Clippers insider and The Athletic reporter Law Murray joins Trysta to break down the latest chaos around the league. They dive into Jayson Tatum’s achilles injury and what it means for the Celtics’ future, Giannis-to-the-West rumors, and why the Pacers’ beatdown of the Cavs raises big questions in Cleveland.
Law also explains why he’s out on the East, why he’s all in on the Timberwolves, and gives love to Julius Randle’s dominant stretch. The episode wraps with a deep dive on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s evolution and what makes this Thunder team truly different.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're you're listening to the Hottest, The Hottest. It'd be
a podcast out here. It's the check.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let's just start with the injury to to Jason Tatum
along with.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Let's just try you start there. How do you think
that impacts.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
What Boston wants to do moving forward with this roster.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I think we already had a safe assumption that the
team was going to have to break up in some regards.
It was just a matter of to what degree, you know.
I think that there are some guys that obviously are
not going to be their their luxuries. I think christ
As razingis is a luxury the way that he has
(00:50):
played in this postseason, especially considering whatever illness is hampering.
He's a liability. He's not even a luxury. He's an
obvious guy that you just you just know like he's
probably playing his last games as a member of that team.
You know, it's he's got thirty million to do next
(01:12):
year and you probably need to attach an asset to
get off of him at this point. That's that's how
that's that's the state that you have him in. The
guy who's really interesting is Drew Holliday, Because Drew is
a player who is his value is obvious to everybody.
(01:32):
And at the same time, he turns thirty five next month.
He's a small guard. He's not exactly a player that
you look at as having remarkable athleticism or you know,
that's not a slight to him. I can't repeat this enough.
He's in year sixteen. I think it's an you know,
(01:53):
reasonable statement to say he's not Joahn Morant when it
comes to you know, athletics crust of the league. You
know he's got a player option in twenty twenty seven,
two years from now, and like the play style, Like
(02:14):
Drew's not a classic point guard. He is a three
and D guard. He is one of your most valuable defenders,
if not your most to be honest with you, given
his ability to guard players that are his body type
as well as Karl Anthony Town sized players. Right, He's
an incredibly unique player. But he's not a ball in
(02:36):
hand shot creator, a guy that you play through. He
probably touches the ball less than any other player in
Boston's healthy starting lineup, a lineup that no longer exists
for all of our intents and purposes here. So those
are two players that you look at is like, yeah,
you're probably not gonna have those guys. And then you
got to decide if Aal Horford. I mean, you don't
(02:57):
decide it. Al's gonna decided, but Al's got to decide
is it worth continuing his playing career. I mean, he
still is a serviceable player, but he turns thirty nine
and next year would be his nineteenth NBA season. He's
a guy who if he does want to continue playing basketball,
you have to give a new contract to he's in expiring.
So the Tatum injury reminds me of the Kawhi Leonard
(03:20):
injury I cover. I've covered the Clippers for the Athletics
since twenty January of twenty twenty one. Kawhi tours ACL
at the almost actually the same exact time that Tatum
tore his achilles a Game four in the semi finals.
And you know, Kawhi was in his twenties when that
injury occurred. He was not in his twenties when he
(03:42):
underwent surgery and missed the following season. This is the
most devastating injury to meet Trisa by a player in
his prime, a guy who's a first team guy, established
resting guy, and pretty much since Kawhi and before Kawhia.
I don't know, like you gotta go way far back
like this is relatively unprecedented. It kind of makes the
(04:03):
pill a little easier to swallow for Boston knowing that
they're going to have to make changes to the roster anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So yeah, so if Drew goes, I'm fascinated about Drew
because when Portland was thinking about trading Drew or getting
ready to trade Drew, one of the teams that was
very interested was your team that you cover the Clippers.
Is that a destination or a possibility or is the
(04:32):
ship sailed there?
Speaker 1 (04:33):
The ship sailed there, as you may know, the Clippers
amount of getting another guard drafted in two thousand and
nine on their team from LA So that's that's where
they got to kind of look at I mean, the
thing with with with the Clippers is that would have
(04:55):
been a nice addition when you had Paul George and
Kawhi Leonard. It doesn't it doesn't hit the same like
they have Chris Dunn, who Chris Dunn is not near
the talent that Drew is, especially offensively but defensively approximates
a lot of what Drew does you know, and he's younger,
and more importantly, the price tag is significantly lower, so
(05:17):
there's no real need to reduplicate that on the current
twenty twenty five roster for the clipwords.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Are there any teams that you think would automatically be
in the running for Drew that like he's the piece
that unlocks them.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I mean, there's no.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Way he could go back to Milwaukee, is there?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
No, it doesn't make sense. Milwaukee's got a small guard
who is an albatross for the next year. It's there's
no consideration there. I think it's really tough because a
lot of teams that are good they're good because they're
already expensive and they're good probably because they have a
small guard on their team already kind of taking up
(06:01):
space on their roster. That's what's going to be the
hard part for Boston. If Drew Holiday is a guy
that you gotta trade, how like where do you do
that at? You know, there's like there's bad teams, but
what bad ironically like Portland for example, Like what bad
team is signing up to take on Drew Holiday's twilight contract?
(06:22):
That's what I call it. When a guy is making
money that he ain't never going to be signing for again.
You know what I'm saying, that's a twilight contract. And
and it's like the bad teams can't use the Drew
Holiday effectively and it doesn't make sense. The teams that
are already contenders probably like, you know, Indiana's a non starter.
(06:45):
For example, Minnesota is a non starter. You know, like
Minnesota would be would would be great, but it's like
what assets to Minnesota does Minnesota have? You know, like
you probably want Drew Holiday rather than Mike Conley, but like,
how do you get that guy on your team? That
would be that? That would be tough, right, And then
(07:05):
there's your middle class teams, the teams that are, you know,
not exactly happy to make the playoffs but definitely happy
to win a series. I don't. I just don't. That's
the hard part, you know. That's why with Drew.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
What about Lando.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Here's the thing with Orlando, Like you probably have to
get up like a KCP or somebody to get on like,
but Orlando already has their Drew and Jalen Suggs. There
would be duplication of that. And again Orlando would be like, yeah,
let's get Drew Holiday and pair him with Jalen Suggs,
and I mean that defense would be just ridiculous. I
(07:45):
actually it would. It would be a I actually could
see that making sense. But the question then is do
you have the means? Do you really want that kind
of player on your team? I love the fit. There's
a lot of teams I love to fit for. For Orlando.
Orlando is one of my most intriguing teams because if
they've got two big shot creators and they just need,
(08:07):
you know, the pieces around them, Drew would be a
great piece for the price after you just PAYKCP. Like
that would be an interesting conversation.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And so it feels like Boston has two players that
they might want to get off of and they don't
really They're not necessarily positive assets, right. You might have
to attach something to get a team interested in taking
those contracts.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So the contract or the conversation that I.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Just keep thinking about, is is there a possibility that
it's to you and what you've heard or what your
logical mind says that the Jalen Brown would ever be moved.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I don't think you you'd want to do that, you know,
because I go I'll go back to the Clippers. And
I know this is a previous CBA, but for the exercise, right,
Kawhi has acl surgery. He is the Clippers never ruled
him out, but reasonably speaking, he was never going to
play in the following season. You have Paul and what
(09:12):
you asked Paul George to do, a guy who was
chronically disrespected by twenty twenty one. By the way, Paul
did a great thing in twenty twenty one. He led
the Clippers to two playoff wins without Kawhi against a
one seed to allow that franchise to break through to
their first and to this point, only Conference finals appearance.
Jalen Brown has a similar mission. You know, we'll see
(09:34):
how that goes. But then going into the next year,
it's like Jaln Brown, you're getting paid a max contract.
You were disrespected. You felt disrespected because you weren't on
the Olympic team. You have never gotten to be the
top guy on this Boston Celtics team, even though you've
been there, coming up on a decade, this is your
time to put on and do something for your legacy.
(09:59):
You are now going to lead this team in the
stead of a guy that you've grown up playing pro
basketball with and do that for a year and keep
this franchise. Ruman. It's like, if you want to go
back and be really nostalgic Scottie Pippen, you know, getting
to lead the Chicago Bulls and the WAKA Jordan's retirement,
Like in the first year, that went pretty well. In
the ninety four Bulls, you know, won a playoff series.
(10:23):
I'm pretty sure Pip got some MVP votes and they
took the nixt A team that went up coming out
of the East to seven games. We know that Pip
needed Mike back to complete his part of the LEGSI,
but that's what you asked Jalen Brown to do. If
you're Boston, you only have one true star left on
that team going to the next year, and the East
(10:45):
is not in a state where you're like, yeah, let's
get off of everybody. No, Jalen Brown is your guy.
And when Jason tam comes back, guess what. Tatum is
going to be a player who's going to need to
reintegrate him self to pro basketball. You want a guy
playing at a high level and to help him with that,
(11:05):
and that's what Jalen Brown's job should be, especially considering
the significant contract. Jalen Brown signed to commit himself. He's
going to make sixty four million dollars three seasons from
now going into twenty eight twenty nine. No, like, you
asked that guy to fulfill his contract and this is
the way to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So it's basically going to be then Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum,
and you have to keep Derek White just because of
the contract. It's so good, so attractive, and he's such
a good glue guy. Everybody else you have to basically
roll out and have more on the fringe guys, more
mid level exception guys. Figuring out how to keep Peyton Pritchards.
(11:47):
That's basically what you're saying is that those three are
now the core pretty much.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And you know, Brad Stevens is a great has turned
into a great front office guy. The one of Brad's
Evenson's assess is that he coached this team. He knows
these guys right well. Sign for brass Evens continue to
do his job at a high level. That's the hard
part of being a front office. You can't just be
satisfied with your past successes. You have to continuously do
(12:16):
the big stuff up top maintaening roster with stars. You
have to make sure that the head coach is supported.
You have to draft and actually be able to put
those draft picks in a position to contribute. And then
you need to win the margins. If you're gonna make trades,
if you're going to sign guys to contracts, you gotta
win those things. The teams that are sustainably good are
(12:38):
able to do those things. I will tell you every
single team in the league has failed in some aspect
of that. Like that's just the NBA. Now, Like you're
going to have failures. You're gonna have draft picks that
don't pan out, You're gonna have trades that you regret,
You're gonna have contracts where it's like, yeah, we probably
need to get all of this thing, but your focus
on what opportunities for success are there. And the Boston
(13:01):
Celseics will have those opportunities and we'll judge them on
that going forward.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
One of the trades that they probably regret Brad Stevens
does is trading Malcolm Brogden, or trading for Malcolm Brogden
and trading away Aaron Nei Smith. I think probably an
unsung hero for the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I don't know about you, Low, but.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
When when the Calves were matching up with the Pacers
and everybody was telling me how deep the Calves were,
I told them, I said, listen, the Pacers.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Are pretty damn deep too. I mean, listen, you go
down the list.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah you got Tyrese Haliburton, Yeah you got Miles Turner.
We know about them, but nobody talks about Andrew Nimhart
and Aaron Neithsmith and hell Obi topping off the bench.
And you know the kid from Belmont, Ben Shepherd, who
runs like he's swimming in water, and.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Like the list really goes goes on and on.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Is that sustainable?
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Is this team somebody that you think as you talk
about like the balance of power shifting in the East,
obviously Celtics take a step back, Milwaukee takes a step back,
Sixers probably don't bounce back next year.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Who to you then, is.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
That the Pacers for you? Or how sustainable are they?
And who do you think is like the cream of
the crop moving forward?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
It should have already been the Pacers. The Pacers made
the conference finals. Like the thing about the Pacers making
it last year, they you know, they were slighted by
people always talking about injuries to other teams as if
one they didn't have an injury to their own team.
You know, I'm not saying Benedict Mathern is a great player,
but ben think bathroom was literally they're six man and
he didn't play a single game in the spring last year.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
But also if you're at a Knicks for example, the
Knicks went into Indiana Game three last year, had a
chance to go at three to zero, failed to do it,
had a chance to end the Pacers twice and failed
to do it, and their two opportunities Game six, on
the road, Game seven, no one was like thinking Indiana
(15:06):
was going to win that series against the Knicks. At
the beginning or at any point even the morning of
Game seven, everyone was like thinking it was going to
be a coronation. The Knicks are going back to the
conference finals. That was last year, and everyone who could
have possibly gotten excited about the Pacers this year fell
off because haliburt.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
The beginning of last year, I mean beginning of yeah,
the last season where you was still dealing with that hamstring.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Right, Halliburton just didn't start the season. Great, You discuss
aaron Ne Smith and them Haart, those guys got hurt
and they weren't playing great and it took them a
long Like it looked like aaron Ne Smith wasn't going
to come back at all. I'm like, this dude is
missing months with an ankle, Like, what is really going
on here? And then you saw the impact of those
guys getting healthy. You saw that once they finished their
(15:53):
parastrip in late January, which is one reason why their
early season schedule was so front loaded, right, they got
some rest, they got healthy Halliburton, who missed the All
Star Game, he wasn't selected this year, once he got
it really going and started playing consistently good instead of
once a week good, like that team looked like a
(16:15):
problem again. And that's the thing, Like if it's Indiana,
so people act like because it's Indiana, you can't, you know,
gas them up. You know, if this was a Pacers,
if this was another if this was the Chicago Bulls
with the same guys in the same play style and
the same track record of success over the last year
and a half, you'd be hearing some different things. Trista, like,
(16:38):
let's just keep it real, Like the Pacers should be
treated as the team that they are currently, a team
that has now won four playoff series in two years,
back to back conference finals, and a real threat to
make the NBA Finals. As far as the rust of
the East, I ain't excited about none of them. Dudes.
We'll see what We'll see what the Knicks can do,
you know what I'm saying. But what the Cavaliers show
(17:00):
was a real lack of fortitude. The Indiana Pacers went
into that building and over the course of the record
season in.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
The playoffs, snatched their saul, snatched their chain, took everything
from They.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Didn't just play like the better team, they played like
they knew that Cleveland wasn't going to do anything about it.
Aside from DeAndre my god, DeAndre Hunter shoving Benedict Mathern,
you know what I'm saying, they won battles, they didn't
win the war, right, So I think the rest of
the East is I wouldn't say, you know, there's opportunities there,
(17:35):
but inspiration a severe lack of it.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, it feels like the East is gonna be super weak.
And Yannis now looks like he's interested again and jumping off,
jumping off the roof into a trade.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I don't know is this is this happening? Is this
not gonna happen? Is he going out west?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
How do you think that impacts just the Western Conference
as a whole if he does go out there.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I don't think Jannis wants to go out West, and
I honestly don't I honestly don't think Giannis even would
really want to leave Milwaukee. Like it's different when you
were the guy drafted there, you knew that Milwaukee had
absolutely no Q raiding in the league. You know, not
just when he got there, but when he got there,
(18:26):
they were the worst team in basketball his rookie year.
And he saw a number two pick come to his
team that more or less plays his position, and God
bless you, Barry Parker. But that's one of the reasons
why why Gianni's got to be so great. He had
to do everything and toil and get that team back
to relevance. And he saw the struggles of a guy
like Jabari Parker and how nothing's guaranteed there. He's being
(18:49):
reminded of again, Damian Lillard. It's not just that Damian
Lillard is Johannas's teammate. Damian Lillard left a situation in Portland, thinking.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Very similar situation as Johannis.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yep, yeah, it's like you're coming here and you're going
to be a contender, and they didn't win a single
playoff series together. Dame's got an injury that is going
to drastically change how he plays the game. I have
no doubt in my mind that Damien will make it back.
I have significant doubt that Damien will be a great
(19:19):
player after this injury. He's a small guard, who you know,
that's just a tough injury when you're at that age,
at that long in your career, and you're already at
a physical disadvantage, right, like Giannis can go out west
and do what have wars with Nikola Jokics just to
say you want a playoff series, Like if you want
to go anywhere, you should stay east and honestly take
(19:42):
this gap year right and then after that see what
it's looking like. Because Milwaukee means so much more to
Gianni's and it would mean so much more for him
to stick it out and to be a part of
Milwaukee's next best team rather than to go somewhere else
and hope that that team is still good enough after
(20:04):
they have to trade whatever is it takes the trade
for you, that's especially going west is a fools errand
you don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You mentioned that you have no faith in the Calves.
Like I said, they got their chain snashed by Indiana.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I have no faith in the East.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You have no faith in the East.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
But yes, the caves are part of that.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
The Calves as a whole. I said this earlier on.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Obviously, when this team's winning sixty four games, it's really
hard to throw any shade on them. But what it
felt like to me is if there was any issues
or any stumbling block, it was going to be kind
of the same stumbling block that we saw Utah have
when they had Donovan Mitchell. Right, it felt a little
(20:52):
Utah Jazz of the East. Right, You've got like a
defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
You got a defensive year well not Canada two time
defensive player of the Year. You got a defensive player
of the Year.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
In Evan Mobley.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You've got smaller guards with Donovan Mitchell and Mike Connelly.
You got smaller guards with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
And I know as a Portland Trailblazer fan who's had
Dame and CJ.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
That shit just does not work. So as much as
their their roster looks.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Like they have the defensive identity, to me, I was
pretty suspicious. Is this a team that you think needs
altering or will be altered or is that just like
bad injury luck and down in the dumps will just
kind of like lay over and die.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I think it's a little bit of h not to
be like Abe Simpson here, but it's definitely a little
bit of Column, a little bit of Colin b Right,
like this is. Here's the thing with injuries in the playoffs,
if they are recurring, you are going to need some
different players at some point. And we've seen recurring things
happen with Donovan. First off, Like Donovan, he is a
(22:06):
player who runs out of gas because of how hard
he plays, but how hard he has to play because
he's typically going to have to guard bigger guys and
he's typically going to have to exert so much to
lift a team that ultimately doesn't support him when it
matters the very most. This is a team. I love
what Kenny did with this offense and how he empowered
(22:27):
Garland and Mobley and Kenny did not get validated or
rewarded in the slightest by either one of those guys
in the playoffs setting. And that's where the rubb goes.
It is a luxury to have two pick and roll
ball handlers as good as Garland and Mitchell, and two
pick and roll rollers as good as Mobley and Allen.
What good is that if a team like Indiana can
(22:49):
just slap a zone on there and completely take those
dudes out of their offense and say, Okay, you're no
longer a special offense. What do we have left? Also,
you're defensive player of the year. Can't guard our best
interior guy. Pascal Siakams saw food every time Evan Mowdley
was matched on to him. So Jared Allen has unfortunately
(23:10):
one offer to him. But you know, gift to the
rest of us. One of the best playoff memes ever
talking about how right the lights were and how you
didn't expect it. There's you know, Marcus Morris, he didn't
play in the NBA last year. His lasting moment in
the playoffs is basically criticizing on the record Jared Allen
(23:33):
not playing in the playoffs because of a rib injury
or the serious injury that he had. You are you
have a stigma. You don't want to be the team
that you want to match up within the playoffs, right,
And that's what the Cavs are. They are going to
It's you're not going to reduplicate that offense. Everyone is
going to spend the offseason looking at how great they
(23:53):
were and how the Indiana Pacers were able to overcome that,
and that is going to be how the Cavaliers have
to go through next regular season and then in the playoffs.
It's going to be like Donald's probably going to run
out of gas, Garland is food, Evan Mobley is playing
out of either out of position or he's undersized, and
you can just go at him. And Jared is probably
going to disappear at some point. Also, everybody else on
(24:16):
that team is not going to be able to step
up and fill any void if any of those guys
are not available, which you can bet on someone else
got not being available. You I would want to run
that team back, but also be prepared that if they
don't surprise in next year's playoffs, it ain't the coach
that needs to be changed. You already pulled that card,
(24:36):
and Donovan is a really great dude who you should
build around. But Donovan's future probably has to come at
point guard. That's going to compromise on Garland, and Mobley's
future is probably going to have to be at center
so you can get some real tougher dudes on the
wing at Ford to support him, and that's probably going
to compromise Jared Allen.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yeah, so probably those dudes.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Probably those dudes are going to go, which is actually
what was discussed before Donovan Mitchell signed his extension.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Right, everybody was saying, like, Darius Garland.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Probably needs to be traded, and you probably need to
break up Eva Mobley and Jared Allen.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
And now you know that.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
If the Cavs are gonna keep one, they're probably gonna
keep Eva Mobley.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Let's go out west really quick.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
What do you think about Golden State and what they.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Did, because boy oh boy, this roster is disgusting without
Steph on it. You see that's Steph in the game.
You see how just terrible they are. Obviously, Jimmy Butler's
getting long in the tooth. They sign him to a
two year extension, he gets injured, which he's been getting
(25:39):
injured for years and years and years now, even though
he's an iron man, I just don't know what to
make of them.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Law Here's what I make of them. They are a
team that since Kevin Durant left in twenty nineteen, they
have been a top five seed in the Western Conference
one time. And we all know what that one time is.
When they won the twenty twenty two Championshit. That was
a great team and then Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole
and it hasn't been the same ever since. And when
(26:07):
you get a Jimmy Butler on a team, here's what
you have to just be real about. With the Warriors,
Stephan Curry was not having a difficult season, right He
was an All Star. But people quibbled about that All
Star selection. We all know the fans were behind it,
but we are like, if Stephan Curry playing like one
of the very best players in the West this year,
(26:28):
or is this reputation? I think most people would say
it was the latter. Steph had a jump after the
Jimmy Butler tree. He played inspire basketball after that. Draymond
Green did the same on the other end of the
floor as a defender as the guy who's supposed to
be the heart and soul of whatever the heck the
Warriors are now, Like Draymond Green was absolutely not a
defensive Player of the Year candidate for the two months
(26:49):
where the Warriors were playing horrible basketball relative to their standings,
to their standards, Jimmy Butler comes and Draymond starts playing
hard and starts taking guys out left and right. He's
got the de fensive partner with him and Jimmy. That's
when he starts going on his pod and telling everybody
who had a podium not just that, but he was
(27:09):
the defensive player the year specifically, you know what I'm saying,
Like Draymond, he got energy thinking that, oh the windows
shortened now, like because when your window is short and
it's like a team that isn't that good, then they
just want to get it to halftime and say, hey
we're still in it, get it to the fourth quarter,
Hey we can win this game. You know, the Warriors
(27:30):
were not a full season great team. They were a
team that once Jimmy got there, was like, oh, we
can do something. Let's be reinspired and do this because
we know what it feels like. You know Jimmy and Jimmy.
Jimmy Butler has been on a team since he left
the Sixers in twenty nineteen. He went to Miami right.
You know how many times just to that Miami Heat
(27:50):
team had home court advantage in the first round of
the playoffs with Jimmy Butler on it, none one, they
were one. They were the one seed in twenty yes,
and even with helm court advantage in that years conference finals,
they watched the Boston Celtic to win a game seven. Okay,
I mean we look at Jimmy as playoff Jimmy, the
guy who's led the Miami Heat as a five seed
(28:12):
and an eight seed to the NBA Finals. What the
more telling sustainable thing is you could have count on
the Miami Heat to basically be a five seed or
lower in the Eastern Conference because their best player was Jimmy.
And Jimmy is not at the stage of his career
where he can just put a team on his back
and play great all NBA level basketball over the course
(28:34):
of a regular season. He's a guy who it's like
he's gonna breeze through, kind of cruise through. He was
begging the Heat to give him some help get him
a Damian Lillard right, and he was like, I'm not
doing this again. And Miami should have been proactive about
that and traded him before training camp. Instead, they had
to get to the point to suspend him. Those suspensions
(28:55):
helped Jimmy immensely because it allowed him to put in great,
great effort to help the Warriors get through the West.
They were tenth in the West. They were under five
hundred when Jenny debuted that is the challenge for next
year's Warriors. You are small, and it didn't take the
Timberwolves to expose that. The Rockets exposed it. You know,
(29:16):
you got through the Rockets because the Rockets were neo
fights in the playoffs setting, and it took you seven
games to do that. The Warriors knew how perilously vulnerable
they were. They talked all at the end of the
last season about how they wanted to avoid the playing Tournament,
and then they screw up the end of the regular
season just enough to have to play in that playing tournament.
They survived the Playing Tournament, but they had to go
(29:37):
seven games against a Rockets team they had a three
to one lead against. If any year was going to
be the year where Stephen Curry had a soft tissue
injury in the playoffs. Damnit, it was going to be
this year. He's a small guard, turning thirty seven years
old during the season, and he had a world class
Olympic run last summer. He's had to do so much
(29:57):
for his team just to be average in the West.
And that's where the Warriors are at. They have tried
to meld and develop guys who replace these older guys,
and yet they're stuck with their three most important players
still being thirty five and older. They're small, and they
lack athleticism, and they lack any kind of offensive cohesion
when either one of Steph or Jimmy Butler or not playing.
(30:20):
That's their problem. They have a lot of work to do.
They shouldn't be considered contenders. They shouldn't even be considered
the same team that won it in twenty twenty two,
or were the Dynasty and the twenty tens. That's that's
the Warriors. A good team, but absolutely not a team
that should be looked at as a contender.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
What do you think about the Timberwolves, because a lot
of people that I talk.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
To aren't really impressed.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Do you think this is a team that could actually
beat an Okac or a Denver in the Western Conference finals.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You don't ever be talking to me, that's for sure,
because I would have been told you what I would
have been.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I think what Julia's random, what has been done been
doing is is pretty remarkable. In the playoffs, he sort
of changed his reputation in the span of a few
like one month.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
He's changed his reputation in one month's time.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Aunt Edwards continues to give us those highlight moments even
if he has three points in the first half, and
we see that Rudy Gobert can can actually get you
twenty something points when he needs to. And Chris Finch,
I'm super impressed by him. But for whatever reason, and
maybe you can explain it to me, why are people
still sleeping on this Timberwolves team.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Because it's Minnesota? Because people don't the West. Yes, that's
exactly what it is like. People don't have you know
they have. Anthony Edwards is not the player that you
get help for. Anthony Edwards is the player that you
want to see go to another market. You see how
(31:53):
that's been working. Stephen Curry will never be the type
of player who it's like, send him somewhere else to
get help. It's always get Stephan Curry some help, right,
And it takes a guy like Anthony Edwards to change
that narrative, just like it Stephan Curry did for Golden State.
No one thought of Golden State as a glamour NBA
market before Stephan Curry had his playoff runs there. It
(32:14):
took them winning at a high level to change the
conversation around him and doing it again and again and
actually getting guys to join with him to build up
and actually make players that you're playing with better. Maybe
Julius Randall just needed on Anthony Edwards in his twenties,
you know, maybe he needed Chris Finch earlier in his career,
because all we saw was in the playoff setting was
(32:36):
Julius Randall playing for Tom Thibodeau's Knicks and trying to
find a way to you know, meld his game with
whoever was with the Knicks, whether it was Jalen Brunson
or whoever was on the twenty twenty one team. You
don't even want to look at who the twenty was, Like,
that's what it is. People aren't impressed because they're they're
used to other guys being in the spot that Timberwolves
(32:57):
are in. You ain't never seen a Timberwolves team ever make,
you know, win playoff series and back to back years before.
Now we're seeing it. So that's where the conversation starts
to change. Here's what needs to happen to break through.
Last year, you had home court advantage in the Western
Conference finals against the MAVs, and you absolutely got spun
like a top in that conference finals. Okay, you are
(33:20):
now in a position to play either an Oklahoma City
team that you beat multiple times during the regular season,
so you know you're comfortable in that matchup at the
very least from just paper. You know you can. You
can go back and look, they played them well. Or
Denver Nuggets team that you not only swept in the
regular season but played in the previous two playoffs more
(33:41):
or less built your team to beat that team, and
you ended their run on their home floor in a
Game seven in the conference semifinals, which again no one I.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Think down fifteen down, fifteen twenty.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
It was the biggest game seven come back ever in
a playoff Game seven. I guess all game sevens are
in the playoffs but like that's again, Minnesota should feel
like they have a chance to make the NBA Finals,
and if you make the NBA Finals, you should obviously
feel like you can win the whole thing. And so
Minnesota can't feel accomplished. Last year felt like an accomplishment
(34:22):
to make the conference finals, and Chris Finch called them
out on that to begin this season. I loved his
quote at the end of their elimination game in Minnesota
against the Warriors where he said what the challenge was,
so in other words, Minnesota shouldn't be satisfied to get
to go on the plane for Game one at Denver
Okasee wherever the Conference finals will be breakthrough and change
(34:45):
the conversation. And I love how you mentioned Ant will
have like a three point half and we think that's sweet.
Like Aunt has to play more consistent basketball. I love
the breath and the floor that he's raised. That dude
shoots threes like like Steph Curry, James Harden. You know,
I'm not saying he's a great you know, oh my god,
(35:06):
I trust every shot that he shoots to go in.
That's how you feel about Steph. You don't feel that
way about Ant. But the volume that the work that
he's put into be a player who can hit, catch
and shoot threes and pull up threes at the rate
and the proficiency that he has that shows growth. He
showed growth in that game five. He had double digit
assists for the first time in his playoff career. Last year,
(35:27):
I thought one of the biggest criticism for Ant was
how slow he processed the game when defenses were changing
on him. He has already shown that he's broken through that.
He showed that in the Lakers. Yeah, exactly, like that
is growth. That is the kind of thing that you know,
makes you excited about a guy who is at young's future,
but it makes you excited for now he's still playing.
(35:49):
He still has an opportunity. Julius Randall is scoring against
guys that most guys is like, man, you're going to
get bron You're going to get Draymond to the most intimidating,
physically intimidating guy in the league and mentally intimidating too,
because Bron has you know, you step on the floor
with him and that takes something mentally to compete with him.
Same with Draymond Green. He tries to get in your
(36:11):
head and change your game, and Julius Frandle showed it.
He's tough enough mentally as well as physically and skilled
enough to have success and sustainable success in those series.
We'll keep it going. Then, So was that trade law?
Speaker 4 (36:25):
Was that trade law really quick?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Not to cut you off?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Is that trade just Chris finch and and Tim Connelly saying, listen,
we'll take less skill, but we want more toughness like
Cat is just not just not He's an awesome player,
but just not blending with the identity that we want.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I'm not going to give anybody that much credit for
that trade. I think that trade was the CB like
Cat get Yeah, Cat's got a sixty one million dollar
player option in the summer of twenty twenty seven, and
that's an expensive roster. That trade helped the Timberwles balance
out things because while Cat, I thought the ceiling was
(37:13):
probably higher with Cat. To be honest with you, I mean,
you see how Katz performing in New York. I think
when you get Julius Randall, it changes how your team plays.
They got Dante DiVincenzo in that deal. Dante has been
a valuable reserve. We're talking about playoff teams. Having guys
get canceled as series go along. I love I love
(37:34):
the playoffs because really good NBA players, over the course
of the regular season get to a playoffs and they
seed the minutes go twenty five, twenty fifteen, DNP Witness Protection,
Milk Carton like Nah, like the Timberwlves have eight guys
that they know they're playing every single night, and they've
had to play that way over the course of the
regular season to get to this point. Julius is a
(37:55):
different skilled player. He's not the shooter that Cat is.
He's not as big as Cat is, but he's a
better passer and we've seen how that's benefited Ant and
how they had to grow into it. Julius was not
very good in the first half of the year, he
got hurt. When he came back, he showed that he
can adapt his game to what is best suited for
this team. That has carried over into the playoffs. That
(38:17):
is what the That is what Chris Finch should get
credit for. Chris Finch coach Julius back in New Orleans
as an assistant, just like I love Chris Finch's background
with the Rockets. Look at how that team plays basketball.
It's all in the paint. It's all from three. Ant
loves talking about how he ain't like Shay, he ain't
taking the mid range. He's taken. If he's gonna shoot,
(38:38):
the jumper's gonna be from three. That's a Rockets ideology.
And who's coaching the team? All these things come together, right,
Trista and so like, that's the credit that the Timberwold
should get. They believe that they could still be very
good and you go from there. They're not the number
one defense, they weren't a top three seed like last year,
but here they are back in the conference finals again.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
All right, so before we go, we got to talk.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Okay, see, because I think you've been high on Oka see,
like just very hard.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Not everybody's been high, but I think you've been.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
This is the supreme team in the West as far
as I can remember, based on.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
What we've said. Is your opinion still.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
That it is? And they better be playing by the
time this podcup? Soy, yeah, they better be. Like I
love how they've gotten better as the series has gone on.
They needed to show that they could win clutch time games.
They should needed to show that they could come back
against a team that is honestly built to make things
(39:39):
very difficult on them. They needed to show that again.
David Adaman has thrown a zone against those dudes, and
they've had to figure it out. I covered the Thunder
in November for two games. It was actually one of
those games was when Schet got hurt against the Warriors, right,
So I covered a couple games is there and Shae
(40:02):
killed the Clippers. He dropped like forty five on them.
And one of the things Shay said stuck with me
even to this day. In May, he said, what I
do individually pales in comparison to understanding that I put
up numbers in the playoffs last year and my teammates didn't.
And it's my responsibility as a leader to get those
guys during the regular season to be in position to
(40:24):
feel like they can contribute more and be comfortable contributing
more in a playoff setting. And that ethos is why
the Thunder one game four and five, because it took
bench guys Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins to make big
shots along with getting Caruso on your team. That's how
they survived Game four in Denver, and they're down double
(40:46):
digits Game five at home, and it was Lou Dord,
a guy who I thought was going to get canceled.
You know, Viya the playoff series being how Denver was
guarding him, and he hit three threes to cut that
double digit lead to now you're in a game. And
it took Shaye Gulls Alixander absorbing a double team, swinging
it to Dort or kicking it to Dorts, who swings
(41:09):
it to Jdubb, a guy who struggled for most of
that game. JDub hits that three and that was the
finally changing Game five. Those guys have had to meet
Shay where he's at relative to their roles, and if
they continue to do that, then by the time this
pod comes out, they'll be playing the Timberwolves in the
Conference finals.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Yeah, I'm excited to see how how that series ends up.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Obviously we're recording early.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I've got some travel plan, but I wanted to kind
of do it around the league thing with you.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
I'm excited to see how this all shakes out.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
It's okay.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
See, I've I've always felt like.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Since they've had their ascension, I need to see them
do what they did in games four and five, and
I'm gonna need to see that now in the Western
Conference Finals if they get there against another gritty, tough
team that's gonna want to punch them in their mouth.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
So it's gonna be it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah. And here's the thing, Trisa. When you're a young team,
we can accept and understand that, but it has to
come with the context. Last year they took their lesson
if you will as a young team, you need to
grow from that. And that's what this series against the
Nuggets is. If you grow from that, then cool. You're
not allowed to be young because guess what. Next year
(42:25):
is your last chance with this roster. You gotta pay
JDub and shit as soon as this summer. So you
are not just a young team. You are a team
that beat the rest of the league by a thousand points.
We've never we've never seen the point differential that the
Thunder put up. You know, over the course of this season,
you are a sixty eight win team. You saw what
(42:45):
happened to the East and the Cavs sixty four wins
and they're not even in the conference finals. Don't let
that be you. These windows, especially now in this era
where teams aren't repeating this wind, the window closes and
you ain't gonna be young for five years. You're gonna
have to take advantage of what you've got, especially now.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Yeah, that new CBA is a bitch.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
That's all the time that we have.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Law, Thanks so much for coming on, brother, and always
a pleasure, always insightful.
Speaker 4 (43:17):
We got a lot, we got a lot to cover.
We have to have you back on soon.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Absolutely, I didn't even get to the bottom of this glass, so.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
We get in the bottom of the glass.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Law was just breaking us off with nuggets of wisdom.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
All right, see you next time, lad, Thanks again for
coming on.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Thank you Tristan.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
That's all the time that we have for this episode
of The Heat Check.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
Come back Friday for an all new episode, and check
out the feed for past episodes and the occasional many
episodes which could come at you unexpectedly like a new
case and the show The Pit.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Do not forget to follow the Heat Check all playoffs long.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
That means download, subscribe and tell your friends, even the
ones you haven't talked to in years, and follow us
on TikTok at as just Heat Checking at trust.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Click on Twitter, Instagram.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
And threads met as new social media platform where I
post NBA and I will have more fakes on there
very very soon.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Big shout out to Lawry, big shout out to my
producer wife for the editor, and we'll see y'all next time.
You're you're listening to the Hottest, The Hottest. It'd be
a podcast out here. It's the check.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let's just start with the injury to to Jason Tatum
along with.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Let's just try you start there. How do you think
that impacts.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
What Boston wants to do moving forward with this roster.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I think we already had a safe assumption that the
team was going to have to break up in some regards.
It was just a matter of to what degree, you know.
I think that there are some guys that obviously are
not going to be their their luxuries. I think christ
As razingis is a luxury the way that he has
(00:50):
played in this postseason, especially considering whatever illness is hampering.
He's a liability. He's not even a luxury. He's an
obvious guy that you just you just know like he's
probably playing his last games as a member of that team.
You know, it's he's got thirty million to do next
(01:12):
year and you probably need to attach an asset to
get off of him at this point. That's that's how
that's that's the state that you have him in. The
guy who's really interesting is Drew Holliday, Because Drew is
a player who is his value is obvious to everybody.
(01:32):
And at the same time, he turns thirty five next month.
He's a small guard. He's not exactly a player that
you look at as having remarkable athleticism or you know,
that's not a slight to him. I can't repeat this enough.
He's in year sixteen. I think it's an you know,
(01:53):
reasonable statement to say he's not Joahn Morant when it
comes to you know, athletics crust of the league. You
know he's got a player option in twenty twenty seven,
two years from now, and like the play style, Like
(02:14):
Drew's not a classic point guard. He is a three
and D guard. He is one of your most valuable defenders,
if not your most to be honest with you, given
his ability to guard players that are his body type
as well as Karl Anthony Town sized players. Right, He's
an incredibly unique player. But he's not a ball in
(02:36):
hand shot creator, a guy that you play through. He
probably touches the ball less than any other player in
Boston's healthy starting lineup, a lineup that no longer exists
for all of our intents and purposes here. So those
are two players that you look at is like, yeah,
you're probably not gonna have those guys. And then you
got to decide if Aal Horford. I mean, you don't
(02:57):
decide it. Al's gonna decided, but Al's got to decide
is it worth continuing his playing career. I mean, he
still is a serviceable player, but he turns thirty nine
and next year would be his nineteenth NBA season. He's
a guy who if he does want to continue playing basketball,
you have to give a new contract to he's in expiring.
So the Tatum injury reminds me of the Kawhi Leonard
(03:20):
injury I cover. I've covered the Clippers for the Athletics
since twenty January of twenty twenty one. Kawhi tours ACL
at the almost actually the same exact time that Tatum
tore his achilles a Game four in the semi finals.
And you know, Kawhi was in his twenties when that
injury occurred. He was not in his twenties when he
(03:42):
underwent surgery and missed the following season. This is the
most devastating injury to meet Trisa by a player in
his prime, a guy who's a first team guy, established
resting guy, and pretty much since Kawhi and before Kawhia.
I don't know, like you gotta go way far back
like this is relatively unprecedented. It kind of makes the
(04:03):
pill a little easier to swallow for Boston knowing that
they're going to have to make changes to the roster anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So yeah, so if Drew goes, I'm fascinated about Drew
because when Portland was thinking about trading Drew or getting
ready to trade Drew, one of the teams that was
very interested was your team that you cover the Clippers.
Is that a destination or a possibility or is the
(04:32):
ship sailed there?
Speaker 1 (04:33):
The ship sailed there, as you may know, the Clippers
amount of getting another guard drafted in two thousand and
nine on their team from LA So that's that's where
they got to kind of look at I mean, the
thing with with with the Clippers is that would have
(04:55):
been a nice addition when you had Paul George and
Kawhi Leonard. It doesn't it doesn't hit the same like
they have Chris Dunn, who Chris Dunn is not near
the talent that Drew is, especially offensively but defensively approximates
a lot of what Drew does you know, and he's younger,
and more importantly, the price tag is significantly lower, so
(05:17):
there's no real need to reduplicate that on the current
twenty twenty five roster for the clipwords.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Are there any teams that you think would automatically be
in the running for Drew that like he's the piece
that unlocks them.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I mean, there's no.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Way he could go back to Milwaukee, is there?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
No, it doesn't make sense. Milwaukee's got a small guard
who is an albatross for the next year. It's there's
no consideration there. I think it's really tough because a
lot of teams that are good they're good because they're
already expensive and they're good probably because they have a
small guard on their team already kind of taking up
(06:01):
space on their roster. That's what's going to be the
hard part for Boston. If Drew Holiday is a guy
that you gotta trade, how like where do you do
that at? You know, there's like there's bad teams, but
what bad ironically like Portland for example, Like what bad
team is signing up to take on Drew Holiday's twilight contract?
(06:22):
That's what I call it. When a guy is making
money that he ain't never going to be signing for again.
You know what I'm saying, that's a twilight contract. And
and it's like the bad teams can't use the Drew
Holiday effectively and it doesn't make sense. The teams that
are already contenders probably like, you know, Indiana's a non starter.
(06:45):
For example, Minnesota is a non starter. You know, like
Minnesota would be would would be great, but it's like
what assets to Minnesota does Minnesota have? You know, like
you probably want Drew Holiday rather than Mike Conley, but like,
how do you get that guy on your team? That
would be that? That would be tough, right, And then
(07:05):
there's your middle class teams, the teams that are, you know,
not exactly happy to make the playoffs but definitely happy
to win a series. I don't. I just don't. That's
the hard part, you know. That's why with Drew.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
What about Lando.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Here's the thing with Orlando, Like you probably have to
get up like a KCP or somebody to get on like,
but Orlando already has their Drew and Jalen Suggs. There
would be duplication of that. And again Orlando would be like, yeah,
let's get Drew Holiday and pair him with Jalen Suggs,
and I mean that defense would be just ridiculous. I
(07:45):
actually it would. It would be a I actually could
see that making sense. But the question then is do
you have the means? Do you really want that kind
of player on your team? I love the fit. There's
a lot of teams I love to fit for. For Orlando.
Orlando is one of my most intriguing teams because if
they've got two big shot creators and they just need,
(08:07):
you know, the pieces around them, Drew would be a
great piece for the price after you just PAYKCP. Like
that would be an interesting conversation.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And so it feels like Boston has two players that
they might want to get off of and they don't
really They're not necessarily positive assets, right. You might have
to attach something to get a team interested in taking
those contracts.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So the contract or the conversation that I.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Just keep thinking about, is is there a possibility that
it's to you and what you've heard or what your
logical mind says that the Jalen Brown would ever be moved.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I don't think you you'd want to do that, you know,
because I go I'll go back to the Clippers. And
I know this is a previous CBA, but for the exercise, right,
Kawhi has acl surgery. He is the Clippers never ruled
him out, but reasonably speaking, he was never going to
play in the following season. You have Paul and what
(09:12):
you asked Paul George to do, a guy who was
chronically disrespected by twenty twenty one. By the way, Paul
did a great thing in twenty twenty one. He led
the Clippers to two playoff wins without Kawhi against a
one seed to allow that franchise to break through to
their first and to this point, only Conference finals appearance.
Jalen Brown has a similar mission. You know, we'll see
(09:34):
how that goes. But then going into the next year,
it's like Jaln Brown, you're getting paid a max contract.
You were disrespected. You felt disrespected because you weren't on
the Olympic team. You have never gotten to be the
top guy on this Boston Celtics team, even though you've
been there, coming up on a decade, this is your
time to put on and do something for your legacy.
(09:59):
You are now going to lead this team in the
stead of a guy that you've grown up playing pro
basketball with and do that for a year and keep
this franchise. Ruman. It's like, if you want to go
back and be really nostalgic Scottie Pippen, you know, getting
to lead the Chicago Bulls and the WAKA Jordan's retirement,
Like in the first year, that went pretty well. In
the ninety four Bulls, you know, won a playoff series.
(10:23):
I'm pretty sure Pip got some MVP votes and they
took the nixt A team that went up coming out
of the East to seven games. We know that Pip
needed Mike back to complete his part of the LEGSI,
but that's what you asked Jalen Brown to do. If
you're Boston, you only have one true star left on
that team going to the next year, and the East
(10:45):
is not in a state where you're like, yeah, let's
get off of everybody. No, Jalen Brown is your guy.
And when Jason tam comes back, guess what. Tatum is
going to be a player who's going to need to
reintegrate him self to pro basketball. You want a guy
playing at a high level and to help him with that,
(11:05):
and that's what Jalen Brown's job should be, especially considering
the significant contract. Jalen Brown signed to commit himself. He's
going to make sixty four million dollars three seasons from
now going into twenty eight twenty nine. No, like, you
asked that guy to fulfill his contract and this is
the way to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So it's basically going to be then Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum,
and you have to keep Derek White just because of
the contract. It's so good, so attractive, and he's such
a good glue guy. Everybody else you have to basically
roll out and have more on the fringe guys, more
mid level exception guys. Figuring out how to keep Peyton Pritchards.
(11:47):
That's basically what you're saying is that those three are
now the core pretty much.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And you know, Brad Stevens is a great has turned
into a great front office guy. The one of Brad's
Evenson's assess is that he coached this team. He knows
these guys right well. Sign for brass Evens continue to
do his job at a high level. That's the hard
part of being a front office. You can't just be
satisfied with your past successes. You have to continuously do
(12:16):
the big stuff up top maintaening roster with stars. You
have to make sure that the head coach is supported.
You have to draft and actually be able to put
those draft picks in a position to contribute. And then
you need to win the margins. If you're gonna make trades,
if you're going to sign guys to contracts, you gotta
win those things. The teams that are sustainably good are
(12:38):
able to do those things. I will tell you every
single team in the league has failed in some aspect
of that. Like that's just the NBA. Now, Like you're
going to have failures. You're gonna have draft picks that
don't pan out, You're gonna have trades that you regret,
You're gonna have contracts where it's like, yeah, we probably
need to get all of this thing, but your focus
on what opportunities for success are there. And the Boston
(13:01):
Celseics will have those opportunities and we'll judge them on
that going forward.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
One of the trades that they probably regret Brad Stevens
does is trading Malcolm Brogden, or trading for Malcolm Brogden
and trading away Aaron Nei Smith. I think probably an
unsung hero for the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I don't know about you, Low, but.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
When when the Calves were matching up with the Pacers
and everybody was telling me how deep the Calves were,
I told them, I said, listen, the Pacers.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Are pretty damn deep too. I mean, listen, you go
down the list.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah you got Tyrese Haliburton, Yeah you got Miles Turner.
We know about them, but nobody talks about Andrew Nimhart
and Aaron Neithsmith and hell Obi topping off the bench.
And you know the kid from Belmont, Ben Shepherd, who
runs like he's swimming in water, and.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Like the list really goes goes on and on.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Is that sustainable?
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Is this team somebody that you think as you talk
about like the balance of power shifting in the East,
obviously Celtics take a step back, Milwaukee takes a step back,
Sixers probably don't bounce back next year.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Who to you then, is.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
That the Pacers for you? Or how sustainable are they?
And who do you think is like the cream of
the crop moving forward?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
It should have already been the Pacers. The Pacers made
the conference finals. Like the thing about the Pacers making
it last year, they you know, they were slighted by
people always talking about injuries to other teams as if
one they didn't have an injury to their own team.
You know, I'm not saying Benedict Mathern is a great player,
but ben think bathroom was literally they're six man and
he didn't play a single game in the spring last year.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
But also if you're at a Knicks for example, the
Knicks went into Indiana Game three last year, had a
chance to go at three to zero, failed to do it,
had a chance to end the Pacers twice and failed
to do it, and their two opportunities Game six, on
the road, Game seven, no one was like thinking Indiana
(15:06):
was going to win that series against the Knicks. At
the beginning or at any point even the morning of
Game seven, everyone was like thinking it was going to
be a coronation. The Knicks are going back to the
conference finals. That was last year, and everyone who could
have possibly gotten excited about the Pacers this year fell
off because haliburt.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
The beginning of last year, I mean beginning of yeah,
the last season where you was still dealing with that hamstring.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Right, Halliburton just didn't start the season. Great, You discuss
aaron Ne Smith and them Haart, those guys got hurt
and they weren't playing great and it took them a
long Like it looked like aaron Ne Smith wasn't going
to come back at all. I'm like, this dude is
missing months with an ankle, Like, what is really going
on here? And then you saw the impact of those
guys getting healthy. You saw that once they finished their
(15:53):
parastrip in late January, which is one reason why their
early season schedule was so front loaded, right, they got
some rest, they got healthy Halliburton, who missed the All
Star Game, he wasn't selected this year, once he got
it really going and started playing consistently good instead of
once a week good, like that team looked like a
(16:15):
problem again. And that's the thing, Like if it's Indiana,
so people act like because it's Indiana, you can't, you know,
gas them up. You know, if this was a Pacers,
if this was another if this was the Chicago Bulls
with the same guys in the same play style and
the same track record of success over the last year
and a half, you'd be hearing some different things. Trista, like,
(16:38):
let's just keep it real, Like the Pacers should be
treated as the team that they are currently, a team
that has now won four playoff series in two years,
back to back conference finals, and a real threat to
make the NBA Finals. As far as the rust of
the East, I ain't excited about none of them. Dudes.
We'll see what We'll see what the Knicks can do,
you know what I'm saying. But what the Cavaliers show
(17:00):
was a real lack of fortitude. The Indiana Pacers went
into that building and over the course of the record
season in.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
The playoffs, snatched their saul, snatched their chain, took everything
from They.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Didn't just play like the better team, they played like
they knew that Cleveland wasn't going to do anything about it.
Aside from DeAndre my god, DeAndre Hunter shoving Benedict Mathern,
you know what I'm saying, they won battles, they didn't
win the war, right, So I think the rest of
the East is I wouldn't say, you know, there's opportunities there,
(17:35):
but inspiration a severe lack of it.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, it feels like the East is gonna be super weak.
And Yannis now looks like he's interested again and jumping off,
jumping off the roof into a trade.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I don't know is this is this happening? Is this
not gonna happen? Is he going out west?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
How do you think that impacts just the Western Conference
as a whole if he does go out there.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I don't think Jannis wants to go out West, and
I honestly don't I honestly don't think Giannis even would
really want to leave Milwaukee. Like it's different when you
were the guy drafted there, you knew that Milwaukee had
absolutely no Q raiding in the league. You know, not
just when he got there, but when he got there,
(18:26):
they were the worst team in basketball his rookie year.
And he saw a number two pick come to his
team that more or less plays his position, and God
bless you, Barry Parker. But that's one of the reasons
why why Gianni's got to be so great. He had
to do everything and toil and get that team back
to relevance. And he saw the struggles of a guy
like Jabari Parker and how nothing's guaranteed there. He's being
(18:49):
reminded of again, Damian Lillard. It's not just that Damian
Lillard is Johannas's teammate. Damian Lillard left a situation in Portland, thinking.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Very similar situation as Johannis.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yep, yeah, it's like you're coming here and you're going
to be a contender, and they didn't win a single
playoff series together. Dame's got an injury that is going
to drastically change how he plays the game. I have
no doubt in my mind that Damien will make it back.
I have significant doubt that Damien will be a great
(19:19):
player after this injury. He's a small guard, who you know,
that's just a tough injury when you're at that age,
at that long in your career, and you're already at
a physical disadvantage, right, like Giannis can go out west
and do what have wars with Nikola Jokics just to
say you want a playoff series, Like if you want
to go anywhere, you should stay east and honestly take
(19:42):
this gap year right and then after that see what
it's looking like. Because Milwaukee means so much more to
Gianni's and it would mean so much more for him
to stick it out and to be a part of
Milwaukee's next best team rather than to go somewhere else
and hope that that team is still good enough after
(20:04):
they have to trade whatever is it takes the trade
for you, that's especially going west is a fools errand
you don't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
You mentioned that you have no faith in the Calves.
Like I said, they got their chain snashed by Indiana.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I have no faith in the East.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You have no faith in the East.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
But yes, the caves are part of that.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
The Calves as a whole. I said this earlier on.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Obviously, when this team's winning sixty four games, it's really
hard to throw any shade on them. But what it
felt like to me is if there was any issues
or any stumbling block, it was going to be kind
of the same stumbling block that we saw Utah have
when they had Donovan Mitchell. Right, it felt a little
(20:52):
Utah Jazz of the East. Right, You've got like a
defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
And Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
You got a defensive year well not Canada two time
defensive player of the Year. You got a defensive player
of the Year.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
In Evan Mobley.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You've got smaller guards with Donovan Mitchell and Mike Connelly.
You got smaller guards with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
And I know as a Portland Trailblazer fan who's had
Dame and CJ.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
That shit just does not work. So as much as
their their roster looks.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Like they have the defensive identity, to me, I was
pretty suspicious. Is this a team that you think needs
altering or will be altered or is that just like
bad injury luck and down in the dumps will just
kind of like lay over and die.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I think it's a little bit of h not to
be like Abe Simpson here, but it's definitely a little
bit of Column, a little bit of Colin b Right,
like this is. Here's the thing with injuries in the playoffs,
if they are recurring, you are going to need some
different players at some point. And we've seen recurring things
happen with Donovan. First off, Like Donovan, he is a
(22:06):
player who runs out of gas because of how hard
he plays, but how hard he has to play because
he's typically going to have to guard bigger guys and
he's typically going to have to exert so much to
lift a team that ultimately doesn't support him when it
matters the very most. This is a team. I love
what Kenny did with this offense and how he empowered
(22:27):
Garland and Mobley and Kenny did not get validated or
rewarded in the slightest by either one of those guys
in the playoffs setting. And that's where the rubb goes.
It is a luxury to have two pick and roll
ball handlers as good as Garland and Mitchell, and two
pick and roll rollers as good as Mobley and Allen.
What good is that if a team like Indiana can
(22:49):
just slap a zone on there and completely take those
dudes out of their offense and say, Okay, you're no
longer a special offense. What do we have left? Also,
you're defensive player of the year. Can't guard our best
interior guy. Pascal Siakams saw food every time Evan Mowdley
was matched on to him. So Jared Allen has unfortunately
(23:10):
one offer to him. But you know, gift to the
rest of us. One of the best playoff memes ever
talking about how right the lights were and how you
didn't expect it. There's you know, Marcus Morris, he didn't
play in the NBA last year. His lasting moment in
the playoffs is basically criticizing on the record Jared Allen
(23:33):
not playing in the playoffs because of a rib injury
or the serious injury that he had. You are you
have a stigma. You don't want to be the team
that you want to match up within the playoffs, right,
And that's what the Cavs are. They are going to
It's you're not going to reduplicate that offense. Everyone is
going to spend the offseason looking at how great they
(23:53):
were and how the Indiana Pacers were able to overcome that,
and that is going to be how the Cavaliers have
to go through next regular season and then in the playoffs.
It's going to be like Donald's probably going to run
out of gas, Garland is food, Evan Mobley is playing
out of either out of position or he's undersized, and
you can just go at him. And Jared is probably
going to disappear at some point. Also, everybody else on
(24:16):
that team is not going to be able to step
up and fill any void if any of those guys
are not available, which you can bet on someone else
got not being available. You I would want to run
that team back, but also be prepared that if they
don't surprise in next year's playoffs, it ain't the coach
that needs to be changed. You already pulled that card,
(24:36):
and Donovan is a really great dude who you should
build around. But Donovan's future probably has to come at
point guard. That's going to compromise on Garland, and Mobley's
future is probably going to have to be at center
so you can get some real tougher dudes on the
wing at Ford to support him, and that's probably going
to compromise Jared Allen.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yeah, so probably those dudes.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Probably those dudes are going to go, which is actually
what was discussed before Donovan Mitchell signed his extension.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Right, everybody was saying, like, Darius Garland.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Probably needs to be traded, and you probably need to
break up Eva Mobley and Jared Allen.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
And now you know that.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
If the Cavs are gonna keep one, they're probably gonna
keep Eva Mobley.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Let's go out west really quick.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
What do you think about Golden State and what they.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Did, because boy oh boy, this roster is disgusting without
Steph on it. You see that's Steph in the game.
You see how just terrible they are. Obviously, Jimmy Butler's
getting long in the tooth. They sign him to a
two year extension, he gets injured, which he's been getting
(25:39):
injured for years and years and years now, even though
he's an iron man, I just don't know what to
make of them.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Law Here's what I make of them. They are a
team that since Kevin Durant left in twenty nineteen, they
have been a top five seed in the Western Conference
one time. And we all know what that one time is.
When they won the twenty twenty two Championshit. That was
a great team and then Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole
and it hasn't been the same ever since. And when
(26:07):
you get a Jimmy Butler on a team, here's what
you have to just be real about. With the Warriors,
Stephan Curry was not having a difficult season, right He
was an All Star. But people quibbled about that All
Star selection. We all know the fans were behind it,
but we are like, if Stephan Curry playing like one
of the very best players in the West this year,
(26:28):
or is this reputation? I think most people would say
it was the latter. Steph had a jump after the
Jimmy Butler tree. He played inspire basketball after that. Draymond
Green did the same on the other end of the
floor as a defender as the guy who's supposed to
be the heart and soul of whatever the heck the
Warriors are now, Like Draymond Green was absolutely not a
defensive Player of the Year candidate for the two months
(26:49):
where the Warriors were playing horrible basketball relative to their standings,
to their standards, Jimmy Butler comes and Draymond starts playing
hard and starts taking guys out left and right. He's
got the de fensive partner with him and Jimmy. That's
when he starts going on his pod and telling everybody
who had a podium not just that, but he was
(27:09):
the defensive player the year specifically, you know what I'm saying,
Like Draymond, he got energy thinking that, oh the windows
shortened now, like because when your window is short and
it's like a team that isn't that good, then they
just want to get it to halftime and say, hey
we're still in it, get it to the fourth quarter,
Hey we can win this game. You know, the Warriors
(27:30):
were not a full season great team. They were a
team that once Jimmy got there, was like, oh, we
can do something. Let's be reinspired and do this because
we know what it feels like. You know Jimmy and Jimmy.
Jimmy Butler has been on a team since he left
the Sixers in twenty nineteen. He went to Miami right.
You know how many times just to that Miami Heat
(27:50):
team had home court advantage in the first round of
the playoffs with Jimmy Butler on it, none one, they
were one. They were the one seed in twenty yes,
and even with helm court advantage in that years conference finals,
they watched the Boston Celtic to win a game seven. Okay,
I mean we look at Jimmy as playoff Jimmy, the
guy who's led the Miami Heat as a five seed
(28:12):
and an eight seed to the NBA Finals. What the
more telling sustainable thing is you could have count on
the Miami Heat to basically be a five seed or
lower in the Eastern Conference because their best player was Jimmy.
And Jimmy is not at the stage of his career
where he can just put a team on his back
and play great all NBA level basketball over the course
(28:34):
of a regular season. He's a guy who it's like
he's gonna breeze through, kind of cruise through. He was
begging the Heat to give him some help get him
a Damian Lillard right, and he was like, I'm not
doing this again. And Miami should have been proactive about
that and traded him before training camp. Instead, they had
to get to the point to suspend him. Those suspensions
(28:55):
helped Jimmy immensely because it allowed him to put in great,
great effort to help the Warriors get through the West.
They were tenth in the West. They were under five
hundred when Jenny debuted that is the challenge for next
year's Warriors. You are small, and it didn't take the
Timberwolves to expose that. The Rockets exposed it. You know,
(29:16):
you got through the Rockets because the Rockets were neo
fights in the playoffs setting, and it took you seven
games to do that. The Warriors knew how perilously vulnerable
they were. They talked all at the end of the
last season about how they wanted to avoid the playing Tournament,
and then they screw up the end of the regular
season just enough to have to play in that playing tournament.
They survived the Playing Tournament, but they had to go
(29:37):
seven games against a Rockets team they had a three
to one lead against. If any year was going to
be the year where Stephen Curry had a soft tissue
injury in the playoffs. Damnit, it was going to be
this year. He's a small guard, turning thirty seven years
old during the season, and he had a world class
Olympic run last summer. He's had to do so much
(29:57):
for his team just to be average in the West.
And that's where the Warriors are at. They have tried
to meld and develop guys who replace these older guys,
and yet they're stuck with their three most important players
still being thirty five and older. They're small, and they
lack athleticism, and they lack any kind of offensive cohesion
when either one of Steph or Jimmy Butler or not playing.
(30:20):
That's their problem. They have a lot of work to do.
They shouldn't be considered contenders. They shouldn't even be considered
the same team that won it in twenty twenty two,
or were the Dynasty and the twenty tens. That's that's
the Warriors. A good team, but absolutely not a team
that should be looked at as a contender.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
What do you think about the Timberwolves, because a lot
of people that I talk.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
To aren't really impressed.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Do you think this is a team that could actually
beat an Okac or a Denver in the Western Conference finals.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You don't ever be talking to me, that's for sure,
because I would have been told you what I would
have been.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I think what Julia's random, what has been done been
doing is is pretty remarkable. In the playoffs, he sort
of changed his reputation in the span of a few
like one month.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
He's changed his reputation in one month's time.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Aunt Edwards continues to give us those highlight moments even
if he has three points in the first half, and
we see that Rudy Gobert can can actually get you
twenty something points when he needs to. And Chris Finch,
I'm super impressed by him. But for whatever reason, and
maybe you can explain it to me, why are people
still sleeping on this Timberwolves team.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Because it's Minnesota? Because people don't the West. Yes, that's
exactly what it is like. People don't have you know
they have. Anthony Edwards is not the player that you
get help for. Anthony Edwards is the player that you
want to see go to another market. You see how
(31:53):
that's been working. Stephen Curry will never be the type
of player who it's like, send him somewhere else to
get help. It's always get Stephan Curry some help, right,
And it takes a guy like Anthony Edwards to change
that narrative, just like it Stephan Curry did for Golden State.
No one thought of Golden State as a glamour NBA
market before Stephan Curry had his playoff runs there. It
(32:14):
took them winning at a high level to change the
conversation around him and doing it again and again and
actually getting guys to join with him to build up
and actually make players that you're playing with better. Maybe
Julius Randall just needed on Anthony Edwards in his twenties,
you know, maybe he needed Chris Finch earlier in his career,
because all we saw was in the playoff setting was
(32:36):
Julius Randall playing for Tom Thibodeau's Knicks and trying to
find a way to you know, meld his game with
whoever was with the Knicks, whether it was Jalen Brunson
or whoever was on the twenty twenty one team. You
don't even want to look at who the twenty was, Like,
that's what it is. People aren't impressed because they're they're
used to other guys being in the spot that Timberwolves
(32:57):
are in. You ain't never seen a Timberwolves team ever make,
you know, win playoff series and back to back years before.
Now we're seeing it. So that's where the conversation starts
to change. Here's what needs to happen to break through.
Last year, you had home court advantage in the Western
Conference finals against the MAVs, and you absolutely got spun
like a top in that conference finals. Okay, you are
(33:20):
now in a position to play either an Oklahoma City
team that you beat multiple times during the regular season,
so you know you're comfortable in that matchup at the
very least from just paper. You know you can. You
can go back and look, they played them well. Or
Denver Nuggets team that you not only swept in the
regular season but played in the previous two playoffs more
(33:41):
or less built your team to beat that team, and
you ended their run on their home floor in a
Game seven in the conference semifinals, which again no one I.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
Think down fifteen down, fifteen twenty.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
It was the biggest game seven come back ever in
a playoff Game seven. I guess all game sevens are
in the playoffs but like that's again, Minnesota should feel
like they have a chance to make the NBA Finals,
and if you make the NBA Finals, you should obviously
feel like you can win the whole thing. And so
Minnesota can't feel accomplished. Last year felt like an accomplishment
(34:22):
to make the conference finals, and Chris Finch called them
out on that to begin this season. I loved his
quote at the end of their elimination game in Minnesota
against the Warriors where he said what the challenge was,
so in other words, Minnesota shouldn't be satisfied to get
to go on the plane for Game one at Denver
Okasee wherever the Conference finals will be breakthrough and change
(34:45):
the conversation. And I love how you mentioned Ant will
have like a three point half and we think that's sweet.
Like Aunt has to play more consistent basketball. I love
the breath and the floor that he's raised. That dude
shoots threes like like Steph Curry, James Harden. You know,
I'm not saying he's a great you know, oh my god,
(35:06):
I trust every shot that he shoots to go in.
That's how you feel about Steph. You don't feel that
way about Ant. But the volume that the work that
he's put into be a player who can hit, catch
and shoot threes and pull up threes at the rate
and the proficiency that he has that shows growth. He
showed growth in that game five. He had double digit
assists for the first time in his playoff career. Last year,
(35:27):
I thought one of the biggest criticism for Ant was
how slow he processed the game when defenses were changing
on him. He has already shown that he's broken through that.
He showed that in the Lakers. Yeah, exactly, like that
is growth. That is the kind of thing that you know,
makes you excited about a guy who is at young's future,
but it makes you excited for now he's still playing.
(35:49):
He still has an opportunity. Julius Randall is scoring against
guys that most guys is like, man, you're going to
get bron You're going to get Draymond to the most intimidating,
physically intimidating guy in the league and mentally intimidating too,
because Bron has you know, you step on the floor
with him and that takes something mentally to compete with him.
Same with Draymond Green. He tries to get in your
(36:11):
head and change your game, and Julius Frandle showed it.
He's tough enough mentally as well as physically and skilled
enough to have success and sustainable success in those series.
We'll keep it going. Then, So was that trade law?
Speaker 4 (36:25):
Was that trade law really quick?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Not to cut you off?
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Is that trade just Chris finch and and Tim Connelly saying, listen,
we'll take less skill, but we want more toughness like
Cat is just not just not He's an awesome player,
but just not blending with the identity that we want.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I'm not going to give anybody that much credit for
that trade. I think that trade was the CB like
Cat get Yeah, Cat's got a sixty one million dollar
player option in the summer of twenty twenty seven, and
that's an expensive roster. That trade helped the Timberwles balance
out things because while Cat, I thought the ceiling was
(37:13):
probably higher with Cat. To be honest with you, I mean,
you see how Katz performing in New York. I think
when you get Julius Randall, it changes how your team plays.
They got Dante DiVincenzo in that deal. Dante has been
a valuable reserve. We're talking about playoff teams. Having guys
get canceled as series go along. I love I love
(37:34):
the playoffs because really good NBA players, over the course
of the regular season get to a playoffs and they
seed the minutes go twenty five, twenty fifteen, DNP Witness Protection,
Milk Carton like Nah, like the Timberwlves have eight guys
that they know they're playing every single night, and they've
had to play that way over the course of the
regular season to get to this point. Julius is a
(37:55):
different skilled player. He's not the shooter that Cat is.
He's not as big as Cat is, but he's a
better passer and we've seen how that's benefited Ant and
how they had to grow into it. Julius was not
very good in the first half of the year, he
got hurt. When he came back, he showed that he
can adapt his game to what is best suited for
this team. That has carried over into the playoffs. That
(38:17):
is what the That is what Chris Finch should get
credit for. Chris Finch coach Julius back in New Orleans
as an assistant, just like I love Chris Finch's background
with the Rockets. Look at how that team plays basketball.
It's all in the paint. It's all from three. Ant
loves talking about how he ain't like Shay, he ain't
taking the mid range. He's taken. If he's gonna shoot,
(38:38):
the jumper's gonna be from three. That's a Rockets ideology.
And who's coaching the team? All these things come together, right,
Trista and so like, that's the credit that the Timberwold
should get. They believe that they could still be very
good and you go from there. They're not the number
one defense, they weren't a top three seed like last year,
but here they are back in the conference finals again.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
All right, so before we go, we got to talk.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Okay, see, because I think you've been high on Oka see,
like just very hard.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Not everybody's been high, but I think you've been.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
This is the supreme team in the West as far
as I can remember, based on.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
What we've said. Is your opinion still.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
That it is? And they better be playing by the
time this podcup? Soy, yeah, they better be. Like I
love how they've gotten better as the series has gone on.
They needed to show that they could win clutch time games.
They should needed to show that they could come back
against a team that is honestly built to make things
(39:39):
very difficult on them. They needed to show that again.
David Adaman has thrown a zone against those dudes, and
they've had to figure it out. I covered the Thunder
in November for two games. It was actually one of
those games was when Schet got hurt against the Warriors, right,
So I covered a couple games is there and Shae
(40:02):
killed the Clippers. He dropped like forty five on them.
And one of the things Shay said stuck with me
even to this day. In May, he said, what I
do individually pales in comparison to understanding that I put
up numbers in the playoffs last year and my teammates didn't.
And it's my responsibility as a leader to get those
guys during the regular season to be in position to
(40:24):
feel like they can contribute more and be comfortable contributing
more in a playoff setting. And that ethos is why
the Thunder one game four and five, because it took
bench guys Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins to make big
shots along with getting Caruso on your team. That's how
they survived Game four in Denver, and they're down double
(40:46):
digits Game five at home, and it was Lou Dord,
a guy who I thought was going to get canceled.
You know, Viya the playoff series being how Denver was
guarding him, and he hit three threes to cut that
double digit lead to now you're in a game. And
it took Shaye Gulls Alixander absorbing a double team, swinging
it to Dort or kicking it to Dorts, who swings
(41:09):
it to Jdubb, a guy who struggled for most of
that game. JDub hits that three and that was the
finally changing Game five. Those guys have had to meet
Shay where he's at relative to their roles, and if
they continue to do that, then by the time this
pod comes out, they'll be playing the Timberwolves in the
Conference finals.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Yeah, I'm excited to see how how that series ends up.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Obviously we're recording early.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I've got some travel plan, but I wanted to kind
of do it around the league thing with you.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
I'm excited to see how this all shakes out.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
It's okay.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
See, I've I've always felt like.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Since they've had their ascension, I need to see them
do what they did in games four and five, and
I'm gonna need to see that now in the Western
Conference Finals if they get there against another gritty, tough
team that's gonna want to punch them in their mouth.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
So it's gonna be it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah. And here's the thing, Trisa. When you're a young team,
we can accept and understand that, but it has to
come with the context. Last year they took their lesson
if you will as a young team, you need to
grow from that. And that's what this series against the
Nuggets is. If you grow from that, then cool. You're
not allowed to be young because guess what. Next year
(42:25):
is your last chance with this roster. You gotta pay
JDub and shit as soon as this summer. So you
are not just a young team. You are a team
that beat the rest of the league by a thousand points.
We've never we've never seen the point differential that the
Thunder put up. You know, over the course of this season,
you are a sixty eight win team. You saw what
(42:45):
happened to the East and the Cavs sixty four wins
and they're not even in the conference finals. Don't let
that be you. These windows, especially now in this era
where teams aren't repeating this wind, the window closes and
you ain't gonna be young for five years. You're gonna
have to take advantage of what you've got, especially now.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Yeah, that new CBA is a bitch.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
That's all the time that we have.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Law, Thanks so much for coming on, brother, and always
a pleasure, always insightful.
Speaker 4 (43:17):
We got a lot, we got a lot to cover.
We have to have you back on soon.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Absolutely, I didn't even get to the bottom of this glass, so.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
We get in the bottom of the glass.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Law was just breaking us off with nuggets of wisdom.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
All right, see you next time, lad, Thanks again for
coming on.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Thank you Tristan.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
That's all the time that we have for this episode
of The Heat Check.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
Come back Friday for an all new episode, and check
out the feed for past episodes and the occasional many
episodes which could come at you unexpectedly like a new
case and the show The Pit.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Do not forget to follow the Heat Check all playoffs long.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
That means download, subscribe and tell your friends, even the
ones you haven't talked to in years, and follow us
on TikTok at as just Heat Checking at trust.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Click on Twitter, Instagram.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
And threads met as new social media platform where I
post NBA and I will have more fakes on there
very very soon.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Big shout out to Lawry, big shout out to my
producer wife for the editor, and we'll see y'all next time.
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