On today’s episode, Jason breaks his well-deserved time away for an emergency podcast recapping all the biggest NBA Sunday headlines. During the show, J-Mac discusses how Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles injury put a big damper on what should’ve been a riveting Game 7 of the NBA Finals, what Haliburton’s injury (coupled with Jayson Tatum’s season-ending Achilles injury) means for the Eastern Conference as a whole next season, whether we can expect newly-minted champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder to repeat as champions next season, why the addition of Kevin Durant makes the Houston Rockets a legitimate title contender in 2026 and how he expects the Phoenix Suns to pivot in their post-KD era.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up Straight Fire? Fam?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
It's me Rob json and with Jason McIntyre on Straight
Fire for Monday, June twenty third, doing my best Jay
mc impersonation. J Mack checking in from Parts unknown, interrupting
his much deserved vacation to give you some takes because
it was an incredible day in the NBA on Sunday,
starting off Kevin Durant traded to Houston. We'll get into that,
(00:37):
and capped off with the Oklahoma City Thunder taking down
the Indiana Pacers in Game.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Seven of the NBA.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
J Mack, I know you're sad to be, you know,
taking a time away from the family in this vacation
where you're not wearing a shirt.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Right now, I can tell why are you doing this?
First off, why are you doing this?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Let's be real. I love sports.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
It's not a vacation. It is a supporting event that
I'm attending that is so fun. And I did watch
all of Game seven with some dads. It was exciting
for a few moments and then very sad and then
kind of exciting and then crappy. But I would be
keep it real with you, Rob so listen. When I'm
watching my kids play sports, I'm locked in. Yeah, I'm recording,
(01:24):
you know, all the action. I'm talking to parents, I'm
checking the score. You know, I'm doing a little coaching
when I shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Be all that crap.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
And I was not checking texts at all. And I
think like an hour went by before I saw Kevin
Durant got traded, and I was like, oh, And honestly,
I didn't like totally panic. I just said to some guys, oh,
Durank got traded to the Rockets. They were like, wow, Okay.
I didn't even know the whole for hours. So I
had to catch up on it, you know, like liquid
(01:52):
lunch and then some adult beverages, and here we are.
I know you're locked in on the deal, but start
with the finals because obviously Tyrese Haliburton going down just devastating.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Absolutely the biggest news of that game, unfortunately happened early
in the first quarter where Tyre's Halliburton, a situation that
unfortunately you and I called about a week and a
half ago before Game six, when it was reported that
he had an MRI and he had a seriously strained
or seriously strained Calf and we talked about on that
(02:26):
podcast about half the episode honestly about whether or I
should play in Game six because history says you do
not want to have another Kevin Durant situation on your
hands where a guy comes back because it's the Finals,
even though he's clearly hobbled and he's clearly dealing with
an issue that historically has led to worse injuries that
(02:48):
the longer you play on it. And credit to Tyre's
Halliburton played pretty well in Game six where they will
to play limited minutes, and that led a lot of
people in the sports media space. They see and the
heart of a champion, you know, he's got to play,
He's gotta play. This is the Finals. Well, early in
the first quarter, Tyre's Halliburton gets run off a three
(03:08):
point attempt after you hit three of his first yea
like Gangbusters, puts the ball on the deck, immediately grabs
his achilles and you could see him. It was such
a terrible sight to see on the ESPN feed. He's
laying face down screaming no, no, no, no, no, not
because he's in pain, but because he knows exactly what
(03:29):
it is. And now obviously that puts a big dark
cloud over this championship for OKC just quickly came before
I get your thoughts on this one, depending which Twitter
doctor you follow, this was either the sixth or the
eighth achilles tear of the season. I think there's confusion
because some of the guys who are included are guys
(03:49):
who were like on training camp deals who got hurt
or or not full fleet fledged NBA players. But here's
the list of confirmed six Tyre's Halliburn, Jason Tatum, Damien Little,
de Jonte Murray, Isaiah Jackson, Drew Smith. The previous high
ever in NBA history was five.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Wait wait, wait, wasn't there a guy on the Utah
Jazz too.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I'm saying there's some confusion as to whether it's
six or eight.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Either way, it.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Is an NBA record. Now, gosh, just quickly your thoughts.
Should he have been playing? And how do you think
it impacted the game moving far?
Speaker 4 (04:23):
I think I've told the story.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
So during COVID I started hosting pickup games and two
guys popped their achilles, and then I played. I got
this former guy who played at UCLA to on my
men's league, and I got him a Jersey. First game,
he comes out, He's like, oh, I'm playing in a while,
and he says, this calf is tightening up. I'm like,
oh no, maybe you know, but he's dominating. First play
(04:45):
of the second half, Pops is a killer going through.
I mean, I've just I've been around this a lot.
If the calf is hurting, don't do it. It's a
no fly zone. And I know people are gonna be like, oh, well,
he had a great game six and we had like
fifteen to nine or whatever the numbers were. Oh it's fine, No,
it's not now. Not only do you you know obviously
you know you lose him for a year, But I don't.
(05:07):
I don't like, is he gonna ever be back to
one hundred percent? Like Kevin Durant? Did he ever return
to fully one hundred percent? Like he was a great player?
But I don't know that he was ever Warriors KB.
This is just super sad, rob. It's just I mean,
you know, I'm trying to be positive, and the only
positive is looking at like the Knicks or the Calves,
or like the Detroit Pistons, you know who, maybe they
(05:30):
go all in for Giannis.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Like wow, Celtics and Pacers are down.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
Pacers went to the conference finals two years in a row,
and now you lose Haliburton. You're like, you're still got
a good group, but you know, Ben Matherin probably will
step in and average twenty a game next year or whatever.
But I don't know, man, it's just super depressing seeing
these guys go down.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
He's like twenty six years old. Something.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
It's something's got to be I don't know what you
can do look into it, but that was just such
a bummer.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Man.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I saw a lot of people trying to speculate what
it was. You know, some with the tinfoil hatcher saying, well,
you know it's because he's wearing those Puma sneakers and
those aren't.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Known to be good basketball shoes.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
I think that the truth is, and this is talking
to former players and some of these medical doctors, is
this pace and space era that we play in now,
guys are running and cutting harder than they ever have
because there is no lull in the action. There is
no more half court offense where it's throwing down in
the post and let the big man go to work
while you stand around and watch, or you do a
(06:23):
little one guy's moving and everyone else is kind of
standing and screening, especially a team like Indiana. Constant motion,
constant movement. Even a guy like Halliburton, who isn't the
most explosive guy, he's always going up and down because
he's the engine that drives their offense. And you saw
that play out in Game seven. They were able to
(06:43):
withstand the emotional loss of him. In the first half.
They kind of gritted their way, grinding the way. They
were actually up one at halftime. But then in the
second half, when OKC turned up the defensive pressure, they
didn't have anybody else who could really drive that car.
And now, as you look forward to next season, you
mentioned I think Boston's out of the mix. I think
we can assume now Indiana, barring something super unforeseen, they're
(07:06):
probably out of the mix. And you look around, you say,
is it gonna be the Knicks. You don't have a
coach right now. Is it gonna be Orlando who can't score?
Is it gonna be Cleveland who?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
As recently, as.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
You know, two weeks ago, they were talking about breaking
up their Big four and trading Garland or Allen. So
you know, how do you think this shapes out in
the Eastern Conference next season.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
I forgot Orlando. Good, great call, Paolo Bancaro takes a step.
You've got the Wagner Twins, Suggs coming back from injury,
Desmond Bank a pencil in Orlando into the conference finals.
We'll see what the Knicks coaches, but I think Orlando
Knicks in the conference finals. Pacers are gonna be good.
They're gonna be a playoff team. Boston's the one I'd
worry about because they're gonna have a lot of shakeup
(07:48):
and I don't know that they have the depth that
the Pacers do. Boston will be top eight, but like
probably closer to eight than.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
They are four. Detroit a sleeper potentially.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
All this Miami smoke around chasing Kevin Durant, I don't
I don't think they were close.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
So I don't think Miami's close to anything.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
And obviously you know you got like Atlanta lurking if
they can make a move. But it's seriously after Kate
now the kid, he's gone, and Giannis will be next.
If there's a guy out there, I don't even know
who the next best guy would be that you can
make a play. For I mean, make is somebody going
to talk themselves into chasing Joel embiid I can't imagine it.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
With the contract. You then say Paul George will take him.
He's the final piece, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
It becomes kind of sort of interesting as to who
gets chased here.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I'll tell you what, Jay I just you mentioned
the Bucks. I would not be surprised now, even though
I think this is the bad decision if Milwaukee talks
themselves into you know what, we got Giannis and this
Eastern Conference is suddenly more wide open than it's been,
you know what since Lebron left. So if we have
the best player, you know, we might have a puncher's
(08:59):
chance to get out here and see do some damage
here in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Obviously, halliburnon, we push him with speedy recovery and hopefully
he's back full go in two years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
But it kind of put a big cloud.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Over what should have been the Oklahoma City Coronation SGA
completed arguably the greatest individual season by a guard in NBH.
I know you don't like MGA.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know you call him a.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Foul merchant, but let me just read some stuff to
you real quick before I get your thoughts on it.
All right, there are only nine players who have won finals,
MVP and MP in the same season. MJ Lebron, Kareem, Moses, Byrd, Magic,
Duncan shack A, Keem Read and now SGA. And here's
a better one. Only four players have won the MVP,
(09:55):
the scoring title and a championship in the same season. Kareem, Magic,
sh At Shay. Are you ready now?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well is a guard.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
There's no way you can say Shay had a better
season than any of Magic season.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
So okay, are you ready to rescind the foul merchant
label and admit.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
No, the free throw merchant label? Fix. I'm sorry that's
not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Bro, But Shay had a great season. Will you? Will
you concede that.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Yes, Shaye had a great season. He's deserved m VP.
He was phenomenal. He listen, he was outstanding in Game seven.
I mean, I think I saw eleven assists zero turnovers.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Is that I don't know?
Speaker 5 (10:29):
If that was the final numbers. But he was making
some tremendous passes.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
He had a great game.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
No, it's just tough to like be like, well that
was an all time when you know John Moran injury
in round one. You know you brought this up, Aaron Gordon.
In Game seven, Michael Porter was limited the whole series
due to injury. Steph Curry gets hurt, so you face
the Wolves instead of the Warriors, and that was a cakewalk.
And then Haliburton's out for Game seven, like after you're
(10:55):
losing when Haliburton was in there, Like, I'm not saying
they were gonna win with Haliburton, but I certain would
have been a better game than this. And again that
doesn't ding it. Everybody has. You know, the Warriors first
title had Kevin Love injured I can think against the Hawks,
and then Kyrie went down in overtime or something. Yeah,
so like people, all that Warriors title was tainted.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
They still had to go to Lebron, But yes, SGA
and company were excellent.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Congrats. Now let's move on to Kevin time.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Okay, well I just can't get excited.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
First of all, I'll just go on record and it
ain't no going to be no repeat. There will not
be a dynasty is not happening.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I agree with you, and crazily enough, and as you know,
I saw this stat that said that the Oklahoma City defense,
which obviously we agree that they're a defensive team first, right,
even though SGA is the MVP, what they hang their
hat on is defense. Similar to the twenty twenty Lakers
in the bubble, you had Lebron and a d but
what they were was a defensive team. And OKC during
this playoff run had a plus one point thirty one
(11:56):
in the turnover department during during these playoffs, the gap
between them and the number two team, which is the
twenty nineteen Raptors, is equal to the gap between the
number two team and the number sixty three team. So
if they can, you know, stick to this formula and
hopefully j Dubb takes a leap, Jet takes a leap,
(12:18):
you know, maybe you get something from Cason Wallace next year,
because I don't I wasn't really impressed with him during
these playoffs. But you know, if they can get a
consistent offense, then they could be a problem. But the
thing is is, like you, I don't think they're going
to be able to repeat because Number One, I think
the West is super deep. Number Two, we saw throughout
this postseason they are prone to some of the ugliest
(12:38):
offense that you have seen from a you know, elite
team in recent NBA memory. Like their defense is so good.
They forced a lot of termers and that's great, but
you saw against Indiana, you know who has good not
great defenders, just turn their water off multiple games in
this series. And in the fourth quarter, were they not
up twenty two points, you know they've i have lost
(13:00):
that game because they just ground to a halt. Shay
was just chucking up bat shot after bat shot. But
luckily for them, you know, Indiana didn't have their point guards,
so they couldn't quite close the gap.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Big story of the day, the one that's getting everybody
excited because not what it means just for this season,
what it means for this week and this offseason. Kevin
Durant traded to the Houston Rockets. Here's the exact terms
of the deal. Houston's gonna send Dylan Brooks Jalen Green
the number ten overall pick in this upcoming draft here
(13:43):
in a couple of days, and five second rounders for
KD Your thoughts.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
I mean, listen, this is pretty much what we've been
saying all along. I just jotted down rom as you
were explaining that the best young players on the Rockets,
and I think we would agree on men.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Thompson's one yes, shen Good is two yes, and.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
The next four are kind of up in the air, right.
Jalen Green would have been in that mix. But the
young kid read out of Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
They love him.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
He was a lottery pick. Cam Whitmore has shown flashes.
I think he had a forty point game. He's super young,
but massive upside. Tarry Eason, young guy, they were not
willing to put him in the deal. And then Jabari Smith,
who I think was the number two overall pick, who
has shown flashes. Rob that's six really good young players.
They've stacked with good young players, and all Phoenix was
(14:38):
able to get with Jalen Green just so the salaries
would match. That to me, tells you that Phoenix had
like basically no offers here. I mean they got Jalen
Green and Dylan Brooks, and I would guess, so this
is kind of old, but have you heard of the
red paper clip story where this guy has started with
a red paper clip and he traded it for like
a pen, and then he traded the pen for a
(15:01):
book or whatever it was, and after all these trades,
he ends up with a house which started with a
red paper clip.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
It's similar to like OKAC.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
After they made that one big deal to get Shay,
they made all these other little deals and next thing
you know, they've got a champion. So like, I'm going
to go ahead and guess that either Brooks or Jalen
Green is re routed here pretty quickly.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
They need to get picks. Those two guys are not
gonna help them.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Their three best players are Beal Booker and Green who
all play the same position, and it's they're not going
to try to toggle that and make that work.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Bial's got to lift his no trade clause.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
But like that is a weak asshole for Kevin Durant
and it goes to show that just the market was
not there. They basically got two players. I'm guests gonna
go ahead and guest they did have no interest.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
In keeping these guys.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
They would rather give Booker the extension that he's going
to get deserved here in a minute. The thing is
who made the trade last week where Phoenix's next year's
first round pick was involved.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I've already forgotten.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Ooh gosh, I have to look that up.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
But somebody has Phoenix's first next year, and frankly, you
know that could be a top ten pick.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I don't think they're going to be very good. I
don't see a path to being very good.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
They've got to, you know, sometimes you gotta just bought
him out before you bounce back.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Ask for Kevin Durant.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
He goes to a pretty damn good Rockets team brob
They was the number two scene in the West. People
forget that because they lost in Game seven. But the
way they lost was they just bogged down in the
half court offense. They could not score on Jimmy Butler
and Draymond Green. And now you've got Kevin Durant. Yeah,
a lot of good young players. I mean Aman Thompson
I think was their best player in Game seven. And
(16:46):
it was like bro like with Kevin Durant. They've become
so much better. I don't know if that they're coming
out of the West, but I think this is a great,
great fit for KD in Houston. I'm assuming they're going
to keep Fred van Vliet. This is certainly a top
four team in the West, no doubt about it for me.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Absolutely, And I'm gonna go work backwards from where you said,
starting with Houston and then get to Phoenix. So Houston,
you know, I think they're already tapped as one of
the favorites to win the championship. Obviously, okayse he's a
heavy favorite. But then there's like a glut of well
there's Cleveland and New York because we don't know what's
going on in Theatern Conference. And then there's a glut
of Western Conference teams where it's like they're all kind
(17:23):
of equal, and it's Lakers, Houston, Golden State all within,
you know, plus one hundred of each other. Lest we
forget that, because Houston didn't give up basically anything of
note in this hall outside of the number ten pick,
they still have.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Check this list out.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
The Sun's twenty seven, the Nets twenty seven, the Rockets,
their own twenty eight the MAVs twenty nine pick, which
could be sneaky, the Sun's twenty nine pick, and also
four of their own picks, which means they have up
to five tradable first round pick just this own off season,
(18:02):
whilst their option to swap a few others. When you
factor in they have Ree Shepard, they got Cam Whitmore,
Jabari Smith, Hard East and all these young guys, and
you have tradable contracts, they could theoretically still get.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Another big fish.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
This I'm not gonna get y honest, but they potentially
could get y honest if they really wanted to.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
They could give it pitch Shane Goon and a couple of.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Young guys like if they want not not going to,
but if they wanted to, they are built just as well,
or maybe not just as well, very comparably to what
OKC has, where you have young talent, but you have
the assets where if they wanted to make a big
move or if they want to extend this window, they
absolutely could. And I believe that's why they're gonna be
good this season because Kde fits with basically anybody, and
(18:50):
he now is gonna have guys around him that are
gonna do all the dirty work that they didn't do
in Phoenix. But they have young guys that theoretically should
get better and better that are and better as KD
eventually declines. So that's number one. And as far as
Phoenix goes, you mentioned it. The headline of their deal
for them is Jalen Green. I've read this stat is
gonna blow your mind. Here's Jalen Green's on off net
(19:13):
ratings for his career as a rookie negative six point one.
Second year plus one point five is a great big improvement.
Third year minus three point nine, fourth year minus eight
point one. He is the definition of a doctor Pepper.
He is empty calories. Okay, he is not doing anything
(19:35):
to help your team win. And as a result, you
mentioned that they have three of their best players are
all shooting guards. If you want to consider the idea
of a two to three tweeer, you could make a
case that their six best players all play in the
same position. Booker, Beal Green, Rooks, O'Neill, Grayson, Allen, you
(19:55):
are not winning.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Wait, what about the young guy?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Okay, they have an young guy, a rookie, right who
was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But but what that.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Saying all their guys played the same position. They're gonna
have to do something to turn one of these guys
into more assets, or young players, or even just some
front court size. The problem is, if you talk to
people around Phoenix, John Gabbadoro, who is as plugged in
as anybody during this whole KD soap opera, word out
of Phoenix is not only are they gonna keep Jalen
(20:24):
Green because they think he can grow long term if
they cannot find a trade for Bradley Beal, they are
prepared to buy him out. Oh geez, that does like
so so you don't have your own picks where it
will make sense for you to bought him out and
just you know, take your chance in lottery. But now
if you have say what you want is still your
(20:46):
second best player, clearly, and you're gonna buy him out
because of his contract situation, Phoenix is destined to live
somewhere with that nine to twelve range for the foreseeable future,
and it's all bad for Phoenix fans.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Man.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
That is devastating. I didn't realize that that they would
actually buy him out. I mean, goodness, gracious, train wreck.
It's interesting. You were just explaining how Green is kind
of toxic empty calories. Does that remind you of the
Monta Ellis Steph Curry situation in Golden State? Mont Alis,
who I thought was electrifying, was a similar guy, and
(21:22):
they were like, well we got Monte Allis and Curry,
what do we do?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Moved off mont Alis and got way better.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I don't know that Shepherd is willing ready to make
that leap, but I mean, Amen Thompson might be.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I don't know. I just hope.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
I doubt Amen Thompson's growth would be hindered by Katie
soaking up offense.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
But they got options, and they got a good coach.
I like Udoka a lot.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
The Knicks, by the way, tried to get him, and
the Rockets basically laughed, and I think gave Udoka an extension,
right right, right, So this does make the draft a
little more intriguing. I put out my last mock draft
for Fox Sports. I think it came out Friday. Obviously
it did not have the number ten pick going to Phoenix.
(22:08):
I don't know that they're going to get a game changer.
Like you don't just automatically go say I'll give me
a big I need to be desperate like, that's not
how you do it. I think they're probably going to
spend the week trying to move off Green and Brooks.
Even regardless of what that guy in Phoenix says, like
if you could flip Green for a three and D
or a point guard, they still don't have a point guard.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Or a or a power fan. What they did the guards.
They got plenty of shooting guards and nothing else.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
It's interesting, real quick.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
I know we're running out of time here, but to
go back to the odds of obviously okay Ce's favorite
to repeat, but did you say it was Lakers, Warriors?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Rockets were next that That was no, I saw it
was Oka see Heavy, and then it was Cleveland, New
York because the Eastern Conference is so wide open. And
what I saw after that was a glut of Western
Conference teams headlined by Lakers, Rockets, Warriors.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Interesting. I know people are selling the Lakers stock.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
They were third in the West, folks, despite a seismic
trade that totally flipped their team in the middle of
the season, and they finished third in the West. So
this idea that Luca and Lebron in year two won't
get way better. Oh, by the way, Luca and Kyrie
in year one, missed the playoffs, they tanked at the end,
kept their pick, and guess where they were the next
year in the finals. So I'm definitely not ruling out
(23:26):
the Lakers, and I will maintain that Luca owns Okasey
and there is zero fear from Luca and Lebron about
those guys.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
They got their title. That's great, that's awesome. Congrats.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
You know, I'm not going to go for I'm not
going to trash them as they celebrate their championship.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
And listen, they won the title. You can't take that away.
The Raptors got their title.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
Who cares that Kevin Durrea went down, you know, Like,
I can make comments all I want, but it doesn't matter.
They're still the champions, just as okay Ce is. And
it's pretty good for Presty. You know, it took them forever.
Presty got them to the doorstep k D. Harden and
Westbrook and then foolishly blew it up. Maybe he foolishly
does something goofy like Bill gives Jalen Williams a Max
(24:11):
like I'm sorry, he's not a super Max guy, or
even I don't know it know if he's a max player.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
He's really good, but is he a max guy rock?
Speaker 3 (24:17):
I mean, in today's NBA, he's gonna have to be.
I mean they decided that their max guys are Shay
Jet and j duv.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Ched had a hell of a game six. He was everywhere.
He actually made a three pointer.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Games to get a quick shout out to uh Ben
Matherin and TJ McConnell to make it the game moderately interesting.
Matherin's going to be a bucket next year. I don't
know who does fantasy, but you gotta draft that. I mean,
did you see him going to the basket. He essentially
was like, I can do this by myself.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, yeah, And then TJ McConnell was doing it by
himself for a stretch and everyone was getting all excited like, oh,
he's keeping a minute, and then you looked down it's like, oh,
he also had like six turnovers, and then two other
plays that resulted in turnovers.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
It's basically eight. So tough now for the McConnell family.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
But hey, thanks man for jumping on and kind of
I don't know if you can label this an emergency pod,
but yeah, I wasn't gonna do one. Listen if you
onits gets traded, I will be doing another one otherwise.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
We'll see you back on Thursday. Thursday after the NBA Draft.
Very very excited for that. Thanks Robbie.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Talk to you then.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up Straight Fire? Fam?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
It's me Rob json and with Jason McIntyre on Straight
Fire for Monday, June twenty third, doing my best Jay
mc impersonation. J Mack checking in from Parts unknown, interrupting
his much deserved vacation to give you some takes because
it was an incredible day in the NBA on Sunday,
starting off Kevin Durant traded to Houston. We'll get into that,
(00:37):
and capped off with the Oklahoma City Thunder taking down
the Indiana Pacers in Game.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Seven of the NBA.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
J Mack, I know you're sad to be, you know,
taking a time away from the family in this vacation
where you're not wearing a shirt.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Right now, I can tell why are you doing this?
First off, why are you doing this?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Let's be real. I love sports.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
It's not a vacation. It is a supporting event that
I'm attending that is so fun. And I did watch
all of Game seven with some dads. It was exciting
for a few moments and then very sad and then
kind of exciting and then crappy. But I would be
keep it real with you, Rob so listen. When I'm
watching my kids play sports, I'm locked in. Yeah, I'm recording,
(01:24):
you know, all the action. I'm talking to parents, I'm
checking the score. You know, I'm doing a little coaching
when I shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Be all that crap.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
And I was not checking texts at all. And I
think like an hour went by before I saw Kevin
Durant got traded, and I was like, oh, And honestly,
I didn't like totally panic. I just said to some guys, oh,
Durank got traded to the Rockets. They were like, wow, Okay.
I didn't even know the whole for hours. So I
had to catch up on it, you know, like liquid
(01:52):
lunch and then some adult beverages, and here we are.
I know you're locked in on the deal, but start
with the finals because obviously Tyrese Haliburton going down just devastating.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Absolutely the biggest news of that game, unfortunately happened early
in the first quarter where Tyre's Halliburton, a situation that
unfortunately you and I called about a week and a
half ago before Game six, when it was reported that
he had an MRI and he had a seriously strained
or seriously strained Calf and we talked about on that
(02:26):
podcast about half the episode honestly about whether or I
should play in Game six because history says you do
not want to have another Kevin Durant situation on your
hands where a guy comes back because it's the Finals,
even though he's clearly hobbled and he's clearly dealing with
an issue that historically has led to worse injuries that
(02:48):
the longer you play on it. And credit to Tyre's
Halliburton played pretty well in Game six where they will
to play limited minutes, and that led a lot of
people in the sports media space. They see and the
heart of a champion, you know, he's got to play,
He's gotta play. This is the Finals. Well, early in
the first quarter, Tyre's Halliburton gets run off a three
(03:08):
point attempt after you hit three of his first yea
like Gangbusters, puts the ball on the deck, immediately grabs
his achilles and you could see him. It was such
a terrible sight to see on the ESPN feed. He's
laying face down screaming no, no, no, no, no, not
because he's in pain, but because he knows exactly what
(03:29):
it is. And now obviously that puts a big dark
cloud over this championship for OKC just quickly came before
I get your thoughts on this one, depending which Twitter
doctor you follow, this was either the sixth or the
eighth achilles tear of the season. I think there's confusion
because some of the guys who are included are guys
(03:49):
who were like on training camp deals who got hurt
or or not full fleet fledged NBA players. But here's
the list of confirmed six Tyre's Halliburn, Jason Tatum, Damien Little,
de Jonte Murray, Isaiah Jackson, Drew Smith. The previous high
ever in NBA history was five.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Wait wait, wait, wasn't there a guy on the Utah
Jazz too.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I'm saying there's some confusion as to whether it's
six or eight.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Either way, it.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Is an NBA record. Now, gosh, just quickly your thoughts.
Should he have been playing? And how do you think
it impacted the game moving far?
Speaker 4 (04:23):
I think I've told the story.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
So during COVID I started hosting pickup games and two
guys popped their achilles, and then I played. I got
this former guy who played at UCLA to on my
men's league, and I got him a Jersey. First game,
he comes out, He's like, oh, I'm playing in a while,
and he says, this calf is tightening up. I'm like,
oh no, maybe you know, but he's dominating. First play
(04:45):
of the second half, Pops is a killer going through.
I mean, I've just I've been around this a lot.
If the calf is hurting, don't do it. It's a
no fly zone. And I know people are gonna be like, oh, well,
he had a great game six and we had like
fifteen to nine or whatever the numbers were. Oh it's fine, No,
it's not now. Not only do you you know obviously
you know you lose him for a year, But I don't.
(05:07):
I don't like, is he gonna ever be back to
one hundred percent? Like Kevin Durant? Did he ever return
to fully one hundred percent? Like he was a great player?
But I don't know that he was ever Warriors KB.
This is just super sad, rob. It's just I mean,
you know, I'm trying to be positive, and the only
positive is looking at like the Knicks or the Calves,
or like the Detroit Pistons, you know who, maybe they
(05:30):
go all in for Giannis.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Like wow, Celtics and Pacers are down.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
Pacers went to the conference finals two years in a row,
and now you lose Haliburton. You're like, you're still got
a good group, but you know, Ben Matherin probably will
step in and average twenty a game next year or whatever.
But I don't know, man, it's just super depressing seeing
these guys go down.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
He's like twenty six years old. Something.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
It's something's got to be I don't know what you
can do look into it, but that was just such
a bummer.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Man.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I saw a lot of people trying to speculate what
it was. You know, some with the tinfoil hatcher saying, well,
you know it's because he's wearing those Puma sneakers and
those aren't.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Known to be good basketball shoes.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
I think that the truth is, and this is talking
to former players and some of these medical doctors, is
this pace and space era that we play in now,
guys are running and cutting harder than they ever have
because there is no lull in the action. There is
no more half court offense where it's throwing down in
the post and let the big man go to work
while you stand around and watch, or you do a
(06:23):
little one guy's moving and everyone else is kind of
standing and screening, especially a team like Indiana. Constant motion,
constant movement. Even a guy like Halliburton, who isn't the
most explosive guy, he's always going up and down because
he's the engine that drives their offense. And you saw
that play out in Game seven. They were able to
(06:43):
withstand the emotional loss of him. In the first half.
They kind of gritted their way, grinding the way. They
were actually up one at halftime. But then in the
second half, when OKC turned up the defensive pressure, they
didn't have anybody else who could really drive that car.
And now, as you look forward to next season, you
mentioned I think Boston's out of the mix. I think
we can assume now Indiana, barring something super unforeseen, they're
(07:06):
probably out of the mix. And you look around, you say,
is it gonna be the Knicks. You don't have a
coach right now. Is it gonna be Orlando who can't score?
Is it gonna be Cleveland who?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
As recently, as.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
You know, two weeks ago, they were talking about breaking
up their Big four and trading Garland or Allen. So
you know, how do you think this shapes out in
the Eastern Conference next season.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
I forgot Orlando. Good, great call, Paolo Bancaro takes a step.
You've got the Wagner Twins, Suggs coming back from injury,
Desmond Bank a pencil in Orlando into the conference finals.
We'll see what the Knicks coaches, but I think Orlando
Knicks in the conference finals. Pacers are gonna be good.
They're gonna be a playoff team. Boston's the one I'd
worry about because they're gonna have a lot of shakeup
(07:48):
and I don't know that they have the depth that
the Pacers do. Boston will be top eight, but like
probably closer to eight than.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
They are four. Detroit a sleeper potentially.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
All this Miami smoke around chasing Kevin Durant, I don't
I don't think they were close.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
So I don't think Miami's close to anything.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
And obviously you know you got like Atlanta lurking if
they can make a move. But it's seriously after Kate
now the kid, he's gone, and Giannis will be next.
If there's a guy out there, I don't even know
who the next best guy would be that you can
make a play. For I mean, make is somebody going
to talk themselves into chasing Joel embiid I can't imagine it.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
With the contract. You then say Paul George will take him.
He's the final piece, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
It becomes kind of sort of interesting as to who
gets chased here.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Yeah, I'll tell you what, Jay I just you mentioned
the Bucks. I would not be surprised now, even though
I think this is the bad decision if Milwaukee talks
themselves into you know what, we got Giannis and this
Eastern Conference is suddenly more wide open than it's been,
you know what since Lebron left. So if we have
the best player, you know, we might have a puncher's
(08:59):
chance to get out here and see do some damage
here in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Obviously, halliburnon, we push him with speedy recovery and hopefully
he's back full go in two years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
But it kind of put a big cloud.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Over what should have been the Oklahoma City Coronation SGA
completed arguably the greatest individual season by a guard in NBH.
I know you don't like MGA.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know you call him a.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Foul merchant, but let me just read some stuff to
you real quick before I get your thoughts on it.
All right, there are only nine players who have won finals,
MVP and MP in the same season. MJ Lebron, Kareem, Moses, Byrd, Magic,
Duncan shack A, Keem Read and now SGA. And here's
a better one. Only four players have won the MVP,
(09:55):
the scoring title and a championship in the same season. Kareem, Magic,
sh At Shay. Are you ready now?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well is a guard.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
There's no way you can say Shay had a better
season than any of Magic season.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
So okay, are you ready to rescind the foul merchant
label and admit.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
No, the free throw merchant label? Fix. I'm sorry that's
not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Bro, But Shay had a great season. Will you? Will
you concede that.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Yes, Shaye had a great season. He's deserved m VP.
He was phenomenal. He listen, he was outstanding in Game seven.
I mean, I think I saw eleven assists zero turnovers.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Is that I don't know?
Speaker 5 (10:29):
If that was the final numbers. But he was making
some tremendous passes.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
He had a great game.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
No, it's just tough to like be like, well that
was an all time when you know John Moran injury
in round one. You know you brought this up, Aaron Gordon.
In Game seven, Michael Porter was limited the whole series
due to injury. Steph Curry gets hurt, so you face
the Wolves instead of the Warriors, and that was a cakewalk.
And then Haliburton's out for Game seven, like after you're
(10:55):
losing when Haliburton was in there, Like, I'm not saying
they were gonna win with Haliburton, but I certain would
have been a better game than this. And again that
doesn't ding it. Everybody has. You know, the Warriors first
title had Kevin Love injured I can think against the Hawks,
and then Kyrie went down in overtime or something. Yeah,
so like people, all that Warriors title was tainted.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
They still had to go to Lebron, But yes, SGA
and company were excellent.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Congrats. Now let's move on to Kevin time.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Okay, well I just can't get excited.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
First of all, I'll just go on record and it
ain't no going to be no repeat. There will not
be a dynasty is not happening.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I agree with you, and crazily enough, and as you know,
I saw this stat that said that the Oklahoma City defense,
which obviously we agree that they're a defensive team first, right,
even though SGA is the MVP, what they hang their
hat on is defense. Similar to the twenty twenty Lakers
in the bubble, you had Lebron and a d but
what they were was a defensive team. And OKC during
this playoff run had a plus one point thirty one
(11:56):
in the turnover department during during these playoffs, the gap
between them and the number two team, which is the
twenty nineteen Raptors, is equal to the gap between the
number two team and the number sixty three team. So
if they can, you know, stick to this formula and
hopefully j Dubb takes a leap, Jet takes a leap,
(12:18):
you know, maybe you get something from Cason Wallace next year,
because I don't I wasn't really impressed with him during
these playoffs. But you know, if they can get a
consistent offense, then they could be a problem. But the
thing is is, like you, I don't think they're going
to be able to repeat because Number One, I think
the West is super deep. Number Two, we saw throughout
this postseason they are prone to some of the ugliest
(12:38):
offense that you have seen from a you know, elite
team in recent NBA memory. Like their defense is so good.
They forced a lot of termers and that's great, but
you saw against Indiana, you know who has good not
great defenders, just turn their water off multiple games in
this series. And in the fourth quarter, were they not
up twenty two points, you know they've i have lost
(13:00):
that game because they just ground to a halt. Shay
was just chucking up bat shot after bat shot. But
luckily for them, you know, Indiana didn't have their point guards,
so they couldn't quite close the gap.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Big story of the day, the one that's getting everybody
excited because not what it means just for this season,
what it means for this week and this offseason. Kevin
Durant traded to the Houston Rockets. Here's the exact terms
of the deal. Houston's gonna send Dylan Brooks Jalen Green
the number ten overall pick in this upcoming draft here
(13:43):
in a couple of days, and five second rounders for
KD Your thoughts.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
I mean, listen, this is pretty much what we've been
saying all along. I just jotted down rom as you
were explaining that the best young players on the Rockets,
and I think we would agree on men.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Thompson's one yes, shen Good is two yes, and.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
The next four are kind of up in the air, right.
Jalen Green would have been in that mix. But the
young kid read out of Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
They love him.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
He was a lottery pick. Cam Whitmore has shown flashes.
I think he had a forty point game. He's super young,
but massive upside. Tarry Eason, young guy, they were not
willing to put him in the deal. And then Jabari Smith,
who I think was the number two overall pick, who
has shown flashes. Rob that's six really good young players.
They've stacked with good young players, and all Phoenix was
(14:38):
able to get with Jalen Green just so the salaries
would match. That to me, tells you that Phoenix had
like basically no offers here. I mean they got Jalen
Green and Dylan Brooks, and I would guess, so this
is kind of old, but have you heard of the
red paper clip story where this guy has started with
a red paper clip and he traded it for like
a pen, and then he traded the pen for a
(15:01):
book or whatever it was, and after all these trades,
he ends up with a house which started with a
red paper clip.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
It's similar to like OKAC.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
After they made that one big deal to get Shay,
they made all these other little deals and next thing
you know, they've got a champion. So like, I'm going
to go ahead and guess that either Brooks or Jalen
Green is re routed here pretty quickly.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
They need to get picks. Those two guys are not
gonna help them.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Their three best players are Beal Booker and Green who
all play the same position, and it's they're not going
to try to toggle that and make that work.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Bial's got to lift his no trade clause.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
But like that is a weak asshole for Kevin Durant
and it goes to show that just the market was
not there. They basically got two players. I'm guests gonna
go ahead and guest they did have no interest.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
In keeping these guys.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
They would rather give Booker the extension that he's going
to get deserved here in a minute. The thing is
who made the trade last week where Phoenix's next year's
first round pick was involved.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I've already forgotten.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Ooh gosh, I have to look that up.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
But somebody has Phoenix's first next year, and frankly, you
know that could be a top ten pick.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I don't think they're going to be very good. I
don't see a path to being very good.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
They've got to, you know, sometimes you gotta just bought
him out before you bounce back.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Ask for Kevin Durant.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
He goes to a pretty damn good Rockets team brob
They was the number two scene in the West. People
forget that because they lost in Game seven. But the
way they lost was they just bogged down in the
half court offense. They could not score on Jimmy Butler
and Draymond Green. And now you've got Kevin Durant. Yeah,
a lot of good young players. I mean Aman Thompson
I think was their best player in Game seven. And
(16:46):
it was like bro like with Kevin Durant. They've become
so much better. I don't know if that they're coming
out of the West, but I think this is a great,
great fit for KD in Houston. I'm assuming they're going
to keep Fred van Vliet. This is certainly a top
four team in the West, no doubt about it for me.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Absolutely, And I'm gonna go work backwards from where you said,
starting with Houston and then get to Phoenix. So Houston,
you know, I think they're already tapped as one of
the favorites to win the championship. Obviously, okayse he's a
heavy favorite. But then there's like a glut of well
there's Cleveland and New York because we don't know what's
going on in Theatern Conference. And then there's a glut
of Western Conference teams where it's like they're all kind
(17:23):
of equal, and it's Lakers, Houston, Golden State all within,
you know, plus one hundred of each other. Lest we
forget that, because Houston didn't give up basically anything of
note in this hall outside of the number ten pick,
they still have.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Check this list out.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
The Sun's twenty seven, the Nets twenty seven, the Rockets,
their own twenty eight the MAVs twenty nine pick, which
could be sneaky, the Sun's twenty nine pick, and also
four of their own picks, which means they have up
to five tradable first round pick just this own off season,
(18:02):
whilst their option to swap a few others. When you
factor in they have Ree Shepard, they got Cam Whitmore,
Jabari Smith, Hard East and all these young guys, and
you have tradable contracts, they could theoretically still get.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Another big fish.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
This I'm not gonna get y honest, but they potentially
could get y honest if they really wanted to.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
They could give it pitch Shane Goon and a couple of.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Young guys like if they want not not going to,
but if they wanted to, they are built just as well,
or maybe not just as well, very comparably to what
OKC has, where you have young talent, but you have
the assets where if they wanted to make a big
move or if they want to extend this window, they
absolutely could. And I believe that's why they're gonna be
good this season because Kde fits with basically anybody, and
(18:50):
he now is gonna have guys around him that are
gonna do all the dirty work that they didn't do
in Phoenix. But they have young guys that theoretically should
get better and better that are and better as KD
eventually declines. So that's number one. And as far as
Phoenix goes, you mentioned it. The headline of their deal
for them is Jalen Green. I've read this stat is
gonna blow your mind. Here's Jalen Green's on off net
(19:13):
ratings for his career as a rookie negative six point one.
Second year plus one point five is a great big improvement.
Third year minus three point nine, fourth year minus eight
point one. He is the definition of a doctor Pepper.
He is empty calories. Okay, he is not doing anything
(19:35):
to help your team win. And as a result, you
mentioned that they have three of their best players are
all shooting guards. If you want to consider the idea
of a two to three tweeer, you could make a
case that their six best players all play in the
same position. Booker, Beal Green, Rooks, O'Neill, Grayson, Allen, you
(19:55):
are not winning.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Wait, what about the young guy?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Okay, they have an young guy, a rookie, right who
was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
But but what that.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Saying all their guys played the same position. They're gonna
have to do something to turn one of these guys
into more assets, or young players, or even just some
front court size. The problem is, if you talk to
people around Phoenix, John Gabbadoro, who is as plugged in
as anybody during this whole KD soap opera, word out
of Phoenix is not only are they gonna keep Jalen
(20:24):
Green because they think he can grow long term if
they cannot find a trade for Bradley Beal, they are
prepared to buy him out. Oh geez, that does like
so so you don't have your own picks where it
will make sense for you to bought him out and
just you know, take your chance in lottery. But now
if you have say what you want is still your
(20:46):
second best player, clearly, and you're gonna buy him out
because of his contract situation, Phoenix is destined to live
somewhere with that nine to twelve range for the foreseeable future,
and it's all bad for Phoenix fans.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Man.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
That is devastating. I didn't realize that that they would
actually buy him out. I mean, goodness, gracious, train wreck.
It's interesting. You were just explaining how Green is kind
of toxic empty calories. Does that remind you of the
Monta Ellis Steph Curry situation in Golden State? Mont Alis,
who I thought was electrifying, was a similar guy, and
(21:22):
they were like, well we got Monte Allis and Curry,
what do we do?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Moved off mont Alis and got way better.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I don't know that Shepherd is willing ready to make
that leap, but I mean, Amen Thompson might be.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I don't know. I just hope.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
I doubt Amen Thompson's growth would be hindered by Katie
soaking up offense.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
But they got options, and they got a good coach.
I like Udoka a lot.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
The Knicks, by the way, tried to get him, and
the Rockets basically laughed, and I think gave Udoka an extension,
right right, right, So this does make the draft a
little more intriguing. I put out my last mock draft
for Fox Sports. I think it came out Friday. Obviously
it did not have the number ten pick going to Phoenix.
(22:08):
I don't know that they're going to get a game changer.
Like you don't just automatically go say I'll give me
a big I need to be desperate like, that's not
how you do it. I think they're probably going to
spend the week trying to move off Green and Brooks.
Even regardless of what that guy in Phoenix says, like
if you could flip Green for a three and D
or a point guard, they still don't have a point guard.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Or a or a power fan. What they did the guards.
They got plenty of shooting guards and nothing else.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
It's interesting, real quick.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
I know we're running out of time here, but to
go back to the odds of obviously okay Ce's favorite
to repeat, but did you say it was Lakers, Warriors?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Rockets were next that That was no, I saw it
was Oka see Heavy, and then it was Cleveland, New
York because the Eastern Conference is so wide open. And
what I saw after that was a glut of Western
Conference teams headlined by Lakers, Rockets, Warriors.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Interesting. I know people are selling the Lakers stock.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
They were third in the West, folks, despite a seismic
trade that totally flipped their team in the middle of
the season, and they finished third in the West. So
this idea that Luca and Lebron in year two won't
get way better. Oh, by the way, Luca and Kyrie
in year one, missed the playoffs, they tanked at the end,
kept their pick, and guess where they were the next
year in the finals. So I'm definitely not ruling out
(23:26):
the Lakers, and I will maintain that Luca owns Okasey
and there is zero fear from Luca and Lebron about
those guys.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
They got their title. That's great, that's awesome. Congrats.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
You know, I'm not going to go for I'm not
going to trash them as they celebrate their championship.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
And listen, they won the title. You can't take that away.
The Raptors got their title.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
Who cares that Kevin Durrea went down, you know, Like,
I can make comments all I want, but it doesn't matter.
They're still the champions, just as okay Ce is. And
it's pretty good for Presty. You know, it took them forever.
Presty got them to the doorstep k D. Harden and
Westbrook and then foolishly blew it up. Maybe he foolishly
does something goofy like Bill gives Jalen Williams a Max
(24:11):
like I'm sorry, he's not a super Max guy, or
even I don't know it know if he's a max player.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
He's really good, but is he a max guy rock?
Speaker 3 (24:17):
I mean, in today's NBA, he's gonna have to be.
I mean they decided that their max guys are Shay
Jet and j duv.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Ched had a hell of a game six. He was everywhere.
He actually made a three pointer.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Games to get a quick shout out to uh Ben
Matherin and TJ McConnell to make it the game moderately interesting.
Matherin's going to be a bucket next year. I don't
know who does fantasy, but you gotta draft that. I mean,
did you see him going to the basket. He essentially
was like, I can do this by myself.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, yeah, And then TJ McConnell was doing it by
himself for a stretch and everyone was getting all excited like, oh,
he's keeping a minute, and then you looked down it's like, oh,
he also had like six turnovers, and then two other
plays that resulted in turnovers.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
It's basically eight. So tough now for the McConnell family.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
But hey, thanks man for jumping on and kind of
I don't know if you can label this an emergency pod,
but yeah, I wasn't gonna do one. Listen if you
onits gets traded, I will be doing another one otherwise.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
We'll see you back on Thursday. Thursday after the NBA Draft.
Very very excited for that. Thanks Robbie.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Talk to you then.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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