Ep. 82: NBA Draft Lottery Day, Cavs in trouble, Giannia OUT in Milwaukee? And more - 05/12/25

Sean Barnard and Sam Oshtry talk #NBADraft Lottery Night, #Sixers best outcomes, #Cavs in trouble vs #Pacers, Giannis OUT in Milwaukee!? And much more!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Picks and roll handicapping the hardwood with Sixers insiders Sean
Bernard and Sean Brace.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to potentially one of the most
important days in Philadelphia.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Seventy six Ers franchise history. That is right is the
NBA Draft Lottery Day. And by the way, there is
still some NBA Playoffs being played as well. Myself, Sean Minard,
and Sam Austria of the Score are here live on
the Fox Sports The Gambler Airwaves break out everything that
went down in the NBA world this weekend. We have
a lot to get into the Oklahoma City Thunder with.
Theyve grown up victory to tie things up against Denver

(00:32):
Nuggets yesterday. The Cleveland Cavaliers in some trouble now in
that three to one hole at the hands of the
Indiana Pacers, and the writing seems to be on the
wall for Gianna Santa to Cumbo eventually forcing himself or
being traded from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
There before we dive and do it all. My man, Sam,
how are you doing this morning?

Speaker 4 (00:48):
I'm great, I'm great.

Speaker 5 (00:49):
It's a lottery day, It's every day. Hasn't been exciting
in a long time. But it is this year when
the stakes are Cooper Flag on that number one great
weekend of hoops.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Let's let's get into.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
It one hundred percent there, and uh, I guess we'll
hit on the lottery real quick. We'll to dive deeper
into this and do a little something, a little live
reveal at the end of this. We're gonna do our
own simulation here. But I wanted to frame it to
you this way. This kind of was bounced around my
head before we started, and I figured I'd catch you
off guard with it. If you're a Cooper Flag right now,
who are you rooting for that number one pick to
go to?

Speaker 4 (01:20):
Oh, it's tough.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
So he's a Northeast guy obviously, main play, he's a
Northeast guy. Like my mind's on the Sixers right now,
but legitimately the Sixers or a phenomenal location for him
because of the they're in win now mode already, so
he's not gonna take the load on like I think
a lot of stars sometimes coming in and they're the

(01:43):
options that go to one of the worst teams in
the league, so they are the number one option and
everything runs through that.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
I don't think that's necessarily good.

Speaker 5 (01:49):
I think in some ways your development can can move
further along because of that, But I don't think that's
necessarily good all the time for stars. If he's playing
alongside at Tyresmaxie, Jared McCain, ab Joel Embid if he's there,
but now you also the Sixers are going to look
at him and say, this guy is our future. We're
looking into the post em beat era if they somehow
land Cooper Flag alongside of Tyre Smaxy and Jared McCain

(02:12):
a pretty electric offensive backcourse. So like not to just
say it's the Sixers, but I don't want to go
to a Jazz or the Washington Wizards necessarily, where I
think are on the right track and have some good
young pieces. I would like to go to a win
now franchise from Cooper Flag where I can get immediate
playoff experience. I don't and not everything has to rely
on me every single night. If I have an off night,

(02:32):
I have teammates who can lift me up. Like that
is I think the best development track for any young player,
but definitely a prospect like Cooper Flag. So it's a
team like the Sixers or even I'll throw the Spurs
in there now too.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
We're both in win now.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Moved yeah, one hundred percent there, And I do feel
like there's some of this that is being invaded by
my Sixers lenses a little bit, But I'm in agreement
here and with like Cooper Flag specifically, one of the
things that almost surprised me a little bit as far
as like what he was at the level of colleges.
He was not this like, let me do it all,
take on the world, be that kind of grade a
number one guy. He was very much a team guy,

(03:07):
a winning player. That really impressed me. And I do
think the best pathway for him is to start off
where he isn't looked at to have to do anything.
And obviously, like he really kicked in a gear and
conference play and his final seventeen game stretch is one
of the more important, more impressive things that I've seen
from a college athlete there. So I'm all in on
Cooper Flag. I do ultimately obviously a ten point five

(03:28):
percent chance. I do hope it is Philadelphia. Outside of that,
I think san Antonio is kind of a long shot.
I mean, him and one Miniama would be absolutely absurd together.
But I think a lot of the top teams, I mean,
the Wizards, the Jazz, the Hornets, the Pelicans. Pelicans would
be interesting, but they're just such a theoretical team.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Who knows what.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Zion Williamson is looking like or how often he's on
the floor moving forward. So yeah, I do think the
Sixers have a pretty strong case for why they would
be the best landing spot.

Speaker 5 (03:50):
And let me say too, I think Cooper flag playing
the four when he gets in the league immediately will
be the best thing for him. His defense versatility. Forget
the offensive. We know what he is offensively, his defensive
versatility is off the charts. I mean he can legitimately
switch one through five, guardaland perimeter. He's a really smart
help defender. He's a rim protector. So I think him

(04:11):
playing the four alongside a big five and a Joel
Embiid or Victor Wemenyama, those two guys that'll help fast
track his development too. As suppose if he goes to
like a Hornets, I mean, they got Mark Williams and
some other bigs there, but teams like that aren't as
good and aren't as complete. Necessarily, he's gonna have to
play more of the five and I'd rather see him
play the four when he gets into the league.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, agreed there, And to fully set the table from
the Sixers perspective, they have a sixty three point nine
percent chance of retaining the pick there. It has to
fall between selections one and six for them to keep it.
They have a ten point five percent chance at that
one pick to land Cooper Flag, a ten point five
percent chance of the second pick, a ten point six
percent chance at the third pick, ten point five percent

(04:53):
at the fourth pick, just two point two percent at
the fifth pick, and nineteen point six percent at.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
The sixth pick.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
There, So we gonna do a little live simulation to
close things down, get way real quick.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
Forget like the basketball fit.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
The funniest outcome, just if you were a fan of
the NBA, the funniest outcome is going the Sixers. I
mean it'll make the rest of the league furious, like
they're just season. Oh yeah, they won the summer. They
won the summer, which sometimes more important than the winner.
They won the summer, and they had the most disastrous
season based on expectations I think they've had in decades.

(05:25):
And now the reward for that would be Koper Flag
and a long term future in a runway put in
the post md to era that people would be so
sick around the league if the Sixers were rewarded for that.
I think you have to root forward, even if you're
not a Sixers guy, because it's that funny.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
And we've been so tortured by the basketball gods that
I don't want to hear it. Man. I've seen Mark
al Foltz get thrast outlet syndrome. I've seen Andrew Bien
them not be able to suit up for a single
game for this team. I've seen Michael Carl Williams be
a Rookie of the Year and then forget how to
play basketball or be an NBA quality player moving forward.
We've seen Ben Simmons refuse to shoot the ball. We've
been through it all here Smith, what about Tyer Smith,

(06:04):
the peanut allergy that right now? Yeah, yeah, I was
a Zire Smith believer. So my point being here, we've
been tortured Sixers fans. We deserve this one a little bit.
Besketball guys, throw us a bone, ten point five percent chance,
let's see it happened. So we are going to wrap
up with kind of a live simulation of that to
really build the excitement there. But there was some actual
basketball being played this weekend as well, so two.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Games that did take place yesterday.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Doing it hit a little bit on the Thunder and
Nuggets game yesterday, I thought that was a grown up
impressive win by that Oklahoma City Thunder team, and particularly
when watching it, it felt like it was slipping away
to me that I thought we were seeing just this
kind of played out in Game three, that it was
that championship caliber ability of this Nuggets team to make
the proper decisions down the stretch, the offense executing at

(06:48):
a high level, and Shay Gilds Alexander still kind of
struggling a little bit. But the bottom line is that
team gutted it out, found a way to tie up
that series two to two, and obviously it is now
a best of three to see who advances.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
So what was your takeaway from that afternoon game yesterday?

Speaker 5 (07:02):
The biggest takeaway for me is Jokic is exhausted and
I've never seen him like this in his entire career.
I think the Nuggets are excuse me, the Thunder deserve
credit for with the throwing at him defensively, just the
size of Chet and Isaiah Hartens seen it in Game
one when he went off for forty two points and
twenty two rebounds. It was mostly Chet was the primary defender.
They've kind of flipped that where it mostly Isaiah and

(07:23):
Chet's been the roamer and of course check guards and
when Isaiah's out, but Jalen Williams also getting a shit
who kind of followed this team's rotation. But they're just
throwing all this size they can at Jokic and he's
bobbed both because of the size factor, which we saw
against the Wolves last year, Like that is the recipe
for Jokic. Is when they guarded Yokic with Karl Anthony

(07:43):
Towns and put Ride Gobert's the floater and just so
much size they were throwing at him, and it really
he struggled because of it. Like that size is just
hard to combat and we're seeing that again with the thunder.
Like that is the recipe for stopping Jokic. But the
other thing is he's exhausted because he just came off
of series a seven game series against the Clippers where
he's a bang with Zubach every single game. Another really

(08:06):
tough defender, one of the best guys who can guard
Yokic in the entire league. Now he plays last night
or yesterday was their seventh game in thirteen.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
D's wow.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
And they don't have a single a break of more
than one day until games a potential game set.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
So Jokic looked exhausted. You can tell.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
He's one for four from the free throw line in
the fourth quarter. Jokic just not miss free throws, especially
big free throws. One for seven from the field in
the fourth quarter. Overall this series, he's shooting thirty nine
percent from the field, twenty one percent from three, after
shooting forty one percent from three during the regular season.
And here's the biggest part to me that you can
tell how Fatigi is almost six turnovers a game like

(08:45):
Jogic is not a guy that turns the ball over.
He's not sloppy with the ball. And you're just seeing
an exhausted, exhausted Yokic And there's not a lot of
rest you can see for him down the line. And
the series is probably going seven if we're being honest,
But there's not a lot of rest I can see
for him. I don't see He's not gonna regain energy.
I mean's Jokic. He can do magical things. He's still
the best player in the league, don't get me wrong.
And I want to talk about Shaye too because he's

(09:06):
been struggling. But Jokic, just watching him, he is exhausted.
This is the worst I've seen him play in a
long time.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
And to your point about turnovers, they have been sloppy
ones too, like very uncharacteristic, the cross court passes that
he never really tries, and it's been a little bit surprising.
He's also been more expressive than I think I've ever
seen him in his career, like with throwing the poems up, arguing,
yelling at guys in a way that's always an arguer.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
That guy's always he's close to Luca level.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, okay, I mean he is an arguer.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
I wouldn't go as far as like Luca level Lucas
on his own playing field with that one there, but
I do hear you there. But some of like the
jumping up and down and like he just is wearing
his heart and his sleeves. I kind of like that
he's dropping this like I don't care about basketball act
to an extent, because I always thought that was sort
of a lame look, Like, dude, you're one of the
best basketball players in the world, You're in the NBA,
you should care about this the bottom line there, and

(09:55):
I think he does at his core, which is the
right outlook there. But I've been kind of he's I mean,
he's borderline coaching this team at the same time of
doing all this as a player. It's still shocking to
me the way that hole Michael Malone thing went down.
But at the same time, this is a two to
two series they have. They are two wins away from
going to the Western Conference Finals, and I'm not ruling
them out. So you mentioned Shae Goders Alexander, I won't

(10:17):
lie sitting there yesterday, my concern level from a Thunder
perspective sort of increased that Shay has not been able
to sort of shake this.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
We're seeing a little bit of the bad habits of
the foul bating.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
I mean in Game three he kind of tried to,
you know, get to the free throw line to try
and win a game, which that's where things, you know,
the bright lights of the playoffs really expose that there.
I didn't like the version of Shae Goos Alexander that
we had yesterday and really have an all season ken.
The Thunders still win this series if that guy doesn't
return to being the MVP candidate that he's supposed to be.

Speaker 5 (10:47):
Yeah, I think they can because of the lack of
depth the Nuggets have and they're just exhausted and can
seeing that with Yokach, you don't really know what you're
gonna get. Even though Jamal Murrayjokic two man game looks
like at during stretchers like it was when they want
the Chickampionship a couple of years ago. That'submerged as one
of the best two man games in the year in
the in the league again but from Michael Porter Junior,
Aaron Gordon's been phenomenal, but Russell Westbrook was awful last night.

(11:09):
You didn't know what version of of him is gonna
show up. They're only playing six guys like Peyton Watson's
really barely playing like none of those guys but not
beyond Russell Westbrook are playing any significant minutes off the bench,
So I think they still can overcome that if Shae
gets help. But I agree with you, I've been it's
been pretty shocking to see Shaye struggle like this, especially

(11:30):
in crunch time. And look, the Nuggets deserve credit. I
mean they're morphing into the zone defense that essentially is
like a box and one on Shay, and they're throwing
so many doubles at him and just taking away his
driving lanes. And throughout the year when Shaye was doubled,
he was usually pretty good at number one, getting the
ball of his hands quick, but also still getting to
his spots in the mid range despite being doubled like that.
That's he's so good at operating the mid range and

(11:51):
getting to his spots. He's not doing that as as
efficiently or effectively in these playoffs. And the yogics are
excuse me, the Nuggets doubles are are really timely in
their zone that they've morphed into. It's just cutting off
all driving links for Shay and he's struggling to get
to his spots like so, he was awful in Game
three and crunch time. He was over seven in crunch time,

(12:14):
clutch time, whatever you want to call it, which is
in a game, the final five minutes if a game
is within five points. So obviously all these games have
been in crunch down. He was over seven and three
over seven in Game three. From the field, he had
nine points in the fourth quarter, but I still thought
he struggled. It wasn't the crunch time offense from the
Thunder that got done. It was crunch time defense. So
in the fourth quarter, Shae made a lineup and it

(12:36):
was eighty eight to eighty one with two minutes and
twenty seconds to go.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
Shay.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
The next possession down, Shane misses a step back three.
Thunder got the offensive board. Shaye missed another bad step
back three. It wasn't even a good shot. It's contested
step back. Nuggets cut into five in the next possession.
Then Shay has the ball. He dribbles the ball off
his leg. It's a turnover. What happens though, the Thunder
got a stop on the other end. Then the next
possession down, sha missed a difficult midy. It was not

(13:02):
the greatest shot. Again, the shot he can make for sure.
I want the ball in his hands, no doubt, But
he missed a difficult midi and then the Thunder Thunder
get a stop defensively. So the Thunder's defense that has
been so good against the Nuggets, who really are good
at late game execution. But the Thunder's defense, their clutch
defensive has been or was really good yesterday, and that's
what's gonna get it done. Because I am worried about

(13:23):
Shay throughout this entire series, but also in the clutch.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right about that.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
I mean, they held the Nuggets to eight points in
the first quarter yesterday. You just don't see that in
the air twenty twenty five. And like, when speaking about
Shay Gilds Alexander, to me, like the defining trait of
him as a basketball player is he's so good at
just playing at his own pace. And it didn't feel
like that way certainly yesterday and really all series, Like
it feels bothered that he's not getting to his spots

(13:47):
or he feels a little sped up in a way
that I've never really seen him be, to be honest,
certainly not this season.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
And I mean yesterday finishing, when you look at.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
The stats, he's still like statistically finished with twenty five points,
had six assist, six rebounds, but he shot from nineteen
from the field, oh for five from three, got to
the free throw line twelve times, so nine of those
twenty five points came at the stripe there, and the
shot selection to me is concerning like that. Both those
threes I thought were atrocious decisions there. And I think
coaching wise, I understand you kind of want to live

(14:15):
and die with your stars, so that's why you're their stars.
But I thought, like in game three, especially, it was
just such a dumb decision to me not to go
to Jalen Williams Moore who is playing yeah playoff game
of his career.

Speaker 5 (14:27):
Jaalan Williams is awesome in that game, and I've seen
a lot of people saying that I'm still going with shit,
like he's your best player, He's the reason you're even
in this position, the reason you won all you had
one of the best net ratings in NBA history, Like
Shay is your guy. I'm always I mean, I get
it's different philosophies. I'm I'm always of the guy, Like
if you have a superstar, that guy should always have

(14:49):
the ball late in his hand, even if you have
another player who's playing out of his mind.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, I'm a hot hand guy.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
I like to feel the vibes, when you feel the
energy of a game, somebody's got it. I like ride
map there, but nonetheless it is a two to two series.
Any strong opinion on way this series swings in the
final three games.

Speaker 5 (15:04):
So I had it Thunder and seven before the series,
and I'm sticking to that.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
It's really just the Thunders bench.

Speaker 5 (15:10):
Like they had ten threes yesterday, eight of them were
by their bench, and they were all by three players
Alex Crusoe, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, who all hit
huge threes.

Speaker 4 (15:20):
The only are two threes that the starters hit were
lou Dort.

Speaker 5 (15:22):
And guess what. Lou Dort was benched in that fourth
quarter because rightfully's trooper ten from three?

Speaker 4 (15:27):
What you say?

Speaker 2 (15:28):
I said, rightfully, so one.

Speaker 5 (15:30):
Hundred percent because he couldn't make a shot. They weren't
even guarding him. They were leaving him open. They were
giving him the Ben Simmons treatment, or that even sometimes
the Russell Westbrook treatment, which is what the Thunder were
doing back at them. But lou Dort couldn't make a
shot and he really struggled this entire series series. So yeah,
so good defensively, but you have Cason Wallace and Alex
Crusoe and other guys who can lift the load for him.
Defensively that it was smart idea to bench him, and

(15:52):
I'm glad that that they did, because he just couldn't
hit a shot and he was bringing that offense down.
But the point is that the thunder are so deep
and they can rely on their and look, you're gonna
have Knights where Jalen Williams has duds, but then he
also can go for thirty plus like he did in
Game three, even in a loss.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
The Nuggets.

Speaker 5 (16:08):
On the other hand, Aaron Gordon is playing some of
the best basketball of his career right now. I think
Jamal Murray in that Jokic two man game looks really good.
It's the exhaustion factor, not just Jokic, this entire team
because they're only playing six guys. It's you never know
what you're gonna get from Russell Westbrook. And Michael Porter
Junior has become one of the biggest swing guys in
the NBA. He can't have nights when he goes twenty

(16:29):
four eight for thirteen shooting and the other Knights where
he has three points one for ten shoot He is like,
you have no idea which version of Michael Porter Junior
is showing up every single night? And they need the
best version to beat the Thunder, who are just so
deep and so many different guys to throw at you.
And again it's the Thunders defense against the nuggets tired
offense with Jokic that I think the Thunder is still

(16:50):
gonna win this in seven.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah, I'm in agreement with you. I'm still locking in
the Thunder in seven as well. And by the way,
I do get Porter Junior some credit for fighting through
that shoulder entry. It's definitely like, very significant that he's
playing through. And I mean, he was awesome in Game three,
so I'm not gonna be too hard on him overall.
But it has been great hoops so far. Do you
think the next three games will live up to that
as well? Let's transition into the night slate now, which

(17:13):
we don't have to probably hit on as significantly. Here
a blowout victory by the Indiana Pacers to take a
commanding three to one lead. Donovan Mitchell did not step
foot on the floor in the second half. That same
ankle injury that he missed the final four games the
regular season seems to have popped up there. Ultimately, the
game was basically a blowout from the first couple of
minutes that they jumped out to a twenty point lead

(17:34):
in the first quarter and just poured it on closing
the half on a seventeen to zero run by the
Pacers there, and that really kind of closed the book
on that game. So any takeaways that you have from
last night, and is this series completely over for the Cavaliers.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
It is.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
If Donovan Mitchell's out, that's sure, and I don't expect
him to play next game, and I think that could
be the closeout game for the Pacers. I don't want
to make excuse for the Cavs because they were fully
healthy to start that game yesterday, or is as healthy
as they'll get this time of year, and they just
got blitz. I mean, they looked like a team that
had no interest in playing basketball, all all their starters,
everyone who came in off the bench. They were down

(18:07):
twenty plus late in that second quarter, and then the
Pacers explode on a seventeen to zero run to close
the quarter and they were down forty.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
One at halftime. How is it even possible?

Speaker 5 (18:17):
I think if you me and three other rain and
dudes on the street put together a squad, we wouldn't
be down by forty plus in twenty four minutes of basketball.
They had no interest of being on the court yesterday,
and they were unprepared. They just lacked energy, intensity, really
nothing to do with basketball. They just did not look
like they cared or wanted to play basketball at all.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
And then that's what happened. That's what happens when you
go down by forty.

Speaker 5 (18:40):
I don't think that the Calves have any chance of
coming back, but I will say this series all turned
on Game two when the Calves were up seven with
like a minute to go and they just couldn't grab
a rebound off of two key free throw misses. They
just couldn't rebound the ball off of free throws. And
from there after at Game two, obviously, of course Calves

(19:02):
win Game three to cut it to two to one,
when that was the first game they were back fully healthy.
But last night was just a disaster. You're still Darius
Garland dealing with an injury. Who's he has a different
shoe that he's wearing to address his toe, but he.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Doesn't look the same.

Speaker 5 (19:15):
Donovan Mitchell has been awesome this series, but he's hair
had to carry such a huge loop.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
I mean, he's average.

Speaker 5 (19:20):
He was averaging over forty points a game in the
series coming into last night, and so it's not shocking
that he got hurt because of the load that he
had to carry coming to the series or in this series.
So without Darius Garland for those first couple of games
and then Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter out for Game two,
like the Calves, do have legitimate excuses, But at the
same time, you can't lay that dud that you did

(19:42):
yesterday because now, of course donovd Mitchell's gonna be out
and this was this is the Pacer series, and they're
gonna be back in the conference finals, which you know,
it's they've benefited from absurd, absurd luck that we haven't
seen NBA history from back in back to back postseasons
maybe ever. Because of the absurd luck that they benefited from,
it's rarefied air to make consecutive conference finals appearances, and

(20:02):
those teams that do it, they also make consecutive finals appearances.
This team is not in the class of some of
those teams that have made consecutive conference finals, but because
of absurd luck, and to their credit, they're forty one
and sixteen in the last fifty seven games. So this
team does deserve credit like Tyre's Halliburn, the entire cast
does deserve credit, but they've also benefited from absurd luck.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, who's in front of you, So I have a
hard time holding it against him there. You're absolutely right
about the series completely swung in Game two when the
Cavaliers held a twenty point lead in that game, had
a clear pathway to closing things out and just did
not execute down the stretch.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
Not only just not rebounding.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
Free throws Tyre's Halbert and getting his own free throw
to ultimately produce that dagger. There just stuff that cannot happen.
And I don't think that there is any coming back
from this series now with all the injury concerns, I
do think Garland's like real deal injured. Still, he definitely
does not look the same, And I was watching one
of his postgame interviews kind of him hinting at that,
being like, you guys don't know what I'm going through
to even on the court right now, And it's just like, Yeah,

(21:02):
I don't see a world where these guys are able
to scrap out three consecutive wins against this Pacers team,
who are nasty who do fight man, and I think
deserve credit for that. I do gotta get this off
my chest about Benedic Mathern. Man, I'm I'm a Bendick.
You're you texted me and you were passionate. I think
I'm the most mad in the world. So to explain
a little bit my setup here, because I do think

(21:22):
this impacts how you viewed it. I was watching the
Phillies game on the top TV had NBA on the bottom,
so my sound was on the Phillies game, so I
could not hear the broadcast speaking about the Matthern thing.
I don't know if that impacted it, but I have
watch yes Shwolb two Dinger shout out to him Zach
Wheeler stud on the Mount Austin Phillies game, but nonetheless
Matthron and the bottom screen. And I've watched the Depruder film.

(21:43):
I've watched it slowan down, zoomed than anything. It's absolutely
absurd that he got kicked out of that game yesterday.
And my biggest issue with Bennetick Mafern getting ejected is
still the lack of consistency across referring.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
In the NBA.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
If Draymond Green did that exact play. I'm not even
sure that there's a foul called on him. But Ben
matth And is kicked out of the game and DeAndre
Hunter walking right over two hands shoving them, which I
get it. These two have been going at it all series.
This has been every game that there's been some sort
of altercation perform. But for that to not be at
least punished the same way is crazy to me. That
should have been double text and move on. That's not

(22:15):
a close pitch fist punch. It's just not you can
I mean, he shouldn't have done it. I'm not saying
that Benedict Matherin should have done that to DeAndre Hunter,
but I think it is absurd that they kicked him
out of the game for that. And I do think that,
like there's a lot of players they do that exact
same action and it is playing on check ball and
not a big deal whatsoever.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
What I texted you is that if Draymond did that,
it's probably not not that.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
Yeah, nothing, Seriously, I can hear the announcers. I'm not
sure there's intent there. If there's Draymond Green doing that,
like the way the league will bend over backwards to
give this additional leash to Draymond Green that clearly, as
indicated last night, other guys don't get is crazy. So
pick how this stuff has to be called and stick
to it. Inconsistent referering is worse than bad referering. I

(22:58):
think we've got a lot of incosident referring in this playoffs.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
We've had absurd quotes, just some of the best.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
That's why this league is so great, because it produces
the best quotes and just the most absurd quotes from
some of these guys.

Speaker 4 (23:09):
Maybe the best.

Speaker 5 (23:10):
My favorite quote of all time, at least in the
last five years, definitely top ten, was Draymond saying that
there's an agenda out them to portray him as an
angry and he said, angry black man.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
There is no agenda, Draymond Green.

Speaker 5 (23:24):
You are portrayed as an angry man because you are
an angry man on the court, and that has nothing
to do with what you are outside the parameters of
an NBA basketball court. But in those parameters, you are
really angry. And guess what, It's part of what drives you.
It's part of what makes you great, It's part of
what makes you the emotional leader on this Warriors team

(23:44):
has won four championships with you, but you are an
angry dude. You come at people. It's not like, do
we have to rehash every single Inston the Rudy Gobert incidents,
the punching and the nuts and I mean the compilations
after he made those comments. We're just crazy of like
four minute long videos of all the insane incidents of
him acting like an absolute nut job. It's not agenda.

(24:07):
Like anyone who has two eyes, it's not this media portrayal.
There's narrative that that that came out of thin air.
Anyone who's two eyes watching basketball can see how that
you are a nut job on the court. And it's
I don't even mean that derogatorily like he it's a
good thing, like him being a nut is good for
the team.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
But I think Draymond forgets that these games are televised
sometimes we're all able to watch what exactly happens. That
you're just flailing arms into people and kicking guys for
no reason. Stopping on this demonest a bonus. We've seen
a million altercations. He's got five flaggrant fouls and four
technicals already in this playoffs here. That's some sad stuff.
And I do think him discovering that you can get

(24:44):
a flagrant and technical in the same game without getting
kitchen it's a game that's a dangerous game for the
rest of the league right now.

Speaker 5 (24:51):
And then and then Brian Winhors came out and said, yeah,
everyone around the league complains about how he gets a
different whistle, and it's true, right, it's one hundred per
century like most people that in that Rocket series, in
that game where he got the flagrant and the tacticle,
that's true flagrance for literally anybody else. Yeah, he gets
a longer leash because of who he is in the
reputation he's built. So I'm not saying he deserves or
doesn't deserve that, but yeah, it's everything that that that

(25:13):
people say about you, Draymond is because of your actions.
But to go back to the Benedict Benedict Mathrine ejection,
I didn't feel as strongly about it as you, but
I did, like I did think that the retaliation effort
also should have been punished. So DeAndre Hunter, that was
that was a hard push. You don't see that a lot.

Speaker 4 (25:31):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (25:31):
DeAndre Hunter also should have been ejected from that game.
But look, I mean that happens. I think it was
because of below the belt and it was a bad
spot where Benedict Mathrine hit him that which could have
could have impacted that. But in general, I don't I
don't necessarily have that much of a problem with it.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, I think it's an all or nothing thing. To me.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
If they had thrown out both, I don't think I
would have cared that strongly. If they kept both in
the game, that would have been my preferred route, and
I think that should have been double technicals and move on.
I mean, Ben matther knew exactly what he's doing. He
he is going into that archetype of the Pat Beverly's,
the Dylan Brooks, the Draymond Greens.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
And he's a good basketball player too. Don't get me wrong.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
I've been a Benedict Madvein fan since Arizona. He's a
guy would want all My team absolutely scored twenty one
points in Game three, and I thought had a really
significant impact on that game as well. I think that
brings something a team a little bit of the edge here,
And shout out to this Pacers team, by the way,
on top of all the other stuff you mentioned, they
do have a unique way to make the team that
they're playing in a seven game series just absolutely despise

(26:26):
them over the course of the series.

Speaker 5 (26:29):
And I think it's because partly because of the injury
thing that I'm talking about, where it's like all these
teams are playing them, like, yeah, this is a good team,
Like they're definitely hard to guard. Their defenses as elevated
the last few months. Like their clutch time performance is
Tyre saliburn, he steps up, Like this is a really
good deep basketball team, plays with fast paced moves the
ball leave the NBA and passes. We get all that,

(26:51):
But if you're an opposing team and you're like, all right,
we've never been healthy playing you throughout these series, like
you have to be pissed off, Like this team is
show voting their of guys who are frontrunners on that
group or on that team, I think and nobody and
like and nobody, and they haven't played teams that are healthy.
So to me, if I'm on another team, I'm like,
all right, this is this is kind of getting annoying

(27:13):
at the fact that we haven't nobody's seen this team
healthy and this team show voting, running around like they've
won something huge when they're just escaping playoff series against
teams that are injured. But they do deserve credit, like
this is you're right here, who's in front of you.
This is a good team. I just this isn't an
elite team. And usually if you make back back conference finals,
you're an elite team, and that usually means a top
six to eight team in the NBA, and they just

(27:34):
aren't that.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
Yeah, And I think the other thing that's unique to
them is they're more of like a pure basketball team
than we generally see in the NBA that, like so
much of the NBA as a whole, is driven by
star power, having the guy, the best player on the floor,
and that's just not Indiana. That like, they run legitimate offense.
They have all this off ball cutting. They generate the
looks as a team, not just one player specifically, which

(27:55):
I don't think we've seen in a team this successful
at doing that in a while now. So I ultimately
we'll see I do think they take care of business
and then they'll have their hand at this next matchup
that we're gonna talk about here. So the Boston Celtics
and New York Knicks. I would say, probably, at least
from my view, the one that I've had the most
vested interest in in this opening round, or the Knicks

(28:15):
having still holding a two to one series lead. It
will be Game four tonight. The Celtics are six and
a half point favorite. It's minus two fifty eight on
the money line over understanding at two eight. Sam Austrey,
how you feeling about tonight's matchup.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
I think it's a must win for the Knicks, I
really do, and I know I thought that the Celtics
were gonna come back to MSG or come back to
Boston to too because Celtics have been awesome on the road.
I mean, they have a better net rating on the
road than they do at home this season. They five
more road wins than they do home wins this season,
So it really wasn't concerned to me what they've lost
to at home because they've been great at on the road,

(28:48):
and they've been particularly great at MSG this season, so
I always thought the series would come back to TOO.
I just think it's a must win for the Knicks.
Like the Celtics have led ninety five percent of the
time this series, and they build up twenty point leads
in every single game.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (29:02):
But despite them trailing two to one, it's pretty clear
who the better team is, and I don't think that's
ever been disputed. What I've seen the Celtics clean up
throughout this series is just their their shot chart and
their shot diet, and it's become way healthier. And it
starts with they shot sixty two shots in game one
were threes. That came down to forty three percent in

(29:24):
Game two, and then game three it was forty eight percent.
So that's really what what when the Celtics are at
the best, when they're their most like half, roughly fewer
than half of the shots are threes. And it's not
just the threes and the volume of threes, it's how
they're generating threes. They did a really bad job of
getting in the lane, attacking mismatches, attacking switches, and putting
pressure on the rim, which obviously collaps defense forces drive

(29:47):
and kick puts the defense in rotation, and that's how
they generate good threes. In game one, it was awful,
like they was just all just like isolation. Jason Tatum
was getting the switches he wants onto Genlen Brunson on
Carl Anthony Towns onto Mitchell Robinson, and he just couldn't.
He wasn't doing a good job producing and attacking off
those switches. I think the Celtics have done better of that.
And of course they shot twenty five percent from three

(30:08):
in games one and two, like that wasn't going to Kenyu.
They only shot less than thirty percent from three and
back to back games once this entire regular season, So
it was a statistical anomaly the three point shooting, regardless
of about open the looks were. And to me, it
wasn't really just about Tatum or Jalen Brown. It was
a lot about the other guys like Derek White is
probably their best spot up shooter, and he was awful

(30:31):
from three in games one and game two, shooting twenty
nine percent from three coming into game three. Then game
three comes around and he obviously shoots fifty percent from three,
makes three threes. So it's guys like that who I
thought everyone was. There was a lot of discussion of
like how open are these looks? Are these good shots?
Are they not good shots? To me, Derek White was
getting the most open shots and open looks of anyone

(30:52):
on the Celtics, So I was like, this guy's one
who has to hit shots. He hits a couple more
threes in games one and game two, and it's completely
different story that we're talking about.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
So he played much better than Game three.

Speaker 5 (31:03):
It's gonna come down to the supporting cast, not just
Tatum and Jalen Brown. And I feel good about the
Celtics winning tonight and also probably wrapping this series up,
but I do think it still goes seven.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
Interesting. I mean, as far as your overall points here,
they were doing for some positive shooting regression. There's no
doubt about it that, like this is who this team's been.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
Also that Joe Mizzula finally woke up and acted like
a championship winning coach in Game three. The timeout usage
anytime that the Knicks started to have a little bit
of life, just nipping that in the butt in a
way that he just didn't in the two games I
thought was really important to that game here. The poort
zingiest thing I think is a legitimate concern to me
from Boston's perspective, I don't know what's going on. No
one seems to He's obviously dealing with some sort of

(31:42):
viral infection that's bothered him for a while.

Speaker 6 (31:44):
He just doesn't look like himself, and I look looked awful.
Yeah game, even when he's not even playing that much.
But even when he's playing, he can't even make layups
obviously shooting like ten percent from three something around that,
he looked this is the worst I've ever seen him.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, it's it's honestly like frightening. Like I think there
is something like legitimate, like wrong with him health wise,
because like the coloring of him, the way he's moving,
he just doesn't look like kristavs Porzingis, which is kind
of a scary thought here. And to that same point,
I think Father Father time chasing down Al Horford a
little bit for the first time finally, as that dude's
been doing it forever. He has not looked quite like himself.

(32:16):
He's still had a couple flashes, and I mean, he's
gonna bring what he can bring to the table. But
the bottom line here is, man, we've known this all along.
Boston Celtics are the better basketball team. There shouldn't have
ever been a question about that, despite the people that
have talked themselves into it. So I think the Celtics
end up rolling again tonight. I do like the minus
six and a half in favor him.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
It wouldn't.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
I still think this is Boston and six. I think
that they win three straight or four straight here, three
straight at this point. This next team I Midnight always
comes Sam Austrey, that you can run from it, you
can do whatever, you can't escape it. That they're the
pumpkin is always going to show up there. So I
think that's what we're in the process up currently.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
Before the series, I said the key to the series
for the Knicks to win was the Celtics were gonna
shoot thirty percent or worse from three, and there's gonna
have to be an injury or two in there, which
Chris STAPs going out for stretches, maybe Drew Holliday reinduce
his hamstring, something like that. And both those two team
things came to fruition in game ones. In Game one
and two, they shot less than thirty percent for three
and Kristaps left Game one early with this illness and

(33:14):
then he just hasn't looked good.

Speaker 4 (33:16):
And I think that also hurts Al Horford like he is.
Al Horford is old.

Speaker 5 (33:20):
He is not meant to play twenty five to thirty minutes,
even thirty plus minutes a.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
Night like that.

Speaker 5 (33:26):
That's just not who Al Horford is anymore. And why
it's worked the last couple of seasons is because Chris
STAPs was there. Obviously, Kristaps is their starting center. Al
Horford comes off the bench, but Chris STAPs is there
just to carry that load at center for long stretches.
Christaps obviously can't play more than like fifteen to eighteen
minutes right now because of this weird illness that he's
got going on. So that also hurts at Horford and

(33:48):
he looks tired. So look the Knicks. What they what
I had been impressed with, especially in Games one and
two when they came back from two twenty point wins,
was their physicality and toughness and just like grit that
you didn't really see throughout the regular season. I was
really of the mindset that they traded that toughness for
talent when they got kar Anthony Town to Michel Bridges, those.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
Type of guys.

Speaker 5 (34:09):
You saw that, and I think the Detroit Pistons unlocked
that in that first round series because of how physical
that series was. The next only way they were advancing
was to match that physicality and match that defensive intensity.
And I think you saw that translate and come over
to the series against the Celtics.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
So I was impressed. From that standpoint, the Celtics are
the better team. I think the Knicks can win one
of four games.

Speaker 5 (34:32):
I don't think they're gonna get swept or it's not swept,
but obviously lose four straight to the Celtics if it's
an off night for the Celtics.

Speaker 4 (34:38):
Whatever is next? Offense?

Speaker 5 (34:40):
Like we talked about the Celtics offense a lot, the
Celtics defense has been really good and really hurting the
Knicks offense, which which has struggled going back to the
Pistons series, but it certainly struggled for most of three
quarters in games one and two, and of course in
Game three when they got blown out.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Here's the thing, who do you trust more?

Speaker 5 (34:57):
Who is the best player on the floor, and who
do you try us the most five minutes left in
the game if it's a five to ten point game.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
So Jason Datum has been bad. I can't I can't
run from that question here. I did want to my
only pushback there by by Knick's offense. You're referring to
Jalen Brunston dribble the ball for twenty seconds while the
other four guys stand around.

Speaker 5 (35:16):
Correct, Yeah, I mean you could you could say that's
their offensive approach.

Speaker 4 (35:21):
It's not inaccurate.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
But I mean to your point, like, I can understand
the case that Jalen Brunston has been the best player
in the series. The Tatum stuff is concerning as well.
Like that game too, not only did he obviously like
get stuffed at the balls or and not even get
a real shot off or I guess he was trying
to pass it at the end there, it was a
mess of a possession of the bottom line, it what
was concerning to me about that specifically for starters, he

(35:45):
looked kind of just like stiff and uncomfortable in general.
And then sort of the Jason Tatum shot is a
step back three and he had the opportunity to get
to it, and I don't know why, Like I guess
he drove past in the previous possession to get to
the rim and had success there. But and then he
not only kind of attacked the rim, he just steered
himself directly into Michal Bridges and og Anoby, So like, yes,

(36:07):
great play by Bridges and Og, no doubt about it.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Like the Knicks, dude deserve credit for getting to stop there.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
But that was just an absolutely maddening and concerning possession
from Tatum's perspective.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
There and Mitchell Robinson too.

Speaker 5 (36:18):
So what happened on that possession was they ran the
same exact play, which is a high ball screen set
right around half court. And how the Knicks or how
Og guarded it was he picked up Jayson Tatum right
at half court, so the pickup point was so high,
so Jason Tatum just explodes to the rim and he
gets obviously an easy dunk. Their pickup point was way lowers,
right around the three point line with Ognoby and Mitchell

(36:39):
Robinson had a great contain on that, so like when
you pick up points way lower, it was easier that
and so Jason Tatum, I guess, didn't think the Knicks
would make that adjustment, so he thought he had an
easy bucket or an easy drive to the rim. He
didn't obviously, and the mckel comes over and gets the
big stop. Jayleen Brunson, the reason why I'm saying the
Knicks still have a chance is because if this game
is within five to ten points, any game the remain,

(37:01):
He's win the five to ten points with five to
ten minutes or excuse me, five minutes to go. I
trust Jalen bruns You could say their offensive offense is
this helio centric approach where it just revolves around Jalen Brunson,
and you know they're not really running pick and pops
for with Karlthon Towns that effectively in these playoffs.

Speaker 4 (37:17):
Yeah, really at all when that was really the.

Speaker 5 (37:19):
Most successful successful play type throughout the regular season.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
I think he's in this area. I'm pretty sure it was.

Speaker 4 (37:25):
In game three.

Speaker 5 (37:25):
He only shot like two or three games one and two,
So that's been kind of maddening, honestly, because like pick
and pop is what they do really well, and they're
not doing it at all, So I'd like to see
more of that. But the point is that Jalen Brunson
is like you can have that helio centric approach when
the game is late and it's like you need a
guy to get you a bucket, and Jelen Brunton is

(37:46):
as clutch as it comes. He is, just he's just
a different dude when the game is on the line,
and compared to Jason Tatum, who we know can also
falter down the stretch of games. I'm trusting the Knicks
and Jalen Brunson if this game is tight, so that
the only Celtics really way that I'm gonna trust Boston
is if they just blow the game out and the
Knicks don't have another twenty point comeback in them and

(38:06):
it's not close down the stretchesn't even get to crunch time.
If it gets to crunch time, I trust Jalen Brunson
to the lever another win. So I think they get
one more win and then it goes to seven.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
I think that's totally fair if it gets to that point.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
I just need the Celtics to step on the throat
as soon as possible, and I think that was a
clear focus in Game three. So I hope that is
the case tonight. We will see how that shakes out.
We'll touch briefly on the final game of the night,
which is between the Golden State Warriors in Minnesota Timberwolves.
A gutsy, gutsy win by Minnesota in Game three, I
thought that Golden State sort of brought their best punch there.
I will bring up the Jimmy Butler not performing like

(38:41):
a Jalen Brunson type that that has kind of been
his reputation through the years. They get me to crunch
time and I'll take over. And he did not score
a bucket in the final eight minutes of that game.
Any takeaways on that specific matchup? And do you think
this is over without Steph Curry having a chance until
at least game six?

Speaker 5 (38:57):
Yeah, this series is beyond over. It's the most It's
more over to me than the Cavs Pacers is. And
it's because even if Steph Curry does come back, what
does Steph Curry do.

Speaker 4 (39:06):
Better than anyone?

Speaker 5 (39:07):
It's move off the ball, and he's just constantly moving.
A hamstring injury will inhibit that movement. Like even if
Curry comes back for Game six, and the series might
be over by then, but even if he does come
back for Game six, he's not going to be able
to move out effectively off the ball. Like what he
is for this offense. Forget what he is when he
has the ball in his hands.

Speaker 4 (39:27):
It's what he is. His gravity as a screener, coming
off screens, all that stuff, and it's just he's moved
he's constantly.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
Moving without the ball, like I think he ran almost
two miles in that game seven against the Rockets. That
is a lot of movement throughout a basketball game that
you don't see from a lot of players that will
be gone with a hamstring injury. Even if he's healthy
enough to play where it's obviously not going to be
one hundred percent. So I don't think the Warriors have
a chance. You see what this offense is without, without
Steph Curry, Like it's the whole thing to me was

(39:54):
this Warrior's defense has been great. They're not going to
break a hundred. That's what I said the second Steph
Curry went out, and they have broke a hundred. Like,
they can't break one hundred points. It doesn't matter how
good your defense is. And their defense has been really
good at limiting the Wolves, who half court offense struggles
in of itself.

Speaker 4 (40:09):
But if you can't score, it doesn't matter. And they
can't score.

Speaker 5 (40:12):
Jimmy Butler was great, You're right until the last eight
minutes or so of the game, thirty three points. They
don't have enough shooting around him. Brandon Pozimski has to
step up. I believe he was one for ten from
the field that game. You can't even play Moses Moody
in this in this contest, and can we have a
conversation about Jonathan Kaminga.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
I am so impressed by this guy.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
I don't know what to say about Jonathan Kamenka man.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
I mean, like I saw I like Kamenga coming out
of he was a de league Knight guy. So seeing that,
like lone year there and he was a guy that
I bought into, He's bothered me from the perspective of
like he very clearly has refused to buy into this
Warrior system and he's not like.

Speaker 4 (40:48):
It's not his his play style that's the problem.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
But you this is like a two way street here.
I think Steve Kerr has absolutely handled him wrong. Like
I'm not arguing that whatsoever. I think it's pretty indefensible.
Like some of the lack of opportunity he d not
DNP and four of the past year, I think he
was in three of them, played seven minutes one of
the game. Regardless of the point being like he's not
a regular rotation guy. The other part that's frustrating is
when he gets this opportunity, like he's very clearly seeing

(41:14):
his brain of like I'm proving myself, like I'm gonna
make sure I look like the best player on the
floor when like.

Speaker 5 (41:19):
Well he should because he's about to get paid this summer,
so it's an audition every time he's on the floor.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
So if you're an NBA team right now, what are
you comfortable paying Jonathan Kamena.

Speaker 4 (41:28):
So I really like Johnath I always have.

Speaker 5 (41:31):
I just think he's an athletic specimen and I think
he's developed a shot. He would be like an all
star level player, and he just just never developed a shot.
And that's why he hasn't fit in Steve Curs system
because he's not a guy that that is is.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
But Gary Payton can't shoot, Like there's guys that make
it work.

Speaker 5 (41:48):
You're right, but but Gary Peyton is such a great
on ball defender that that it makes up for it.

Speaker 4 (41:53):
And I'm not saying he can't be.

Speaker 5 (41:58):
He should be, like based on all his profile, in
his size and as lem, he should be a better
defender honestly, but but he's not for whatever reason.

Speaker 4 (42:05):
But Gary Payne also like he.

Speaker 5 (42:07):
Is a three and DP prototype where he can just
kind of like hang out in the corner and if
Curry when the defense the gravity, the defense draws in
the Curry, he can get open looks from that. Jonathan
Guimmy isn't that type of guy, Like he's more of
like a downhill driver slasher type. And it's just for
whatever reason, Steve curR is not a fan of his.
He hasn't bought into the Warrior system. I don't think

(42:27):
the Warrior system is right for him. You're right that
it's a two way street and this obvious, this divorce
is obviously coming. But it's just funny that I'm impressed
by him because Steve Kerr wants nothing to do with him,
like he's Steve Kurry. If it was up to curR,
he would never play. But when you have all these
injuries like Jimmy Butler last series, where it's is why
he played a little bit, and then Steve Steph Curry
goes down need offense generated from somewhere, and even if

(42:49):
it's not the exact place style you want, Jonathan Gimming
can have knights where he explodes for thirty points and
and and that's what's so impressive that he's just stay
ready guy. And I think he's gonna he's gonna he's
gonna get paid this summer, like he's gonna.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
Get I don't know, twenty million, Like.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
I think could see more than that.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah, maybe more than that.

Speaker 5 (43:07):
So I'm a fan of his and I've been impressed.
Now he just stays ready despite his organization giving up
on him, and he's still stepping up in these situations.
But it doesn't really matter because the Warriors offense can't score.
Like I said, they benched Moses Moody because he's a
great defender, but he can't shoot. Gary Payton can't shoot.
Jimmy Putler was great, but he can't do it all.
And in the fourth quarter he looked like an old
tired guy who's who's past his prime.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
So this series is over for me. If they can't
break a hundred.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
Yeah, I would have given him a puncher's chance.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
But they were able to dig out and find a
win in Game three and just keep that hope that
you can get steph back. But I think losing that
one was sort of the nail on the coffin there.
And just for the record here for what a just
well perceived organization Golden State Warriors have been under Bob
Meyer's tenure, a whole lot of draft misses. Man, Like
you run down the list of the James Wiseman's, the
Moses Moody is like, there is none of those guys

(43:54):
have quite filled the shoes that they've needed them to
for this window to continue being extended here timelines. Yeah,
the Wiseman one is really the one that you can't
like that sunk this ship.

Speaker 5 (44:05):
But again, like that team was still competing for championships
at the time, which why I defend the Wiseman pick
a little bit, because number one, that team was still
competing with championships. They needed a center, like if they
got ready now center, which obviously Wiseman wasn't that, but
they were hoping that he would be and could be
part of the future if you get a win already
now center for that and they want a championship anyway,

(44:25):
But that's that was a missing piece to compete for championships. Again,
so I get them taking that approach when obviously there
was better guys, way better guys who went beyond Wiseman.

Speaker 4 (44:34):
Also, that was COVID year, I believe it was twenty twenty.

Speaker 5 (44:37):
So like the draft process and the evaluation period was
very different.

Speaker 3 (44:40):
But James Wiseman was just never good at basketball though,
Like he never was he played like he played I
think eight games in college. He played less than twenty
his senior year of high school. Like there was less
than a thirty game sample size for this guy. Like
I I and I get it. You could see the
row skills, the size, all that thing, But I mean,
we see where's James Wiseman at these days?

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Not even exactly sure.

Speaker 4 (45:01):
I mean it was in the league.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Yeah, yeah, so regardless, though, doing a touch on Giannis
real quick before we do a live spin to wrap
up here, We did get a report from Shan Sharania
today that for the first time in his career, Jannis
and Dakoupo seems open to the idea of pursuing opportunities
outside Milwaukee, or at least opening that door a little
bit there. To me, it's pretty clear the writing is
on the wall that that means this dude will inevitably

(45:24):
be traded. I do think that this is sort of
a mutual breakup where it makes sense for both sides.
They got their championship, Jannis did give his all to
that franchise that he should not be looked at downly
by Milwaukee fans in any sort of way. But any
takeaways from this report dropping today.

Speaker 4 (45:38):
Real quick to give James wiseman is justice.

Speaker 5 (45:41):
He is on the Pacers and I actually forgot this,
but he tore his achilles the very first game of
the season this year.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Damn shout out. I hate to hear that.

Speaker 5 (45:49):
Yes, obviously, but so he's on the Pacers and we'll
see where he goes from there.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
Get a ring maybe, yeah, very.

Speaker 5 (45:56):
Unlikely, Yannis conversation. So like this was always inevitable. This report,
to me, is just how these processes go. Where Shams
gets the scoop a little bit. Teams have been calling
teams or no, he's becoming available. The next report will
be that they're mutually agreeing. It's not gonna be a
trade request. It'll be that they're mutually agreeing to go

(46:17):
their separate ways. They're gonna look for ways to move
on because he's such a value member the franchise and
the Bucks are going a different direction. Blah blah blah,
a bunch of pr spin. The Janna's trait is coming.
Everybody knows that this is just the first step. The
league knows it. Twenty nine teams who would love to
get Giannis know it. There are a couple of teams
and the Thunder, depending on how the series plays out,
or an intriguing intriguing team because they have, along with

(46:42):
the Rockets, a war chest of assets, and that includes
young players and draft picks. Because how the Bucks are
going to approach this in terms of the hole they're
going to get back is the Bucks don't control any
of their first round picks until it's either twenty thirty
or twenty thirty one.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
I believe it's one. Yeah, so the Bucks don't control
any of the first round picks.

Speaker 5 (47:00):
So yeah, they want picks, but they can't necessarily go
on a full rebuild because they don't control the picks.
Even if they're one of the worst teams in the league,
they're not gonna have their picks, and there are pathways
to get their picks back, but not really easy. So yeah,
they want picks from other teams that they know are
gonna be bad. Like there's the Rockets have some of
those Sons picks, and if the Sun's blowed up, the
Sons could be pretty bad. So there's a lot of

(47:21):
pathways to get Giannis. But the team is gonna have
to have young players to give the Bucks back because
they're gonna want good young players. And we know the
Rockets package of I don't know exactly what it looked like,
but we know that they have Terry Terry Easton that's available,
Goon could be available. Jalen Green of course if who
knows if the Bucks are interested in him after his

(47:42):
playoff performance. But there's guys like Cam Whitmore, who out
of the rotation read Shepherd's number three pick, who didn't
play at all pretty much this year except in the
G League, who I still think is going to be
a great player in the NBA. So they have so much,
so many young players along with a thunder with like
Aaron Wagan, some of these other guys and pick.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
So those are really two.

Speaker 5 (48:01):
Teams that I see that are the most likely destinations
for you, honest, And it'll be interesting to see how
this negotiation plays out.

Speaker 3 (48:07):
Yeah, definitely a couple other names I'll throw in the mix,
Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, and I know the Brooklyn Nets
have been pretty open on Circle to the point where
like ticket vendors are floating that out there like.

Speaker 4 (48:18):
They have nothing to give up except picks. But we're
talking about the Bucks want young players, and it's not
only that.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
If they're going to agree to a destination for Jihannis,
why would you want to go to the Milwaukee. You
have to bring another store with you, and then you
have to build out a roster like they have nothing
to offer you. Honest, They're going to be a bad
not a bad team, but like a bad playoff team
in the East.

Speaker 4 (48:37):
So why would he want to go there?

Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (48:39):
I mean fair, we'll see. I also the other point
I'll add on it. I don't think it is coincident
on whatsoever that this dropped on the day of the
NBA Draft lottery. I think that is a pretty calculated
move by all parties involved there, and we'll see ultimately
how it shakes. I have a lottery unfoultd today. We
could certainly have an impact on this. And who knows,
maybe that the Milwaukee's trying to swing up will trade

(48:59):
Youana for the one pick type move depending on who
gets that now. But it is the Sixers, I'm out
keep me on the Cooper flag train, no doubt about
that there.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
But who knows? Every team is what team?

Speaker 4 (49:08):
What team should trade that I'm one pick for Janni's.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
I honestly I would take Cooper Flag over Janni's just
from the age and who it's gonna be pretty much
from all teams, there would be my position there.

Speaker 5 (49:20):
What about the Spurs interesting, I think Cooper Flag is
a great fit with them, But if Jannis and Anta
Takoumpo joined forces, that would that they would literally be
impossible to score at the rim.

Speaker 4 (49:30):
On those guys.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
Fair, I can, I gut you can. I can see
the case.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
I guess my pushback would be, do you think there's
a world where Cooper.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Flagg ends up a better NBA player than Giannis? Because
I do.

Speaker 5 (49:39):
I don't love dude, Dude, I love Cooper Flag. We're
talking about a two time MVP and NBA champion, NBA
Finals MVP. If he has Giannis's career, I mean that
that is the absolute peaks thing.

Speaker 4 (49:51):
I love Cooper Flag.

Speaker 5 (49:52):
I think he's an all NBA guy, But Gianni's is
a two time MVP.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Sure, yeah, Gianni's is awesome, but I think Cooper Flag
is pretty awesome. So well, we'll see, We'll bookmark that
one a little bit, see how the chips fall and
speaking of why don't we run a little simulation ourselves
to wrap things up here? So shout out to tankathon
dot com, which is a website that I've frequented quite
a bit over the years throughout the six Ers tenure.
We have nine hours and four minutes until lottery at

(50:19):
the time of me and Sam recording this year, We're
gonna do one spin to wrap things up. You ready
for the Sam Oustri?

Speaker 4 (50:24):
Yeah, there was actually real quick. There's a good article.

Speaker 5 (50:26):
I think it was the Inquire something how or I
forget who, but someone said or they talked to the
Tankathon owner and all they pretty much talked about how
all their business over the last decade has come from
the Philadelphia region.

Speaker 3 (50:39):
Yeah, that doesn't shock me whatsoever. So let's give this
one go. So depending on how this goes is whether
how I'm committed to this. To me, all win is
keeping the pick.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Well, let's hit one, Sam to see how things go tonight,
and we hit it. It's spinning and.

Speaker 3 (50:53):
The Sixers the sixth pick that keeping the draft pick
just kept it, just kept it there. So once again
it has to fall within the top six sports to
be keep that. To me, the win is just keeping
the draft like, obviously the number one pick is ideal,
but if you have a chance to add a top
six talent, you can tie me up for that ten
times out of ten.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Any final words on the NBA Draft Ladder or anything
else before we sign off, Sam.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
I just want to say that I don't know if
we're going beyond Cooper Flagg who you'd be interested in,
but Edgecom.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
I've been watching some eight BJA.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
He's awesome, and.

Speaker 5 (51:23):
I think he'd be a great fit for the Sixers.
Just this dread leticism. Ibe flies in for offensive rebounds,
he can hit threes, a floor spacer defensively's got I'm
really all in on this on this guy, and I
think especially for a fit like the Sixers, where he's
not going to be a star or anything, but he
will have an immediate impact. So I don't know if
that lands at three or four, maybe beyond Cooper Flagg

(51:43):
where they'd go. I think Dylan Harper probably number two
regardless because he's just gonna be number two on everyone's board.

Speaker 4 (51:48):
But I like edge Com. I don't know who you're
interested in, but that that's my guy.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
Yeah. I still own some Ace Bailey stock and I'm
a believer there.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
I am a vd Edgcomb guy as well, and I've
kind of been pumping those up specifically to Mark Henry Junior.
He's a bit of a skeptic there. He moved like
Anthony Edwards man, like the way that his athletic pop
is and all that. I wish he was a tad
bigger and a little bit more polished as like a
shooter or offensive talent there, but the raw athleticism there,
you can sign me up for VJ. I like Malawak
as well. There's a lot so we'll have a more

(52:16):
calculator approach and how we're addressing this draft after tonight,
we will see what happens from there.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
But appreciate Youchi.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Morn you guys for tuning us to hear on Fox
Sports The Gambler. Plenty more coming on the other side
from Sean Brace on the Daily Ticket, so make sure
to keep it locked on your dial here, me and
Sam will be back talk with you next time.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
The Picks and Roll podcast can be found on FOXPHL
Gambler dot com.