Hollinger & Duncan NBA Show - NBA Basketball Podcast

John Hollinger & Nate Duncan discuss the ramifications of Fred VanVleet’s season-ending ACL tear and what the Rockets can and should do about it.  Then, they hit on the latest news regarding the Clippers circumvention case, Jonathan Kuminga’s saga with the Warriors, and Tyler Herro’s ankle surgery.

Finally, a deal John thinks is underrated, and another he thought was underrated in how bad it was.

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John weighs in on the Kawhi Leonard no-show contract that has the LA Clippers in hot water. He and Nate discuss the next steps for the league and possible avenues for this saga to turn down as the league investigates.

Then, we catch up on the latest news including Cam Thomas taking his qualifying offer, PJ Washington extending, and Max Strus breaking his foot in Cleveland.

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John Hollinger & Nate Duncan take a look back at the 2024 NBA Draft after Summer League and redraft the top-10 picks. Where does #1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher land? How about RoY Stephon Castle? What does Nate think of his top tier Reed Sheppard and Alex Sarr a year on? Which guys have moved up a lot?

Then we give out a few more of our fake awards from Summer League, and attempt to answer the question of how many more champions...

John and Nate pick their standouts from summer league in the following categories:

Who will be the best rookie this year, and who will have the best career?

Who changed your opinion the most for the better?

Most disappointing player?

“I nailed this one,” guys who looked exactly like we thought they would

Who are you worried about?

Best defensive player?

Best rookie in the 2nd half of the first round?

Best “sleeper,” 2nd round or undrafted?

...

John and Nate discuss the Mikal Bridges extension and potential implications for the Knicks before answering listener mailbag questions covering NBA comparisons to tennis legends, potential first-time All-Stars, NBA expansion updates, Summer League standouts, and salary cap complexities.

Timestamps:

Intro and Mikal Bridges Extension Analysis: 00:00

Mailbag: NBA Comparisons to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray: 13:19

Mailbag: Most Likely...

Nate and John hand out their offseason superlatives across the NBA. They pick the best and worst trades, contracts, and minimum signings, and dig into what made those moves stand out. They also explore broader trends like the resurgence of bigs, the Rockets-Suns blockbuster, and the evolving financial pressures of contenders like Denver and Minnesota. Plus, a close look at the Thunder's strategy, a breakdown of restricted free agen...

Nate and John dive into NBA free agency, headlined by Denver’s bold roster shake-up and what it means for their title aspirations. They unpack Houston’s flurry of moves and debate where the Rockets stand in the West. The duo also examines the Lakers’ long-term plan with LeBron and Luka, Milwaukee’s all-in bet on Myles Turner, and where teams stack up in the suddenly wide-open Eastern Conference. Plus, they break down the latest on ...

John Hollinger joins Nate to discuss the 2025 draft and recent trades. What do we think of the KD trade? What’s it like trying to move down or up in the draft? What does John think of how teams like the Pels, Grizz, Hawks, and Blazers handled that process? Plus, what of the players the Grizz, Pels, and Blazers selected with their machinations?

We also discuss the Celtics moves to cut salary with Porzingis and Holiday, and Kyrie Irvi...

John and Nate react to the shocking Desmond Bane trade from both Memphis and Orlando’s perspectives. They also assess where Kevin Durant might end up, and what kind of return Phoenix could realistically expect. Then it’s time for their final draft board discussion before the big day, including Cooper Flagg’s long-term upside, the rest of the top-5, and some of John’s favorite sleepers.

What to make of Memphis trading Desmond Bane an...

Nate and John run through a long list of potential trade candidates for what could be a seismic 2025 NBA offseason. They start with the two biggest possible dominos—Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant—and what their availability would mean for their current teams and potential suitors. From there, they cover a wide array of high-level trade options, including Lauri Markkanen, Jrue Holiday, and Jaylen Brown, as well as some lower...

John and Nate continue their series assessing veteran-extension candidates:

De'Aaron Fox – 0:21

Julian Champagnie – 9:55

Coby White – 11:24

Ayo Dosunmu – 11:24

Kevin Huerter – 15:06

Julian Phillips – 16:28

Darius Garland – 17:10

Craig Porter Jr. – 19:18

Dean Wade – 20:27

Kyrie Irving – 22:06

Daniel Gafford – 24:23

PJ Washington – 24:23

Rui Hachimura – 30:00

Dorian Finney-Smith – 31:10

Austin Reaves – 32:19

Norm Powell – 33:01

Karl-Anthony Towns – 4...

How did we get to a Game 7 in Denver vs OKC, and what will be the key factors in who wins?

Golden State petered out without Steph. What do they need to get back to contention and how does the restricted free agency of Jonathan Kuminga impact that? 6:44

Why did the Cavaliers fall short, and do they need to make major changes to compete in the East? 16:38

How will Boston navigate the franchise-altering injury to Jayson Tatum?  27:13

What...

John Hollinger joins Nate Duncan to catch up on all the action from the second week of the playoffs, plus discuss the Spurs hiring Mitch Johnson as coach and the Suns hiring Matt Ishbia as GM.

The rundown:

• Best team so far?
• How some of the big stars have played
• Our best and worst predictions
• The best and worst coaching adjustments
• Our most surprising and disappointing players
• The best and worst games

And the crucible, who survived...

Nate Duncan and John Hollinger break down the first week of the playoffs, including standout teams, superstar performances, the best and worst coaching jobs, surprising players, and early lessons from the playoff crucible

Who has been the best team of the playoffs so far?

Would we change our overall playoff predictions based on what we’ve seen?

The biggest change to our pre-series predictions after the first week.

Grading the superstar...

Nate and John take their unique look at the playoffs, discussing their picks for:

• Most interesting series
• Least interesting series
• Individual player matchup you are most interested in seeing
• Star player with the toughest matchup
• Star player with the easiest matchup
• Best coaching matchup
• Biggest coaching mismatch
• Series with the most variables
• Rotation players most likely to have their roles cut
• Deep rotation players who could emerge
• Most ...

John and Nate go over their awards agreements and disagreements on Executive and Not-Executive of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and All-NBA.

But first, they give their opinions on the NBA’s new European venture and discuss the future of the teams they think won’t make the playoffs. Plus, thoughts on Joe Cronin’s extension and the future of the Blazers.

Full Daily Duncs with links

• NCAA championship game
• Trivia
• Kevin Durant
• Joe Cronin
• T...

John Hollinger joins Danny Leroux and Nate Duncan to break down our rankings of the top players in the NBA. Jokic or Shai at number 1? Who takes the 3rd spot? Where do old lions Steph, KD, and LeBron fall, and how do they compare with the young superstar bigs? How about the bevy of star guards? Plus, we discuss the biggest risers and fallers, the hardest to rank, and the players we think could make us look stupid for having them so...

John Hollinger, who may or may not know anything about tanking, and Nate Duncan bandy about the best ideas they and listeners have for curbing the epidemic of tanking that has beset the league.  We go through basically every viable idea, and in the end agree on FOUR things we’d try to implement immediately.

Then, we eliminate two teams from the playoffs and discuss where they’re going from here.

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John and Nate look back at their picks with Zach Lowe from last year of which stars were most likely to change teams by the start of the 2025-26 season. 

Then, the same exercise this year, as they pick which stars could be on the move between now and the start of the 2026-27 season.

They also discuss whether the Jazz being fined $100,000 will cause them to mend their tanking ways.

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