the Calves. Bogit goes down, Draymond suspended and
(14:06):
they lose. At that point, do you think the Warriors thought, geez,
you know, Lebron had his guys, they were healthy. We
couldn't beat him. We got to break up these splash brothers.
We gotta make some changes. I know we have one title,
but we got to make some moves. We gotta get better. No,
they thought, we're not removing to get better. We're not
(14:30):
taking out one of our stars. We're adding, and they
added Kevin Durant. That's what the Celtics need to do.
Obviously you can't get Kevin Durant, but you've got to
do everything in your power to keep Brown and Tatum
the all NBA players, and do whatever the hell you
can to go after a Carl Anthony Towns if he
is available. I know the Knicks are gonna be hot
(14:52):
for call Anthony Towns in Minnesota. I think Rob This
is probably a little too risky for a lot of people,
but I would certainly kick the tires on Zion Williamson
in New Orleans. We're talking about a dupe guy like
Tatum who has had a rich injury history. However, when
he's there and healthy, he's dominant. And given the David
(15:16):
Griffin comments and the ending there for Zion this season
where he kind of refused to play due the injury,
and I mean, the guy's doing three sixty dunks and
warm ups and they're like, now, okay, he's not ready.
Maybe they're ready to move on. I mean, you've got
some chips. You got a bunch of draft picks still have.
You have Grant Williams who's probably on his way out.
You know, you want to keep Derek White, you want
(15:36):
to keep Brogden, but those two guys are expendable. They're
valuable chips on a team that could use role players.
But this team needs a third star. You know, Robert
Williams is rarely healthy. I think you've got to make
a move, rob instead of trading Brown and trying to
go for like Damian Lillard or something, I think the
(15:56):
Celtics need to go after another premier player that could
put that over the top. Didn't remember how close they
were to the finals against worse up to one. I mean,
you look around the league and you've got to be
able to find a third star. Remember how Lebron and
Wade rob kind of overlapped. They're both wings. I know
Lebron is more of a facilitator, weighed more just a
scoring machine. Chris Bosh was always like the third guy.
(16:22):
Kevin Love was the third guy, but behind Kyrie and Lebron.
I think the Celtics need a definite third guy because
I don't know that I think that Marcus Smart. You
know he's had a long run there. I just don't
know if he's enough of a third guy. They have
two and then a bunch of good pieces, and we
thought they had the best roster in the league. I
(16:42):
don't know, Man, you never want to overreact, but with
the new coach, I think you've got to tweak something.
You can't run it back without doing something to improve
the team. And I don't mean trading Brown and certainly
not Tatum.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I agree with you, and you know I've said on
this podcast, I don't think Joe Mizzula is the guy
I think the fact that you mentioned three assistants going
to team up with them. A Udoka in Houston, which
is basically torn down to the studs kind of a
roster they're not good at all. So that kind of
think says a lot about the leadership that Udoka possesses
(17:20):
that Joe Mizula doesn't. That you know, people gravitate more
towards him, So I think that's obviously priority number one.
They're not gonna be able to Joamsula, so maybe you
can bring in some very seasoned assistant coaches, you know,
like when Frank Vogel came with the Lakers, he brought
Lionel Hollins with him and Jason Kidd, guys who would
different skill sets. One guy's very relatable to the players.
One guy's been through a million playoff series. So you have,
(17:43):
you know, a very I'm not gonna call it an
all star staff, but you have basically everything covered what
Boston needs to do roster wise. I agree with you.
I wouldn't trade Jalen Brown. I don't. I just don't
believe in getting rid of guys in the prime of
their career who are all NBA players. I know he
has his faults. He can't go left for whatever reason,
(18:03):
you never learned how to dribble to it with his
left hand. That's why he had eight turnovers in game seven.
But to your point, they have upwards of sixty million
dollars tied up in three point guards and Marcus Smart,
Derek White, and Malcolm Brogden. Now obviously they are interchangeable.
They can play off the ball on the ball, and
that's fine, but neither none of those three I would
(18:27):
consider to be a third star. None of those three
I would consider to be the playmaker that you would
need when Jalen Brown can't dribble and Jason Tatum rolds
his ankle. None of those three what I would consider
to be, you know, floor general types where when things
get bogged down and you're missing twenty five threes whatever
they're missing in game six and seven, to say, you
(18:48):
know what, Jalen go on the block or or al
We're gonna set something that's going to get a shot
going towards the basket. That we're not just settling for
pull up threes over over and over and over. We're
gonna run something to get us a good shot. That's
something that like Chris Paul did really well in his heyday.
Even a guy like Tias Jones and Memphis is really
(19:12):
good at that. Like, they don't even have that with
those three guys. So if i'm them, I don't know
if you can get that third star that you're alluding to.
I just don't know if they have the assets to
get it. But they they can't run it back with
the same core. They need to switch it up somewhere,
and I think a playmaking or a quarterback type point
guard is what they need.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So I just went to look at the free agent
point guards. Good news, bad news. The best guy by
by far is Kyrie Irving. You don't want him back
in Boston. The second best guy, well, let's get him
and I'll come back to them. The third best guy
they have on this list is D'Angelo Russell. I don't
want anything to do with him. I don't. I know
you're not a huge fan. I can't imagine Boston would
(19:52):
want Russell after that. It's like Patrick Beverly, Russell Westbrook,
then a shrewd. None of those guys really get me excited. However,
the number two guys interesting. Fred Van Vliet a good
three point shooter at times was the second best player
(20:14):
on the Raptors when they won the title with Kawhi Leonard.
I know they had Lowry, but I know they had Siakam.
Van Vliet was just very good. Maybe I'm, you know,
giving him too much credit for one series, but van
Vliet's a really good player. And I know you could say, well,
he's basically what smaller than Derek White, he's older than
Derek White? Is is it really an upgrade? Like? Is
(20:38):
Fred van Vliet gonna be your third best player? And
I would I would say that Fred van Vliet, to
me offensively, is better than Marcus Smart, Derek White or Brogden.
I just I don't know if if if that's the
guy rob that's gonna put you over the top. And
then the question becomes, well, this is what's tricky. There's
no center that's gonna put you over the top, right,
(20:59):
those don't really exis so you've got two elite wings,
do you add a third wing? If it's not a
point guard? Like so it Boston is in a bit
of a tricky spot.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I mean, you could look at I don't know, if
you don't want to look at point guards, you could say,
all right, well, what are the shooting guards like, because
I don't know, Rob they have two wings both who
can handle score inside and out.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Are we just are we just hitting our heads against
the tree here saying listen, there's nothing that works. They've
got to kind of run it back.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Well, if they do have to run it back, I
guess the only argument for running it back, and to
me would be that you're banking on Jalen Brown and
Jason Tatum while they're in their primes. They're in the
early part of their primes. So maybe one of those
guys takes a step up where they can be more
of a ball handler type guy.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Tatum was first team All NBA two years and.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, but I mean, even as good as he is,
he's creating for other guys is not really.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
He's like a five to five or six assists kind
of guy.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
In today's NBA. That's what you know. In the two thousands,
that's what three or four Yeah, Like, I mean, the
pace is so fast, and as much as they shoot threes,
I hope you're getting five or six assists a game,
you know, And so maybe that that they're banking on
Jason Tatum taking that next step and emulating his guy
Kobe Bryant, where it's like, hey, we don't really need
(22:25):
a point guard because he's gonna have the ball so
much and he can create for others. But again, your
window is now. I know they're young and they're in
their prime, Like, do you is that really what you
want to do is just hope that it's just gonna
come together, didn't you? Why don't you want to capitalize
it while you can like that? That's my opinion, that's
what I would do.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
One last name real quick, and we saw him tonight,
Bruce Brown. He's gonna get paid by somebody. I like
him a lot. He's not a true point guard, but
he can play. It feels like one, two, three, maybe
even some four. Really good rebounder for his size, he's
gonna be I think he's gonna get paid. That'll be
a big loss for Denver. Does that do anything for you?
(23:06):
He's considered the second best shooting guard on the market
this summer. Rob It's Harden is number one. Jordan Clarkson
Josh Hart, I can't cannot imagine the Knicks letting him go.
Austin Reeves Lakers are gonna match anything. I mean, Gary
Trent can't stay healthy, Kris Lavert, like Dante DiVincenzo rob
(23:26):
it's bleak man. This is not gonna be easy for
Boston now that you actually look at the names. I
think you're gonna have to get creative with a trade
and go after somebody that people want. I don't I
don't know if the third starter could be had though
that like third Star.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Sorry, yeah, I mean you're gonna have to get somebody
either who has a huge contract that's tough to move,
like you know, a Bradley Bild. I'm not gonna get
Bradley Bil, but Bradley Bil's got a massive contract.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
It might be an albatross down the road. Or maybe
you go after somebody who you know is entering free
agency in a year or so. Their team might be
cast Drapp to bring him back. Maybe like a to
Johntay Murray. Maybe you can call up Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
You know he's represented by Trey Young. Might be better
better too, No, I.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Obviously you can't, but it's just you know, Dejontay Maury
I believe has one year left on his deal. After
this one, he's gonna be entering free agency, because it
doesn't make sense with his contract for him to extend.
He's going to have to get to free agency and
then get a big deal. So maybe you can convince
him like, hey, he's not going to stay in Atlanta,
We'll give you Marcus Smart and the three picks you
(24:25):
gave up to get him. Maybe you do something like that.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I like Dejeanta Maura a lot man, probably too much.
Before we get to the last topic, I see the
line is now popping up. Denver favored by nine in
Game two, nine point favorites in Game two. It's tough
enough to want to bet him again. I mean, Miami's
obviously gonna come out as firing on all cylinders. And
(24:49):
I do believe in Game two the Lakers covered by
half a point. Nine is a big number, and you
saw they were up by twenty four and it was
trimmed to nine, and it was like a three minute
sweat where you're like, oh, is this gonna screw me? Anyways,
final topic, but I just probably the best unanswered question
in the NBA for me right now on the coaching
(25:10):
front is why does nobody want the Phoenix Sun's job?
So every it's pretty clear that Nick Nurse Monty Woods.
They were waiting to see what happened with Boston, right
because when Miami went up three to oh, the talk
was does Missoula get canned? Well, that's the best job.
Then they managed to win three straight and it goes
game seven, so Missoula is keeping his job. Nick Nurse says,
I will jump on the Sixers job, and it sounds
(25:33):
like he's making a plea to James Harden to stay. Obviously,
Monty Williams gets a ridiculous contract from the Detroit Pistons.
I like Monti Williams. I'm rooting for him. He got
kind of a raw deal in Phoenix. And let's be frank, Rob,
if you had got fired from your job and they
said we're gonna we owe you twenty one million dollars goodbye,
(25:53):
you have the chance to not work for three years
and just collect twenty one million dollars. I know the
competitive juices in you would want to go back out there.
But man, seven million dollars a year to do nothing.
If you invest that money, right, I mean, you don't
have to work again. I don't know. Anyways, Monty Williams
is going to Detroit. Gotta get paid, and you're waiting
(26:16):
for some of the Suns to hire somebody, and maybe
it happens in the middle of the night and I
look like an ad in the morning. But why does
nobody want the chance to work with Devin Booker and
Kevin Durant? And I think you just gotta sit there
for a second. I know that everybody canna say, well,
you don't know what's happening with Aidon. Nick Nurse just
took the Sixers job not knowing what's up with Harden.
Like I look at this Phoenix job, I'm like, why
(26:38):
does it nobody wanted? They were the favorites in the
West when the playoffs started. They have Kevin Durant and
Devin Booker. I mean, you're not worried about Chris Paul
And I start to wonder, is there a sentiment that
maybe people are worried that Phoenix makes some hail Mary
play with their new owner for Kyrie Irving and people
(26:59):
are just scared. They're like, I don't want to deal
with that crap. Remember it, Kyrie and Kevin Durant were
the ones who said at Brooklyn, we don't need to coach,
you just roll the ball out we don't need to coach.
And I rob, I just I don't know, man, this
Phoenix job, I know what it appears appealing on the surface,
but you know what, if this goes haywire, they're not
blaming Kevin Durant. They're not blaming Devin Booker. All the
(27:22):
heat is coming on a coach, whoever that guy is.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, And you know what's funny is this job should
be one of the plumb jobs in the NBA. You
have two all world caliber talents. You have a good
stat stuffer at center, and you have a point guard
with a contract that could easily be traded because it's
(27:48):
not fully guaranteed. I know, you don't have any draft picks,
but you have some kind of nucleus in place, and
your owner has shown that money is not an object
to him. He's willing to pay whatever it takes to
make it happen. And yet, according to a report out
of Phoenix, John Gambadoro covers the team and locally on
the radio there, their three finalists are Frank Vogel, a
(28:13):
retreat and flamed out with the Lakers, Doc Rivers, who
may be the worst big game coach in NBA history,
and Kevin Young who has never been an NBA head coach.
Like I know that you know Emai Udoka, Nick Nurse
and and Darvin Ham did it pretty well as rookie
head coaches. But is that really what you wanted to
(28:34):
hand over your keys to your franchise with When you
have Kevin Durant at the back end of his prime,
you have no draft picks, Devin Booker are ready to
win right now. They're the only teams who really put
a scare into Denver so far in this postseason, and
you want to turn it over to an unproven guy.
I don't understand it unless the reports are that, or
(28:54):
maybe it's not a report. It was like a scuttle
button kind of a situation that Matt Ishbia is more
like a Jerry Jones type where he wants to run
the team, not just own the team. That's the only
thing I can think of as to why they haven't
been able to get the cream of the crop with
the coaching.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I don't understand it. Yeah, Kevin Young is the one
speculated to get at the assistant Phoenix coach, which could
be because he has a relationship with Booker. I don't
know that you can blame Monty Williams for what happened
to them. They just did not have a lot of
time together. And oh look, the team that beat them
just smoked the Lakers and is probably gonna win the title.
(29:30):
It just I just found it odd that nobody wants
to coach Kevin Durant when you know, supposedly he's one
of the fifteen best players in the history of the league.
Just a little odd. I'm not saying anything harsh. I'll
probably tag KD in this what I posted on IG
and we'll see if he replies to something starky. I
showed my son the last time he responded to something
(29:51):
I said, and I think I was just joking around,
and I wrote, stay up king, you know, just because
like that's what kids say now, and I laugh anytime
I hear somebody you the word king or queen. Yeah, exactly,
exactly exactly. And Durant replied with, like the thumbs up
or Whatever's something positive that he liked, like stay up king,
(30:13):
you know. So, I don't know, it's just weird that,
you know, Durant in Brooklyn didn't say we don't need
a coach, and now he's in Phoenix, good guy Manni
Williams gets fired. Now, nobody's like climbing over women and
children to coach two of the best scorers in the league.
Just very odd. Anyways, that'll be it for today. We'll
(30:33):
be back Monday talking Game two of the Finals. I
think we'll probably start to transition a little bit back
to NFL or any juicy NBA stories that come our way,
like maybe leaks of the Jah Morant suspension. But we'll
talk to you then.
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntire. What is up
straight Firefam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight Fire for Friday,
June second. Game one of the NBA Finals was last night,
actually tonight. We're recording this about forty five minutes after
(00:30):
the Nuggets stomped and yes they did. They stomped out
the Miami Heat one by eleven. Covered the spread. I
told you Nuggets minus nine was the butt and it
came through pretty easily. And as a smart man once said,
this is as bad as it gets for the NBA.
You basically have Adam Silver before Game one saying, hey,
(00:51):
this Ja Moran situation. Yeah it's bad, but we're not
going to talk about it until after the finals. We
got more information. Not good. John Morant one of the
premier players in the league, an All NBA talent, and
the NBA doesn't even want to talk about it. Then
you get to the game and it's like Miami just
does nothing. After the first quarter. Uh, Denver races to
(01:11):
a seventeen point halftime lead and I think according to
the stats and Rob you can check me on this.
Three shots at halftime for Jokic and they were up seventeen. Miami, listen,
it's gonna be a tough, tough task for the Heat
to win this series. It's gonna be a tall order
for the Heat to win a game in this series. Now,
I said, Nuggets and seven and they did not even
(01:33):
look great. They scored one hundred and four points. I
drove home my kid from chess club with a bunch
of his buddies, and they're all like, oh, Miami's coming
back in game two. Jimmy Buckets is gonna get give
him a business. I said, guys, did you watch what
the Nuggets did to the Lakers. I kept hearing the
Lakers were gonna, Lakers are gonna hang, Lakers are gonna
get a game, They're gonna make adjustments, and Denver swept them.
(01:57):
The last time Denver lost two games was against Devin
Booker and Kevin Durant when both of them went volcanically
hot and erupted for a billion points and Phoenix not
of the series at two. Last I checked, Yeah, Miami
doesn't have anybody resembling Kevin Durant or Devin Booker on
(02:19):
the squad. And here's a stat that is gonna just
make the blood boil. Of Miami Heat fans. So this postseason,
when Jimmy Butler attempts twenty five or more shots, Miami's
eight and two. For some reason. In Game one, all
Jimmy Butler could do was fourteen shots. Just could not
get on track. They seem more focused Miami did about
(02:42):
their zone defense and tweaking it, and yeah, for a moment,
you know, when Yokich went to the bench in the
first half, it looked like the zone was working, and
then Uncle Jeff Green got loose. I mean, he didn't
have a monster game. He had four points, but those
were I believe with Jokic out and he looked like
he knew what he was doing inside. And then you know,
Jokic comes back and the zone is kind of rendered useless. Jokic,
(03:03):
of course, I'm bearing the lead. He's the guy. Twenty
seven points, fourteen assists, ten boards, triple double in his
first NBA Finals appearance. When the game was won in
the first half, the second half was all double digits.
I think briefly Miami cut it to nine, and then
Denver just ran away and hit at the end. In
the first half, Jokic scored or assisted on thirty three
(03:26):
first half points five different players. Jokic is just finding
everybody for open looks or threes. His teammates were ten
of twelve off his passes. Like, Jokic is just an
unbelievable passer, his vision is extraordinary, and Miami has no answers.
I thought maybe we would see Kevin Love in an
effort to defend Jokic DNP coach's decision, we saw more
(03:51):
of Highsmith, who's kind of a thick tree trunk kind
of dude. But you know, you know, he actually played
kind of well. He had eighteen points in twenty three minutes.
But defensively he's useless against Yokic, and when you try
to double him, he's kicking it out to Murray. And imagine,
oh if, oh, by the way, what if Michael Porter
Junior hit his threes. He was two of eleven from deep,
fourteen points. Like Denver did not play their A game,
(04:15):
They played probably their B game. I don't even think
this was a B plus game. Twenty nine percent from
deep and they win handily by eleven. Like I don't,
Miami's gonna have to have one of these games where
they just are not missing from the perimeter like you know,
they're four wins against Boston and I don't see that.
I mean, they had an edge from three thirteen threes.
But again, when Jokic can take three shots at a
(04:39):
half and they're leading by seventeen, you've got major problems.
I guess the big positive was bam Atabayo. He had
twenty six points on a career high twenty five shots
at thirteen boards. But you know, the Nuggets win handily
and all of a sudden. This is one of those
NBA finals where it's like, ooh, Miami better show up
(05:02):
in game two Denver, by the way thirteen and three
in the playoffs, and if they get a double dissial lead,
they're as good as anyone at choking you out eleven
and oh when the Nuggets lead by double digits in
the playoffs, Rob I wanted to come on here and
make a case like, Okay, Miami can do this. They
could tweak this. Again, you don't want to overreact to
one game, but I remember Rob, when we sat here
(05:22):
after game one, we were like, oh, this is Rue
Hachima thing kind of interesting. You put Hachi Mora on
Yo kich you have ad as like the roamer. They
don't have that. For Miami. There isn't a player that
can contend with Jokic and you have Bam roaming. I
don't see that scenarios or Rob. I gotta say it's early.
I'm not throwing in the towel Denver trail for thirty
(05:45):
four seconds in this game and they win handily and
they did not play their best effort. My guy, Jamal Murray,
He's gonna lead me to the Player's Points title twenty
six for Jamal Murray, he's a killer. And Rob, I
don't know. I can't really make a case that Miami
has a shot in the series after one game.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, I mean, if you're not gonna throw in the towel,
I'll definitely do it. And I said before the series
that I really wanted to pick Denver in a sweep,
but I had too much respect for Spoe and Jimmy Butler,
so I said I'm gonna amend it to Denver in
five and that's what I settled on. And now I
feel stupid because I think this is going to be
a sweep. There is absolutely nothing that I saw from
(06:25):
Miami in Game one that makes me think they even
have a shot to win this series. They threw the
kitchen sink at Denver. Defensively, I mean, they held to
one hundred and four points, right, but even in the
fourth quarter when they turned a twenty one point deficit
and got it down to nine. As you touched on briefly,
(06:46):
they're running that tricky zone that they have. They have
actually a couple of different zones, but they're running a zone.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I think.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They had one three one, they had two to three.
They had something looked like a three to two gime
in this It was just the Yeah, they were doing
everything and Yoki gets the ball right in the middle
of the paint, ten foot jumper, wide open, misses Jamal Murray.
Next possession down, twelve foot jumper, wide open in the paint, misses.
Third possession, Jokich just the ball in the middle, kicks
(07:13):
it out to Porter Junior, wide open corner.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Three.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
He just misses. So it was it wasn't anything that
Miami was doing to stop them. It was Denver's just
missing shots. And if that's all you can hope for
as you're, you know, trying to win a series or
win a game, that's not gonna work against a team
that's been this good, this consistently good, as Denver has
(07:38):
throughout this postseason. You need to be able to make
them uncomfortable. And I don't think Miami has the horses
at all to make them uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
It's disappointing Struce and Duncan Robinson a combined one of
sixteen shooting and one of fourteen from three. And I'm
sure Miami Heat defenders, Hey, hey, Strusan Duncan Robinson will
pick it up. We're not too worried. This is just
one game, an off night for them. Here's the problem.
They had off nights in the Boston series where they
were unconscious and making shots from deep and being a
(08:10):
great three point shooting team. This version tonight, what you saw,
That's what they were for eighty two games in the
regular season. Struce is off. What are you gonna do?
Caleb Martin, who was? I mean, people are joking around
that he's like the second coming of Steph Curry against Boston.
I saw stat rob that he hit sixteen of twenty
(08:31):
jump shots against Boston inside the arc jump shots sixteen
or twenty, Like, you can't continue that. Kevin Durant may
do something like that. Caleb Martin so then gets to
start one of seven. You know, I just I don't
see a path of victory. I would say their best
opportunity would be feed Jimmy Butler and just hope and
pray that he can get guys in foul trouble, that
(08:52):
he can have one of those nights where he is
ungodly and Miami somehow scrambles a win and they can
go home one one. But I don't no, Rob, it
was one of those games where, honestly, by third quarter,
I'm jotting down in my notes, like why doesn't anyone
want the Phoenix Sun's job? That's the kind of thing
I'm putting in my notespad, And it's like, geez, you know,
could we even squeeze a full podcast out of the
(09:14):
Denver nuggets of Miami heat? Like I know people are
concerned about ratings, I don't really care that much. I'm
not a TV executive. I'm a content provider. So I'm
of the belief that, like, hey, I would love a
long series. That'd be awesome, wonderful, more gambling content or
chatter leading right into the NBA Draft. I don't think
we're gonna get that so you know, Game two obviously
(09:35):
must win. I will say the biggest factor for me,
robbetting into Game two is you get an extra day
of rest for the Miami Heat, hoping that they're not
gassed after that seven game series against the Celtics. You
get an extra day of rest at altitude. They will
have been there I think now for five days. Maybe
their bodies have acclimated and maybe they can pull a
rabbit out of the hat in Denver Game two. But
(09:57):
I'm not very optimistic, Rubb.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, you shouldn't be. And you know much has been
made of the Miami Heat only shooting two free throws
in Game one, and obviously that's a big star. I
think that was the NBA record. I mean, so I
don't know this yet. We haven't seen the officials report yet.
For Game two, I'm willing to bet that Adam Silver
(10:20):
is going to go full David Stern and put the
cooler in Scott Foster for Game two and ensure that
Miami's getting at least fifteen free throws I think closer
to twenty to do everything they can to extend this series,
because coming in you don't care about TV ratings, but
coming into the NBA Finals. It was the best TV
ratings they've had in twenty twelve through the first three rounds.
(10:42):
Obviously a lot of that was Warriors Lakers. I mean,
that was just a monster for them. But can you
imagine Adam Silver going up to ESPN and trying to
renegotiate this TV deal and you have what could be
a four game suite between two mid market team franchises
and what may be the lowest TV rated final since
(11:03):
the Bubble.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It has one of those It has a feel of
like an NCAA tournament where you get a bunch of
upsets and those are thrilling and exciting and oh my gosh,
the juice, the drama, and then you get to the
final four and you've got like Vanderbilt against Cornell or so,
you know, one of these just like non sexy matchup.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
The final four we just had.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
She's I gotta think of San Diego State was there? Yukon?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Mm hmm. Yukon was the only brand name that was
in it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I've already forgotten the other two teams. Do you know
them off the top of your head?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
No?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I know one of them was Purple Denver. They had
that that that short guy Ian in Madison Square Guarden.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
They didn't make the funnal four.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, but I liked him because I.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Think they lost in the.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
F au and alert.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, the alert. That's right. Yeah listen. Now,
as as San Diego State, I think they want on
a buzzer beater in the semi final, which is a
great shot, fun game, but again, the juice, the excitement.
It's like, you know, on the day off, we're gonna
talk about Miami heat strategies. I don't think so at
any rate. I think we can move on. Some news happened,
(12:14):
Uh well, I guess technically Thursday, while I was recording
doing the Heard on TV, Brad Stevens came out and
defended his coach, Joe Missoula and said Joe Mizula will
be back undeniably. Now, this came on the heels of
a report from I think the Boston Globe that Ime
Udoka in Houston, the former Boston coach, was plucking three
(12:36):
assistants from the Boston staff, taking three coaches from Joe
Mizula's staff. Maybe they think that, you know, Joe's in
over his head and he's probably gonna be one more
year and then done. But Davie Balen in Boston, and
then came the discussion, like what do you do with
Jalen Brown again. I think we'll probably end up disagreeing
(12:58):
on this staunchly rob. I don't see how you can
trade an All NBA player when his stock is low
after a game seven, when he has eight baskets and
eight turnovers. I think that's stupid. That's bad business. That's
the same idea of the Warriors trading Jordan Pool when
his stock is horrible. I think Jalen Brown's twenty six
tatum is twenty five. We all know you gotta crawl
(13:22):
before you can walk in the NBA, and the list
is out there that KD didn't win till he was
twenty eight, and Lebron didn't win till he was twenty
seven or whatever the numbers are seth Curry twenty seven.
Like you, it doesn't happen instantly, okay. I know they've
had their chances three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals
in the last four years, only broke through once. You know.
(13:45):
I went on the herd and I actually said I
would do the opposite instead of trading Jalen Brown do
you think the Warriors were nervous in twenty sixteen when
they lost the three to one lead the seventy three
win Warriors rob So they win seventy three games, they
blow through the postseason, and then they're up three to
one on the Calves. Bogit goes down, Draymond suspended and
(14:06):
they lose. At that point, do you think the Warriors thought, geez,
you know, Lebron had his guys, they were healthy. We
couldn't beat him. We got to break up these splash brothers.
We gotta make some changes. I know we have one title,
but we got to make some moves. We gotta get better. No,
they thought, we're not removing to get better. We're not
(14:30):
taking out one of our stars. We're adding, and they
added Kevin Durant. That's what the Celtics need to do.
Obviously you can't get Kevin Durant, but you've got to
do everything in your power to keep Brown and Tatum
the all NBA players, and do whatever the hell you
can to go after a Carl Anthony Towns if he
is available. I know the Knicks are gonna be hot
(14:52):
for call Anthony Towns in Minnesota. I think Rob This
is probably a little too risky for a lot of people,
but I would certainly kick the tires on Zion Williamson
in New Orleans. We're talking about a dupe guy like
Tatum who has had a rich injury history. However, when
he's there and healthy, he's dominant. And given the David
(15:16):
Griffin comments and the ending there for Zion this season
where he kind of refused to play due the injury,
and I mean, the guy's doing three sixty dunks and
warm ups and they're like, now, okay, he's not ready.
Maybe they're ready to move on. I mean, you've got
some chips. You got a bunch of draft picks still have.
You have Grant Williams who's probably on his way out.
You know, you want to keep Derek White, you want
(15:36):
to keep Brogden, but those two guys are expendable. They're
valuable chips on a team that could use role players.
But this team needs a third star. You know, Robert
Williams is rarely healthy. I think you've got to make
a move, rob instead of trading Brown and trying to
go for like Damian Lillard or something, I think the
(15:56):
Celtics need to go after another premier player that could
put that over the top. Didn't remember how close they
were to the finals against worse up to one. I mean,
you look around the league and you've got to be
able to find a third star. Remember how Lebron and
Wade rob kind of overlapped. They're both wings. I know
Lebron is more of a facilitator, weighed more just a
scoring machine. Chris Bosh was always like the third guy.
(16:22):
Kevin Love was the third guy, but behind Kyrie and Lebron.
I think the Celtics need a definite third guy because
I don't know that I think that Marcus Smart. You
know he's had a long run there. I just don't
know if he's enough of a third guy. They have
two and then a bunch of good pieces, and we
thought they had the best roster in the league. I
(16:42):
don't know, Man, you never want to overreact, but with
the new coach, I think you've got to tweak something.
You can't run it back without doing something to improve
the team. And I don't mean trading Brown and certainly
not Tatum.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I agree with you, and you know I've said on
this podcast, I don't think Joe Mizzula is the guy
I think the fact that you mentioned three assistants going
to team up with them. A Udoka in Houston, which
is basically torn down to the studs kind of a
roster they're not good at all. So that kind of
think says a lot about the leadership that Udoka possesses
(17:20):
that Joe Mizula doesn't. That you know, people gravitate more
towards him, So I think that's obviously priority number one.
They're not gonna be able to Joamsula, so maybe you
can bring in some very seasoned assistant coaches, you know,
like when Frank Vogel came with the Lakers, he brought
Lionel Hollins with him and Jason Kidd, guys who would
different skill sets. One guy's very relatable to the players.
One guy's been through a million playoff series. So you have,
(17:43):
you know, a very I'm not gonna call it an
all star staff, but you have basically everything covered what
Boston needs to do roster wise. I agree with you.
I wouldn't trade Jalen Brown. I don't. I just don't
believe in getting rid of guys in the prime of
their career who are all NBA players. I know he
has his faults. He can't go left for whatever reason,
(18:03):
you never learned how to dribble to it with his
left hand. That's why he had eight turnovers in game seven.
But to your point, they have upwards of sixty million
dollars tied up in three point guards and Marcus Smart,
Derek White, and Malcolm Brogden. Now obviously they are interchangeable.
They can play off the ball on the ball, and
that's fine, but neither none of those three I would
(18:27):
consider to be a third star. None of those three
I would consider to be the playmaker that you would
need when Jalen Brown can't dribble and Jason Tatum rolds
his ankle. None of those three what I would consider
to be, you know, floor general types where when things
get bogged down and you're missing twenty five threes whatever
they're missing in game six and seven, to say, you
(18:48):
know what, Jalen go on the block or or al
We're gonna set something that's going to get a shot
going towards the basket. That we're not just settling for
pull up threes over over and over and over. We're
gonna run something to get us a good shot. That's
something that like Chris Paul did really well in his heyday.
Even a guy like Tias Jones and Memphis is really
(19:12):
good at that. Like, they don't even have that with
those three guys. So if i'm them, I don't know
if you can get that third star that you're alluding to.
I just don't know if they have the assets to
get it. But they they can't run it back with
the same core. They need to switch it up somewhere,
and I think a playmaking or a quarterback type point
guard is what they need.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So I just went to look at the free agent
point guards. Good news, bad news. The best guy by
by far is Kyrie Irving. You don't want him back
in Boston. The second best guy, well, let's get him
and I'll come back to them. The third best guy
they have on this list is D'Angelo Russell. I don't
want anything to do with him. I don't. I know
you're not a huge fan. I can't imagine Boston would
(19:52):
want Russell after that. It's like Patrick Beverly, Russell Westbrook,
then a shrewd. None of those guys really get me excited. However,
the number two guys interesting. Fred Van Vliet a good
three point shooter at times was the second best player
(20:14):
on the Raptors when they won the title with Kawhi Leonard.
I know they had Lowry, but I know they had Siakam.
Van Vliet was just very good. Maybe I'm, you know,
giving him too much credit for one series, but van
Vliet's a really good player. And I know you could say, well,
he's basically what smaller than Derek White, he's older than
Derek White? Is is it really an upgrade? Like? Is
(20:38):
Fred van Vliet gonna be your third best player? And
I would I would say that Fred van Vliet, to
me offensively, is better than Marcus Smart, Derek White or Brogden.
I just I don't know if if if that's the
guy rob that's gonna put you over the top. And
then the question becomes, well, this is what's tricky. There's
no center that's gonna put you over the top, right,
(20:59):
those don't really exis so you've got two elite wings,
do you add a third wing? If it's not a
point guard? Like so it Boston is in a bit
of a tricky spot.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
I mean, you could look at I don't know, if
you don't want to look at point guards, you could say,
all right, well, what are the shooting guards like, because
I don't know, Rob they have two wings both who
can handle score inside and out.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Are we just are we just hitting our heads against
the tree here saying listen, there's nothing that works. They've
got to kind of run it back.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Well, if they do have to run it back, I
guess the only argument for running it back, and to
me would be that you're banking on Jalen Brown and
Jason Tatum while they're in their primes. They're in the
early part of their primes. So maybe one of those
guys takes a step up where they can be more
of a ball handler type guy.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Tatum was first team All NBA two years and.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, but I mean, even as good as he is,
he's creating for other guys is not really.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
He's like a five to five or six assists kind
of guy.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
In today's NBA. That's what you know. In the two thousands,
that's what three or four Yeah, Like, I mean, the
pace is so fast, and as much as they shoot threes,
I hope you're getting five or six assists a game,
you know, And so maybe that that they're banking on
Jason Tatum taking that next step and emulating his guy
Kobe Bryant, where it's like, hey, we don't really need
(22:25):
a point guard because he's gonna have the ball so
much and he can create for others. But again, your
window is now. I know they're young and they're in
their prime, Like, do you is that really what you
want to do is just hope that it's just gonna
come together, didn't you? Why don't you want to capitalize
it while you can like that? That's my opinion, that's
what I would do.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
One last name real quick, and we saw him tonight,
Bruce Brown. He's gonna get paid by somebody. I like
him a lot. He's not a true point guard, but
he can play. It feels like one, two, three, maybe
even some four. Really good rebounder for his size, he's
gonna be I think he's gonna get paid. That'll be
a big loss for Denver. Does that do anything for you?
(23:06):
He's considered the second best shooting guard on the market
this summer. Rob It's Harden is number one. Jordan Clarkson
Josh Hart, I can't cannot imagine the Knicks letting him go.
Austin Reeves Lakers are gonna match anything. I mean, Gary
Trent can't stay healthy, Kris Lavert, like Dante DiVincenzo rob
(23:26):
it's bleak man. This is not gonna be easy for
Boston now that you actually look at the names. I
think you're gonna have to get creative with a trade
and go after somebody that people want. I don't I
don't know if the third starter could be had though
that like third Star.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Sorry, yeah, I mean you're gonna have to get somebody
either who has a huge contract that's tough to move,
like you know, a Bradley Bild. I'm not gonna get
Bradley Bil, but Bradley Bil's got a massive contract.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
It might be an albatross down the road. Or maybe
you go after somebody who you know is entering free
agency in a year or so. Their team might be
cast Drapp to bring him back. Maybe like a to
Johntay Murray. Maybe you can call up Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
You know he's represented by Trey Young. Might be better
better too, No, I.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Obviously you can't, but it's just you know, Dejontay Maury
I believe has one year left on his deal. After
this one, he's gonna be entering free agency, because it
doesn't make sense with his contract for him to extend.
He's going to have to get to free agency and
then get a big deal. So maybe you can convince
him like, hey, he's not going to stay in Atlanta,
We'll give you Marcus Smart and the three picks you
(24:25):
gave up to get him. Maybe you do something like that.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I like Dejeanta Maura a lot man, probably too much.
Before we get to the last topic, I see the
line is now popping up. Denver favored by nine in
Game two, nine point favorites in Game two. It's tough
enough to want to bet him again. I mean, Miami's
obviously gonna come out as firing on all cylinders. And
(24:49):
I do believe in Game two the Lakers covered by
half a point. Nine is a big number, and you
saw they were up by twenty four and it was
trimmed to nine, and it was like a three minute
sweat where you're like, oh, is this gonna screw me? Anyways,
final topic, but I just probably the best unanswered question
in the NBA for me right now on the coaching
(25:10):
front is why does nobody want the Phoenix Sun's job?
So every it's pretty clear that Nick Nurse Monty Woods.
They were waiting to see what happened with Boston, right
because when Miami went up three to oh, the talk
was does Missoula get canned? Well, that's the best job.
Then they managed to win three straight and it goes
game seven, so Missoula is keeping his job. Nick Nurse says,
I will jump on the Sixers job, and it sounds
(25:33):
like he's making a plea to James Harden to stay. Obviously,
Monty Williams gets a ridiculous contract from the Detroit Pistons.
I like Monti Williams. I'm rooting for him. He got
kind of a raw deal in Phoenix. And let's be frank, Rob,
if you had got fired from your job and they
said we're gonna we owe you twenty one million dollars goodbye,
(25:53):
you have the chance to not work for three years
and just collect twenty one million dollars. I know the
competitive juices in you would want to go back out there.
But man, seven million dollars a year to do nothing.
If you invest that money, right, I mean, you don't
have to work again. I don't know. Anyways, Monty Williams
is going to Detroit. Gotta get paid, and you're waiting
(26:16):
for some of the Suns to hire somebody, and maybe
it happens in the middle of the night and I
look like an ad in the morning. But why does
nobody want the chance to work with Devin Booker and
Kevin Durant? And I think you just gotta sit there
for a second. I know that everybody canna say, well,
you don't know what's happening with Aidon. Nick Nurse just
took the Sixers job not knowing what's up with Harden.
Like I look at this Phoenix job, I'm like, why
(26:38):
does it nobody wanted? They were the favorites in the
West when the playoffs started. They have Kevin Durant and
Devin Booker. I mean, you're not worried about Chris Paul
And I start to wonder, is there a sentiment that
maybe people are worried that Phoenix makes some hail Mary
play with their new owner for Kyrie Irving and people
(26:59):
are just scared. They're like, I don't want to deal
with that crap. Remember it, Kyrie and Kevin Durant were
the ones who said at Brooklyn, we don't need to coach,
you just roll the ball out we don't need to coach.
And I rob, I just I don't know, man, this
Phoenix job, I know what it appears appealing on the surface,
but you know what, if this goes haywire, they're not
blaming Kevin Durant. They're not blaming Devin Booker. All the
(27:22):
heat is coming on a coach, whoever that guy is.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, And you know what's funny is this job should
be one of the plumb jobs in the NBA. You
have two all world caliber talents. You have a good
stat stuffer at center, and you have a point guard
with a contract that could easily be traded because it's
(27:48):
not fully guaranteed. I know, you don't have any draft picks,
but you have some kind of nucleus in place, and
your owner has shown that money is not an object
to him. He's willing to pay whatever it takes to
make it happen. And yet, according to a report out
of Phoenix, John Gambadoro covers the team and locally on
the radio there, their three finalists are Frank Vogel, a
(28:13):
retreat and flamed out with the Lakers, Doc Rivers, who
may be the worst big game coach in NBA history,
and Kevin Young who has never been an NBA head coach.
Like I know that you know Emai Udoka, Nick Nurse
and and Darvin Ham did it pretty well as rookie
head coaches. But is that really what you wanted to
(28:34):
hand over your keys to your franchise with When you
have Kevin Durant at the back end of his prime,
you have no draft picks, Devin Booker are ready to
win right now. They're the only teams who really put
a scare into Denver so far in this postseason, and
you want to turn it over to an unproven guy.
I don't understand it unless the reports are that, or
(28:54):
maybe it's not a report. It was like a scuttle
button kind of a situation that Matt Ishbia is more
like a Jerry Jones type where he wants to run
the team, not just own the team. That's the only
thing I can think of as to why they haven't
been able to get the cream of the crop with
the coaching.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I don't understand it. Yeah, Kevin Young is the one
speculated to get at the assistant Phoenix coach, which could
be because he has a relationship with Booker. I don't
know that you can blame Monty Williams for what happened
to them. They just did not have a lot of
time together. And oh look, the team that beat them
just smoked the Lakers and is probably gonna win the title.
(29:30):
It just I just found it odd that nobody wants
to coach Kevin Durant when you know, supposedly he's one
of the fifteen best players in the history of the league.
Just a little odd. I'm not saying anything harsh. I'll
probably tag KD in this what I posted on IG
and we'll see if he replies to something starky. I
showed my son the last time he responded to something
(29:51):
I said, and I think I was just joking around,
and I wrote, stay up king, you know, just because
like that's what kids say now, and I laugh anytime
I hear somebody you the word king or queen. Yeah, exactly,
exactly exactly. And Durant replied with, like the thumbs up
or Whatever's something positive that he liked, like stay up king,
(30:13):
you know. So, I don't know, it's just weird that,
you know, Durant in Brooklyn didn't say we don't need
a coach, and now he's in Phoenix, good guy Manni
Williams gets fired. Now, nobody's like climbing over women and
children to coach two of the best scorers in the league.
Just very odd. Anyways, that'll be it for today. We'll
(30:33):
be back Monday talking Game two of the Finals. I
think we'll probably start to transition a little bit back
to NFL or any juicy NBA stories that come our way,
like maybe leaks of the Jah Morant suspension. But we'll
talk to you then.
Host
Jason McIntyre
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