June 7, 2025 • 33 mins
Jason answers mailbag questions on adjustments that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder and Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers can make in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, how the Pacers starters have outplayed OKC's, and more. Then he discusses the recent reporting that the New York Knicks are planning on making big trade offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks or Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns.
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slash audio. Well go on hoops tonight Here at the
(02:01):
volume heavy Saturday. Everybody hope everyone's having a great start
to their weekend. As promised, we're going to be covering
a mail bag today. A bunch of you guys dropped
a bunch of really good questions over on Twitter, a
bunch of stuff on the NBA Finals. We'll be talking
about some big picture concepts within that series. And then
at the tail end of the show, I have about
a half dozen questions surrounding some big picture stuff around
the league, some Detroit Pistons, some New York mix, some
(02:23):
who's gonna trade for Kevin Duran, who's gonna trade for Giannis?
Some fun stuff at the tail end of the show.
You guys are the joke before we get started. Subscribe
to the Hoops Toight YouTube channels. You don't miss any
more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter, Underscore, json LTC,
you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about a
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It's also super helpful if you leave your rating and
a review on that front. Jackson is doing great work
on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
(02:45):
and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. And
the last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in
our YouTube comments. We can hit them in our weekly
mail bags throughout the remainder of the year. All right,
let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason Shay took
thirty shots and only had thirty one points on those shots,
not including free throws, while only dishing out three assists.
(03:06):
It sort of felt like he tried to be Superman
and it played right into the PACER's hands. What do
you think Shay has to do differently in game two?
Love the show, Thanks again for supporting the show. So
I those of you guys who watched yesterday's film session,
we'll have a little bit of an understanding of this
concept from the film. But I talked after Game one
about how it felt to me like Shae was trying
(03:28):
to kind of force his way into rhythm under the
NBA Finals environment, and after rewatching the game, and I
talked about this in the film session, actually ended up
disliking a lot of the shots that he took early.
You know, I talked about in the film session the
idea of investing in rhythm, and that, to me is
such an important part of a point guard's job. You
(03:49):
are the ultimate decision maker on a possession by possession
basis on the offensive end of the floor, and if
you invest in rhythm by moving the ball, it's more
like that later in the game when you need people
to be involved, when you need guys to make shots,
it's more likely that they lock them down. We've jokingly
been talking about the Indiana Pacers and the damage that
(04:11):
they've done in this postseason run with crazy shot making
at the end of games, and would jokingly call it
like devil magic or voodoo or whatever it is. And
there's a certain amount of like, yeah, it's pretty wild
that they've hit as many tough shots as they have hit.
But as as is always the case, variance or randomness
is going to be pretty far down the list in
(04:32):
what plays into that outcome compared to real basketball concepts.
And if there's something to be said about the way
the Pacers play, it's that they keep everyone involved throughout
the game. The usage rate for their top player, and
Tyrese Haliburton, is about twenty one percent in the regular season,
right that's way below what you see from a typical
(04:53):
on ball guard who is usually determining the outcome of
every single possession. Starts from Tyrese and Rick Carlyle on
the identity they breed in the team, and then from
there it's just the group of players all trusting each
other and keeping the ball moving from side to side
and keeping everyone involved as a result, like Let's look
at those tough shots that got made down the stretch
that game. I saw Miles Turner hit a contested three
(05:16):
over Hartenstein on the right wing, a contested step back
three over chet Holmgren on the left wing, a really
tough leaning kind of drop cover like a pick and
roll popped the short roll shot around the right elbow
that he hit. They're down the stretch. Who else hit
a tough shot? Aaron Nesmith flying into that left corner
off of the move right, who else hit a tough shot?
(05:37):
Andrew Nemhard hitting off the dribble, crazy step back against
shake Yild, Justs Alexander right then Tyrese Haliburton hits the
game winner. A bunch of different guys hit tough shots
because a bunch of different guys are involved throughout the
game with shake Yield, Justs Alexander randomly. We got some
good rhythm for lou Dort, who had a lot of
(05:59):
pretty tough contested shots in that game. But no other
Thunder player outside of Shae or lou Dort was in
any sort of rhythm. And that is the downside of
approaching the game the way that Shaye did. Again, if
you guys want to see visual examples of what I'm
talking about, go to our film session that we released yesterday.
But the long and short of it is, Shay came
(06:19):
into this game and took a ton of mediocre shots
that he could have got later in the clock. Go
move the ball around. If Indiana closes out well and
dudes don't get good looks, it'll work its way back
to you. Go take that, saying contested eighteen footer, but
I thought he took a lot of those shots early
in the clock and kind of bailed the Pacers out
and prevented his team from getting into the rhythm that
(06:41):
they needed to get into to be better on the
offensive end of the floor. Next question, who is the
most important role player moving forward in this series? This
is an interesting question, So I think on the Pacers front,
I'm gonna stick with exactly what I said in the
series preview, and I thought it showed again last night, Miles.
When Miles Turner is hitting threes and when he's beating
(07:03):
post mismatches or beating offensive rebounding mismatches, he is deadly impactful.
In this particular matchup against a Thunder team that can't
match up with his size, even with their biggs, who
can be a little small right compared to him. So
like Miles Turner, to me, is the key to everything
for Indiana in terms of their role player talent. If
(07:24):
he's hitting picking pop threes and he's successfully beating post
mismatches and rebounding mismatches, he is the catalyst for their
ability to score against this Oklahoma City defense. On the
Oklahoma City front, it's really all of their spot up shooters.
But I'm gonna focus on lou Dort just so that
I can give you one specific player. But it's really
all of their their spot up shooters. As you guys
(07:45):
saw in the film session yesterday, really really overreacting to
Shay and JDub drives sometimes three even four helpers meeting
in the lane. The kickouts were there. Cason Wallace got
good looks late, he missed. Jadub got good looks late.
Miss lou Dort is going to be the consistent guy
because jadeb I don't think counts as a role player.
He's the co star. Cason might not be on the
(08:07):
floor when they go big with Isaiah Hartenstein and Cheded Holmgren. Right,
So the consistent guy who's probably gonna keep getting those
clean catch and shoot looks throughout the series and needs
to hit them is Lou Dort. So those are who
I think are the two most important role players in
the series for either team. Other question. Also, one thing
that stood out, especially after that first avalanche of turnovers,
(08:29):
is that Indiana starters outplayed Okac's pretty consistent, pretty convincingly
in that second half startling trend, considering the massive success,
the massive success that Turner, Hallie, Nemhardeni, Smith, and Pascal
have already had. So here's the thing. I agree that
Indiana's starters out played Oklahoma City starters, especially in the
(08:50):
second half of that game. But I think it's pretty
clear that there was an order of operations problem with
Indiana or with Oklahoma City, with Shay and Jadub not
investing in their their role players more frequently throughout the game,
Like there's a chance that you get more out of Chet,
you get more out of Case and Wallace, you get
more out of Jadab, even if the ball just is
flowing more throughout the game. And so I think in general,
(09:14):
Oklahoma City starters didn't play well and so they're capable
of playing a lot better heading into a Game two,
but I do agree that Indiana starters outplayed them in
game one. How rare is it that the Pacers play
with this consistent effort throughout the series and games going
against the traditional flow of playoffs. Usually stealing game one
on the road would definitely mean the team will get
(09:34):
blown out in game two. But you know that's not
going to be the case. So I've thought a lot
about this within the concept of game two. Right, So
in game two we have typically seen in this sort
of situation, the team that's down one zero bring a
ton of energy, and it's like a kind of a
(09:56):
two very powerful forces of energy clashing here, because on
the one hand, we have an Indiana Pacers team that
stole Game one against Milwaukee and then one game two,
and then stole game one against the Calves, and then
one game two and then well, I guess they actually
get the games that they actually stole in the Cave
series was game two. But the point is is they
won game two after going up one, oh right, against
(10:18):
the Knicks. Same thing. They steal game one in crazy fashion,
they still come back and win game two. So Indiana
is stolen game two after going up one oh on
the road in all three series. But actually I think
in the Indiana series they were at home for the
first two games. But the point is they won up
two to oh in all three series, and in the
Calves matchup, and in the Knicks matchup they managed to
(10:38):
win game two on the road despite going up one oh.
But then we on the other side of it, we
have Oklahoma City who against Denver toasted off game one
and then they came out and beat the shit out
of the Nuggets in Game two. Right, So which of
those forces is going to win in this particular matchup. Well,
let's talk about each team. What do we expect from
Indiana in game two Pacers basketball? I expect Pacers basketball
(11:03):
with fewer turnovers than they had in Game one, So
I'd argue that Pacers will probably play a little bit
better in Game two than they played in Game one.
That said, as we saw in the film session, as
we've talked about ad nauseum over the last couple of days,
Shay can play a much better floor game just keeping
his teammates involved. J Dubb needs to not settle for
so many jump shots earlier in the game and look
to attack and guys are certainly capable of doing a
(11:24):
better job knocking down the open catch and shoot threes
that those guys generate. Oklahoma City can play much better,
and I do believe they will play much better in
Game two. I'm fascinated by TJ McConnell. Is he the
least athletic gifted rotation player on an NBA Finals roster
in the modern era? Also, I thought nemhard bringing the
ball up in the fourth quarter allowed the Pacers to
(11:47):
get into their actions much earlier. How does Oklahoma City
counter this in Game two? Great questions? First of all,
TJ McConnell, to me, is actually a much better athlete
than he gets credit for. He's a pretty damn big,
strong guard like he's got a lot of power to
his game. But he's very good at changing directions, especially
at full speed. He plays with a lot of pace.
(12:09):
He's always attacking already on the move instead of attacking
a set defender. And then he's very good at changing
direction while going full speed with crossovers and spins and
things along those lines. So I actually think TJ McConnell
is a very gifted athlete. He has been, in my opinion.
One of the best like dribble drive guards in the
league for a while in terms of just beating people
off the dribble. I don't think that he's a poor
(12:31):
athlete or a guy who lacks athletic gifts. I think
he's a guy that is actually a pretty underrated athlete
at his position. The pace in general with the Pacers,
I thought they did a nice job pushing the ball
off the floor consistently in the second half without turning
the ball over, which forced a lot of transition cross matches.
I didn't think it was just nemhard bringing the ball
(12:52):
off the floor. I thought it was just kick ahead
passes and just playing with a lot of pace and
guys running and just playing Pacers basketball. Oklahoma City can
only do so much to stop that. With the way
that Indiana plays. They did stop easy runouts. There's a
few of them, like Siakam snuck past Chet for an
easy layup at one point in the second half, but
overall it's not like they were giving up like easy
(13:13):
stuff in the early part of transition. It's just the
cross matches that come from that. In Indiana's ability to
punish mismatches, I thought the main thing that Oklahoma City
can clean up defensively heading into Game two is just
their overhelp. There's just too many examples of them, like
sending two three guys at a dude in the paint,
and when Indiana is not turning the ball over and
they're spraying the ball out, there's the easy open shots
(13:34):
and it's like, yeah, like Toppin's gonna knock that down.
You know, Turner is gonna knock that down. The Nie
Smith's gonna knock that down. So there's a certain amount
of like they've got to be a little bit more decided,
like a little bit more Hickey I should say about
when they decide to help in those situations in Game two?
Did Mark Dagnall blow his wad too early by adapting
(13:56):
to pacer style basketball before trying to play thunderstyle back squad?
What adjustments does he have left? Seems like he doesn't
think they can get into their half court set against
this team. I don't think Mark's worried about their ability
to get into their offense. I think he knows that
Shane and j Dubb played a poor game, and I
think he's gonna go over with them in film, and
I think they're going to clean it up. I think
Shane and j dub are both going to be way
(14:17):
better in Game two now. When I look at it
in terms of adopting the pacer style basketball, the big
criticism is that Mark Dagnall went slow or went small
down the stretch. Right when he went small, they started
giving up a bunch of offensive rebounds to Siakam and
Turner underneath the basket. Here's the thing, there's a certain
amount of those offensive rebounds that they're gonna be able
to get no matter what against switches like it doesn't
(14:38):
matter if chets on the floor, if chets on the perimeter,
and Turner's got a small underneath the basket, and so
to me, it's more just they got to do a
better job when they're giving up those mismatches of get
like gang rebounding. Everyone's got a crash. Dudes got to
come flying in to knock away the ball. Overall, as
a team, they got to do a better job playing
winning those contested rebound battles. Right as far as like
(15:00):
defensive adjustments that are available to them, the only big
one that I see is just those help and recover
decisions that we talked about earlier, just being a little
bit more picky about when they offer a ton of
help and leaf shooters open in the process. Next question,
why didn't Indy take the ball out of SGA's hands
and double So this is complicated. They weren't doubling that much.
(15:23):
They were throwing some pretty aggressive hedges in the second half,
and they gave up some slips and some rolls out
of that, But for the most part, they were offering
all that extra defensive attention at Shay after he beat
his man off the dribble, Like there was a play
where he split a ball screen against Obi Toppen when
he went to hedge and got right downhill and then
three pacers just met him right in the lane. The
double team, so to speak. The getting the ball out
(15:45):
of Shay's hands, so to speak, came late in the
form of sending aggressive help at the rim, and they're
being kickout opportunities, And honestly, I thought Shaye did a
nice job down the stretch of making those kickouts. Dudes
just got to make shots. And the second piece of
it is if Shay invests more early in the game
(16:06):
at getting those guys shots, they might be more comfortable
and more able to knock down those shots when they
get into crunch time late. Next question, how did the
Celtics out clutch the Pacers four times last playoffs? Granted
without Halley for part of it. Couldn't that loss or
could that loss be part of Carlisle's inspiration to build
the most clutch and resilient team I've seen in recent history?
(16:28):
A couple things. First of all, that Celtics team was
a special team, very very very good team that had
the ability to consistently generate great shots down the stretch, punishmentsmatches,
and they were such a high level defensive team last
year in the postseason. The second piece of it is
I think Haliburton is the key. Like in these games
that they've stolen, who's been the guy that's had the
magic late. It's been Tyrese Haliburton in his ability to
(16:51):
beat Giannis off of the dribble for Iso scooping layup right.
It's been Tyre's Halliburton hitting that step back at the
top of the key in Game two over ty Jerome
to win Game two against the Calves. It was Tyrese
Halliburton hitting the step back foot on the line jump
shot against the Knicks in Game one that sent that
(17:12):
game to overtime. It was Tyrese Halliburton last night hitting
the off the dribble jump shot. Like Tyrese Halliburton brings
the upside because he's just a better player now than
he was last year, because he's healthier, he has his
hamstring underneath him, and he's just in a better physical
position to be impactful down the stretch of these games.
Then down the roster, everyone was just a little better.
And Mark's a little better than he was last year.
(17:34):
Meie Smith is considerably better than he was last year.
Turner's playing the best basketball of his career. All these
dudes are just playing better, and so they're a better
version of what that Pacers team was last year. Last
question on this series, and then we'll move on to
some stuff around the league. After all the talk about
the Thunder being compared to the KD Warriors, how even
more laughable is that comparison now? After Game one a
(17:55):
couple things. I agree that comparing this Thunder team to
the KD Warriors is silly. That team was obviously better.
Kevin rant was the third best player in the league
at that point in time. Steph was the second best
player in the league at that time. Klay Thompson was
probably the best three and D guy in the entire
NBA at that point. Andre Gudala was probably like a
(18:17):
top two or three like Swiss Army Knife role player
Ford in the league at that time, and Draymond Green
was the best defensive player of his era and very
much at the peak of his powers at that point
in time. So I think there's a pretty large gap
between Golden State and the second best champion of this era.
If Oklahoma City can win the series, which is an
if obviously, then I think they kind of take that
(18:38):
second spot in terms of talent and what they have
defensively and the job they did getting out of that
Western Conference. But yeah, I think comparing them to the
KD Warriors is foolishness. That team is the most talented
roster ever assembled in NBA history. Two of the top
three players in the league all veteran experienced talent, not
guys that are new and green and unfamiliar with this stage.
So I didn't see that comparison. That said, before you
(19:01):
go burying the thunder, who cares if they will lose
Game one? If they win the next four and they
win the series in five, They're still going to be
looked back at as a team that's one of the
most dominant teams in NBA history within a single season.
So don't bury the thunder yet. Even though I don't
think they're as good as the KDE Warriors, they still
have a very good chance to win this series, and
to win convincingly if they can apply themselves.
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All right, let's move around league a little bit. This
is a report. Gary reports that the Knicks are preparing
a tsunami type offer for Yannis. The question was, what
offer do you think this is? Maybe McHale and Towns.
Here's the thing. Also, if they get out bid, should
they shift towards a more achievable target like Kevin Durant?
(20:18):
So a couple things. If the Knicks are preparing an
offer for Yannis, what does it look like? Okay, from
what I understand, I believe they only have access to
one first round pick this summer if I'm remembering correctly,
So they don't have the draft compensation to get into
a bidding war for a guy like Yiannis. In theory, now,
(20:39):
if you get a third team involved, or if you
can convince the Bucks that they want to take back
of McHale, Bridges or you know, I would argue you
might want to even look at trading Og because he
plays the same position as Yannis. But whatever it is,
if you're gonna look to move one of those guys
in the Bucks are like, yeah, we want win now, pieces, sure,
let's do it. That's great. But like I think that
(21:00):
the Bucks are probably more interested in draft compensation. And
if that's the case, then you got to get a
third team involved. And so now you're looking at getting
a third team involved and trading basically Og or McHale
or Towns or whoever it is, whatever you decide to
give up for draft compensation that then gets rerouted towards
(21:21):
the Bucks in a y honest deal. But like to me,
it's just the reality is is that there are teams
that can absolutely outbid everybody with respect to Giannis. Like
the Spurs just have so many more picks to throw
on the table, the Rockets have so many more picks
to throw on the table. If one of those teams
decides to get involved with Giannis, they can just so
much easier get that sort of deal done right and
(21:43):
so viewed as a long shot. But if they do
get out bid, should they shift towards a more achievable
target like KDI. Absolutely. Their roster is pretty much guys
in their late twenties, so they're a bit of a
shorter window anyway, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about
tying my self to an older player. Kd's game translates
super well in the late phase of his career, especially
(22:05):
in a team like this that has so much talent
that he wouldn't be depended on as much. And there's
an easy vehicle in the form of Carl Anthony Towns
Phoenix really wants a kind of a franchise starting center.
If that's the framework of the deal, and it's Karl
Anthony Towns and a first round pick for Kevin Durant
and the Sons get a younger star that's been back
to back conference finals, And look, do I think that
(22:26):
makes the Suns a very interesting team? No, but I
don't think the Suns are a very interesting team now.
So at that point, whatever, and if you could somehow
pull that sort of deal off and get Kevin Durant,
that that puts you in a pretty damn strong position
going into next season, especially in an Eastern conference that
is wide open with Boston falling apart, with Milwaukee falling apart,
(22:46):
Like this is a winnable conference out East, and I
would view Kevin Durant as a target there that I
think would put the Knicks into another echelon in terms
of reliable scoring talent. Also, Kevin Durant's a very good
defensive player in a low man context when you can
protect the rim, be a defensive rebounder, things along those lines.
So like, again, if you need to get more draft compensation,
(23:08):
maybe you do end up including like an OG and
a separate you know three team structure that sends more
draft compensation towards the Suns. But if you can get
rid of Towns and keep one of your two forwards,
and keep Brunson and get Kevin Durant, I think that's
a very interesting team in a wide open Western Conference
or Eastern Conference. Excuse me, not quite related to this finals,
(23:31):
but seeing how far the Knicks went and how open
the East is next year, should the Pistons consider going
in a bit harder next year seeing that they might
not actually be that far away? In general, what's a
realistic move for them this summer? So again, I if
I'm remembering correctly, if the Pistons let all of their
cap holds walk, so if they let like Dennis Walk
(23:51):
and Tim Hardaway Junior walk and all these guys, I
think the max cap space they can put together is
about nineteen millions, like nineteen twenty million something along those lines.
That's not enough to bring in a super high level
free agent, right, especially when I would argue that Tim
Hardaway Junior and Dennis Schroeder kind of if you can
bring them back on team friendly deals, that's actually better
(24:12):
than going out to get a free agent. I would
try to get those guys tied up on relatively short
term mid level contracts, meaning around two years or less,
or like a team option for the third year shirt
that you have some flexibility, but like a two year
deal somewhere in the fifteen to twenty million range. If
you can do something like that for those guys where
(24:33):
there are mid level contracts where like, you know, one
of them's in the you know, five to ten million
range and the other ones in the ten to fifteen
million range or something, they become trade pieces at that point,
trade filler if the right sort of move just kind
of materializes this summer for you to jump on. But again,
don't jump the gun on a player that is going
(24:54):
to shorten your window. Caid is a franchise altering type
of talent. He is roven that he can succeed at
the highest levels of basketball. I'm a believer in him.
You have Jade and Ivy coming back, You've got young
role player talent and Nasar Thompson. You like, you have
the ability to be patient here while also having guys
(25:19):
like Tobias Harris, guys like Malik Beasley, guys like Tim
Hardaway Junior on team friendly deals. That you can still
be competitive in the short term, but then turn your
attention in the draft towards off ball scoring talent. That's
the big one with the you know, I think sar
Thompson obviously has the ability to be one of the
(25:40):
better kind of like perimeter like d and three types
of players in the league right as a guy that
can guard the opposing best player. He's a guy that obviously,
if they can unlock some of the vertical spacing stuff
that the Rockets do with the men Thompson, he can
become a better offensive player and we'll see how his
jump shot develops over time. Ron Holladay obviously is like
another kind of like athletic type of young wing. What
(26:04):
they're missing is like older college talent, So like guys
that are in you know, three four year college guys
that you can find in the middle of the first round,
late first round, guys that can that have been playing
in a winning context as like weak side scorers, guy
that can knock down jump shots and drive closeouts, things
along those lines. I think there's a lot of opportunity
(26:26):
in the draft for that sort of talent. So the
point is is like let this thing grow slowly. Don't
jump the gun for an Eastern Conference Finals appearance that
ends up shortening your window. Don't make the mistake that
the Cavs did with Lebron in early you know, in
the early part of his career, where they kept making
these kind of mediocre aggressive deals and getting guys like Antoine,
Damson Jamison and Mo Williams that were good players, made
(26:49):
team better, but didn't make them a championship team. And
so patience is the name of the game. The specific
type of talent they need. I like where they're at
at center. I like where they're at with their shot creators.
I like where they're at in terms of having athletic
guys on the perimeter that can guard and fly up
and down the floor. What they're missing is just off
ball skill, basically, guys that you can phase out Tim
(27:11):
Hardaway and Malik Beasley and phase in younger versions of
those players that you find in the middle to late
portion of the first round in the draft. We have
five more questions. I heard san Vassini suggests the framework
of an Austin Reeves Derek Lively trade. What are your
(27:31):
thoughts on that? From both sides? I said this a
while back, and it's kind of my current stance with
respect to an Austin Reeves trade. I think it makes
sense to trade Austin Reeves as long as you get
back either one a very good ball handler that can
be that secondary ball handler next to Luca and is
a better athlete, okay, or two two high level starters. Okay.
(27:59):
If I can turn Austin into Derek Lively and a
guy like a PJ. Washington, then sure, I think it
starts to make some sense. But if I'm just getting
Derek Lively, I feel like Austin Reeves just a better player,
a better asset, even though I think Lively obviously fits
the big picture goals of the Lakers, and so I
(28:20):
would trade Austin for Derek as long as I also
got PJ back as a legitimate starting caliber piece of
forward depth, right, And that's a guy that when Lebron retires, PJ.
Washington could just slide in at the four, you know,
And obviously it brings a death piece in that regard
in the short term, right, But like just flipping Austin
(28:40):
for like a starter, he's a better starter, that doesn't
make any sense. I think it makes some sense. To
at least look around trading Austin, because I don't think
it makes a ton of sense to have two unathletic
guards in Austin and Luca as foundational players in your
starting lineup. But you don't just get rid of him
for the sake of getting rid of him. You get
rid of him for high value and nothing less than that. Alright,
(29:03):
I changed my mind. I actually doubled up the Yannis question,
so we actually have we actually only have three questions
left looking at this Pacers and Thunder team. What could
they do in the offseason to further push them to
the chip. Both have a good amount of draft picks,
and it seems the Thunder needs scoring and playmaking help. Well.
I think the Pacers could use an upgrade at the
two to three position. So I actually disagree with this.
(29:24):
I don't think the Thunder should make a move for Giannis.
They're obviously very they're either a championship team, which the
series isn't over, or they're very very close to being
a championship team. And Chet's gonna get better, j Deb's
gonna get better. They're young, the sky's the limit. Like,
I don't think it makes a ton of sense to
shorten your window to make to give you a better
(29:45):
chance at you know, one single championship in this regard
like I then also I just think it'd be bad
for the league if Yannis went to Oklahoma City. So
I don't think Oklahoma City should do anything. As far
as the Pacers go, like like, honestly, there's a bit
of a five out spacing concept with the guy like Siakam,
where even though Siakam's not as good as Jiannis, I
think there's a little bit of a diminishing return. The
(30:05):
Pacers are very ball and player movement heavy offense, and
Giannis is more of like a like brute force, you know,
just sheer force of will and power type of weapon.
He's not a guy that is known for being a
super super high level quick decision read and react player
and three point shooter and all those things that are
so important in the Indiana Pacers offense. I don't really
(30:25):
see that as as a realistic type of move And
then as far as the two and three goes, I
think I think them Hard and Smith are strengths in
this offense as ball pressure guys that can run, action
and shoot. Like I don't necessarily think an upgrade there
is something that you look outside the roster for. If anything,
Ben Matherin in his potential and it continues to grow
(30:48):
and develop in coming years, and he becomes your upgrade
at the two and three. In the big picture, highly
unlikely that this would happen due to the current circumstances
and the beef, But I feel the Pacers are the
perfect team for you. He'd elevate the defense, and I
feel Holley would complement Jannis perfectly with East kind of
in limbo right now. Thoughts on this, As I mentioned earlier,
(31:08):
I just don't. I don't think Jannis fits as well
with Indiana as he does in some other situations. It
doesn't mean like Giannis would make the Pacers better. He's
be honest, But the point is is like you'd have
to give up a ton to get him, and it
is a little bit of a diminishing return in a
system that prioritizes three point shooting and read and react quickness,
which are two kind of weaknesses for Yannis relative to
(31:28):
his strengths. Last question, did we undervalue Indiana's shot making
ability to before the series? While weighing While weighing Oklahoma
City's ability to turn people over too much. Game is
about getting buckets and making tough jumpers, and if the
Playoffs is any evidence, they do it better than almost
anyone we've seen. This is an interesting question, and I
appreciate you asking it because it's caused me to look
(31:49):
at things a little bit differently. I would argue that
Shay and Jadab are better tough shot makers than Halliburton
and Siakam as a unit, mainly on the strength of
Shay obviously, but where I think it gets interesting is
as you go down the roster. I do think the
Pacers are a better aggregate tough shot making team. Nie
(32:10):
Smith can make tough shots. Nemhard can make tough shots.
Turner can make tough shots. TJ McConnell will make tough
crazy fadeaways, Ben Mathern can make tough shots. Obi Toppin
can make tough shots. I do think there's an aggregate
tough shot making piece with the Pacers which is really
fascinating and has shown in a big way in this
postseason run. And so honestly, with the way that their
(32:32):
offense works and all the whirling around looking for great shots,
it doesn't really matter where the ball ends in the sequence,
you know, with four or five seconds on the shot, like,
any of those dudes can put the ball in the
floor and create a decent look for themselves. And I
do think that that aggregate shot making talent has been
a little bit underrated as far as Oklahoma City's ability
(32:53):
to turn people over and whether or not that's being
weighed properly. We have one game, and in the first
half it worked marvelously and in the second half it didn't.
So I think we just need more data before we
can really speak, you know, with conviction in that specific regard.
All right, guys, this all have for today is always
a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting
the show again. We will be back tomorrow night after
(33:13):
the final buzzer of Game two of the NBA Finals
with Colin Coward, So we'll have a breakdown with Colin,
then we'll be heading over to play back after then
on Monday morning, I'll do more of like a detailed breakdown,
and then we'll do film on Tuesday. All right, I
appreciate you guys. I will see you tomorrow. What's up guys.
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful for us
(33:35):
if you guys would take a second and leave a
rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys
supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume
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slash audio. Well go on hoops tonight Here at the
(02:01):
volume heavy Saturday. Everybody hope everyone's having a great start
to their weekend. As promised, we're going to be covering
a mail bag today. A bunch of you guys dropped
a bunch of really good questions over on Twitter, a
bunch of stuff on the NBA Finals. We'll be talking
about some big picture concepts within that series. And then
at the tail end of the show, I have about
a half dozen questions surrounding some big picture stuff around
the league, some Detroit Pistons, some New York mix, some
(02:23):
who's gonna trade for Kevin Duran, who's gonna trade for Giannis?
Some fun stuff at the tail end of the show.
You guys are the joke before we get started. Subscribe
to the Hoops Toight YouTube channels. You don't miss any
more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter, Underscore, json LTC,
you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about a
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It's also super helpful if you leave your rating and
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on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
(02:45):
and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. And
the last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in
our YouTube comments. We can hit them in our weekly
mail bags throughout the remainder of the year. All right,
let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason Shay took
thirty shots and only had thirty one points on those shots,
not including free throws, while only dishing out three assists.
(03:06):
It sort of felt like he tried to be Superman
and it played right into the PACER's hands. What do
you think Shay has to do differently in game two?
Love the show, Thanks again for supporting the show. So
I those of you guys who watched yesterday's film session,
we'll have a little bit of an understanding of this
concept from the film. But I talked after Game one
about how it felt to me like Shae was trying
(03:28):
to kind of force his way into rhythm under the
NBA Finals environment, and after rewatching the game, and I
talked about this in the film session, actually ended up
disliking a lot of the shots that he took early.
You know, I talked about in the film session the
idea of investing in rhythm, and that, to me is
such an important part of a point guard's job. You
(03:49):
are the ultimate decision maker on a possession by possession
basis on the offensive end of the floor, and if
you invest in rhythm by moving the ball, it's more
like that later in the game when you need people
to be involved, when you need guys to make shots,
it's more likely that they lock them down. We've jokingly
been talking about the Indiana Pacers and the damage that
(04:11):
they've done in this postseason run with crazy shot making
at the end of games, and would jokingly call it
like devil magic or voodoo or whatever it is. And
there's a certain amount of like, yeah, it's pretty wild
that they've hit as many tough shots as they have hit.
But as as is always the case, variance or randomness
is going to be pretty far down the list in
(04:32):
what plays into that outcome compared to real basketball concepts.
And if there's something to be said about the way
the Pacers play, it's that they keep everyone involved throughout
the game. The usage rate for their top player, and
Tyrese Haliburton, is about twenty one percent in the regular season,
right that's way below what you see from a typical
(04:53):
on ball guard who is usually determining the outcome of
every single possession. Starts from Tyrese and Rick Carlyle on
the identity they breed in the team, and then from
there it's just the group of players all trusting each
other and keeping the ball moving from side to side
and keeping everyone involved as a result, like Let's look
at those tough shots that got made down the stretch
that game. I saw Miles Turner hit a contested three
(05:16):
over Hartenstein on the right wing, a contested step back
three over chet Holmgren on the left wing, a really
tough leaning kind of drop cover like a pick and
roll popped the short roll shot around the right elbow
that he hit. They're down the stretch. Who else hit
a tough shot? Aaron Nesmith flying into that left corner
off of the move right, who else hit a tough shot?
(05:37):
Andrew Nemhard hitting off the dribble, crazy step back against
shake Yild, Justs Alexander right then Tyrese Haliburton hits the
game winner. A bunch of different guys hit tough shots
because a bunch of different guys are involved throughout the
game with shake Yield, Justs Alexander randomly. We got some
good rhythm for lou Dort, who had a lot of
(05:59):
pretty tough contested shots in that game. But no other
Thunder player outside of Shae or lou Dort was in
any sort of rhythm. And that is the downside of
approaching the game the way that Shaye did. Again, if
you guys want to see visual examples of what I'm
talking about, go to our film session that we released yesterday.
But the long and short of it is, Shay came
(06:19):
into this game and took a ton of mediocre shots
that he could have got later in the clock. Go
move the ball around. If Indiana closes out well and
dudes don't get good looks, it'll work its way back
to you. Go take that, saying contested eighteen footer, but
I thought he took a lot of those shots early
in the clock and kind of bailed the Pacers out
and prevented his team from getting into the rhythm that
(06:41):
they needed to get into to be better on the
offensive end of the floor. Next question, who is the
most important role player moving forward in this series? This
is an interesting question, So I think on the Pacers front,
I'm gonna stick with exactly what I said in the
series preview, and I thought it showed again last night, Miles.
When Miles Turner is hitting threes and when he's beating
(07:03):
post mismatches or beating offensive rebounding mismatches, he is deadly impactful.
In this particular matchup against a Thunder team that can't
match up with his size, even with their biggs, who
can be a little small right compared to him. So
like Miles Turner, to me, is the key to everything
for Indiana in terms of their role player talent. If
(07:24):
he's hitting picking pop threes and he's successfully beating post
mismatches and rebounding mismatches, he is the catalyst for their
ability to score against this Oklahoma City defense. On the
Oklahoma City front, it's really all of their spot up shooters.
But I'm gonna focus on lou Dort just so that
I can give you one specific player. But it's really
all of their their spot up shooters. As you guys
(07:45):
saw in the film session yesterday, really really overreacting to
Shay and JDub drives sometimes three even four helpers meeting
in the lane. The kickouts were there. Cason Wallace got
good looks late, he missed. Jadub got good looks late.
Miss lou Dort is going to be the consistent guy
because jadeb I don't think counts as a role player.
He's the co star. Cason might not be on the
(08:07):
floor when they go big with Isaiah Hartenstein and Cheded Holmgren. Right,
So the consistent guy who's probably gonna keep getting those
clean catch and shoot looks throughout the series and needs
to hit them is Lou Dort. So those are who
I think are the two most important role players in
the series for either team. Other question. Also, one thing
that stood out, especially after that first avalanche of turnovers,
(08:29):
is that Indiana starters outplayed Okac's pretty consistent, pretty convincingly
in that second half startling trend, considering the massive success,
the massive success that Turner, Hallie, Nemhardeni, Smith, and Pascal
have already had. So here's the thing. I agree that
Indiana's starters out played Oklahoma City starters, especially in the
(08:50):
second half of that game. But I think it's pretty
clear that there was an order of operations problem with
Indiana or with Oklahoma City, with Shay and Jadub not
investing in their their role players more frequently throughout the game,
Like there's a chance that you get more out of Chet,
you get more out of Case and Wallace, you get
more out of Jadab, even if the ball just is
flowing more throughout the game. And so I think in general,
(09:14):
Oklahoma City starters didn't play well and so they're capable
of playing a lot better heading into a Game two,
but I do agree that Indiana starters outplayed them in
game one. How rare is it that the Pacers play
with this consistent effort throughout the series and games going
against the traditional flow of playoffs. Usually stealing game one
on the road would definitely mean the team will get
(09:34):
blown out in game two. But you know that's not
going to be the case. So I've thought a lot
about this within the concept of game two. Right, So
in game two we have typically seen in this sort
of situation, the team that's down one zero bring a
ton of energy, and it's like a kind of a
(09:56):
two very powerful forces of energy clashing here, because on
the one hand, we have an Indiana Pacers team that
stole Game one against Milwaukee and then one game two,
and then stole game one against the Calves, and then
one game two and then well, I guess they actually
get the games that they actually stole in the Cave
series was game two. But the point is is they
won game two after going up one, oh right, against
(10:18):
the Knicks. Same thing. They steal game one in crazy fashion,
they still come back and win game two. So Indiana
is stolen game two after going up one oh on
the road in all three series. But actually I think
in the Indiana series they were at home for the
first two games. But the point is they won up
two to oh in all three series, and in the
Calves matchup, and in the Knicks matchup they managed to
(10:38):
win game two on the road despite going up one oh.
But then we on the other side of it, we
have Oklahoma City who against Denver toasted off game one
and then they came out and beat the shit out
of the Nuggets in Game two. Right, So which of
those forces is going to win in this particular matchup. Well,
let's talk about each team. What do we expect from
Indiana in game two Pacers basketball? I expect Pacers basketball
(11:03):
with fewer turnovers than they had in Game one, So
I'd argue that Pacers will probably play a little bit
better in Game two than they played in Game one.
That said, as we saw in the film session, as
we've talked about ad nauseum over the last couple of days,
Shay can play a much better floor game just keeping
his teammates involved. J Dubb needs to not settle for
so many jump shots earlier in the game and look
to attack and guys are certainly capable of doing a
(11:24):
better job knocking down the open catch and shoot threes
that those guys generate. Oklahoma City can play much better,
and I do believe they will play much better in
Game two. I'm fascinated by TJ McConnell. Is he the
least athletic gifted rotation player on an NBA Finals roster
in the modern era? Also, I thought nemhard bringing the
ball up in the fourth quarter allowed the Pacers to
(11:47):
get into their actions much earlier. How does Oklahoma City
counter this in Game two? Great questions? First of all,
TJ McConnell, to me, is actually a much better athlete
than he gets credit for. He's a pretty damn big,
strong guard like he's got a lot of power to
his game. But he's very good at changing directions, especially
at full speed. He plays with a lot of pace.
(12:09):
He's always attacking already on the move instead of attacking
a set defender. And then he's very good at changing
direction while going full speed with crossovers and spins and
things along those lines. So I actually think TJ McConnell
is a very gifted athlete. He has been, in my opinion.
One of the best like dribble drive guards in the
league for a while in terms of just beating people
off the dribble. I don't think that he's a poor
(12:31):
athlete or a guy who lacks athletic gifts. I think
he's a guy that is actually a pretty underrated athlete
at his position. The pace in general with the Pacers,
I thought they did a nice job pushing the ball
off the floor consistently in the second half without turning
the ball over, which forced a lot of transition cross matches.
I didn't think it was just nemhard bringing the ball
(12:52):
off the floor. I thought it was just kick ahead
passes and just playing with a lot of pace and
guys running and just playing Pacers basketball. Oklahoma City can
only do so much to stop that. With the way
that Indiana plays. They did stop easy runouts. There's a
few of them, like Siakam snuck past Chet for an
easy layup at one point in the second half, but
overall it's not like they were giving up like easy
(13:13):
stuff in the early part of transition. It's just the
cross matches that come from that. In Indiana's ability to
punish mismatches, I thought the main thing that Oklahoma City
can clean up defensively heading into Game two is just
their overhelp. There's just too many examples of them, like
sending two three guys at a dude in the paint,
and when Indiana is not turning the ball over and
they're spraying the ball out, there's the easy open shots
(13:34):
and it's like, yeah, like Toppin's gonna knock that down.
You know, Turner is gonna knock that down. The Nie
Smith's gonna knock that down. So there's a certain amount
of like they've got to be a little bit more decided,
like a little bit more Hickey I should say about
when they decide to help in those situations in Game two?
Did Mark Dagnall blow his wad too early by adapting
(13:56):
to pacer style basketball before trying to play thunderstyle back squad?
What adjustments does he have left? Seems like he doesn't
think they can get into their half court set against
this team. I don't think Mark's worried about their ability
to get into their offense. I think he knows that
Shane and j Dubb played a poor game, and I
think he's gonna go over with them in film, and
I think they're going to clean it up. I think
Shane and j dub are both going to be way
(14:17):
better in Game two now. When I look at it
in terms of adopting the pacer style basketball, the big
criticism is that Mark Dagnall went slow or went small
down the stretch. Right when he went small, they started
giving up a bunch of offensive rebounds to Siakam and
Turner underneath the basket. Here's the thing, there's a certain
amount of those offensive rebounds that they're gonna be able
to get no matter what against switches like it doesn't
(14:38):
matter if chets on the floor, if chets on the perimeter,
and Turner's got a small underneath the basket, and so
to me, it's more just they got to do a
better job when they're giving up those mismatches of get
like gang rebounding. Everyone's got a crash. Dudes got to
come flying in to knock away the ball. Overall, as
a team, they got to do a better job playing
winning those contested rebound battles. Right as far as like
(15:00):
defensive adjustments that are available to them, the only big
one that I see is just those help and recover
decisions that we talked about earlier, just being a little
bit more picky about when they offer a ton of
help and leaf shooters open in the process. Next question,
why didn't Indy take the ball out of SGA's hands
and double So this is complicated. They weren't doubling that much.
(15:23):
They were throwing some pretty aggressive hedges in the second half,
and they gave up some slips and some rolls out
of that, But for the most part, they were offering
all that extra defensive attention at Shay after he beat
his man off the dribble, Like there was a play
where he split a ball screen against Obi Toppen when
he went to hedge and got right downhill and then
three pacers just met him right in the lane. The
double team, so to speak. The getting the ball out
(15:45):
of Shay's hands, so to speak, came late in the
form of sending aggressive help at the rim, and they're
being kickout opportunities, And honestly, I thought Shaye did a
nice job down the stretch of making those kickouts. Dudes
just got to make shots. And the second piece of
it is if Shay invests more early in the game
(16:06):
at getting those guys shots, they might be more comfortable
and more able to knock down those shots when they
get into crunch time late. Next question, how did the
Celtics out clutch the Pacers four times last playoffs? Granted
without Halley for part of it. Couldn't that loss or
could that loss be part of Carlisle's inspiration to build
the most clutch and resilient team I've seen in recent history?
(16:28):
A couple things. First of all, that Celtics team was
a special team, very very very good team that had
the ability to consistently generate great shots down the stretch, punishmentsmatches,
and they were such a high level defensive team last
year in the postseason. The second piece of it is
I think Haliburton is the key. Like in these games
that they've stolen, who's been the guy that's had the
magic late. It's been Tyrese Haliburton in his ability to
(16:51):
beat Giannis off of the dribble for Iso scooping layup right.
It's been Tyre's Halliburton hitting that step back at the
top of the key in Game two over ty Jerome
to win Game two against the Calves. It was Tyrese
Halliburton hitting the step back foot on the line jump
shot against the Knicks in Game one that sent that
(17:12):
game to overtime. It was Tyrese Halliburton last night hitting
the off the dribble jump shot. Like Tyrese Halliburton brings
the upside because he's just a better player now than
he was last year, because he's healthier, he has his
hamstring underneath him, and he's just in a better physical
position to be impactful down the stretch of these games.
Then down the roster, everyone was just a little better.
And Mark's a little better than he was last year.
(17:34):
Meie Smith is considerably better than he was last year.
Turner's playing the best basketball of his career. All these
dudes are just playing better, and so they're a better
version of what that Pacers team was last year. Last
question on this series, and then we'll move on to
some stuff around the league. After all the talk about
the Thunder being compared to the KD Warriors, how even
more laughable is that comparison now? After Game one a
(17:55):
couple things. I agree that comparing this Thunder team to
the KD Warriors is silly. That team was obviously better.
Kevin rant was the third best player in the league
at that point in time. Steph was the second best
player in the league at that time. Klay Thompson was
probably the best three and D guy in the entire
NBA at that point. Andre Gudala was probably like a
(18:17):
top two or three like Swiss Army Knife role player
Ford in the league at that time, and Draymond Green
was the best defensive player of his era and very
much at the peak of his powers at that point
in time. So I think there's a pretty large gap
between Golden State and the second best champion of this era.
If Oklahoma City can win the series, which is an
if obviously, then I think they kind of take that
(18:38):
second spot in terms of talent and what they have
defensively and the job they did getting out of that
Western Conference. But yeah, I think comparing them to the
KD Warriors is foolishness. That team is the most talented
roster ever assembled in NBA history. Two of the top
three players in the league all veteran experienced talent, not
guys that are new and green and unfamiliar with this stage.
So I didn't see that comparison. That said, before you
(19:01):
go burying the thunder, who cares if they will lose
Game one? If they win the next four and they
win the series in five, They're still going to be
looked back at as a team that's one of the
most dominant teams in NBA history within a single season.
So don't bury the thunder yet. Even though I don't
think they're as good as the KDE Warriors, they still
have a very good chance to win this series, and
to win convincingly if they can apply themselves.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
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Speaker 2 (19:55):
All right, let's move around league a little bit. This
is a report. Gary reports that the Knicks are preparing
a tsunami type offer for Yannis. The question was, what
offer do you think this is? Maybe McHale and Towns.
Here's the thing. Also, if they get out bid, should
they shift towards a more achievable target like Kevin Durant?
(20:18):
So a couple things. If the Knicks are preparing an
offer for Yannis, what does it look like? Okay, from
what I understand, I believe they only have access to
one first round pick this summer if I'm remembering correctly,
So they don't have the draft compensation to get into
a bidding war for a guy like Yiannis. In theory, now,
(20:39):
if you get a third team involved, or if you
can convince the Bucks that they want to take back
of McHale, Bridges or you know, I would argue you
might want to even look at trading Og because he
plays the same position as Yannis. But whatever it is,
if you're gonna look to move one of those guys
in the Bucks are like, yeah, we want win now, pieces, sure,
let's do it. That's great. But like I think that
(21:00):
the Bucks are probably more interested in draft compensation. And
if that's the case, then you got to get a
third team involved. And so now you're looking at getting
a third team involved and trading basically Og or McHale
or Towns or whoever it is, whatever you decide to
give up for draft compensation that then gets rerouted towards
(21:21):
the Bucks in a y honest deal. But like to me,
it's just the reality is is that there are teams
that can absolutely outbid everybody with respect to Giannis. Like
the Spurs just have so many more picks to throw
on the table, the Rockets have so many more picks
to throw on the table. If one of those teams
decides to get involved with Giannis, they can just so
much easier get that sort of deal done right and
(21:43):
so viewed as a long shot. But if they do
get out bid, should they shift towards a more achievable
target like KDI. Absolutely. Their roster is pretty much guys
in their late twenties, so they're a bit of a
shorter window anyway, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about
tying my self to an older player. Kd's game translates
super well in the late phase of his career, especially
(22:05):
in a team like this that has so much talent
that he wouldn't be depended on as much. And there's
an easy vehicle in the form of Carl Anthony Towns
Phoenix really wants a kind of a franchise starting center.
If that's the framework of the deal, and it's Karl
Anthony Towns and a first round pick for Kevin Durant
and the Sons get a younger star that's been back
to back conference finals, And look, do I think that
(22:26):
makes the Suns a very interesting team? No, but I
don't think the Suns are a very interesting team now.
So at that point, whatever, and if you could somehow
pull that sort of deal off and get Kevin Durant,
that that puts you in a pretty damn strong position
going into next season, especially in an Eastern conference that
is wide open with Boston falling apart, with Milwaukee falling apart,
(22:46):
Like this is a winnable conference out East, and I
would view Kevin Durant as a target there that I
think would put the Knicks into another echelon in terms
of reliable scoring talent. Also, Kevin Durant's a very good
defensive player in a low man context when you can
protect the rim, be a defensive rebounder, things along those lines.
So like, again, if you need to get more draft compensation,
(23:08):
maybe you do end up including like an OG and
a separate you know three team structure that sends more
draft compensation towards the Suns. But if you can get
rid of Towns and keep one of your two forwards,
and keep Brunson and get Kevin Durant, I think that's
a very interesting team in a wide open Western Conference
or Eastern Conference. Excuse me, not quite related to this finals,
(23:31):
but seeing how far the Knicks went and how open
the East is next year, should the Pistons consider going
in a bit harder next year seeing that they might
not actually be that far away? In general, what's a
realistic move for them this summer? So again, I if
I'm remembering correctly, if the Pistons let all of their
cap holds walk, so if they let like Dennis Walk
(23:51):
and Tim Hardaway Junior walk and all these guys, I
think the max cap space they can put together is
about nineteen millions, like nineteen twenty million something along those lines.
That's not enough to bring in a super high level
free agent, right, especially when I would argue that Tim
Hardaway Junior and Dennis Schroeder kind of if you can
bring them back on team friendly deals, that's actually better
(24:12):
than going out to get a free agent. I would
try to get those guys tied up on relatively short
term mid level contracts, meaning around two years or less,
or like a team option for the third year shirt
that you have some flexibility, but like a two year
deal somewhere in the fifteen to twenty million range. If
you can do something like that for those guys where
(24:33):
there are mid level contracts where like, you know, one
of them's in the you know, five to ten million
range and the other ones in the ten to fifteen
million range or something, they become trade pieces at that point,
trade filler if the right sort of move just kind
of materializes this summer for you to jump on. But again,
don't jump the gun on a player that is going
(24:54):
to shorten your window. Caid is a franchise altering type
of talent. He is roven that he can succeed at
the highest levels of basketball. I'm a believer in him.
You have Jade and Ivy coming back, You've got young
role player talent and Nasar Thompson. You like, you have
the ability to be patient here while also having guys
(25:19):
like Tobias Harris, guys like Malik Beasley, guys like Tim
Hardaway Junior on team friendly deals. That you can still
be competitive in the short term, but then turn your
attention in the draft towards off ball scoring talent. That's
the big one with the you know, I think sar
Thompson obviously has the ability to be one of the
(25:40):
better kind of like perimeter like d and three types
of players in the league right as a guy that
can guard the opposing best player. He's a guy that obviously,
if they can unlock some of the vertical spacing stuff
that the Rockets do with the men Thompson, he can
become a better offensive player and we'll see how his
jump shot develops over time. Ron Holladay obviously is like
another kind of like athletic type of young wing. What
(26:04):
they're missing is like older college talent, So like guys
that are in you know, three four year college guys
that you can find in the middle of the first round,
late first round, guys that can that have been playing
in a winning context as like weak side scorers, guy
that can knock down jump shots and drive closeouts, things
along those lines. I think there's a lot of opportunity
(26:26):
in the draft for that sort of talent. So the
point is is like let this thing grow slowly. Don't
jump the gun for an Eastern Conference Finals appearance that
ends up shortening your window. Don't make the mistake that
the Cavs did with Lebron in early you know, in
the early part of his career, where they kept making
these kind of mediocre aggressive deals and getting guys like Antoine,
Damson Jamison and Mo Williams that were good players, made
(26:49):
team better, but didn't make them a championship team. And
so patience is the name of the game. The specific
type of talent they need. I like where they're at
at center. I like where they're at with their shot creators.
I like where they're at in terms of having athletic
guys on the perimeter that can guard and fly up
and down the floor. What they're missing is just off
ball skill, basically, guys that you can phase out Tim
(27:11):
Hardaway and Malik Beasley and phase in younger versions of
those players that you find in the middle to late
portion of the first round in the draft. We have
five more questions. I heard san Vassini suggests the framework
of an Austin Reeves Derek Lively trade. What are your
(27:31):
thoughts on that? From both sides? I said this a
while back, and it's kind of my current stance with
respect to an Austin Reeves trade. I think it makes
sense to trade Austin Reeves as long as you get
back either one a very good ball handler that can
be that secondary ball handler next to Luca and is
a better athlete, okay, or two two high level starters. Okay.
(27:59):
If I can turn Austin into Derek Lively and a
guy like a PJ. Washington, then sure, I think it
starts to make some sense. But if I'm just getting
Derek Lively, I feel like Austin Reeves just a better player,
a better asset, even though I think Lively obviously fits
the big picture goals of the Lakers, and so I
(28:20):
would trade Austin for Derek as long as I also
got PJ back as a legitimate starting caliber piece of
forward depth, right, And that's a guy that when Lebron retires, PJ.
Washington could just slide in at the four, you know,
And obviously it brings a death piece in that regard
in the short term, right, But like just flipping Austin
(28:40):
for like a starter, he's a better starter, that doesn't
make any sense. I think it makes some sense. To
at least look around trading Austin, because I don't think
it makes a ton of sense to have two unathletic
guards in Austin and Luca as foundational players in your
starting lineup. But you don't just get rid of him
for the sake of getting rid of him. You get
rid of him for high value and nothing less than that. Alright,
(29:03):
I changed my mind. I actually doubled up the Yannis question,
so we actually have we actually only have three questions
left looking at this Pacers and Thunder team. What could
they do in the offseason to further push them to
the chip. Both have a good amount of draft picks,
and it seems the Thunder needs scoring and playmaking help. Well.
I think the Pacers could use an upgrade at the
two to three position. So I actually disagree with this.
(29:24):
I don't think the Thunder should make a move for Giannis.
They're obviously very they're either a championship team, which the
series isn't over, or they're very very close to being
a championship team. And Chet's gonna get better, j Deb's
gonna get better. They're young, the sky's the limit. Like,
I don't think it makes a ton of sense to
shorten your window to make to give you a better
(29:45):
chance at you know, one single championship in this regard
like I then also I just think it'd be bad
for the league if Yannis went to Oklahoma City. So
I don't think Oklahoma City should do anything. As far
as the Pacers go, like like, honestly, there's a bit
of a five out spacing concept with the guy like Siakam,
where even though Siakam's not as good as Jiannis, I
think there's a little bit of a diminishing return. The
(30:05):
Pacers are very ball and player movement heavy offense, and
Giannis is more of like a like brute force, you know,
just sheer force of will and power type of weapon.
He's not a guy that is known for being a
super super high level quick decision read and react player
and three point shooter and all those things that are
so important in the Indiana Pacers offense. I don't really
(30:25):
see that as as a realistic type of move And
then as far as the two and three goes, I
think I think them Hard and Smith are strengths in
this offense as ball pressure guys that can run, action
and shoot. Like I don't necessarily think an upgrade there
is something that you look outside the roster for. If anything,
Ben Matherin in his potential and it continues to grow
(30:48):
and develop in coming years, and he becomes your upgrade
at the two and three. In the big picture, highly
unlikely that this would happen due to the current circumstances
and the beef, But I feel the Pacers are the
perfect team for you. He'd elevate the defense, and I
feel Holley would complement Jannis perfectly with East kind of
in limbo right now. Thoughts on this, As I mentioned earlier,
(31:08):
I just don't. I don't think Jannis fits as well
with Indiana as he does in some other situations. It
doesn't mean like Giannis would make the Pacers better. He's
be honest, But the point is is like you'd have
to give up a ton to get him, and it
is a little bit of a diminishing return in a
system that prioritizes three point shooting and read and react quickness,
which are two kind of weaknesses for Yannis relative to
(31:28):
his strengths. Last question, did we undervalue Indiana's shot making
ability to before the series? While weighing While weighing Oklahoma
City's ability to turn people over too much. Game is
about getting buckets and making tough jumpers, and if the
Playoffs is any evidence, they do it better than almost
anyone we've seen. This is an interesting question, and I
appreciate you asking it because it's caused me to look
(31:49):
at things a little bit differently. I would argue that
Shay and Jadab are better tough shot makers than Halliburton
and Siakam as a unit, mainly on the strength of
Shay obviously, but where I think it gets interesting is
as you go down the roster. I do think the
Pacers are a better aggregate tough shot making team. Nie
(32:10):
Smith can make tough shots. Nemhard can make tough shots.
Turner can make tough shots. TJ McConnell will make tough
crazy fadeaways, Ben Mathern can make tough shots. Obi Toppin
can make tough shots. I do think there's an aggregate
tough shot making piece with the Pacers which is really
fascinating and has shown in a big way in this
postseason run. And so honestly, with the way that their
(32:32):
offense works and all the whirling around looking for great shots,
it doesn't really matter where the ball ends in the sequence,
you know, with four or five seconds on the shot, like,
any of those dudes can put the ball in the
floor and create a decent look for themselves. And I
do think that that aggregate shot making talent has been
a little bit underrated as far as Oklahoma City's ability
(32:53):
to turn people over and whether or not that's being
weighed properly. We have one game, and in the first
half it worked marvelously and in the second half it didn't.
So I think we just need more data before we
can really speak, you know, with conviction in that specific regard.
All right, guys, this all have for today is always
a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting
the show again. We will be back tomorrow night after
(33:13):
the final buzzer of Game two of the NBA Finals
with Colin Coward, So we'll have a breakdown with Colin,
then we'll be heading over to play back after then
on Monday morning, I'll do more of like a detailed breakdown,
and then we'll do film on Tuesday. All right, I
appreciate you guys. I will see you tomorrow. What's up guys.
As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting
OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful for us
(33:35):
if you guys would take a second and leave a
rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys
supporting us, but if you could take a minute to
do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume
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