New Contracts for the Champs & Devin Booker

On this episode of The Drive & Dish NBA Podcast, hosted by Kevin Rafuse (@rafusetolose) & Justin Cousart (@JustinContheAir), the guys start the show by talking some Lakers & a potential LeBron watch. As LeBron has opted in, the franchise has made some more moves around Luka Doncic. Is it possible for the team to be on two timelines at once? Next, some big time paydays in Oklahoma City with SGA, Chet Holmgren and Jaylen Williams all getting max extensions. What this means for the Thunder moving forward cap wise and who might be on the way out. Plus, a discussion about which teams out West are the most likely to give the Thunder fits next year. In Who's Ballin Who's Fallin, a massive two-year extension for Devin Booker in Phoenix, AD getting his retina fixed, A-Rod's initial vision for Minnesota and a hilarious Luka well-wishes video. Finally, another round of Immaculate Grid. Listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts and watch the show on YouTube!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Drive and Dish podcast. Welcome to your moment.
To start it off, it's and just let's go.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
We may be able to say that for the first
time in I think it's twenty three years, Lebron James
will not be the face of an NBA team. Potentially,
there's still things that could happen to change that, but
at least as of right now, from all the things

(00:37):
that the Lakers are doing, in all the random uh
tension posts that are happening, it does not feel like
Lebron is the main focus of the La Lakers. Luca is,
which I think a lot would say, Yeah, that makes sense.
Lebron's probably going to retire in the next few years,
if not sooner. Luca's going to be around for a

(01:00):
while at Luca's also really good at basketball, and so
it kind of just makes sense. I bring that back
to a few different things that have kind of happened
here in the last week week and a half that
are that is essentially alluding to this, and I think
the first one is the story that's come out that

(01:21):
the cell or the sale of the Lakers. Luca was
told about it before it happened, and apparently Lebron James
was not. And if we don't anything about Lebron James
is if there was anything in the past whole his
whole career pretty much that was happening with the team,
he knew about it beforehand. So the fact that he

(01:44):
doesn't really shows where they are. Obviously, they didn't offer
Lebron James an extension, which again kind of shows they're
like looking at potentially closing this door a little bit.
So that's not to say off the team because he's not.
He took the Lebron opted in, but there still is

(02:07):
some sort of potential buyout or trade scenario. And I
say buy out because the Calvs said that's the only
way they would be interested in Lebron, which is wild.
But here we are talking about Lebron James and what
his future might or might not look like.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
I mean, for what it's worth for Cleveland, it is
like ad in fifty one or fifty two mil to
the books. Whenever Lebron's getting paid in that option. It
is a little more financially complicated than we're getting credit for. Yeah, no,
we're listen, it's summertime. Let's have some fun. Let's get
a little weird with it, right, we are fully on
Lebron watch, I think, and like, look, the Lakers, You're right,
building around Luca is not necessarily the wrong call. And

(02:49):
for Lebron, of course, the urgency is there, like we
take it for granted, but at the end of the day,
I don't know how many seasons Lebron realistically has left
in him. Like I think we're looking at one, two tops,
Like I think eventually, like you know, you start to
look at the family, you start to look at you know,
he's clearly not declining. I mean, he's not not the prime,

(03:11):
you know, best player of all time potentially that the
way Lebron James has been in the past. But like
he's clearly still very very good at this. He'll make
a winning impact on any roster he's on. Yeah, it is,
because you're right, it's it's the Lakers are in a
weird situation right now. And there are even reports out there,
like ESPN had the report that Brook Lopez was like
potentially talking about going to LA and taking on more

(03:34):
of that starting role and instead obviously ended up signing
with the Clippers to go be Zooboch's back up and
kind of part of that was based around Lebron James, Like,
if the Lakers decided to move on from Lebron, it
is a massive shift in direction. Like because you have Luca,
you don't totally rebuild it, obviously, Like Luca now is
very much in his prime and you should be trying
to maximize that window. Sure, And I think but it

(03:56):
is a business decision too though, because it's like, right,
you know, you look round and you go, how can
the Lakers make this roster better to contend when you
see who you know, we'll talk about Okay, see, but
what Okac is doing and having won the championship last year,
what Houston is obviously done, what Denver's done.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Where realistically with the roster that the Lakers have, now,
where are they in the West?

Speaker 1 (04:18):
In your middle of the West. Like I don't think
they're certainly not a bad squad. I'm not trying to
downplay them. Again, I think Lebron and Luca in year
two you get a little more chemistry. Like if they
break up, I don't think it's going to be because
Lebron doesn't want to play with Luca. Quite the opposite.
I think he's going to look at the Western Conference,
And like, I think a part of this too is
like you look around the state of the NBA and

(04:39):
you go, hey, I'm Lebron James. I have one to
two seasons left. I really want to chase this fifth
title potentially, I mean maybe even a sixth if he
really plays it right. But like, chase one more for
the road before we get out of here. End it
on a high note. You know that is kind of
tough loundvision currently with the Lakers. Yeah, right, yeah, goes.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Could you imagine no?

Speaker 1 (05:00):
But I mean no, look around and you go, hey,
the Eastern Conference is pretty wide open right now, Like
we talked about that last week, where there's i mean,
outside of the Knicks, I don't think there's a clear
favorite maybe in the Eastern Conference right now. And I
think every one of those teams in the East is
extremely vulnerable, is currently built. So yeah, I certainly see
the attract. Like I know, he works out in Cleveland

(05:22):
and obviously has Ohio tie still and you know, I
think one of his friends just launched a brand and
he's like, oh, I'm just like showing love to the brand.
Like You're not fooling me. This is definitely putting a
little bit of heat on the Lakers as well, a
little bit and trying to say, hey, like you might
lose me if you guys want to go like all
in on the youth movement. But I don't, you know,

(05:44):
it's weird because like, I don't think the Lakers have to,
like I think there's a way for them to potentially
still like compete and improve this roster. I don't put
it's this possible task.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
But in this way, last year in the West, the
Lakers had fifty wins. They were fifty to thirty two.
That's third, tied with the Nuggets essentially, but that's third
in the Western Conference, only behind the Rockets in the
thunder Right, you probably can make some real good arguments
that they could do exactly that again, Yeah, because I

(06:16):
think you would obviously be competing with the Nuggets, which
they were tied for last year. I think the Clippers
and the Timberwolves are right back at it, Warriors are
probably right back at it.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
So like.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
I am curious to see again to your point, I mean,
it is a two game swing. The Lakers are forty eight.
They're sitting seven to eight in the Western Conference last year,
So like it it's real tight, and so I guess
I say all that to say, like, having Lebron on

(06:50):
the Lakers definitely puts you in that potential to land
a three seed again if you move on from him,
I do want to see what that looks like, but
I am less likely to think that that happens, whereas
same thing in the West or in the East. You know, obviously,
like you were saying, the immediate ties to the Cavs,
who won sixty four games last year, they were number

(07:11):
one in the East. You put Lebron James On on
that team that I know. I've seen a little bit
of changes and stuff like that, but yeah, probably the
best team in the East between them and the Knicks
at that point, not to the Celtics, but they'll be
dealing with some injury issues. So yeah, like your point,
I think they're right in it. I just I wonder

(07:32):
what ends up happening, because, like you said, Lebron does
control the future here. He has a no trade clause,
so he would have to be okay with the destination
if there is a situation or a potential buyout happens,
which everything I'm reading is like they're saying the buyout
scenario seems most likely to happen. Yeah, fine, but it's

(07:54):
wild that that's where we're at suddenly with Lebron James
that were in a buyout situation. You know, I you know,
we could talk about the eight and stuff because obviously
that happened as well. They brought in DeAndre eight. And
I'm not sure where you land on DeAndre Ayton and
his abilities. I think it's worth mentioning that last year

(08:14):
he didn't play the back half of the year for
a calf strain, which tells me that you were set
because of other things. I Dope's even kind of mentioned
that he wasn't happy with his spirit, which I mean same,
You're on Portland Trailblazers and they're not winning anything right now,
so there's there's a level to say, maybe your spirit's
not there. But at the same time, DeAndre Ayton, like

(08:35):
you got to show up.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
You're got scrappy in the end of the year. I
want to do that from DeAndre and DeAndre eight and
has had those rumors like or not even rumors, but
it's just like those reports have been there his entire career.
Is that like even on the floor you see a
little bit like DeAndre Eighten is lazy and unfocused at times,
Like DeAndre Ayton is still very talented. There's a reason
he went number one overall. Like on the other hand,
he was he was a big part of the Suns

(08:56):
going to the finals a few years ago. But like
when you look at it, how it ended there and
then how he goes in Portland with a big opportunity
and he doesn't really help the narrative here. Now I
think if you're the Lakers, you go, hey, this is
the type of guy we want, Like this is a
situation where he really can change the narrative, like because
right now, DeAndre Agen it's trending poorly, Like it's like

(09:17):
he's kind of like mediocre and overpaid.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
That's part of my point is like, okay, cool, DeAndre
Aiden's all in? Is he still gonna be all in
if he goes to a team where he thinks he's
playing with Luca and Lebron and before he's even there,
Lebron still hasn't sent him a welcome text apparently, and
so who knows what that means. But like you move
to this team, oh and now they move on from Lebron,
So now are you back in the all un less

(09:40):
interested now phase and we're gonna get a detached eight
And again, I mean.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
You're gonna be playing in a situation where you're the
starter and you're essentially again trying to rehab your image.
Like I think, no matter what, like even if Lebron
fails for some reason, you're still playing with Luka Doncic,
Like let's not downplay that either, Like this is a
big opportunity for him. But yeah, I mean when you
look at overall though, the whole of what the Lakers
have done this offseason, like you bring in eight, and

(10:06):
you bring in Jake lev Rabbia and then you have
but you lose Dorianfinny Smith to the Rockets, Like that
was a He's a big player for them last year.
Like we said, the type of three and D guy
that that we love in the NBA right now, a
guy that I think for especially around playoffs, wise gave
would have given them a lot more benefits. Obviously we
know shorter playoff run for them last year. But the

(10:26):
point is, like you're right, the roster just they're going
to be competitive and in year two they should gel
a little more. You know, they won fifty plus games
like last year. Like you said, I think there's a
chance to write around that mark again, but they just don't.
It doesn't feel like they're built for the playoffs currently,
and when you're Lebron James, that is all you're thinking about.
And I do think it's a time where and like, look,

(10:47):
we've started to see the shift away with little things.
I think even with this Luca move a little bit,
like they didn't tell Lebron that they were trading Anthony Davis,
and like I think so close right, and like I
think Lebron still would have potentially signed off on it,
Like I don't think that, like it's Luka Doncic, Like,
let's not get it twisted. I think Lebron recognizes how
talented Weka is and the opportunity of them playing together.

(11:07):
But like, yeah, I think the franchise is definitely starting
to move off Lebron a little bit. I don't even
think that's the wrong thing to do, but like I
also just kind of think there's a way that you
can still compete around both. I don't know, a buyout
doesn't feel like the move though at all.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
It would be a wild move to have Lebron James
on a buyout. I agree with that. On the other
side of things, with money for Luca, he can add
a four year two hundred and twenty three million. I'm
sure that's you know, what will be offered. But I
was reading that if he were to do a three year,
one sixty million, it would line up for future contracts

(11:47):
at least better for his side, which is so wild
to think about that. Take one last year and you
know what, seventy million less dollars because down the line
it'll be more. Yeah, So we'll see where that lands. Obviously,
Luca is the future, so I don't think it will
be too much of a surprise if and when he
does sign something like that. I know he's playing for

(12:08):
the national team right now in euro Basketball and so
may not be necessarily high on his radar to get done.
But a little bit of a tease to my fallen
that is why he wasn't able to go somewhere. And
he sent a video to a streamer about it, and
it is the funniest video I have ever Like, it

(12:29):
is so awkward you would think it's AI generated, like
they faked they made a fake Luca and so I'll
play it for you during our Balling and Fallen segment.
But oh my god, it's hilarious.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
So all right, no, I'm ready. I'm looking forward to it.
We'll see. It's definitely I you know, I feel like
Lebron watches definitely on again. You just look around, you
see that Eastern Conference and you go, hey, man, we're there.
It's right there for the take and we'll see. Welcome
every the Driving Dish NBA podcast. My name is Kevin
Rafe's joining me as always my co host Justin Kuzart.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Play the MF song Let's get to work.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Oh now, boy, you want to be back on the bandwagon.
Now what's up? Pollow gets big money and now you're
the Orlando guy.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
I'm saying, good for him forgetting his money. He's going
to be on a team that's never going to be
able to get past like third in the East.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
The witty team that may win the Eastern Conference this year. Honestly,
the way it's shaken out, we keep talking about.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
That until until Orlando is healthy the second half of
the season, regardless of who's on the team. And I'm
telling you, it feels like it's a curse at this point,
I will not believe in them. I will not believe
in them until they are healthy, like two weeks before
the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, I mean, I hear you, but I like what
they've done at the Desmond Bay move is a great
move to me. Yeah, Palo Bancaro, congrats to him. Five years,
two hundred and eighty seven million dollar extension with the
Orlando Magic. This is a no brainer. Polo has been
a superstar since coming into the league. He continues to
be the centerpiece of everything that they're building down there.

(14:03):
You're right, like, I mean, I post a payday, though,
I think to your point, I will give you a
little bit of credence in saying that there definitely are
expectations for this Orlando group this year. It's time for
them to come through. I think Desmond Baine obviously like
that acquisition speeds it up a little bit. But you're right,
like Jalen Suggs, we want to see stay healthy the
whole season for Franz and Paolo. It's time to start

(14:24):
winning some meaningful games. Like I've been a big believer
in this corps and I still am. I just think, like, yeah,
with the East, this wide open, like they do feel
like they're one of the better squads. You know, it's
your time to do it, is your time to.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
Show it's your time to do it. Don't have I
don't want to say the words smallman syndrome, but like
it does feel like that at times where whenever Orlando's
talked about it as like an underdog thing, and I
don't think they are an underdog right now. So you
got to live up to the expectations. The team has
the talent that you need to win a championship, so

(14:58):
go do it. But also at the same time, and
stay healthy enough to do it, because that's my biggest
concern is I feel like we're the narrative with Orlando,
and I know it takes the people part of the
story out of it, but it's always like fast start
every season, and then it tapers off by the All
Star Game, and then we're out of the All Star
Game and we're dealing with injuries, and then we just

(15:20):
never see it come back in time. So I am
hoping I'm wrong. I'm a hater because I want them
to be good, if that makes sense, just because it's
the tweet right undermine, did you see what Luke Cornette
said about being number seven on the Spurs.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
No but shout out to Luke for getting paid though
he got a nice little contract down San Antonio.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
He said he chose number seven because he wants to
be a third of the player. Tim Duncan was, I
love that.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
I mean, hey man, listen, you have a hell of
a career if he's a third of the player at
Tim Duncan was, that's not bad logic there either.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
He also commented that he loves multiples and factors and
I'm like, what a what a what a nerd?

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah? I mean, listen, the NBA is full of sneaky nerds,
low key. I feel like people are starting to be
a little more open with that. I mean, maybe give
Miles Turner a little bit of credit there. Uh, sorry
to say.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
People got to like, you know, I think strangers things
probably open the door to this, Like we got a
little be a little more hidden about the love to
play like dungeons and dragons and stuff. It's like we
can stop being openly okay with this.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, community, I don't know where I was to go.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
But I bring it up because because you said nerds
and obviously a bunch of guys in the NBA are
love to like talk about how their nerds. But like, again,
this will show my nerd. My wife and I love
watching Big Brother. And there is this dude on there
who is certified jock, like physical trainer to the max.
The dude had to have played college sports or something.

(16:57):
He is jacked, and he's posted about how his favorite
thing to do on the weekends played Dungeon to Dragons.
He's a dungeon master. And I'm like, bro, like, oh, sure.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
Is that guy dungeon master? What's going on there?

Speaker 2 (17:13):
He show he said he was a dungeon master, and
then they showed a clip of him playing Dungeons and Dragons.
But like, my point is, it was probably better off
when this was like a thing we didn't brag about
being a part of him.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
Oh that's crazy. You decided to just all the nerd
communities out there. You just decided to dump it on them.
I figured may not. Anime not the like even.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Anime is becoming like way more like people talk about it,
but anime is more like a past while. Oh yeah,
I know, But like, but Dungeon to Dragons, like, have
you played?

Speaker 3 (17:47):
No?

Speaker 2 (17:49):
I don't think I could get myself to do it. It
seems too intricate, if that makes sense. Like there's a
lot going on, and like the changing the changing of
the voices, like I'm thirty five now, dude, Like so.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Shout out to our friend shading Casey. They I briefly,
they tried to get me into it, and this was
like I don't think seven eight years ago, And the
problem with me is that I was doing it virtually.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
And so I would imagine, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
It's just like it's hard to even like get the
vibe of what's going on there. And so I think,
like I didn't even really have the chance to get
into it like that because it maybe would have been
better in person. It's it's definitely wild. It's a lot
of work. But the people, I mean, yeah, the people
love it, love it. I mean they's been out since
like it came out in the seventies for the first.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
Time, which is crazy. Like it's wild that it's been
around that long. And I understand the lure, like allure
of it, Like I love the idea of detaching. It's
why I play video games at times. It's just to
like sure, go somewhere else. But maybe it's me just
not liking to hang out with other people. And then
on top of that, I'm hanging out with people who
are like pretending different things, like like Larpe. I just

(19:00):
don't think I could get into it. I think it's
just like this is weird.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
To be fair, like there's a I think LARPing is
a bigger step up than D and D.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
I agree D and D is like, but even larping's
gotten pretty bad.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
To get killed for this because I don't say it,
because I don't play it, I feel like, but like
D and D, I feel like is extreme charines.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Almost Oh god, thought I was gonna get people pissed.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
No way. But I'm not hating on D and D.
You're saying people need to hide their D and D.
I'm not saying don't play it.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
It's like, well, let's just not be so proud about it,
like we're just.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
We're just throwing it up. You're buying so many people
who go to look at your page too, are gonna
be like, wait, you're a nerd too, Why are you
calling us out?

Speaker 2 (19:42):
It's like, bro, you literally are the epinomey of a nerd.
I get it, I know, I just I also understand
when it's when it's the way these things are perceived
sometime in the mainstream. So it's like, let's just keep
it behind closed doors. Do your thing. It's fine.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
You're shaming the D and D people into the closet.
That's crazy.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
I'm not trying to I didn't really mean for it
to start this way. I just it just feels like
we're too willing to be like, yeah, that looks really
cool when it's.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
Like, I don't know, No, that's that's crazy. That's so
funny on iTunes going.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Well, now we're just gonna get absolutely destroyed.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, we're gonna review bob by D and D.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
No.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
I mean the bad reviews are kind of funny though
once in a while, like it's gonna be a bad review,
just make it funny.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
We will have to see. I'm sure we've gotten some
bad ones recently.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, for sure. I mean again, if you're not an
Apple user, we will play sorce Speaker, Spotify, Tune, and
Amazon Music Player at m anywhere you can find a podcast,
you can find.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
Us, and we got video versions up on our YouTube channel,
Driving Dish NBA podcast. You can check us out there
with the other few people that watch our videos for
the content and can hate us and judge us, you know,
through video. That's fine too because apparently, well we're willing
to do it to entire communities of gamers.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
So I just like, man, hey, man, listen. You never
know where the podcast goes. That's the beauty of it
is we just roll in like because you know, sometimes
I didn't expect it. Sometimes even after twelve years, justin
sometimes you can still surprise me. And now work from
our sponsors.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
So probably not surprising at all is the Oklahoma City
Thunder saying hey, yeah, let's run it back with their
main three Shay, Jalen Williams, and Chet. They are all
back and under different kinds of contracts, but essentially suring
that the core stays together. And obviously this goes back

(21:43):
to talking about how much draft capital they have and
depth they have on the team. They're going to be
a force to be reckoned with for a while, which
is I think a good thing. But to me it
makes our job a little bit hard because I think
for until they prove us wrong, they're just gonna be
the favorites in the West.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
I mean yes to no. So like this is where
it gets creative now, right for Okay, so you're right,
you have to do this, like this is a team
that just won the championship, Like, reward your guys for
doing that. SGA MVP season gets the richest contract in
NBA history, well deserved, Chet Holmgren two fifty million, Jalen
Williams two hundred and eighty seven million. Now do we
want to talk about like where like the ranking of

(22:27):
deservedness there, like like, so here's the question. Do I
think Chet Holmgren is worth two hundred and fifty million dollars?
I don't know, TVD it's a big potential bet still
and Shed obviously played a shoge role on this team.
I don't want to dump on it. Where Jalen Williams,
on the other hand, the guy who kind of struggled
in the beginning of the playoffs really came through big
for them when the lights are on. I'm a little

(22:48):
more sold there. I think I think Jalen kind of
earned that contract a lot. Like I think he has
left to prove. Chet still has a little bit to
prove to me still, Like I think there were moments
during that series where he just like make sure he
had spurts where he didn't look that great. It felt
like he vanished, Like you don't want this to become
you know, you don't want this to become the Michael
Border situation in Denver, right, where it's like you pay

(23:10):
on the potential, but you got to reach it there
at some point, you know. I think with Chet still
that's a valid question. I also think Shed is still
very young and can still very much improve and make
this whole segment for me at least sound ridiculous in
a few years. Like I'm not writing that off or
saying that's bad business. I'm saying there though, that the
pressure is on a little bit more. I mean the

(23:32):
question too now is it's just going to be the
cap space, Like right, it's like you have your core
signed and you have to do that, but like you know,
they're gonna go into the second apron. Something is going
to happen whether I mean, the two most likely changes
already are probably Heartenstein and probably lou Dort. And you
know the question is which way do you want to
go there? I mean, Hartenstein's gonna have twenty five or

(23:55):
twenty eight and a half million dollars on the cap
next year, Lou Dohrt's got eighteen point two on the cap.
You know, Lou's been there a little longer. Hardenstein is
still twenty seven and twenty six respectively for him in Dort.
So I yeah, I mean, and this is where like
this is the challenge of defeat, of defending and building
this dynasty, right, it's like no, no matter what, like

(24:17):
the Thunder got there first, like one on the table,
it's objectively successful. Building a dynasty and keeping this thing
going is like you not only just got to lock
in the core, you got to hit on these picks,
like you have all these draft picks, you really got
to bring in these replacements because it is like you
are just gonna get priced out, Like this is a
situation where you're probably gonna have to move on from uh,
you know, one or two, if not both of those guys,

(24:39):
just because of the way the books are right now
and having to pay all these guys. So you know,
that's gonna be the biggest thing to me to watch
with a Thunder going forward. You know, I don't think
that'll happen before the season, but yeah, I think we
absolutely should expect some changes here.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
And I would say a lot through last year. I
felt like at times when Chet was next to Hartenstein
is when they really were able to like amplify the team.
It looked really good. I think some of the issues
that that at least again just perceived on my end
is Chet's real skinny, and so he gets pushed out
of the way real fast. And so again only twenty three,

(25:17):
so we'll see where he goes and a few more
years under like the NBA dieting and working out like
you know, it could it could be less of a problem.
I think again with the Chet stuff, you bet on
the upside because I would stay say, even with the
question marks and the injury risk, he's still up there
in terms of the most talked about centers and talked

(25:41):
about big men in the league right now. So that
tells me he's still in that upper echelon, that that
number one, maybe number two tier player in that position.
So I think you still got to make sure he's
not going somewhere else. Lock him in obviously, like you said,
next year, I think it's only like eleven mil for
checks on the books. The year after that's when he'll

(26:02):
jump up to that forty one mil for twenty six
twenty seven, which will start that extension. But again, like
I think to what you said right though, the foot injury,
the hip injury, let's see what it looks like as
he gets older and what that does for the team
going forward. I also thought it was worth mentioning, and

(26:22):
I don't think we ever mentioned this in the podcast
because it's kind of just like it came and went.
Helen Williams got surgery on his rist. He played through
a ligament tear throughout the postseason one, which could lead
to some of the struggles that we might have seen
a little bit at the beginning for him. Obviously didn't

(26:44):
really see that at the end, and I think that
speaks to you know, I feel like most players would
have brought up the injury to be like, hey, I'm
struggling because of this. We didn't really hear that from
Jalen Williams, which I would say is really impressive. Obviously
confident himself, knew he'd be able to get through it
mentally and whatnot, so obviously getting that taken care of,
but but more or less wanted to bring that up
because of the fact that we are, you know, in

(27:07):
June or or this story came out at the end
of June, so we're essentially in July finding out about
Jayaln Williams injury on his wrist during the title run.
It's pretty crazy.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, I mean again, it just shows more to the
way that he stepped up for them big time. He
was the guy they exactly needed him to be, you know,
less of a question there, because you're right, I think
that injury risk definitely looms large with Chet. I mean
even last year. He played thirty five games last year.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Like where would where would you put him on like
a list of centers. I guess what I'm trying to
figure out is like, if you weren't going to go
with Chet, what's a cheaper option that you could bring in?
Or do you just roll Hartenstein and let like do
you think he can make up for it?

Speaker 1 (27:50):
I don't think it's It's not of the not bringing
him in and that you would just instantly improve elsewhere.
It's more of this Chet home Grewn ever be a
two hundred and fifty million dollar player, Like that's the
question is does he develop into a guy who's truly
worth that MAX contract? Like we see this with the
young guys all the time. Like you always pay, Like

(28:12):
that's just the nature of the league now is like
if you're a young guy in the big three of
a team, you're probably gonna get paid. Like you get
paid on potential bets. It's not to me about like
where he ranks right now, Like he's clearly a great
player when he's healthy, he's what that team needs. It's
more of just like he needs to be that reliable
third option along with them hitting on all their other

(28:33):
picks to kind of just supplement this, because that's what's
gonna Like they're gonna lose some of their bets at
some point, like we see that happen to every championship team. Again,
they certainly have the ars. I mean they may have
four picks next year in the first round, like potentially,
depending on how this all shakes out. Like I think
they've got seven or fourteen in the next seven years.
So like they've got a lot of swings that wereplace
in this too. But like, yeah, even other things for

(28:56):
you know, a guy like Caseen Wallace, for example, it's
gonna be eligible for a rook extension here in the
next few years, so like he's a guy who's gonna
get paid who's provided a lot of good minutes for you.
So like, again, it's just more of the second apron
does it makes it like you got to hit on
these moves, You got to make it happen. And your
guys need to be who they are or like be
the you know the guys you need them to be

(29:17):
your core guys, I should say, is what I'm really
trying to go for. There they wont a title. Like
I'm not necessarily worried about this. I think this was
one hundred percent the right call for Oklahoma City. It's
more of just like I have more faith in that
Jalen Williams extension than I do right now in the
CHET extension. I'd like to see a little more improvement
out of CHET if they're gonna consistently be this every year.

(29:39):
But yeah, I mean we've said it a zillion times,
like OKAC is in the most enviable position in the league,
obviously not just coming off a championship, but like how
well they're set up for the future. But it's the
Western Conference, Like teams are gonna be on their heel.
They're already on their heels and we've seen them nothing
else in the NBA it is extremely hard to repeat.
In fact, how about this as an okayc status? I

(30:00):
saw this on I saw this on NBA Reddit. There
are only three players since twenty twenty who have more
than one championship, and they're all with different teams. One
of them is Alex Caruso, who obviously just one here
with the Thunder and then one with the Lakers in
the bubble. You got any shot at the other two?

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Multiple?

Speaker 1 (30:21):
Yeah, one is more obvious than the other. One is
kind of a star player.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
I feel like, uh, is it? Is it? Well? Hold on,
because what didn't they just talk about how what's his
name has two? He was bragging about it.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Shoot Caruso, No, it said Cruise. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, okay, Oh yeah, sorry, I miss that's it.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
No, that's the Thunder. Yeah, Cruso is one of the three.
There's two more and not on the Thunder, I mean
not currently.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
No.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, no, I'm saying three players like the entire league.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Yeah. Like, but but I guess my point was, like,
didn't win it with the Thunder this last time?

Speaker 1 (30:58):
Like Crusoe is the only one who has with Thunder
this year.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
So go back. No, I guess not. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
There's two players. It's one is Drew Holliday, he's the
more start one, okay, with the Bucks and the Celtics.
And then one is Contavious Colwell Pope KCP one with
the Lakers and the Bubble and he won with the Nuggets.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
Then wow, that's crazy.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, I'm telling you legal parody. It's a lot different
than your than your regular dynasty league going up. I mean,
okayc is going to be the ultimate question for that
because they are like, they're in the position to become
a dynasty potentially and really like have a shot at
winning multiple one zero over the next few years. We'll see.
It's hard to do.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
I got it. I got an interesting question for you.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
What's that.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
I was gonna put lively on this, but but I
don't think I'm gonna do it. Between Chet Uh, Chet Walker, Kessler,
scheng Goon, and I'll leave Mobiley off this. Out of

(32:08):
those three, which which would you prefer to have going forward?

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Shng Goon, Yeah, I think it's I think it's not
even close to me.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
No.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
I like I like Chet's game a lot. I really
like schng Gun's game. Man, He's he's a ball and
there's no injury risks?

Speaker 2 (32:22):
Who's next on that list?

Speaker 3 (32:23):
Then between chat and between Lively Walker Kessler.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
At Walker Kessler Chat Lively, Oh it's still Chet, Like,
don't get it tested. No, Chet's still two for me?
I jumping off the cliff that hard, like.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
But I think, but I think it's I guess it
would also depend on what kind of production you're looking for,
Like right, like Chet still can shoot the three, Walker
Kessler's not shooting threes, but from yes, yes, from a
pure uh center standpoint, like Kessler's pulling in more boards
and can can kind of clear out that space, which

(32:58):
is what Chet lacks. If that makes sense, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
You kind of need to do what they did. You
need to put chat next to it. But we're seeing
NBA teams do that. Like That's really one of the
trends in the NBA the last few years is the
rise of these two big lineups. Like obviously, the one
that I think everybody has really talked about, you know,
was was Mobley and Jared Allen in Cleveland. Like I
feel like they were the first one to kind of
get in on that trend. And that's a combo that

(33:24):
has been probably more efficient than people give it credit
for a lot of teams. I think we're starting to
see that where you have one of the more you know,
traditional center playing with the guy they can stretch the
floor a little bit. I mean, yeah, certainly we saw okay,
see do it to it with a ton of degree
of success. I mean they went with that small ball
lineup occasionally where they'd have Casen and the starting lineup,

(33:44):
but I mean largely yeah, I mean Hartenstein and Chet
was their bread and butter all year.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
I want to ask you this too, because I just
found an article that came out before the beginning of
the season that had Shingoun ranked eighth best center in
the league. When the or Wemby, Chet's right behind him
at nine hu uh, for example, right behind them they
put Perzingis and then Myles Turner. Probably, I mean, maybe
we move that but two. But I'm curious, would you

(34:13):
move Chet and Shangoon in front of anybody ahead of them,
which was Rudy bam Uh Sabonis and Wemby, Anthony Davis,
Joel embiid Jokic.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
You could talk me into Shangoon above, Like right now,
you can talk me into Shangoon starting to move above
like Rudy Andam. Yeah, I think kind of like they're right,
they're right the same tier to me, Like Shanegon's a
much better offensive player, Bam is probably a better defender.

(35:00):
Bam is a little bit older, so that would be
my like lean at that point, I think Shangun's ceiling
might be higher than Bam is. I think Chet's ceiling
is higher than BAM's. It's just again, do you get there?
Like ceilings are great, you got to get there. I mean,
like yok mb Anthony Davis, like no, no way.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
Season season stat wise, Shanguon's got Vam beat and almost
everything except for free throw percentage right now, and it's close.
They're closer, yeah, I And I guess that's what I'm
leading us down this path to be like, Yo, this
dude's legit.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
No, he's good. No, he's great, man, He's I think
he's been the best player on the Rockets for a
few I mean, obviously now you've got Kevin Durant, so
it's a little bit different, but no, I mean he's
been like the national breakout is probably coming this year
with more eyes on it, but like, no, Shngguon's been
balling for twenty years now.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Last last season stats twenty points per game, uh, a
little south of six assist a game, of twelve rebounds
a game, shot thirty seven percent from three, compared to
Bam who was seventeen points per game for assists per game,
eleven rebounds, thirty three percent from three. And there, Yeah, he.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Might be Bearn Sabonis too. And you don't mean, like
I love Sabonis, but he might be Bearna Bonis low
key and have them.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Nice to each other. Yeah, I mean, who I know what,
I know what you're saying. He is like essentially Sibonis,
if that makes sense, Like they are very similar in
terms of their play.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
That's fine. All the same here, that's fine.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
Put it this way, put it this way. Sibonis The
only thing Cheng Gum's got Sabonis. And again these are
just stats. But in the stat side of things, he's
only got points per game, and it's really only one
points per game. Uh. Sabonis has more assists, more rebounds,
better three point percentage, and better free throw percentage, and
the percentages in general are higher across the board for Sabonis.

(36:59):
So really, if Sangutin can get more efficient. Yeah, he'll
be there, but again that might come with toime, like
he's young, but they're very they're very similar in terms
of the stats, Like it is very similar. It's just
once you get into the percentages, it kind of leans
more supponents's side of things.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
I mean, hey, they got Shangudin Chad back to back
on that list. I mean, hey, or are we looking
you know, Western Conference finals matchup potentially, like are we
gonna are we gonna get that? Certainly is on the table.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Could be yeah, could be on the table. Yeah, because really,
I mean the only other young player that they have
on the list that they have significantly higher than the
other two is Wemby at four.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
So yeah, I mean when Wenby is Wenby, they need
to start winning some games. But I mean, yeah, I'm
not going to suddenly like back off Wenby's alien potential.
I don't think that all should vanish.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
No, I agree, And and and you know what was
it last year twenty four points per game or something
like that before he was out, So yeah, I mean
you definitely saw what it could be. And even on
that pulling in like eleven boards a game, so it's
gonna be interesting. It's gonna be in there's a lot
of young, big dudes coming up in the in the NBA.
That'll be fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah, I mean, and again it's it's just like one
to want to see them starting to pull it together.
But I think they got a shot at doing that.
All right, Who's ballin? Who's fallen? Our NBA version of
the stock market. We always like start with the good
before the bad, and so I'm gonna start with with
ball and you know, sicking the big money extension theme.
Devin Booker two years, one hundred and forty five million

(38:25):
dollar max extension with the Suns. It's the highest annual
extension salary in NBA history. And you know, look for
the sons who like the ViBe's been pretty bad around
them recently, Like certainly last year wasn't great. You know,
a lot of front office drama post this trade. But
I think there's always been a lot of question A
book a guy who went to the finals there early,

(38:46):
he's been mister Phoenix for a while, Like you know,
you start to wonder it's like, hey, we haven't really
been back since then, And in fact, it feels like
we've been kind of trending in the wrong direction, you know,
Book kind of you know, putting that to the side
a little bit here, you know, locking in this year
deal and saying, hey, you know, I'm happy here, like,
don't be stressed about that. Like, let's go out and
build a good roster.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Well, and that's what you need right for the Suns
right now, because vibes are definitely probably a little low. Yeah,
So so I'm cool with it. It's a lot of money,
but good for them. And there's probably a long, a
larger conversation of just like how outrageous these contracts are
getting for the NBA, But you know, we don't need
to go down that road essentially.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yeah, But I mean, look, and behind the scenes is
that Book wants to like Books one of these guys,
like he wants to stay in Phoenix. He's not looking
around like that matters so much for this franchise. Like
and because they'll always get too Like as long as
Book is there and still hooping, they're gonna get looks
from guys like I think a lot of different players
have shown they like playing a Booker, you know, bringing

(39:49):
a franchise, bringing a championship, to that franchise for the
first time would obviously be huge. I think they need
to you know, is the front office capable of doing
it right now? That's going to be the question, and
hopefully we see them figure it out.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
But just see what a Jalen Green Devin Booker duo
kind of looks like, like that's.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yeah, I hope. I'm just like I don't know, like
if Beial gets brought out, cool, Jalen Green is just
he's good, but it's not like it's just not my style,
you know what I mean, Like, I just Jalen Green
is the gunner type, Like I just don't think you
played like a ton of winning hoops with Jalen Green.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah. Well, and and you know you do want to
see like potentially the three point percentage come up a
little bit. But but listen, I mean, if it's just
gonna be those two, depending on what the Suns continue
to do, like man, there's gonna be more more than
enough opportunities to shoot that ball.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. All right, who's balling
for you this week?

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Balling for me is going out to Alex Rodriguez, who
was talking a little bit about the uh Wolves and
what he would like to do with them, and there's
a potential rebrand in the talks, and they've essentially said that.
Alex said they've done a lot of work in the
background and said that they think the fan base is

(41:07):
going to be very excited about the rebrand. They want
to bring back some of the history of the KG
days and that those are something that he's very aware
of and knows is important to the fan base. So,
I mean, interesting to see what that rebrand looks like,
you know, get a little bit of extra hype on
on the Wolves.

Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah. No, I mean, look, the ownership seems excited about it. Obviously.
This is a franchise who you know, from a success standpoint,
back to back conference finals, like it's one of the
more you know, lucrative runs so far in franchise history.
You've got Anthony Edwards, who's a bona fide young superstar.
You know, it's about getting over the top, like and

(41:46):
in a tough Western conference like that. Again, it's that
it's tough to do. I certainly wonder now like it
feels like they're behind a few other teams, but I
also kind of felt that at points last year and
then they still found a way to get to the
Conferen's final, so you know it'll be interesting. But either way,
like this ownership thing has been going on for the
Wolves for a while now, so I think just getting

(42:06):
it settled and getting it done if nothing else, will
help too. And you know, I mean, look, it's a
it's an ownership group that seems like they want to
we just talked about with Phoenix, like bring that first
championship to Minnesota. It'd be huge for them. It's exciting
times to be a Wolf's fan. Hopefully they deliver.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
I wonder if they go back to that like jersey
that had the wolf like on it on it.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
I think it was oh yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure.
I love those Starbucks.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
It'd be cool to see. So either way, you know,
always always excited to hear ownership talk about they'll they'll
pay nod to what the fan base kind of wants.
So yeah, we'll see if they actually do it.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, no, for sure, all right.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Fallen for me is Anthony Davis, who underwent a procedure
earlier this week to repair it detached retina that he
had during the season. So good that that's fixed now
and apparently This happened from just multiple hits to the
face that he took during the season, which like, it's
not funny, but it's just one of those situations like

(43:01):
he just getting clocked out here.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
It explains why he wanted help down low.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
Like, yo, that man was begging for a center.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
They're detaching my eyes down here.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
He and Lebron spent three seasons begging for a traditional center.
They traded a d to Dallas and then immediately tried
to trade for Mark Williams, and like, honestly that felt through,
but it's like, guys, are you kidding me?

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Eight He's like, bro, they're detaching my eyes up here,
like or down here?

Speaker 1 (43:30):
Get me, said, get me a real center, and they said,
now we're trading.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
You, buddy, see you later. Take you and your detached
retina to Dallas.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
We'll see you later, which I mean, look, it's it's Luca.
We know what it is. But like, oh man, yeah,
brutal uh not?

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Do you think where do you think the MAVs are
going to jump to because they'll to me, they'll have
a better record than thirty nine and forty three.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Dude, if Kyrie was healthy, I might be getting Froggy
and I would hate that so much, but like they
would have been I mean, dude, you give me a
healthy Cooper ad and Kyrie and like they might win
the title. I don't think they're there now, but that
roster's good. I think they're going to be middle of

(44:13):
the pack in the West. Like it's more of like
how good the top of the West is? Like I
again still okay, see, I think right now my top
three in the Western ok see Houston and Denver. I
like Denver New Look with their acquisitions, but like, yeah,
I mean the Clippers are still going to be there,
The Warriors of Healthy are going to be there, the
Lakers are going to be there. Yeah, Timberwolves are going

(44:35):
to be there. Like dude, the conference is loaded, like
there're no real days off in the in the Western Conference.
And again that's not assuming another team doesn't make a leap,
like if San Antonio leaps or you know, with Portland
continues to build on what they were doing at the
end of last year, like you know, who knows there
there are ways for it to change quickly. We should see.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
It's just worth yeah, it's just worth mentioning, like like yeah,
the between the East and the West last year is
still kind of crazy where you know, like Kings who
were ninth, had forty wins. Mavericks, Yeah we're tenth, they
had thirty nine wins, And like I understand the Bulls
were intent as well with thirty nine wins, but like
it was just a little more spaced out. It wasn't

(45:15):
literally one or two losses could take could have taken
the Lakers from third all the way to tenth.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
So it just felt like they were stronger too, Like
that's what it came down. So I do think the
Eastern East was a little more balanced last year, Like
it was pretty good from one to eight. It's once
you start to get under that where it gets a
mess quick. You know, this year again, assuming health, I
think it would have been a little better. Like this
year again, we just keep beating the drum. But it's
like so many major injuries with Halle, with Jason Tatum,

(45:42):
like you know, you knocked two of the bag, just
the defending conference champion and two years ago defending champion,
you've already knocked out of conversation essentially. You know, we'll
see what happens there before I get into a fall
in a few money extensions quick herb Owns agreeing to
a three year, sixty eight million dollar extension. I want

(46:06):
to mention that as well. I didn't mention that before
we got into falling, but shout to her getting paid
in New Orleans. Just who's falling for you this week?

Speaker 2 (46:13):
So falling for me is something I got to pull
up for the screen. But I'll give you the backstory first. Okay,
there's a streamer. If you're not up on the streaming things, I.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
Can't say I am, I'm I'm not ven gen.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
Z Okay, goes By Ludwig does does like tournaments and
live stream stuff. He's kind of like a content creator.
Some probably would consider him a comedian, but either way,
he does all this stuff. And so he's doing a
basketball stream and I guess he had reached out to
Luca to see if he could do it, but obviously
he's doing the euro basketball stuff right now. Yeah, I
just want to play you the video that Luca sent him,

(46:48):
like his team said, sorry, he's not available. But then Luca,
who is an avid gamer, like we know, he's the
overwatched guy.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
He's so dude, that guy has everything. I'm sick. Yeah,
I'm Luka Dan. I'm one of the best players in
the NBA and one of the best players in Overwatch.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
Well, he is horrible at recording videos because, dear lord,
watch this and just like digest it for a second,
because the millennial pause at the beginning and then just
the whole awkward nature of this thing. You just gotta
fully sit with it for a second. So here we go.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
Hey, Ludric, I know, how have you worked? Good luck
in a tournament? I wish I could be there.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Let's hang out.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
Okay, dude, Honestly, it's not a bad then is funny
where he's like, all right, let's hang out.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
I wish I could be there, let's hang out.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
No, it's that it's that it's right there that you
could have just been like, all right, good luck, and
it honestly would have just been like all right, look,
I get it, man. These videos are weird, like you're
putting somebody on the spot, like I.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Don't know because wish I could be there.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Yeah, no, I don't know what to do here, Like
what do I do with my hands?

Speaker 2 (48:11):
I'm sorry that thing out or something like damn, listen,
Oh my god, I want to start I want to
take that wish I could be there with a really long,
just awkward stare at the thing. And I'm just going
to send that to people when I can't make like
a meeting, wish I could be there.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Yeah, no, that's that's hilarious. No, like actually, yeah no,
you're really start doing that right, all your meetings at work,
any like birthday party that you can't like to actually make,
that'd be real funny.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
I could be there.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Oh my god. All right, we want to switch into
some gears here a little bit. Play Maculate grid.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
Let's do it. Let's pull up some grid systems.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
All right, so again you can watch the Immaculate grids
always on YouTube. Just start driving dish NBA podcast if
you are not an Apple user. Hey, as much as
I love your notes, can we go back to the
gad here real quick? Uh?

Speaker 4 (49:04):
Man?

Speaker 1 (49:04):
I'm glad you're prepared, though. I really like warms my
heart that you got. You got the note stock when
we need him? Man, you know what I'm saying. No
for sure? All right? Uh So our collumns this week
from left to right, the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls,
and twenty thousand career points are rose from top to bottom,
the Spurs, the Raptors and ten rebounds a game. You know,

(49:27):
I feel pretty good about this all around. Honestly, do
you have any to jump off the page for you
right away?

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Rudy Gay for Sons Spurs And I know there's another
one in his names I shouldn't be forgetting his name,
but but he are you talking about our guy? Boris
d al Oh Boris d Outworks? But no, that's not
who I was talking about. Oh my gosh. He I

(49:59):
will always remember him with this story. But drove up
to fight Derek Fishers.

Speaker 1 (50:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah, oh yeah classic that. I mean, that
is one of my favorite stories still for sure.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
So I think those three at least work right off
the rip for that connect. Did Did Dario end up
on the Spurs?

Speaker 1 (50:22):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Might work there too.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
I'm not he was definitely on Phoenix. I'm unquestionable that
he was on Phoenix. I don't remember if he was
on the Spurs. He's kind of been all over the place,
but yeah, like that might be right.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Lukenorda ended up on the Spurs and not.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
I can't remember. We got a few there, so I
mean we can always come back to that. You know,
an interesting one would be Boris Dio ten rebounds per
game if we think he got it for.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
The song I was getting ten boards a game per season.
I love bar Stile that the Boristo one of my
favorite players ever. And I love that rant about from
Bill Walton talking about him rest in peace. Bill Walton
when he like reminded him of Beethoven's Age of Romanticism
one of just my just unbelievable call. No, I don't
think how it was never pulling down ten rebounds a game.

(51:19):
I think like, I mean, let me see, I mean, oh,
in general, I mean yeah, if we're doing I mean
Tyson works for Sons and Bulls probably ten rebounds a game.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Joki now work for Bulls ten rebounds per game.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
He would so for the Sun's ten rebounds a game
that I know for sure are shack Tyson Chandler probably
works there. Eighton. Honestly, we talked about in the beginning
of the show. DeAndre Ayton definitely works there. I mean,
I'm trying to think it's like some guys where it's
more gross. So like, you know, the Sons drafted Alex
lenn for example, did Alex lenn Ever pull down ten

(52:01):
wards there like he's center. I would hope so, but like,
I don't know for sure he pulled down boards Dragon
Bender's way Bender had ten rebounds a game. I would
like hate my shirt on this podcast. No, I think
like I'm trying. I'm trying to think of who their

(52:22):
other centers were like during the seven seconds or last
I mean Amari probably had ten games there, yeah, or
ten boards a game. Drag. Dragon Bender's highest boards per
game ever, by the way, was five point nine in
a very limited stint with Golden State at the end
of his career. He was pulling that down. Yeah. I mean,

(52:45):
I'm trying to think of like any older like sons.
I mean the main older son. I think of a
Connie Hawkins. Oh dude, we're idiots, man. Charles Barkley works
there too. Charles Barkley definitely works there.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
What do you think about? And hear me out Sean Marion.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
I don't think he's grabbing ten a game. Great player,
but like, I don't think he's grabbing teny game. No way,
He's a wing. He's a wing, dude. Okay, I mean no,
wait a minute, now, you're really Wait a minute, you're
really confident about that. Now, now you got me feeling bad.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
No, I mean listen, if it's it would be close.
I think it's closer than we think. But I am
still not one hundred on it.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
What's your percentage?

Speaker 2 (53:33):
I would say sixty. I don't like it. It's just because,
I mean, come on, he was their star.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
Like he did grab boards too, Like it wasn't like
he didn't rebound. I'm just trying to think of like
him and Amar with him and a mari of waiting off.
I mean, we go for it, we'll come back to it.
We'll say it for last if we're if we're aight
for nine, we can try that last.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
All right, okay, all right, okay, by the way, last.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Ten rebounds the game. Noah and Rodman are easy ones.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
No Rodman Boozer.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Oh, Boozer might be a good one. I don't know.
If he's doing ten games, God, that would have been good.
See if that was in Utah, I would feel really
confident about it. In Chicago, I don't know that. I feel.
I feel like, right, he's another one. He's like right
on the edge there for me.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
I'm okay, I'm okay doing uh Noah, I'm.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Just trying to think there's anybody that be less like
percentage wise, like Horace Grant works. I think he'll be high.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Yeah, did gasol or ever had to have had it
last like he hadn't had it last.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
Year, right, I would hope, But like I mean, the
dude pulls in like ten every five seconds.

Speaker 1 (54:53):
It feels like, yeah, I mean I would be stunned
if he didn't.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
I'm down to try vouch he but I don't know
do we think.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
No, we can do voch there. I feel confident with you.
He's been there for a few years now, Like that's
the thing is, like you to be a new it
last year. I feel like one of these seasons he
has to pull down ten boards.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
I agree with you. Yeah, okay, okay, sick, okay, all right, good,
I know.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
I mean twenty thousand and ten a game is there's
a zillion options, like how much time do you have?

Speaker 2 (55:24):
Yeah, I feel like there's like one we could try
to think, like a LaMarcus Aldridge is like probably like the.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Oh yeah, it's always it's always that twenty K is
tougher than you think.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
That's where does he work? For he will work for Spurs.
He wasn't on the Bulls or Sun, so we can
do we think he has twenty K though, No, I don't.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
Okay, like Joe Johnson barely had over two. Yeah, and
Joe Johnson was a much more prolific offensive player than
Mamarcus Age one. Yeah, okay, No, my twenty k and
ten rebounds a game beyond the heavy hitters, like I'm
trying to think a guy. I mean, if we want
to go interesting and maybe do it like not a center,

(56:08):
the option there is Russ. I mean, Russ definitely has
ten boards a game in twenty k. Harden too, I
don't think hardening ten boards a game in a season.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Man didn't he didn't he end a season with a
triple double. No, it was just ross, dude, Okay, I
could have sworn he did it. Okay, Yeah, at that.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
Point too, you go, Oscar Robertson, Oscar Robertson, if you
want to go with a with a boomer guard, that
may be the move. Honestly, big Oh, with ten a
game and twenty k, he definitely had that.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Let's do that.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
Yeah, there's there's no way he didn't have twenty K
love it. Yeah, shout to the big O. All right, Raptors,
do we just want to do this twenty K because
I feel like that'll be quick? Sure, Raptors McGrady and Vince,
I feel like are the two that they think of

(56:59):
right away.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
I feel like his career was cut too short.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Bosh, dude, That's that's my thing. I'm worried about Bosh
like being there. I think he may have been on
point to get there, but a one hundred percent about it. No,
I don't know if the Rosen has twenty K. He's
one of those where it's like I feel like he's
been in the league for so long and I feel

(57:26):
like there he almost like has to write.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
You would think who else was on those older teams
like Lowry.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
Uh, Lowry's too much of a guard for me, and
I think like his last few years he was a
little like yeah yeah, and so like I think he's close.
But I don't know if he's at twenty why. I
think has had too many injuries to be at twenty Yeah.
So at that point, yeah, I mean I'm at Vince,
I'm at McGrady. I mean, dude, honestly, if you want

(57:54):
to do a sneaky one, just because you know he
was at the very end of his career. A lot
of one played for the Raptors. Dude, Elijahwan would definitely
ad twenty. K.

Speaker 2 (58:05):
Yeah, I don't know. I'm cool with let's do I
don't know. I mean, I'm fine with all three of those.
I bet Vince is probably the most popular.

Speaker 1 (58:17):
Yeah, I think Vince is probably the most popular. Dude.
How about dude? How about this? Why don't we do
Elajawan for the Raptors and then go up top? Dude,
because you can use Derosan for the Spurs too.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
And I think, yeah, are we sure he's at twenty?

Speaker 1 (58:37):
I'm pretty sure, dude. I'd be willing to bet on.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
It because we could do Yeah, we could do him there.
But but I feel like the Spurs obviously, like the
big three guys there, most of those guys should be
at twenty.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
Funky David Gervin are all at twenty.

Speaker 2 (58:51):
Yeah, what are you thinking about Tony Parker?

Speaker 1 (58:53):
And I don't think Parker's at twenty. I don't think
Genobili's at twenty. Necessarily, Genobili's off the bench, like Tony
was never like a big scoring guy. But genobily for
as great as he was, like he was coming off
the bench, I do think that matters.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Okay, so let's do uh you want to do uh
uh Samar? Yeah, okay, all right, so DeRozan and then
you wanted to go Hakeem.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
Yeah, I think Elajah one.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Yeah, there is okay, thirty eight.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
Wow, damn man oh man. Vince's number one, but like wow,
he might have been too there. That's crazy. Yeah, wow
over DeRozan, I really I really thought the Rosen would
be too in Toronto Vinces definitely one.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
I think are starting to forget about Derozane's time in Toronto.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
I think he was there for so long I know,
but it.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Was it was, it was I'm gonna say this, I
feel like it's gonna come off wrong, but it was
like meaningless years, Like they didn't win anything in that time.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
That's all. That's dude. That's the brutal part of ring culture.
That's so I do, and like I hear like it
is brutal when like DeMar got traded and.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
You were right there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
Yeah, but yeah, it's tough because I mean you also
ran into prime Lebron every year. But it's like man
Tomorrow made them relevant. Like that franchise was cool because
of Tomorrow, DeRos In and Kyle Lowry, like they set
the foundation for that franchise to go over the top.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
My favorite person to pick anytime we talk Suns, because
I know he was only there for for a very
short time. I think it was one season is Louis Scola,
and I know he was on the Raptors.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
He was.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
That's a good connect for us.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
I'm cool with that. Scola there would just shouted Genoba
south of Scola.

Speaker 4 (01:00:47):
They h.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
One nice hell yeah, shout Lois Scola. All right, Bulls
and Raptors. I mean the one recently that I can
think it was auto Porter auto Porter.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Oh with both. Did Demary Carroll end up on the
bulls or was he on the bulls at any point?
Oh man, because yeah, he was on the Raptor.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
He was all over sweet. I mean DeRozan would have
worked there too. Actually, Wet even talked about the ros
in there. He it definitely worked on spot to Mario Carroll.
He was in so many different squads, uh.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
Which is why I know he was. I just don't
remember him on the bulls as the problem.

Speaker 1 (01:01:25):
I kind of don't either. I remember him on Atlanta.
I definitely remember him on Toronto. He was there for sure.
Oh man, I remember on Brooklyn weirdly, but.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
That's not But that was that was when they were
really push him, right, didn't they bring him in when
they had the three that they were trying to compete
with with Paul Pierce and all that wasn't he there?

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
No? He was later. He was on the team that. Yeah,
he was on the team that the Sixers be in
the first round with like d lo in them And
that was like twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. Okay, our boy,
fad Young works for Bulls and Spurs classic. He fits everywhere.
I'm trying to think of other bulls. I mean, Duglan
Dermott works for that. I feel like there's somebody better

(01:02:08):
I should be thinking of that fits in that spot.
But oh, you know, Powe works there too. We mentioned
how a little bit earlier. Definitely works for Bulls and Spurs.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Bulls and Spurs is a good one. I don't remember
if I don't think he was there. Now learned dorogic.
He'll work somewhere on this board because the suns are here.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
I don't think he will man. He played for the
Spurs and he definitely have ten boards a game.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
No, but he was on the Raptors.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
Yeah, we already did the Sons and the Raptors.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
Was he ever on the Bulls Drogage?

Speaker 1 (01:02:48):
Yeah, I mean I don't think he was on the
Spurs though.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
No, but you could go Bulls Raptors.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
He might have been. Was he on the Bulls late?

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
I don't know. I have no idea, but but I
but I but he.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
Might have been at I'm pretty sure he was. Actually
he did.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
I know that because in his.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
Career, I'd be down for that. I don't really have
anybody better. Honest, he there after you Fad Young works there,
That Young works there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
But but he went there after the heat, right, he
went to the Bulls after the heat. I think he.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
Might have That sounds right, I mean it was towards
the end of his career.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
Okay, it worked. Two, let's go.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
Dude's sick.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
I mean, we can go Boris.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
I mean, I do love just because the espresso machine. Man,
that's just always one of my favorite thing. I love
him putting the espresso machine. A big espresso guy, I
get it. That's why he deserves it, all right? What
we want to do for Spurs and uh and Bulls
real quick? I mean Dennis Rodman works too, that'll be.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
Big Dennis Rodman. Does Rudy Gay work for this one too?
Was he on the Bulls at any point?

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
I don't think so. Surprisingly Gay on the Bulls?

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
Surprisingly, I don't think so either.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
I feel like we think Rudy Gay was on way
more franchises than he actually was. Like Rudy Gay played
for like four teams I think Manion.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
I know, but they're always on Immaculate Grid for some reason,
like the Griz, the.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Kings, the Raptors. Maybe there was like one more, but
those are those are the three that that come to
mind right away, all right. I mean we said, yeah,
we said Powell a little bit earlier. I think will
be high. I mean McDermott and fat are the lowest

(01:04:39):
two that I've got so far. I just feel chalky
because I use Fad Young so much when I play
Amaculate Grid.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
You know who else I use all the time and
I'm pretty sure works here. Doug McDermott, No.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Doug mcfe Yeah, those are
two guys we got I'm fine with either one of those. Honestly,
they're both low Like Doug. Doug gets the bump for
being white. Like I hate saying that, but like I
feel like he always does for that reason. It's like
he gets the white shooter bump. Not quite the Kyle,
Not quite Kyle Korver honestly, but yeah, I'm fine with

(01:05:12):
that if you want to go with Doug there. I
don't think I really have anybody better.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
Doug Doug, Doug dog dog Dog Doug. Yet fine. I
feel like there's another point guard who was after? Who
is after Tony Parker?

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:05:32):
Man, Like they had like two or three point guards
after that, and then those guys bounced around a lot
like Marco Bellinelli and Blanelli.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
Low key might work. I think I'm pretty sure Pellanelli
played Chicago honestly.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
Oh, he's not the one I was thinking of. Who
is the other?

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
One's definitely not you're thinking of, But I think he works.

Speaker 2 (01:05:53):
No, who is the other Who's the uh? Who'd they
bring in right after Tony Parker? Who is their point art?

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
I gotta be honest, I don't remember off the top
of my head. I'm trying to think.

Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
All right, well never mind.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Then you do Bellinelli though, and make it, make it
an Eastern European column with him and dragage and uh,
I guess Bellinoli.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
Do you think you were I'm on Mark?

Speaker 1 (01:06:18):
Oh yeah, he was definitely on the spurs and he
was definitely on the bulls for sure, Like I'm not even.

Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
Oh yeah, look at that. Okay, I didn't know he
was on the bulls. I knew he was on the spurs,
but he wasn't the one I was thinking of. I
gotta I have to look that up after this, a.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Right, man. I mean, well, like I said, if we
got if we got to eight and nine, we got
to just go with it. I think I think you
should do Sean marry in there.

Speaker 2 (01:06:38):
I forgot about that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
Yeah, we gotta be we gotta be man of our words.
We gotta go with it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:45):
Oh, I hate this.

Speaker 1 (01:06:46):
You were really confident about it, though.

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Fifteen years is a long time to be the NBA
to hopefully grab ten boards again.

Speaker 4 (01:06:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
I mean if he didn't, it's gonna be in Phoenix.
It wouldn't be anywhere else, did it?

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
We say we got it?

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
No, we got it? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:07:04):
Yeah, wow, count which is cool as you get to
know your guy. Dude, that's a great poll justin that's crazy.
I I did not think Sean Marrion.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
Did fourteen works there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:15):
I mean I believe that franchise wise. I'm just like,
I mean, was was he a way warm?

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Can you see this.

Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
Gore? Hot hot would have early there? That makes a
lot of sense. Okay, oh Nurkic from Yeah, we mentioned Barkley.
I mean, yeah, he's starting back in the day. Paul Silas, Wow,
good one. But Connie had ten a game. We did
mention Shack. Connie I didn't think would have ten of game.

(01:07:45):
He's like the o G haw or Son, I should say,
not the Hawk. All right, Yeah, so damn, I mean, dude,
Shawn Mary And by the way, man could pull. He
had ten rebounds three. He did it with Miami too.
That's a crazy one to remember if he did it
with that's a good poll team. Good for you. All right,

(01:08:07):
Let's scroll down the most popular answers here real quick.

Speaker 2 (01:08:09):
Yeah, hold on, the other thing I wanted to see
was this. All right, let's look at that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:13):
Ohls and Spurs sixty two. That is a lot wow.

Speaker 2 (01:08:16):
Yeah, Artist Gilmore, Paul Dero.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
I mean we mentioned.

Speaker 2 (01:08:23):
Sataranski.

Speaker 1 (01:08:25):
Oh dude, I would you cool? I would never got.

Speaker 2 (01:08:27):
Saturns one game for the Spurs.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Crazy Na Mohammed's a good one. Wow? Yeah? Who else
is there? Drew Good Drew career.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
Welcome, Thomas August Thomas is like one game each. That
would be a crazy pool.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
Yeah, that would be That'd be an absolutely insane pool.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
That'd be a you been cheating pool?

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
Get no straight up? All right? So most popular answers
this week for Spurs and Sons Chris Paul for Spur
who we don't think we mentioned, which is hilarious for
Spurs and Bulls. Dennis Rodman for Spurs, twenty k points,
Tim Duncan for Bulls and oh wow, double Vince appearance,
Vince Carter for Raptors and Sons and Vince Carter for

(01:09:12):
Raptors and twenty k career points. DeMar DeRozan Ando we
mentioned a bunch for Bulls and Raptors. Charles Barkley Sons
ten rebounds the game per season, Dennis Rodman Bulls ten
a game per season, so double Dennis Rodman does to
shock your Most popular for ten boards a game in
twenty thousand career points. We want to go back to
our grid one last time, justin.

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
We have only three options for the Raptors for twenty
k I.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
Mean dude, it's three. Yeah, that is crazy. I mean
New were franchised, so it makes sense. But wow, So
McGrady wasn't on it, so at that point it is
It's Vince, it's DeMar Derozen and it's Keema Lajawan like
that's those are your three.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
So this wasn't going to filter by team. I was
kind of hoping to see the ten that are for
the Spurs, but it's not really going to filter by teams.

Speaker 1 (01:09:56):
So that's yeah, I mean Spurs, I can think of
three without a going to really trying.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
Yeah. Powasol, Yeah yeah, Tim's there.

Speaker 1 (01:10:08):
I mean Duncan, Robins, Pale and George Gervian are all
no brainers.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
Oh Way's a good one. Told on I forgot about him.
Oh oh wait, we didn't have to do because he
was on the Bulls at one point.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
Yeah. Wade was definitely yeah for ten bulls. Yeah, yeah,
all right, our good one last time for Spurs and Sons.
Boris DL for Spurs and Bulls. Marco Belinelli for Spurs,
twenty thousand career points. Tomarto Rozen first Raptors and Sons,
Louis Skola for Raptors and Bulls, Goring Dragic for Raptors
twenty k career points, became the Lajawan for Sons ten
rebounds of game, Sean Marion for Bulls ten rebounds a

(01:10:44):
game to call a Vucevic and for ten rebounds a
game twenty thousand grier points. Oscar Robertson. Thank you everybody
for listening to this episode of the Driving Dish NBA podcast.
Appreciate you guys as always leave us a review on iTunes,
good or bad, or read them on the podcast. If
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tune in, Amazon Player, f M. Anywhere you can find
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Speaker 2 (01:11:03):
Us, and we're on YouTube. Just find us on Driving
Dish NBA Podcast search us Subscribe you'll get notifications when
new episodes are coming out.

Speaker 3 (01:11:13):
I think you've done.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
My dance is today, so why don't we dance Wednesday?

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
See your star side?

Speaker 4 (01:11:18):
Okay, you are right, I think they could point