Andrew Schlecht
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Just following Jordan's footsteps. So worried about jeans.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
That's not fun. That's anxiety producing. Especially for somebody like me who's still recovering from it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Oh, man. So it is interesting that... it's at least a fact that both teams that are in pole position to be in the finals traded Paul George, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Let's clear that up. I didn't have enough of an imagination. to think that the pacers could make the nba finals my imagination sometimes is limited and you know what it's a flaw that i have okay i'll admit it i've got it and i did not have the imagination for a team like the indiana pacers to actually make the nba finals and here we are they're up 3-1 they got to go back into new york to win
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It happened. Podcast P Philly. Are you listening? Philly? Listen, there's one thing. And also Sacramento. If you're listening, you guys are both one step away from becoming title contenders. You'll just trade Sabonis and trade Paul George because that's apparently how you do it. Who has a worse market?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Probably, but also Paul George is still easier to fit on your basketball team than Sabonis is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But he doesn't shoot. Even if he did, I think he would still... He shot. He shot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Of course. No question. And that's not the problem. The problem to me is it is so hard to be a big man in this NBA and not be a good defender. Because it affects... who you play at every other position. And if it's not done just right, it is really difficult to build a winning team around those kinds of players. And that's why... I think you even look at Derek Queen in this upcoming draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Because that archetype of player is really hard to build around. Those guys are difficult. I think that early on in their careers, it's like, oh, this is amazing. This guy's so good. You have to pay them a lot. I think about Vucevic. I think about... I mean, Sabonis is like... Honestly, if you look at... When I think Sabonis, I think about Vucevic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yes, Shang-Goon is the new guy, and it is just an archetype of player that I know that some front offices will not go near because they're just... Either they become Jokic, and it's transcendent, or they become Vucevic with... He made an all-star team, he helped the team get to the first round of the playoffs. Like he's done all these things, but it's like, what, what do you want?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And like, that's where it's like, how do you trade that guy now? And who's going to raise their hand and say, I'll take Sabonis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
If Bam could shoot. That's the other problem.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And they're just on the doorstep, though. And they're obviously heavily favorited. It's hard to come back 3-1. Do the Knicks have the anatomy of a team that could come back from a 3-1 deficit? It doesn't look like it right now, but it never looks like it, I would say. Yeah. But let's start with the Pacers. How did we get here with the Indiana Pacers? And we can just kind of talk.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But the money is so... This is why setting the table here is why that trade was such an all-timer for Indiana. Yeah, man. This is a team that... And I'm going to pull up this graphic here. Because it is a graphic. I've got a graphic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Like and subscribe. Look at this. This is a tax bill. Did you make this? No, I did not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Respectfully, this is a tiny graphic. Just squint. Okay. You'll see. But the Pacers are at the top of this one. Since 2012, they've not paid the tax one time. Man, that's crazy. And they have 51 playoff wins. in that span, which is insane. You look at like the Pelicans, you know, have paid the tax once and they've won seven games. The Grizzlies have paid it once. They've won 31 games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
The Pistons haven't paid it. They've won two Hornets have won three and have paid it. Kings have not paid it and have three wins. Um, The Magic have seven wins and haven't paid it. The Hawks are another one. They've won 34 games without paying the tax. That's impressive.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, and it's just impressive to see what they have built and what they have done through this. I mean, this is a long time. We're not talking about just a few years. They've had this longevity where they've won a lot of playoff games. They haven't paid the tax. And they've got this team. And you start to wonder how long, what happens when Andrew Nimhard's contract comes up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
What do they do there? There's going to be questions around it and questions around the ownership group.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I think it's just interesting to kind of just take apart. Right now, we have this rubber band ball of a team. And it's like, how did this get here? And which one is this? But I think it's good to kind of take this apart a little bit and think about how do you build a contender? How do you build a team that could do something like this? How about Rick Carlisle?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It's a pretty sweet gig. We can shift gears. Anything else on how the Pacers have built? A lot of it, too, is they've identified players that fit their style of play. Aaron E. Smith is clearly one of those guys. But just identifying the right kinds of players is very helpful. Good culture.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He was wearing a coach's quarter zip the last time he was in OKC. I mean, come on. He's not playing. He's got the best job in sports right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Reputation precedes him. All the players think that. He was the guy that people didn't want to fight in the player poll. The players still think of him like that, even though when was the last time they actually saw him dribbling back the ball?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
That's true. Raptor's legend. Every Raptor is a legend.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It's got to be a lot more than that, right? Maybe more than that. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
For the podcast, we're going to take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll talk about the anatomy of OKC and how they got here as well. We'll be right back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And we're back after that quick break. Let's take a look at this graphic again. If you're watching on YouTube, you can tune in. We have several people tuning in live. Like and subscribe. We'd love for you to like and subscribe and join us every Wednesday. We will go live. The Thunder, a lot of people see them as this cheap team, a team that never pays the tax.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They actually, since 2012, paid it five years, which I think has surprised a lot of people. And they've paid over $100 million in tax money, which is really an interesting point to just throw out there. This team, this ownership group, yes, I think that they will forever be seen as the team that cheaped out on not paying James Harden.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And like, I think people have that just like stained, you know, into their memory of like who this team is, but like they had always planned and it's similar to now, like they had always planned to pay the tax with that Kevin Durant Russell. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
with how it like however it manifests itself they were going to pay the tax it was going to happen but they had a plan in place um and now like they have a similar plan in place they would love to be able to pay the tax with this current team and i think that they will oh yeah they've saved money through the rebuild you know the the most money that you pay you know
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
out of everything that you're doing is through your payroll for your players. And like, they didn't pay much. I'll tell you that. Yeah. Through the rebuild. And now that I think they're fully prepared to pay the tax, they're going to have an influx of money through this new arena that they're building. They're have influx of money, um, through expansion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
So all these things that are in favor for the thunder, uh, to actually pay the tax. Now, how long can you stay in a particular apron is like a whole new question, but the vendor have been planning for this. So like, they're going to be able to keep their, their big three around for the foreseeable future. As long as they want to stay is like always a question with any of these guys. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But the way that they have built this team has been extremely intentional. There was nothing accidental about anything that happened with this team. And I think, Zeno, you sent this tweet to us yesterday that's just kind of funny how the Thunder ended up with basically the team they have today. And it all started in 07. It was Presti's first thing that he did was that he was –
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
to execute the 2007 draft. It was like the first thing that he ever did. And he had like a choice to make because he had Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis on his squad along with the number two pick. And I'm sure a lot of people would have looked at that and said, you know what? That looks pretty good. Yeah. Start a team with those three. Ray Allen still had several years left of being a good player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Rashard Lewis went on to be a very good player for Orlando. But instead, he just stripped this thing all the way down. And it kind of told what was going to happen later as well. But it's funny that this trade stretches all the way to the next rebuild, which is just goofy. But he created a trade exception that became Kurt Thomas. And they salary-dumped Kurt Thomas for two first-round picks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Shut up. Crazy. Shut up. It's insane. Insane.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Two first rounders. Thank you, Steve. Yeah, isn't that... I mean, that is insane. One of them became Serge Ibaka, which then became Sabonis and Oladipo, that then became Paul George, that then became this current core, which they traded Paul George and they got SGA and Jada back in that one, allowed them to tank, yada, yada, yada.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
No, Kaysen was not a part of that deal. I'm trying to remember.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It was a different time. It was. It was also the ultimate life raft to the Thunder who had this team that was very expensive that was not competing in the playoffs. They got there twice and lost in the first round twice. It was becoming untenable with Westbrook, I think, in general. To be able to
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
unload those guys at a time where like a lot of franchises wouldn't want to trade these guys when they are in their prime yeah you know westbrook had it wasn't that long ago that he had won the mvp um and i had paul george who was third in the in uh mvp voting that year you know the year before they traded him and so for it all to just kind of crash down like that you know
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I think that all Thunder fans can look at Damian Lillard and say, thank you, sir, for doing what you did and killing that team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
That shot, which felt horrible in the moment. Like that's what, you know, began all of this. And, you know, I think it's interesting because I think Presti has a way that he thinks about basketball and, and the way that he wants basketball to be played in general. And it definitely aligns more with the beautiful basketball the Spurs played for years and years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And when he drafted KD, Russ, and Harden together... you are going to play basketball the way those guys play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
The personalities of those three. Yeah. They do not. But they were very good. You have to take on... When you have a Russell Westbrook-led team, you have to take on the personality of a Russell Westbrook-led team. For better or for worse, that's what it is. Um, but I think it was an interesting chance for Presti to kind of like really mold this team into like what he wanted it to be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And when they traded for SGA, like nobody thought in their wildest dreams that he would become this, like they thought like, okay. And I don't know what they thought, but I thought, okay, they probably have a starting two guard, and now they need to go rebuild through the draft and get their best player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I was sitting in that press conference. I was sitting in that press conference.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Mark said it before the game, and then... I can't remember who asked the question. I think it may have been Joe Masato at the Oklahoman. And I remember sitting in there, we were asking, what are your thoughts on you moving off the ball and Josh Giddey taking point? And it'll always be the not my plan A night. Because he said, that's not my plan A. I'm willing to do it, blah, blah, blah, you know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I mean, this was... And it was never a foregone... Like, none of it was ever like, yeah, he's going to be the best player, even in the 21 draft where the Thunder... That night, the Thunder had a chance to get the first pick and the fifth pick because they had this Rockets pick swap. The pick swap didn't convey, and what could have been the number one pick for them fell to six.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And it was just this night where everybody was sick to their stomach because now this is over. And then it's like, okay, do they trade Shea now? Do they try to get the number one pick now? And I remember there were rumors, and none of these were ever actually true, but there were rumors about the Thunder trading Shea.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
shea and number six to get kate cunningham and the number one pick and like that was always absurd but like that's that's what people were talking about around the league with this like nobody knew what they were doing and everybody thought shea was gonna like force his way out after he signed his extension and really what saved their butts is the 2022 draft that they got the you know got the number two pick and drafted chet
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
who I think would have been the guy if they were drafting at one, two or three, like that's who they wanted.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I agree. And then they took J-Dub at 12, in which they traded for pick 11. They traded three picks to get pick 11 and took Usman Jang, which I think almost any other franchise, if they did that, would have been criticized. But the fact that you took Chet and Jalen in that draft, it kind of erases that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But they took Dub at 12, and there's been reporting around this, and I can confirm it, that if they only had one pick... they would have taken Jalen in that draft. And it was, I would say, confirmed even before we knew how good Dub was. So that's the draft that made them. They also got the other Jalen Williams in that draft, who has been a pretty good rotation player and
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
But it was that 22 draft that built this team. You're not anywhere close to this if you don't have both of those guys. If you have one of them, we're probably talking about OKC as second round and out, really good squad. But the fact that you got both of them,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
and you continue to draft well, and you're able to trade Giddy for Caruso, and you're able to bring in Isaiah Hartenstein, who is their best free agent that they've ever acquired in the history of the franchise.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They cleared cap space. They had Micic, who was signed to this deal that he probably... never really needed to have. Nope. You know, Trey Mann, they, Poku wasn't part of the trade, but they eventually waived Poku and let him ride off into the sunset. But, Yeah, I mean, it's just meticulously planned.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They traded for Hayward because he was a giant expiring contract, and they hoped that he could play for them. He forgot how to look at the rim during his time with the Thunder, which was very strange.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He was miserable here. He's one of the only players that I can remember... That was miserable here. And that had an exit interview. That was like so awkward. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm just curious what players see when they watch those games. Knowing he'd be good and knowing he'd be the MVP. Knowing he'd be great. That's what I'm saying. It's a different thing. It's a different start. I think everybody after that playoff series against the Warriors thought, hey, he's actually a starter. Because pretty rarely...
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
You guys that are drafted at his position, he's drafted 11th, become these high-level starters, have a chance to make an all-star team kind of guys. I think that's what people thought. Like, hey, you know what? In his first year with OKC, he averaged 20 points per game. Great. This guy's going to have a chance to make an all-star team at some point in his career. What a great get for the Thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
And he just grew every single year. Like, he became a better shooter. I think OKC deserves a level of credit for that, too. Passer became a better defender.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
New York has been putting a lot of... Sorry, I feel like I'm on Holiday Inn Express internet right now. I don't know what's going on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I mean, I think you eventually have to entertain moving guys around the fringes. But a lot of people talk about Dort as somebody that you just move. It's hard to. He's really central to a lot of the things they like to do. And I'm not to say they would never move him. But they have him under contract through 26-27.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They have a team option of $17 million, which in 26-27, that's going to look really small. Yeah, it already does. Yeah, it's a good value contract. I don't see them doing that. Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins on really...
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
good reasonable contracts aaron wiggins is on a descending contract that starts at 10 million and he's a guy that would play for a lot of teams 28 29 aaron wiggins will make 7.9 million dollars for the thunder like they've done a really good job of getting these guys on good contracts like i think the first domino if we're gonna look at like okay when are when is this roster going to change at all isaiah hartenstein has a team option in 26 27 for 28 and a half million
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I'm not to say that they're going to decline that, but what do they do with him, I think, is a question. Is he a sustainable piece to be on the state for a long time? I think he's been a huge reason why they've had the success this year outside the top three. Yeah. I think that will be an interesting one for sure. I think case and Wallace's extension here in a couple of years will be interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
You know, they just gave Caruso a longterm extension. He's on the team through 28, 29 is making at max 22.4 million. So like that deal is very reasonable. They've just done a good job of like getting guys on reasonable contracts. Yep. I don't think there's going to be a ton of turnover that's going to happen, but Isaiah Joe could get moved at some point maybe.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Cason Wallace, depending on how he progresses, he may be a guy that gets too expensive. I think that's possible. The cap is going up, though, and that's going to help. I just think it's just like what does the ownership –
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
group have an appetite for right you know i don't think a lot of people like oh they got a trade door at this summer like no no no no absolutely i don't think they need to change anything till next year i've heard people say that and like the thought of that is absurd like it just doesn't even make sense my thing comes down to like roster spots and and i know they have two first round picks this year too i guess a side question here for my
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Dylan Jones, another guy that I just don't know that as long for this roster either. So I think like you can play around with those spots for sure. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
they love to do the thing where you take a draft pick this year and dangle it in front of a team that's really desperate for somebody to help them and say like, hey, we'll let you have this 24th pick in the draft, but you just have to give us a, you know, a lot of protected pick, you know, five years from now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
You know, Denver's bit on it twice. Like there'll be a team, like if the Bucks want to like hang on to their roster and like try to do it, you know, try one more time with Giannis, like they could be like, hey, that draft pick that you got left, we'll take it and you can have the 24th pick. You know, they'll, they'll do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I think they'll take somebody for sure in this draft. You know, they work really hard. Yeah. Yeah. They will take some, they'll take somebody with upside in the first round. I don't know if they want nine. I mean,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, they have planned this. In fact, there's been no team that's ever been able to do what the Thunder have done, as far as team building-wise. There's not a team that's drafted this well, that's been a contender, that also has all these draft picks available to them. And traded well, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Welcome to the Morning Shootaround here on the Athletic NBA Daily Podcast feed and live on YouTube. We are excited this morning to talk about more big picture team building stuff. We're going to talk about kind of the anatomy of these teams that are up 3-1 in the conference finals and how did we get here? What happened? And You know, which teams traded Paul George and Sabonis? Maybe it was both.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. He, he, I don't know that I know Geordi well enough, and maybe that's where we balance it to S after. But Mark is one of the smartest people that I've met, and he's also one of the most – emotionally attuned, I guess would be one way to say it. Just like he's just good with people. And that's a rare combination of individuals. And he's got leadership skills. He's got all of it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He's really funny. I know that he maybe doesn't seem funny at his press conferences, but on a personal level... He does squint. When we asked him about his squinting last year, his quote to us was, I have the eyesight of a red tail Hawk. Like he's, he's really, he's, he's great. But the guy like wakes up thinking about development. And I think that's why they brought him in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
You know, like the guy didn't play college basketball. He was never the head coach of anything until he was the head coach of the blue. And the way that they've developed, he's just as much of a developmental story as anybody else.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It's extremely different than what OKC did, I would say. And what's funny is... So they picked six in 22. They took Matherin and they had the seventh pick. They traded it, you know, with Washington, um, to get Juris Walker, who's not really been impactful so far, but you, do you know the last time they picked inside the top 10 before that? Was it miles Turner? No, no. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I appreciate you guys listening on the podcast. app of your choice as well. If you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, let us know if you have enjoyed The Morning Shooter. I was actually introduced. I was on the radio the other day. It was a national radio show. They actually introduced me as Andrew Schleck from The Morning Shooter. I was pumping my fits. That's amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
There you go. I did not even know that was a thing. Thank you guys for tuning in. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Miles Turner was the 11th pick. Ah, okay. All right. So ninth or higher. When was the last time before?
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
He was 14th, I think. Yeah. 14th or 15th.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
was the last time before they took Ben Mather in 22 that they drafted inside the top 10. It was George McCloud out of Florida State in 89. Wow. Last time that they selected inside the top 10.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It did take them being sixth and seventh in the lottery for them to... So it's not like things are just going so swimmingly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
It is quite unusual, I would say. That is not a blueprint to get to where you're going to go. No, no. And a lot of it is like hiring the right coach, selecting the right players. You know, they took Andrew Nembhard at the 31st pick in 22 that you could argue like that was their most impactful draft pick. Yeah. They've had in recent history.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Cause you look at everybody else that they've drafted since 17. It's like TJ leaf and go, go, go has been good, but he's not on the team anymore. You know, they took Chris Duarte at pick 13.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
it was part of, I mean, it, it, it did happen. Um, he's a catalyst for anything. Um, That was like their most impactful draft pick. I think Ben Matherin has certainly been an interesting player for them, I would say. But Adrian Emhart is like their most impactful draft pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Everything else has just been either guys that they've had in-house like Miles Turner for a long time or that they've acquired in other ways, either through free agency or through trade, which is kind of how you have to do it. If you're not building through the draft, like intentionally building through the draft, then you've really just got to hit. And where they hit was in 2022.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
They traded Damanis Sabonis, Justin Holliday, Jeremy Lamb, and a 2023 second-round pick for Tyrus Holliday. Jeremy Lamb.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I don't know. We'll talk a little bit about the Knicks and how they are presently constructed and if it is a good enough, frankly, is a question that we have to have to put out there. And then same for the Timberwolves. Like, do they do they have enough as well? And what what can they do and what are their limitations in this offseason? I'm your host, Andrew Schlecht.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Uh, but like, you know, and I don't know if they trade for Kevin Durant and it just works out for everybody when you do that, you know? Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Who knows? Maybe it's there. Maybe it'll work this time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
yeah it stands for kevin durant's yeah yeah oh thank you i was wondering what that was i was wondering what that was yeah that's crazy yeah is it like defunct is that oh yeah it's been yeah are we sure it's not like a like discount shopping store it's not you know kds sounds like some place you'd go oh yeah i gotta go pick up some uh dish soap oh man i i ate there a couple times and was it good
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
I believe it opened in 15. Wow, it probably didn't last that long.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
With me, Dave DeFore, Esper Haney. We'll have Zena Keita joining us at some point as well. We can start with the Pacers because this is a team that I think a lot of times throughout this season, I don't think any of us... I'm just talking about me, okay? Frankly, I'm just talking about me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
How did we get here? | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I was going to say. Dan Marley has a. Oh, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton triple-double lifts Pacers go up 3-1 on Knicks
So you can get there now. PWC. So you can. PwC refers to the PwC Network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton triple-double lifts Pacers go up 3-1 on Knicks
At PwC we build for what's next. So you can get there now. So you can protect what you built. So you can create new value. PwC. So you can. PwC refers to the PwC network and all one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton triple-double lifts Pacers go up 3-1 on Knicks
At PwC we don't just deliver ideas, we make them work. With the expertise and tech you need to outthink and outperform. And we work with you, alongside you, from start to finish. So you can stay ahead, so you can protect what you built, so you can create new value. We build for what's next, so you can get there now. PwC, so you can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Returns to Miami + Dame OUT
Martin. Decent basketball player. I think he can play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah. Luca was awesome. I thought the theatrics behind this whole thing, he pulls up and changes his license plate. The commercial that Jordan Brand did, they gave out free parking.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah, I think the answer to that question, or I guess the answer Mavericks fans are hoping for, is that Anthony Davis is that guy to be sort of like that secondary creator. What is the update on AD in terms of when he might be able to come back, what they're expecting from him, and maybe some of the other bigs, too, in Lively and Gafford?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
before the game to all the Lakers fans there's fans chanting thank you Nico to Nico Harrison in the middle of the game Nico is warming up as actually watching Luca warm up before the game so there was like all this little theatrical stuff that was happening that heightened the drama around it and you could see that there was tons of emotion from both sides Luca the way that he started the game Kyrie the way that really
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Team Canada's own Dwight Powell. Just wanted to throw that in there. I have to, I have to add a lot of a little bit of stuff in this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
No, I think I think it'll be an interesting kind of ending to this Maverick season. I mean, after everything that's happened over the next last month of hoopla that's been going down with Luca from your perspective inside the arena. And kind of removing the Mavs perspective, the Lakers side of things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Is there a world and when you is there a world in which you can envision this team, this Lakers team making a run this season as well? I know battery acid and all that, but do you envision them making the run?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah, it felt it felt like a playoff game, actually, if anything, like it just felt like these two teams were so invested in beating each other that there was even it. Later in the game, there was like Jared Vanderbilt got into it with Kyrie and there was some little back and forth there. Luka kept looking at the bench constantly whenever he was scoring. Oh, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
And it made for just like an awesome basketball game. It was really high level stuff from both sides.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah. I mean, I think... The switch everything defense is predicated on the fact that you are able to be crisp on your rotations, that you are willing to buy in on maybe guarding someone who's quicker than you or guarding someone who's bigger than you. And in a situation where you're playing switch everything, LeBron can be your safety for everything that you do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
The key thing there is can be right because when he's bought in on that and when he's actually active like he's been over this last stretch. I mean, the Lakers have the number one defense over the last 15 or so games. Now, part of that is like the Anthony Davis equation and kind of the spillover. But I also think a part of it is Braun locking in. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
You know, I think like generally when you have a guy like Luca who can carry that offensive load for a little bit longer and Austin Reeves being able to do that, it just allows LeBron to lock in more on the defensive end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
And when you are playing this really aggressive defensive style that the Lakers like to play, it makes sense to have a guy like Luka that can alleviate some of that offensive pressure, allow one of the best defenders of all time, in my opinion, LeBron, to just lock in and do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah. I mean, look, this is the leap season. We expected awesome reefs to have last year. Right. He's having at this season catching up to the hype. I think he's catching up to the hype. We actually talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but we, I think the fact that he didn't play basketball in the summer, there wasn't like a fee book, anything, or you play in the Olympics. Right. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
That allowed him to kind of get some rest, get his legs under him. And this season, he's just been awesome. The way that he's scoring the ball, the way that he's facilitating kind of the secondary score whenever the Lakers need it next to LeBron, next to Luka. That is the great offensive firepower for this Lakers team. It's like you just said it. you have to deal with one of Luka or LeBron.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
And then whenever Austin Reeves is paired on there as well, they have that perfect release valve on offense to be able to go to anytime they want.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Yeah. I think part of it is the Suggs equation. Like they're missing a secondary or tertiary ball handler. We just talked about the importance of Austin Reeves for the Lakers. I think Suggs in similar ways, just handling the ball a little bit for Paolo and Franz, uh, helps them offensively. Can't discredit the fact that they are having one of the worst shooting seasons in NBA history. Uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
They just can't shoot the ball whatsoever. But I also think part of this is on Paolo and his ability to adapt to the way that the Magic were playing pre-injury and when Franz was the guy. There's been just a lot of situations where he's leaning into iso ball, where he's leaning into like, I'm just going to create a shot here in the mid-range area and And it doesn't create good offense for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
It doesn't create easy advantages, whereas Franz, it's OK, pick and roll. I'm getting downhill driving kick situation. It's just it's tough to see those two. I don't want to jump the gun and say it's not going to work out. That's a little crazy, but I think we kind of have an idea at this point, though. There needs to be some cohesion there. I think that's part of it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
And maybe adding another guard to alleviate some of that ball handling pressure, make Paulo be more of a screener, a guy who can be a rim runner and whatnot. That's probably the next wave here. But their offense is just not good enough to compete right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Showtime is back. We finally got the game. This was probably like one of the most anticipated games of the season, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
I think he has more of a ceiling than Randall does, for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
I mean, look, they are always one of those teams that on defense, they're hanging their hat to be involved in games. And they held the Bucs scoreless for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. That's just because of their defense. The thing is, on offense, they only scored seven points in that stretch. And so that's why it was a close game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
But to your point, Jalen Green led them home towards the end of that stretch. When you have moments like this against a Bucs playoff team that can be competitive, I think it shows you what these guys are made of, like what Jalen Green can do in the postseason. And right now, knowing that the Rockets are going to be a playoff team, these are good reps to get in for those moments in April and May.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Oh, that's funny. Look, I don't know, man. I think they are really leaning into the lottery ball odds. Let's tank as much as we possibly can. I think LaMelo Ball, not in this game, but against the Portland Trailblazers where they lost by basically 50 points. He played 21 minutes. I think they're very much so leaning into let's prioritize development.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
I mean, look, the Suns are cooked, but I want to talk about the Grizzlies side of this because I thought Jaw had a really wild game, right? He was 0 of 8 to start the first half and then finish off the second half. He had like most of his points in the second half, especially in that fourth quarter. Yeah. Jaron Jackson Jr. gets fouled out. Jaw hits a few huge buckets, leads them into overtime.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
He does his like call 12 celebration that he usually does, which is funny in its own right. But look, I think this team, especially this season, goes as far as jaw can take them. Jaw has had a.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
uneven season hasn't been as consistent as he was pre injuries obviously hopefully he can get to that level for the playoffs because I think pairing him next to Jaron is going to be really key to how far this team can go so yeah I mean people are going to go and look and they'll say like you know his scoring is down but his minutes are down too
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Matchups are going to be crazy in the West playoffs. Like you start to, it's at that point in the season where you start looking at matchups and what teams could play. What we just talked about Lakers Mavs. That would be a great playoff series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
Honestly, yeah. Unless Russell Westbrook did it at some point, I believe it. He did not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
This game in general, I mean, some of the postgame quotes you're hearing right now is the emotion of the first half. But it was awesome in the second half, too. Like the back and forth, the Mavericks clawing back there. Huge shot making from Klay and Kyrie throughout the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Luka Doncic triple-doubles over Mavericks
The identity of this Mavs team so far has been the ridiculous shot making of a guy like Kyrie, Klay being able to hold up and then the defensive nucleus that they have. How successful do you think they can be at kind of like holding down the fort while these guys get healthy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Suns making moves for Butler? | Jokić still in MVP mix
Hallo, etwas Glück to go bitte.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Suns making moves for Butler? | Jokić still in MVP mix
Hauptsache schnell, ich kann mein Glück kaum erwarten. Die Lose von Lotto Bayern, zum Rubbeln oder Aufreißen. Glück to go, der schnelle Weg zum Glück. Lotto Bayern, nimm dein Glück in die Hand. Nur in deiner Lotto-Annahmestelle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I just think there might be something there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
You could do Wiggins and Kyle Anderson. Yeah. I think that gets you close enough. Kyle Anderson is just a good player that you can just plug in in different spots. I don't love him with the Nuggets because he's not a shooter either. No, he's not. But at least he's a guy that can play. Okay. Und dann, wenn du Miami bist, dann ist es gut. Wenn nicht, dann weiß ich nicht.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Er ist nur ein anderer Schütze, den du da rausnehmen kannst. Ich denke, dass es da etwas Interessantes ist, mit der Rückkehr von vielen Teilen. Ja, ja, ja. But it's going to be one of these mediocre East teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
thoughts opinion forced to forced to i yes forced to i mean i don't know how you get 63 million so let's do just for holiday there you go 38 34 or 32 yeah yeah the problem like you have to match close to mpj's contract because of i don't think they can right they can't it's like
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, das ist, wo das Aprenz-Stuff wirklich... Ja, sie können es nicht aggregieren. Das wird nicht funktionieren. Okay, nevermind. Es muss ein Like für ein Like sein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Verdammt. Ja, es ist schwierig. Verletzt.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich denke, wenn du die Celtics bist, bist du für OKC, um den Titel zu gewinnen. Weil diese pesken Guards, die OKC hat, wenn sie es gewinnen, und sie verteidigen Leute wie Randall und Jokic und Spieler wie das mit Guards. Ja. Es ist eine Copycat-Liga. Jeder wird sich fragen, wie wir unseren eigenen Alex Caruso bekommen. Wie bekommen wir einen Mann, der all das für uns machen kann?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Drew Holiday ist einer der wenigen Spieler, die wir wissen, dass er es kann. Er ist ein bisschen älter, aber er hat bemerkt, dass er für dich so ein Typ sein kann. Und ich denke, wenn du die Celtics bist, bist du so wie, bitte OKC, gewinn dieses Ding. Weil wenn du es tust, dann wird es sehr einfach, Drew Holiday zu tradieren, in meiner Meinung.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Es gibt nichts mit Detroit, oder? Äh, äh. Do you? Yeah, I guess. Maybe.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I mean, does Tobias Harris and Simone Fontecchio interest you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Und all das ist ein restriktierter, du weißt, Freihandelskandidat. Ja, ja, ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, du bist Detroit. Du bist wie, hey, hör mal, du hast nicht gespielt. Ja, geh dir das Geld an. Und wir sind nicht sicher, dass du ein Startler bist. Also werden wir dir gute Benchplayer-Money bezahlen. Ja, aber es war Agent und sag das. He's gonna say RFA. Just three letters. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a weird one. I would be a little terrified of that extension.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Because he was a high lottery pick and he's had some high scoring averages. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Nein, das schreckt mich ein bisschen, dass er nur noch einer dieser Typen ist, der auf der Bühne sitzen wird und nicht spielen kann. Vergiss es. Ja, sie haben einen wirklich guten Job gemacht, diese Art von Männern zu erwerben. Ja, in den letzten Jahren oder so. Ja, Dario Saric und... Ja, Dario, sie haben einfach nicht mehr auf ihn geachtet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, das Zeke-Kontrakt, es ist nicht so groß, aber es ist so, dass er drei mehr Jahre hat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Hoffentlich ist der Ron Holmes etwas, das du gerade gehört hast. Es ist so, dass es einen weiteren Rotationsspieler gibt. Ja, auf dem Bench. Er sollte bereit sein für den Anfang der nächsten Saison. Ich sah ihn, ich sah ihn sich wärmen, weißt du, und und machen all die Art und Weise. Ja, die Übungen vor den Spielen. Also.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
If I'm him, I'm like, thanks, but no thanks. No, thank you. Playing there again? Heck no. Yeah, fair. That's fair. Or you gotta face your fears. What are you? Are you a face your fears guy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm typically the same way. Where I tore my ACL, it's like, alright, let's get back in the building. Oh, really?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Go back to the scene of the crime. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Nope. Nope. See, you faced your fear. I faced my fear. You gotta do it too, Deron Holmes. We believe in you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Is there anything with maybe some of these guys? And before you give me the oh god, okay, listen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
The Wizards are a team that can... This is one where it's like, hey, the Wizards... Wir sind nicht in der Michael Porter Junior-Business hier, aber wir sind definitiv in der Give-Us-Your-First-Round-Pick-Business hier. Und sie haben Marcus Smart und Chris Middleton, richtig?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, it is difficult to specifically make Michael Porter Jr. trades, which I think is like where everybody starts. Yeah, you have to, yeah. With this team. Yeah. And I don't know if specific teams come to mind for you, because I think if you're Denver, what you want back is probably two rotation players. Yeah, or three, if you can get them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Dass sie handeln werden. Ja, sicher. Das wird passieren. So I wonder if you could get those guys. I don't know if you can get both of them, because it's 55 million. It's a lot of money. But I just think they are renting their cap space out at this point. So can they rent this cap space? MPJ is not just a guy... Er kann spielen. Er wird auf einem ziemlich hohen Niveau spielen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
So I wonder about getting one, at least one of Chris Middleton or Marcus Smart, you know, over there. And then they've got other guys like Rashawn Holmes is probably better than any backup center they have. Yeah. You know, he's a little Chuck Hazy, you know. Er ist definitiv Chuck Hayes. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Rashawn, yeah, he makes too much. You have to...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Aber es ist, ich meine, es ist etwas wie das. Ja, ja. Oder du kriegst ein paar Spieler zurück.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Wenn du in Denver bist. Oh Mann. Ich. Ich meine, um die Restminuten zu nehmen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, it's a hard sell for me, because if a guy's making $31 million and he can't be a part of my closing five, that's not a great feeling.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Yeah, there's just no way. There's no way, right? Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
And they're expiring contracts, so you don't have to be committed to keeping or taking these guys on long term.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
He definitely does. But if he doesn't stay healthy like he did in Memphis, like this is risky. Then this is terrible. And that's part of why they were able to get Middleton too, was because of his health. Yeah. Ja, ich weiß nicht. Okay, wir können von MPJ weitergehen. Wir haben 29 Sekunden gesprochen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich denke, es gibt Optionen. Gibt es Optionen, die Nuggets-Fans aufgeregt sind? Nein, nein, nein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Wenn ich einen Nuggets-Podcast mache... My the the title of the summer would be the summer of internal development. Yeah. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And it's like Ron Holmes. Hey, Peyton Watson. Yeah. Get him in the film room. Let's figure out who he is. Julian Strother. He showed some flashes there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
The end of the Thunder series. We need that guy. Jalen Pickett. You know, Jalen Pickett. Can you not be terrified when we get to the playoffs?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Hunter Tyson, you're 6'8". You're old for a rookie. What can you do for us? What can we do here?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Okay, you want to shift gears to the Celtics?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. This would be a very good defensive team. Oh yeah. Cooper Flagg will eventually be on this trade machine too. Yep. When you have Anthony Davis, Drew Holiday, Cooper Flagg, Derek Lively, Najee Marshall, I mean... Das ist ein ernsthaftes Team. Auch ohne Kyrie. Das Team macht die Playoffs, glaube ich. Oh ja. Wenn sie gesund bleiben.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Und dann, wenn du Kyrie zurückkommst, kannst du nur Drew übersteigen. Das ist ein ernsthaftes Team. Das ist interessant.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, das ist wirklich, wirklich interessant.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, he's awesome. I hate you, because I don't want the Mavericks to be good, okay?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Derek Lively is really good. Yeah. He's really, really good. I would train Anthony Davis. I wouldn't do this timeline. Yeah, I know. Get me out of this two timeline thing. Just start over.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I mean, yeah, you could. I... The problem is, though, when you're doing the two-timeline, you want to trade Anthony Davis for younger players. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, you don't want Drew Holiday as not part of that timeline. But this is definitely the most interesting trade of the day. And they could make it happen. Because they're going to need to do something with PJ, I think. Mm-hmm.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Because you're going to want to allow Cooper Fly to spread his wings and play as many minutes as possible. And what is he? He's a four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Not gonna happen in Boston, but go get it somewhere else. Free agency, not gonna happen. It's gonna be a rude awakening for a lot of players over the next few years. Because of the way that the CBA is set up, it's gonna squeeze players like Daniel Gafford. Totally. It's gonna be really challenging for those guys to get the kind of money that they want. Okay, I like that, and I'm mad about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Okay. Who else could use a Drew Holiday, do we think? I mean, that's... Every team could use a Drew Holiday, as wildly as that. Yeah. No question that most teams could... Ja. Ja. Ja. Ja. Ja. Ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Right, so you might add Park back or Contra or something. So they can't be aggregated. That's the problem.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich weiß nicht, ob das dir ein besseres Team machen wird, sicher. Ja, ja. Und du hast einen tollen Job gemacht, das zu bezeichnen, dass es vier Guards in den Playoffs noch gibt. Es gibt sie, ja. Und du brauchst einen dominanten Guard in der NBA heute. Du machst es einfach. Ja. John Morant ist... Wenn er 100% ist und in der Lockdown ist, ist er einer dieser Typen. Ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Also, bist du bereit, ihn zu punchen? auf einen von diesen Leuten für einen Vorwärter, der wirklich gut ist, aber nicht wie ein Top-Level-Superstar-Vorwärter. Er ist ein guter Nummer zwei für Jason Tatum.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, das ist ein weiteres Problem, das man sich befindet. Ja, ich weiß nicht. Bist du bereit, John Morant aufzupunten? If you're the Grizzlies, it's tough. Let's say if the Grizzlies called you and were like, yes, we've been listening all year to the NBA Daily. Listen, man, we trust your opinion. We want to thank you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
You're the smartest basketball player out there and we need to know, should we trade Ja Morant today? I wouldn't do it. You wouldn't?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I kind of forget that anytime that any team traded Rudy Gay, they just got better. Memphis. Yeah, when Memphis traded him. Oh, this is way better. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so any teams come to mind that you think would... I mean, here's the deal. If MPJ is healthy, he's a 6'10 lights out shooter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I mean, you look at the money that he's owed. His extension kicks in next season. Yeah, and he's 30 right now? 28 million, 30 million and 26, 32 and 27 and a player option. Or 34.8. He's 30 years old. He is... still probably in the basketball community. He's 16-4-4. Great defender. Best guard shot blocker in the NBA. I wouldn't trade him. I think you could get a boatload for him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I think he's another guy that you could trade to any team. I would not trade Derek White. He's four years younger than Drew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I agree. I have another Drew Holiday idea.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I mean, if you just wanted to get off of Drew Holiday's money, this is a way to do it. Break it into smaller pieces. Yes, exactly. You hate this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, this is so gross. You have the Moses Moody extension that doesn't look so good because he... Ich meine, am Ende dieser Serie brauchten sie nur Leute, die spielen können und nicht spielen können. Ja, du weißt, Buddy ist ein lustiger Schütze, aber wirklich, ist er für Boston zu spielen? Ich weiß es nicht. Ich weiß es nicht. Das würde mich auch überraschen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Die Warriors brauchen nicht Drew Holiday. Komm schon, komm raus. Das würde das Team gut machen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich kann dir sagen, du kannst dein nächstes Moses Moody, Trace Jackson Davis, ziemlich einfach finden.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Nicht so hart. Ich meine, die Jungs wollen für die Warriors spielen. Du kannst die Jungs auf dem Scrap Heap finden.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Oh, das hat meinen Stomach wirklich nicht gereicht. Okay, schauen wir mal. Ja, ich meine, sie sind ein Team, das etwas anderes braucht. Ja, sicher. Okay, was noch? Ich könnte sogar nach dem Ende gehen. Ich meine, das war, das war schwer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Which is something that teams want. His money doesn't go for that long. He's only got two years left. So this isn't like some crazy long deal for a player that just can't play at all. He's got to deal with the injury over the summer. But I don't know. I think that there's got to be some options out there. Is there a team specifically that comes to mind for you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
If you're looking for a way to just clear a bunch of salary, like... See, this makes me sick. This is just... Kevin is one of those guys, you know, that you can clear your salary real fast. You know, he makes 54 million next year. So, I don't... I mean, I don't think there's a match here, because I don't think you're just, like, swapping Jalen Brown for him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Which would be, like, the only way... The Suns are in some trouble.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Also, if you're Houston, you've got to feel pretty good about your team, too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
He's 36 years old. He's got one year left. Man, the Suns are screwed. They're so screwed. They're so screwed. I can't even think of it. I don't know what they would even do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich würde sagen, an den Teams, die ich denke, würde ich mit ihnen eine andere Stelle mitnehmen wollen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, ich denke, wir werden viele emergency Podcasts im Sommer haben. Das wird sehr spannend sein. Ja, bitte lasst uns einen Kommentar, entweder auf dieser YouTube-Page oder ihr könnt auf Spotify kommentieren. Ihr könnt auch noch auf der Athletik App kommentieren. Ich weiß, dass es Leute gibt, die nicht super glücklich sind mit Dingen, die auf der Athletik App gestern geschehen sind.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Und ich entschuldige mich für alle Unabhängigkeiten, die es verursacht hat. Aber ich würde sagen, dass wir, ich habe wirklich genossen, diese Podcasts am Dienstag zu machen, den Livestream zu machen. Also, wenn du nicht, wenn du auf dem Podcast Ketcher deiner Wahl liest, kannst du uns auch live auf YouTube sehen. Wir sind ein bisschen früher gestern Morgen, als wir normalerweise sind.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
But we'd love to have you join us live. And let us know in the comments on Spotify or even leave us a five-star review at Apple Podcasts. If you're enjoying these long-form shows, we'd really appreciate that. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Wednesday. And we're going to talk about the conference finals. Oh, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
We thought we'd bring you something a little bit different today because there's so many podcasts talking about the conference finals. We're just here talking trades.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I love it. I love team building so much. We'll talk a lot of team building on these Wednesdays. So if you enjoy that, join us Wednesdays on YouTube and we will talk to you guys again tomorrow morning.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
The easy team, the team that you've continually said doesn't have enough players. Okay, I am so interested now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich meine, in welchem Weltraum würde irgendein Team diesen Deal machen? Nein, du kannst das nicht machen. Das ist scheiße. Gut.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Willkommen bei dem Morgen-Shootaround hier auf der Athletik-NBA-Daily. Ich bin euer Host, Andrew Schleck. Mit mir ist es früh morgens. Ich fühle mich, als wäre ich noch in der Thunder Arena. Oh, what's going on? It's my kids' last day of school. Oh, nice. Cool. At the arena late last night. But up early this morning to see them off to their last day of school. Ready for some summertime.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
The problem is, you're trading like for like. I guess getting the first helps. Okay, if they're getting the first and they're just basically swapping like for like here, I guess we can go with that. Okay. The only thing with Cam is... Such a great culture fit. And not to say there's anything wrong with MPJ culturally, but I don't know that he provides the same kind of leadership.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
You know, he plays well. When you said, honestly, when you said this is the easy team, I was like, what team is that? I was confused a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yes, and they have... I mean, listen... There are some guys on this roster that you don't quite know what to do with. You've got to basically match the 38.3 million, which is going to be the hardest thing. But if you could get, and I know there's nothing that's going to be so exciting here, but if you could get a Kevin Herter and a Patrick Williams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich meine, Lonzo mit Jokic würde rocken. Es würde rocken. So lange er gesund ist. Ja, sicher. Das ist das Statement seiner Karriere. Ja. Ich meine, das wäre erstaunlich. Ich meine. I don't know. Okay, how about this? They need a backup center really bad. You could do Zach Collins. I think they have multiple ways of acquiring him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Yes. Even one of the guys' name is Patrick. Okay? Yeah, yeah. Es gibt nicht so viele Patricks in der NBA, aber wir haben die Chance, den 2-Pat-Trad zu erstellen. Patrick Williams, Zach Collins und... Oh, ich habe es vergessen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, genau. Yeah, we were warned by a lot of Raptors fans that he's not as good as the percentages look.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
We ignored that. We said, not for us. Und weißt du was? Er war definitiv. Ihr seid alle richtig. Ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja. Er, ja, er würde, er hatte so einen Filmclub oder so etwas. Ja, er hat es. Er würde, wie du weißt, Fans oder was auch immer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Also ich komme, schaue Filme mit ihnen. Es ist wie, ah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
I mean, that... Is that too good for the Nuggets? Probably. But that's very interesting, I think. If you can get a backup center and a guard... And if you could somehow get another forward somehow like that, that is interesting. The only problem is like, what do you do with the starting lineup? If you're the Nuggets? Oh man, they would, their defense would be Swiss cheese. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
The thing that's underrated about MPJs, he's 6'10". He's huge. Big dude. Yeah. And having him and Aaron Gordon as your forwards is a luxury. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Wie fühlst du dich? Ich meine, das ist interessant, weil das sind zwei spielbare Jungs. Abadji wäre der siebte beste Spieler auf diesem Roster.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja, ich denke, dass das ziemlich interessant ist. Ich liebe nicht den Fit von R.J. Barrett.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Das ist auch das Problem. Wenn du MPJ entfernt und ihn nicht mit dem Schießen verwendest, dann wer schießt auf diesem Team? Außer Jamal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ich meine, ich denke, es würde den Raptors helfen, dass sie einen legit 3-Punkte-Schütze auf ihrem Raster bekommen würden. Total.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Weißt du, und ein Kerl, der wie du kannst, diese Fähigkeiten, die alle gleich sind, weißt du. Ja, ja, ja. Was ist etwas, das sie an einem Punkt sicherlich müssen beantworten. Ja, ja, ja, ich verstehe. Miami ist eine andere seltsame Mannschaft. Klar, lass uns das machen. Warum nicht? Ja. Ich weiß nicht, ob du einen Duncan Robinson und einen Kyle Anderson und vielleicht einen anderen Mann hättest.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Unglaublich. Es wird viel mit den Denver Nuggets losgehen, diese Off-Season. Ja, ja, es wird es sein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
Ja. Ich weiß nicht, ob sie Haywood Highsmith handeln würden. Aber sie brauchen die Schüsse am Vordergrund ziemlich schlecht. Ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Nuggets Fake Trades: Morning Shoot Around
play next to bam or to wear somebody like that i think that he is an interesting one yeah for miami and then i feel like they have a bunch of these like mid-tier you know guys that are making 20 million 10 million yeah i just think that you could get a couple guys back and that can shoot it a little bit So it really shoot it and he can even put it on the deck a little bit too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Ich sehe, was du sagst, insbesondere bei den älteren Spielern. Das ist, was sie gemacht haben. Ich denke, das Spiel hat sich verändert, in Bezug auf das, wie das Spiel genannt wird. Das Physicality-Level, natürlich. Wir haben das Wort ein Millionen Mal gesagt. Das Buzzword von 2025, Physicality. Und das ist wahrscheinlich, warum...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
The folks that are complaining about it are talking about the product, right? The stoppages, the amount of times that we're stopping the flow of the game because there are, you know, Shay's going to the basket and he's getting free throws, shot nine free throws in the first half and Folks were all up and down my ex-timeline being like, oh, again, oh, again.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
I don't know if ESPN changed the broadcast, but that first quarter had a little bit of people quiet, a little nervous for OKC, but things turned around. What did you see out there, S?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
And what's funny about it is like we talked about in today's game, it happens. Like you look at Jokic, I mean, how funny would it be if you had Free Throw Merchant against Free Throw Merchant and Jalen Brunson versus J. Gildas Alexander, right? It happens, but at the end of the day, it's what you're saying, Andrew. These players are smart. They're playing to the game that's being allowed to happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Now, I will say, I have seen the photos. I have seen the screenshots of Shay going into the paint and making the faces. Potentially, I haven't heard it with sound, but potentially making sounds. You know, feigning being hit. I think it's a skill.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
We reward Oscar winners. Du kannst ihn alles was du willst, aber hey, es funktioniert. Er ist klug, er hilft seinem Team. Und wie du erwähnt hast, Andrew, er hat dieses Team geholfen, wenn es nichts ging. Und wiederum, neun Freethrows in der ersten Hälfte, nur fünf in der zweiten. Guck mal, er hat es nicht so viel gemacht, als die Offense flog.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Also ist es ein Faktor von, lass mich einfach mein Team gehen. Lass mich etwas tun, um mein Team zu helfen. Wirst du dich an das wütend?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Michael Jordan's son, right? Not officially, but you know what I'm saying? In terms of like the play, one shot attempt in the paint, like that's unacceptable. So you really can't get upset at the foul merchant if you're not even trying. Are you in the market for it? Like you got to go to the market and see what you can get.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
That's all I got. Yeah, that 20-6 run in the third quarter was... Painful, if you're Minnesota. To just watch. No way you could stop them. It felt as if Minnesota was a fence earlier in the first half. They kept OKC out of the paint. They were struggling. And then all of a sudden things just opened up. OKC, as you mentioned, I love that. S, they were like AI.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Er hat gute Dinge gemacht. Er hat gute Screens gesetzt. Er war, weißt du, finding his way into the offense, but you're absolutely right. That dunker spot was getting blown up with him in the back. He was not able to stop and trap the box and stop drivers and such. I mean, it was bad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
I'm with you. I'm 1000% with you. Thank you, Andrew, for always being on site for us, giving us that OKC Insight. S. Baraheni, of course. And myself, Xena Cato. We appreciate you guys tuning in with us. Enjoy the rest of your day. It's been the NBA Daily.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Aber das Pacing war seltsam. Das war einer der größten Unterschiede, die Punkte in der Differenzial-Pain, mit der Thunder mit 54 und den Timberwolves mit 20. Im dritten Quartal sah man, dass die Timberwolves so viele 3s wie OKC versucht haben. which was 13, and Minnesota had 41 threes attempted by the end of the third quarter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
And this was a tale of two halves, S. You saw Julius Randle go off in the first half, and then it felt like the fountain of Julius dried up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
There was one play that Shea walked up the floor. I think it was in the third quarter. Julius Randle stops him at the free throw line. He takes one jab, dribble, like jab, stab, dribble, backs up. And it looked like summer pickup. It looked like a practice game in the way that they played against the man defense versus the zone.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Ich habe nicht in der Viertelstunde gespielt. Und es ist wert zu sagen, dass die Statzen 19 Turnovers für Minnesota, lediglich 31 Turnovers. transition points or you know points off of turnovers for okc and i i want to go back to the lineups conversation because i think that is why okc is so damn dangerous like they not jalen williams didn't play in this game
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
This is the same Jalen Williams that had significant minutes against Denver. He was a DNP in this game. You look at by the end of the second quarter, four people had scored for Minnesota. Nine people had scored. für OKC. Es gab so viele verschiedene Ereignisse durch das gesamte Spiel, dass sie Dämpfe hatten. Und nicht nur Dämpfe, sie hatten Dämpfe, die das, was das letzte Line-Up tun könnte.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Es war der Fünf-Aus-Ball, der so gut auf Offense gespielt hat, aber es war auch der Fakt, dass sie alles wechseln konnten oder dass sie runtergucken konnten und schnell genug waren, um sich umzuspringen, wenn der Ball ausgeschlagen wurde. Ja. I was looking at Minnesota like, I don't know what your answer is going to be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. I'm taking over for Dave DeFore, but I got Andrew and S here to talk about the Western Conference Finals that just kicked off in OKC Look Sharp. What's up, Andrew? What's up, S? What's up? Hey, guys. Andrew is in the building for OKC's first game. Kind of crazy. OKC had so much time between their first series and their second series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Because they still have the depth to have the aggression on defense that they need and still have the energy on offense that's required to be able to beat this team, whether it's in transition or in the half court. I don't know what the answer is for Minnesota if they want to be able to have that fountain of youth in the first half and still win. Sie müssen nur Schüsse schießen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Und ich weiß, das ist eine so einfache Antwort. Schaut auf Dwayne Casey.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Okay, well, I feel like before we go to break, I am obliged to tell you that Nikhil Alexander Walker and Sheila Gildress Alexander are cousins. Yes. You didn't know this? If you didn't know, we're letting you know that as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
There you go. Let's talk about Minnesota after the break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Alright, the Minnesota Timberwolves are officially 0-1 in this series. And you would be surprised to know that the personal foul count, even with the J.D. McDaniels fouling out, was even. Yeah. Even with Shea Gildas Alexander shooting 14 free throws, somehow Minnesota was not able to take advantage of the fact that fouls were all around. Let's have the discussion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
Let's talk about this, because I know a lot of people feel a way. Even Anthony Edwards felt a way when he threw the ball at Shea as he went down with another foul call.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
S, I know you have some thoughts. Andrew, I want to hear them right after. Yeah, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Dismantle Wolves in 2nd Half
And then they had to turn around and play against Minnesota for the first game of the Western Conference Finals. And they took it. 114 to 88. And I'm not gonna lie. S, I don't know if this felt that way when you were watching it on TV, but it felt quiet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
What do you think about Khan measuring at 6'5"? That's another guy that's like... Khan can nipple somebody that people... I think he's risen up a bunch of draft boards. 6'5 without shoes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. That would have made a lot of sense. Yeah. Now that he's only measuring at 6'5", there's numbers like 6'7".
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Wingspan is 6'6". Standing reach, 8 1⁄2 feet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yes, absolutely. Wow. Absolutely. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Right. Yeah, that's the problem is space and creation. That's going to be their biggest problem next year is those things. I mean, in all honesty, if I'm them... I'm trading Anthony Davis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I know they're not going to do it, but here's the things that I would do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
He shouldn't, but I think he will.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
What if Nico calls... He fixed the draft. No, no. What if he calls Rob Palenka and he's like, hey, what about the number one pick in all of the pick in the pick that you gave me for Luka Doncic back?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I think you'd have to think about it. You'd have to think about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That would be like, all right, now we're pro wrestling.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yes. And he got, yeah, I got him back together.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Because I do like the fit with him and Lively, with Coop and Lively. I love that. Especially if Lively can shoot. Yeah, go get somebody that can create. Man, imagine if they had an offensive hub. They're not going to do it. They're absolutely not going to do it. But you know what? He should. Yeah. He should absolutely trade Anthony Davis today. But defense wins championships, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
For Austin Reeves. Oh, absolutely not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
It's the funniest. It's also the one where the conspiracy theories around it make more sense than the reality.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's the thing about any of these trades that we're talking about with Anthony Davis, which are fictional and not going to happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
You need a creator back. That's the thing. Nimhard, that's something that I would consider.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I'm telling you. It would be amazing. The problem is trading him out east. There's a lot of teams that need creators in the east.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
The NBA has found themselves in a tricky spot because there's so many conspiracy theories that have existed throughout the NBA for years and years and years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Surely would. What player do they have to trade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They don't have it. That's the problem. If I'm Dallas, I would like to have somebody coming back that can create a little bit. Brooklyn's got Cam Johnson as the only valuable player on their team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
you know plaxton but like beyond those two it's like they don't have any players that's what that's what's such a bummer for them you need a young you need a young creator yeah they how many are there there's not that many right you can't typically can't get them either right it's hard to get that guy someone you know what somebody in the chat made a joke about tyler hero
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Totally. And it's tough now because, like, think about the Cavaliers losing LeBron James. Oh, sorry, guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
We've got to stop talking about the East.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I know. It is completely open. No one is going to believe in the Cavaliers at all. They could win 75 games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Good job, everybody. You're going to lose in the second round again. Um, yeah, it is, it is absolutely wide open. If you're an East executive, like this is the time to be aggressive, you know?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
It is – you would never want this to happen to your staff. No. But if you're the new ownership group, you've been kind of given a free pass. Right. You know what you need to do and just like essentially go into the next Jalen Brown. How big of a reset are you saying?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
We got the New Orleans Pelicans. Oh, man. Sorry about that. You guys going to L.A.? We got something for you. Oh, Mavericks, you know what? We really need a boost in the ratings.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
What about Anthony Davis? I don't think that Anthony Davis fits there. I mean, the honest thing is intriguing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
You can talk about one that people actually know about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
But, you know, it's just netted the thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
What would help most is to get a star in L.A. You know what? Don't worry. We got your back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's true. Okay, so let's go back to the lottery. Yeah, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
who are the teams that are most sick to their stomachs? Let's do like a, just a, a throw up ranking of, of teams that are most sick to their stomach after this lottery.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Gotta be. Utah's gotta be number one for many, many reasons. Yeah. Utah is in such a tough spot because one, they don't, they don't have anybody to build around right now. Right. They have marketing, but beyond that, What other player on their roster would net a first-round pick in a trade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Did you spend a first for Keontae?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
If you're the Raptors. No. See?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
No. They have no talent. That, I agree. They're number one in that they had the best odds. They fell to five. This is part of it. And now they got to go do the work. And the problem is, if you're a Jazz fan, they've not drafted well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That, to me, is the biggest issue is that now you have to rely on a team that's not done very well. And so like that, I mean, last year, Cody Williams at 10, the year before Taylor Hendricks at nine, Keontae at 16.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Nice. Like big for somebody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Collier is a tough one. I feel like he's a... I mean, I think he had some moments for them. Yeah. But it's hard to know what's real with him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
It makes way more sense than the reality that... Well, that team that had 1% chance to actually win it, that... Oh, come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I just think it's... They're just in a really tough spot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Future Modern says that Utah should sign Kaminga.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Him and Lowry. Somebody has to score the points.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Not in the West. Absolutely not. That's one of their biggest issues is that they're in the Western Conference.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Are we for sure it's Minnesota?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I'm kind of a Memphis guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I think I've told you this before.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Tennessee touches a state that borders the ocean.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
If you're one of those teams, you need players back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
He can't ski. Can you even ski? Yeah, you're not allowed to ski. Oh, yeah. Not even allowed to ski, even if he liked it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Utah is the team that I look at. that I do not see a path.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They should have tanked harder in years past And if you're going to spread that over three seasons, then you're going to have a much better chance of eventually landing in the spot that you want to land. But instead, you do this soft tank that lands you at 9 and 23 and at 10 and 24. And that's your own fault. And then you pick the wrong guy. in both drafts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I think the thing is like commit to a plan, right? Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Commit to a plan because you will die in the middle. You will die. That is where teams go to die is whenever you're picking ninth, 10th, 11th, every single year. And you're just hoping that one of those guys turns into Shea or Kawhi or whoever else. And for Utah, they haven't done a good enough job to get that guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Absolutely. You have to commit. You just have to commit one way or the other. And if your commitment is, well, we'll see what happens. And then in March, we'll just pull the plug. Well, then you're going to be picking ninth for the rest of the way because teams have already committed. And the problem is the Jazz are in a bad spot, but they're...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
you know, they're picking fifth this year because they did commit, you know, and eventually you're going to find somebody, you know, in that spot, or you're going to land at number one. I mean, look at, we'd mentioned Detroit, Detroit. This has been a bad spot for a while, but they're coming out of this with Cade and a star Thompson, right? Like you have to feel pretty good about that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
We'll see what Jaden Ivy brings to the table, but they have guys like you did a first round pick for all the guys that we just mentioned.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, they committed. And a lot of people dogged on them, including me. But they figured it out. And it's because they committed to a plan. Like, this is our plan. We could argue they were a year behind because of Monte Williams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Should definitely be sad. But the turnover, the new regime, things have been better. And they've committed. Like, I think that that exactly. Yeah. Alex Saar, Bob Carrington, those are guys that you're like, okay, I like all those guys. I believe they can find somebody to join the group.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I mean, it could backfire. I mean, we saw Troy Weaver, who's another Presti guy. Yeah. Yeah, it completely backfired on him in Detroit until –
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
You have to have luck along the way. And there were some things that Weaver did that were not great, for sure. Also, shout out to the previous Wizards regime for going out and taking Johnny Davis before everything just crumbled for them at 10. Shout out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
There's hope that exists there for Wizards fans today. Picking sixth is not ideal, but if you get a Jeremiah Fears or Conca Nipple or one of those guys, I feel like their roster is set up in a way where they can just take on whatever they need.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
It is. I mean, it doesn't play defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
We're not trying to win a championship next year. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Two years over 60 million left.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Listen, you still need a tank commander if you're the Wizards, you know? Like, who's going to do that now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, I mean, those are nice trade ships.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I mean, for me, it's Brooklyn.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
And they're kind of doing the quasi-tank thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They're Utah East right now. One, they both have good coaches. Great job on the hires. It's looking pretty good there. But void of talent. They're in probably a worse spot, in my opinion, than Utah is. Okay, so name me their top three young players.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Okay, let's look up Noah Clowney's stats. Hold on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's my final three. I think that's worse than Utah's.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
The thing about that is you make a trade for a good player, you are so far away. Yeah. Because you have no talent. That's the most talent-void team, and everybody talks about, man, the league is so talented. The Nets are over here like, what are you talking about?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's really cool. I'm really happy for them, but it leads to them being in no-man's land. It leads to them being in absolute no-man's land. I mean, it's...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
it's kind of a problem like they they need to i mean i don't know maybe you keep cam johnson at this point just because he is like one of the only talented people on your team you know but it's rough like you got dilo redux going on here i mean i don't know yeah yeah i i i think i you agree i agree that it's it's brooklyn number two who's three be the raps i don't know maybe charlotte
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I mean, Charlotte's had some luck in the lottery recently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. They have talent. They have guys that you would trade a first for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
If you're doing that test. The Raptors did the quasi-tank thing that we've been talking about. They did, yeah. Kind of in no man's land. Their roster is so weird. It's a mess. It is a weird roster.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Derek Queen. All gas, no brakes. All gas, no brakes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
But then, like, why are you trading for Brandon Ingram?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
gate revenue they would like to again why did you trade for brandon ingram then if that's what you want all that success down in new orleans and they said yeah we need a taste man
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They're not the saddest team. They're not the saddest team. They're in the East. They actually have talent. They have guys that you get a first for. They're not the saddest team. They're sad. They're the weirdest team, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
It's let's acquire all the players that people probably don't want to trade for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I used, I used to do these kinds of trades on two K back in the day where I was like, you know what? I could get that guy. Like he's, he's, you have to spend that much to get him. Let's just bring him on. He's talented. And then like, you get this team where it's like, I have a Yaka Purtle, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Emmanuel quickly. Like, what did I do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I got to start over reset, you know? Yeah. What have I done? How did I get here? That's that's how it feels. Okay. So anybody else that should be feeling bad about the position that they're in?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Because of that Josh Giddey shot that went down.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
You think they are? You think they're going to pay more than $30 million a year?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Wow. See, that was the thing. Whenever the Thunder had him, it was like, what are you going to extend him for? He's going to have to take a big fat discount to stay here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. It is going to look bad, though. Yeah. Immediately.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Same with the Hawks. Same with the Hawks. There you go. You know what? Hey, Hawks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. It, They were fun this year, though. There were some stretches that were really fun for them in the regular season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's right. Still waiting for Blake Griffin to come back here. It's going to be great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Trey Young to OKC. Let's go. Yeah. Trey Alexander sitting on the bench for the Nuggets. You know, he's from here. Get him on a two-way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
how are you feeling okay see denver you think they close it out game six oh are we going to i mean i have confidence i have done like three podcasts about this since the game last night and i think i flip-flopped like twice because like i try to go with my gut in the moment and my gut is flip-flopping every second i don't know
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
This series has been so close. Any criticism that's going anybody's way is probably not justified, in my opinion, because it has been so, so close. You're a... Aaron Gordon, you know, prayer shot in game one away from the thunder being finished with the series. Right. You know, um, is, I don't know. I mean, you're still waiting on like the real Jamal Murray game to happen. Like maybe that happens.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Maybe it doesn't, you know, you're waiting on the thunder to have another game where like, like game two where they just absolutely dismantled them because they shot the ball. Well, You're waiting on a game like that to happen. Every game has looked so different. There's not a pattern to this. In game four, there were hardly any points in the paint.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Last night, they both scored exactly 50 points in the paint. 100 total points scored in the paint last night. None of these games have the same pattern. There's no rhythm to this series. It is a... Chess match, back and forth, just punch for punch. You know, great playoff series, great basketball. I think the... This is the finals. It very well could be. Tactically, it's been great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Both teams have played well. It was good to see Jokic wake up, and he was incredible last night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. He is. I mean, it happened just like literally right in front of me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Right. They need it. The thing is like the Thunder have done a really good job on him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I mean, the screen navigation from Dort and from Kaysen are just ridiculous.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Are you a DECA guy? I was a DECA guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
If they don't get out of the series, then absolutely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I could totally see that. I love that. It makes me like DECA more. I like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They just don't have the goods.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I don't know. He'll go to the team that pays him more, and it won't be the Nuggets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Thanks so much for tuning in to the live stream. I think we'll have this published on the feed again. We'd love some feedback on that. We'd love to know if you guys are listening and enjoying this format. Please leave us a five-star review. Leave a comment. You can comment on Spotify. You can comment on the Athletic app. We'd love that. You can also...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
send us an email NBA daily at the athletic.com. So email us at NBA daily at the athletic.com. We'd really appreciate that. Any, any feedback, good or bad, you know, we want to be accessible. So please do that. I hope you guys have a great day. We'll see you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
With me, Dave DeFore, Esper Haney. We are going to talk about the fallout. from the draft lottery.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, the minimum for the Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That's the problem. That's the problem I have with all of this. Like, hey, we need to change it. I mean, here's the deal. No matter what happens, people are going to want to change it. There's no perfect system.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
The one guy that was right. Sam Presti. Sam Presti was right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, we had a Sam Presti shirt a long time ago.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I think that the biggest problems with the NBA is there's not a fair and equitable way to get stars to small markets. That's what the lottery is basically for. Get these markets that can't get these big-name players a chance to have them at least for eight years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
you know like that's what this is for and when you start to like kind of peel back these layers and everything it becomes even harder to accomplish that and so like that's that's the system that's built yes we no one loves tanking but there's trade-offs with everything that you put in place so i don't know what if you just flattened the lottery completely right and maybe it was i'm you
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
And what it means for these particular teams. We can start with the Raptors if you want. No!
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
How else do you separate yourself? That's the problem is you need to be able to separate yourself to give yourself a chance to get those players. But there's a lot of teams that get stuck in the middle. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Let you get it off your chest. You want to wait?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
They haven't in a while. What was the last top five pick that swung an NBA title?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Is there another one? What was the last number one pick?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
I mean, that's the thing that's funny about this is like there's so much hand-wringing about the number one pick. Right. And the number one pick has in the past been the thing, like the catalyst for all these. Like you have your Tim Duncans and you have Shaquille O'Neal and all these players that truly did swing everything. Yeah. But it's been a while. Yeah. I guess you could say Kyrie.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
He doesn't win it if LeBron doesn't go back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Welcome to another edition of the Morning Shootaround here on the Athletic NBA Daily YouTube feed. We go live every Wednesday, mid-morning, just to chat with you guys about the NBA and the goings-on and just a nice little platform for us to talk a little bit deeper, maybe get some points out that we don't have time to, typically, on the regular show. Athletic NBA Daily. I'm Andrew Schlecht.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Not a great time to bring Ty Jerome, by the way. Yeah, not the best time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Those are the players that fill around these top guys, but you still have to have a mechanism to get the top guys. You can't really farm those guys off the teams. Indiana...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Who do you like it for for them?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
That would be so good for them. What does he do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Draft Lottery Fallout | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. It's kind of weird, though, at the rim. I don't really – I can't put my finger on why he couldn't finish.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
during those moments so you know they ended the game 28 to 13 in in the final eight minutes of the game and you know that it was it was big and i'm sure we're going to talk about lou dort but like dort was was really the catalyst to start that run a tale of two dorts
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah, it does a little bit because, I mean, you look back at game one where not only the players, but the coaching staff, too, kind of felt like they gave game one away.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And, you know, even they've been growing throughout this series and it hasn't always looked pretty. It hasn't always, you know, gone their way, but they've become a better team. throughout this series. And that's what you needed to see, honestly, because what it came down to for them was intangibles. They had 68 wins.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
They had the markers of a championship team, except their age was the only marker that didn't say they're going to win it because it hasn't really been done by a team that's this age. And so I think that seeing them get this in-game experience, in-series experience is big for them. And doing it against a guy, Nikola Jokic, who found his three ball. He had 13 points in the fourth quarter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. They needed everything from Jokic tonight. And they didn't quite get enough in this one. And it is a good test for OKC. Because I thought Jamal Murray had it going in the third quarter where he was on a heater. And it felt like it was about over. And they felt a little defeated. You could feel it in the building. You could see it on their faces.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
But honestly, it was the move that everyone was begging Mark Degnault not to do. And I want to go back to Lou because they were begging him. I was just tweeting out lineups, you know, just like, hey, here's the five guys that are in the game. And my mentions are just a disaster with people saying like, Mark's an idiot. You can't play door. Why is still in the game? Why is he in there?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And he goes and he rattles off three threes in a row. to bring the thunder back into this game. And it injected life into them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah, and Mark talked about it as if they're a family. When somebody's hurting in your family or somebody's celebrating in your family, it brings an energy to your group. And he said, it's the same thing for this team is that when they see Lou hitting those threes, like it just brings life and it brings energy to the entire group. You know, Mark said that he doesn't bet against Lou.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He said, it's that simple. I don't bet against Lou.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Absolutely. You knew it was coming. I knew it was coming.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah, no, it's a good point. I mean, the Thunder won the possession battle consistently during the regular season. And that's how they won games. It's almost like a shots on goal kind of thing. And they did not win that battle tonight. Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's a good stat to point out because the Thunder needed good shooting in order...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
to beat that and i don't think that's something they can count on from night to night we've seen it like they have gone cold in games so you're looking at game six like the thunder need to get back to like their bread and butter which is winning the 50 50 balls you know getting those extra possessions because they can't count on their guys making threes all you know all the time
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah, that was kind of their bread and butter all year and has been actually for years now. It's like playing five out. And, you know, Shea talked about it. I was asking him about the specific play where the ball hits the corner to J-Dub, where it's just extra pass, extra pass. It gets J-Dub that three that I think was like that was a very, very crucial shot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And he said it's he's like nothing that we're doing is remarkable. Like this is all just stuff that we've been doing all season. And there's no like crazy play that's happening. It's just, he said, I hit a double team. I swung it loose, swung it again. And we got an open three. And he said, it's not, it's just, it's muscle memory stuff for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Like and yeah, Lou makes the right decision, which is and the reason that he was was because this is a this is an interesting game because in game four, there was like almost like no points in the paint. I think that, you know, I think the Nuggets had six made shots in the paint. The Thunder were somewhere around that, too. Both teams had 50 points in the paint tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
So both teams were able to kind of turn game four on its head a little bit. And they both scored at will in the paint. And so I think once it got down, they needed to stop the Thunder from getting into the paint. And when you do that, it's a trade-off. You're always making trade-offs. So it's like, we're going to stop the drive. Well, now it's swing, swing, swing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And those shots haven't always fallen. I mean, Jada... airballed a three, not too, you know, not that long before that one. And I just trust in your guys and continuing to kind of do what you do. And they, you know, made that shot. And I mean, that was huge. And also Shea iced the game with a three, a shot that he has been hunting for several games now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He's been trying to make it happen. It feels like he's almost like searching for his moment in the playoffs and trying to manufacture this almost MJ, Kobe-like moment. And he finally got that shot to fall tonight, which completely iced the game. I think that's what ended it. He said it was good to see that one go down because he has been searching for that particular shot this whole series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah, I think the Thunder have been able to exploit that zone throughout the series, but it's a shot variance game for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
There have been times where it's looked really good, and it's because they're making shots. You know, with Lou Dort, like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
they were fine leaving him in game four that's why they had to you know make the trade-off there but with loom sinking those three threes like it yeah the offense looks great it's humming now but it's but it is a shot variance game with the with the zone i think the thunder feel confident in that like people have thrown teams have thrown zones at them all season and a lot of the the ways that they get out of it like you said
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
It's like swinging the ball. They love to get Isaiah Hartenstein in the middle of the zone and letting him be a playmaker. They like to get Shea driving and playing in the middle of the zone as well. Denver's done a good job, though. They've done such a good job completely closing it off, getting those driving lanes completely closed off for him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And so it will be interesting to see how they deal with it. But it is really, it's about like... Do they have the right guys in the game? And are they making the shots when the ball swings to them? Because the zone, you can just destroy a zone. I mean, they did that in game two. They absolutely dismantled them. And it's because they were shooting just the lights out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
And so now it's about, can you have another game like that? But both these teams have just drug this game into the mud for the most part. This is a hard-fought series. If you love basketball, this is your series, honestly. It's been amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Like I said, this is a basketball lover's game. And what's better than a game seven?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He was very Jokic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
Yeah. I was just going to say, we just have to mention Jokic again because he was unbelievable tonight. He was unreal. It's going to get lost a little bit, I think, because they didn't win the game. But 44-15-5 with two steals. And the guy, he was giving everything. And like toward the end of the game, there was a lot of flopping and just him just grabbing and just try. He wanted to win so bad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He wanted this game so bad. And like, just go watch those last few possessions where he is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
He's doing everything that he can do within his power. But, like, the truth, like, you've got to win it as a team. Jokic is incredible, but that stat that LaMurray, I don't know if you guys have said it on the pod yet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
But, like... That stat that Law and Murray, can you pull that up, Dave? Do you have it handy? Yeah, I do. Because that, I think, is really important. It really shows that it's a team game. And even when you're incredible like Jokic is, scoring 40-plus points, you still need your teammates. And that's where they really struggle tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
It's all you can ask for as an NBA fan. To be in the building for a game like that where it's hanging in the balance, you have literally the number one and number two guys in MVP trading shot for shot. Jokic hits this off-balance three with a minute 40 left to tie it at 103-103, and it felt like this is anybody's game after that one went in. And so it was really fun.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
I mean, the crowd in OKC was wild. I had friends texting me that people were chanting in the streets, OKC, OKC, going out here. I mean, everybody was so hyped. This was the game they needed. A year ago, they lost game five in this building to Dallas. And that really effectively ended their season. You know, they go and they end up losing game six and a heartbreaker.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers advance to Conference Finals + Thunder survive Jokić
But, you know, this is a is a big game and you don't want to lose it at home. And so it felt like most of the night it felt like this was not OKC's night. They turned it around about the eight minute mark of the fourth quarter is when they turned it around. And it looked like Denver was pretty gas and OKC had a lot more to give.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
They're averaging over 12 steals per game, which no team has has done that I can find in the last 25 years. Like this is not normal. Like the way that they play defense is not normal. The way that they like you said, they can switch. They recover a lot. They they really pack the paint. Kendricks Williams, who I think is going a little bit underrated this season. Yes, really good. Absolutely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
You know, when you think about what Orlando was able to do against the Bucs, what concerns you most about the Bucs going into their next competition in the cup?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
He has a small ball big, not only on the boards, but he's spacing the floor on offense. But then he's super disruptive. And they're just on a string. They just know how to play together. They have their method of defense, which is a lot of pack the paint, recover, pack the paint, recover, cause chaos, cause turnovers. I mean, you can see them executing on that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
It's not only scheme, but it's the guys they have. I mean, if any of these guys were on another team, they'd be doing the same thing. But the Thunder just happened to have a lot of them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
What's cool to see about them is that not only they're having a lot of fun, they're on a string there. They come to interviews like high school boys trying to talk to girls like as as a group. But I see Chet Holmgren. On the sideline, on the broadcast. Smiling it up, laughing it up. He's excited.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah, right. Exactly. But you can just see he's hungry to get back out there. And they said on the broadcast that they can play so many different versions of this team, especially when he comes back. And that's what, to me, excites me the most about the Thunder. One, do we know anything about the timeline for Chet Holmgren? And then two...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
What do you see him impacting when he gets back to see this level of the Thunder that now has a Ken Rich Williams playing well within the mix? You know, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, everyone just rolling, even from the bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah. Yeah. He's incredibly impactful on both ends. They're going to stagger these guys a lot when he comes back. And so I think that you get to see kind of similar versions of what they want to do, but looks that the defenses are going to have to adjust to a lot. Because you're going to have the look with Isaiah Hardenstein, which they like to continue to move the ball, but he's a big screener.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
He's a lob catcher. He can do a lot of different things. He's a passer, too. Exactly. He's a great passer himself. And then, you know, Chet comes in. He can kind of get buckets on his own. He can space the floor, shoot it from three. He can do a ton. We also learned tonight from Shea, we just got done talking to Shea, that he gives the pregame speech before they go out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
And this is the first game that he was back for. Yes. And so Chet actually gave the pregame speech tonight before the game, before they ran out of the tunnel, told them to win the game, told them to go get more money.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
I love it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
I love it. It's pretty funny, but he keeps it light. He tries to bring some humor to him. And apparently he's the guy who gives the pregame speech. And so it's good to have him back in the building. We haven't seen him in a while. He's been around practice a little bit, but we haven't seen him at games. And so I'm sure that... He's just itching to get out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Mark Dagnall even said, like, if he could play on his crutches, he would. He's like, that wouldn't be good for either us or him. But the guy just wants to compete.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Or at least record the pregame speech beforehand.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
That had to be my most surprising one to not see their name, especially considering you just mentioned the Bells. But yeah, the trade between the Hawks and the Pels, the Hawks absolutely won that trade. When you think about all the superstars around the NBA needing a change, whether it was through trade, whether it was signing a big free agent or building within the roster that they have.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
The Atlanta Hawks are the perfect example of how to do that. You're seeing Trae Young not have to carry the burden as much of being the sole scorer of that team. And in that trade, you get rid of DeJounte Murray, you bring in Dyson Daniels, you bring in EJ Liddell, and you bring in Larry Nance Jr. Okay. Larry Nance Jr., not their biggest forward, sure. Not playing a ton of minutes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
You get rid of EJ Liddell, give him to the Suns, bring in a David Roddy, He's playing 15 minutes for them. Solid forward minutes, picking up the slack in general. Overall, you're having your team, your core build around Trey Young. Great role players drafted well. And then you have a bright future in some of these young stars that you picked up in the trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Not to mention two draft picks, first round draft picks in that trade. I'm sorry. Kudos.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Very interesting, the two teams in Texas. I think with the Houston Rockets, Could make sense, especially with the fact that Fred Van Vliet has been the veteran in the room alongside Dylan Brooks. They could use another scorer along Jalen Green. I still just don't think that that's what they need. I personally like their athletic fit. I like their youth. I like where they're at.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
So I don't necessarily think they need another Jimmy Butler to add it to the mix. The Mavs definitely... Don't need a Jimmy Butler, in my opinion. They got a ton of star power around the perimeter. They just added Klay Thompson. P.J. Washington has been through the roof in the forward position.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
I don't see how Jimmy Butler could fit, particularly coming in and wanting and expecting probably to start. It just doesn't make sense what they have. The Warriors is an interesting one because let's just be real. Let's take the last three games, take them off the schedule. Everyone was calling for a second score, including me in the Bay. And as of late, it's kind of like the Warriors even lost.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
are looking at potentially like, should we go outside or should we go inside? And Jonathan Kaminga has risen. And it looks like the organization is rising alongside him and trying to maximize him. So this is where it gets interesting. If Jonathan Kaminga doesn't show consistency in that space as being a secondary scorer alongside Stephen Curry, if there's, you know,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
More concerns or questions around Andrew Wiggins' health, maybe with the ankle injury that he recently sustained. If there's still just not consistency and being able to find someone to carry the ball outside of Steph Curry, could be interesting for the Warriors to call upon the Miami Heat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
The Warriors? Like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
And I love what Giannis said about Chris being, he's older, right? He's just the oldest amongst us. So yes, you got the veteran, the adult in the room. But let's talk about some of the younger guys and particularly the ones that fill out this team. Also crazy how many AJ people are on this roster. A.J. Johnson, A.J. Green, Andre Jackson Jr. But A.J.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Green was the one that kind of really stood out to me tonight. Highest plus minus of the night overall at plus 13. Just making the right decisions, particularly behind the three-point line. When you think about the Bucs being able to find success, not only in the NBA Cup, but for the remainder of the season, what supporting cast members really have to step up? A.J.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Green steps up in my mind, especially taking over the minutes of Pat Connaughton. But who stands out to you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
I was not. Listen, I would not accept the invitation until the Thunder won. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah, I mean, it all starts on the defensive end with this team, clearly. I mean, they had 14 steals tonight. That's very normal. The Mavericks didn't turn the ball over a whole lot when they played them here in Oklahoma City a few weeks ago. Turned it over 18 times tonight. That's way too many. You give the Thunder that many chances, they're going to score a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Also, the Thunder just didn't shoot any free throws tonight. If you're wondering why are they shooting so many threes, they got into the paint. This team drives more than any team in the NBA tonight. but they get into the paint, they draw the defenders, and they spray out. And because there were seven free throws taken the entire game by the Thunder, zero in the second half, Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
They were getting threes. And that's and that's what happens whenever you don't shoot free throws is this team either is going to shoot either the main guys and Jada and share going to take mid range jumpers or they're going to score at the rim or they're going to take threes like that's that's what's going to happen with this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
And when they don't take any free throws, yeah, 53 is not surprising.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
A lot of focus was put on the fact that, yes, Shea Goldis-Alexander dropped a casual 39 points on this Dallas Mavericks team. And a lot of naysayers will say, well, can he do that if P.J. Washington's out there? Can he do that if the real perimeter defense is out there for the Mavs? But
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
luca was held significantly tonight under his average in terms of his scoring output and even just like his ability to get things going only five assists for luca that's pretty low on his average so i actually would say that the defense spurred this entire win for okc would you say it's the offense the way that they were putting up those video game numbers or would you say it hones in on the defense
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah, I think it does start on the defensive end. And they have multiple guys that can throw at Luka. You know, it's a lot of Lou Dort. That's like the obvious matchup that people will go to. But Cason Wallace blocked a Luka jump shot early in the game. And then Luka took it to the hoop and he still could not score on Cason. He's a guy that's emerging.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Alex Caruso comes in off the bench and immediately just creates havoc.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
They do feel like they're a little bit more together, especially when you consider where they started at the beginning of this season and now where they're at today. But Eric, this game was supposed to be the sleepwalker. This is supposed to be right. Go right to Vegas. Go ahead and book your ticket.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
It's frustrating.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
He's going to get into passing lanes. He makes things difficult. It really does. It starts with those guys. And then just having a big man in Isaiah Hartenstein, who's on the floor with these guys, grabbed a lot of rebounds tonight. Second chance points, from my heart, are really, really impactful. And it gets the crowd going, too. He had this offensive rebound. Oh, they were loud.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah, he had an offensive rebound in between Klay Thompson and Spencer Dinwiddie, and he just went right between them, grabbed the ball, and dunked it. And it was a big, emphatic moment that caused a timeout for the Dallas Mavericks. And it's like those moments and those little things that these guys are contributing that, yeah, it's on the boards, it's defensively. This team wanted to win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
This team wants to not only win tonight because, one, it's the Mavericks, two, it's the NBA Cup, but I think they want to win this whole thing. Remember, this is a young team. They haven't really made their money yet. And I think that the 500K is actually a motivator.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
Yeah, just for making it. Yeah, I'll take it. Put me in the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder advance in NBA Cup | The Athletic’s Front Office Rankings
I think it is, but I also think they've been playing like this for a little while. Just by looking at the numbers, you could make the argument this is the most disruptive defense in the history of the NBA. They average more deflections than any team does per game since they've been charting the stat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
said that he had directed... something toward him and it was so there was confusion i think as to actually what happened here uh it was a fan uh that that i actually i know this fan that was ejected he sits courtside he heckles he heckles players every single game uh little home court advantage thunder so i believe he said post game he was playing the game within the game And you know what?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
It kind of worked, kind of worked for him tonight. Jeremy got the victory over Luca tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I mean, I think a lot of it is that the Lakers have three ball handlers, which most teams don't. The Thunder don't deal with teams like that very often. And when the Thunder start a game, when you have Dort and you have J-Dub and you have Shea, you're usually set. You're okay. But when you play this Lakers squad, it's just different. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
The Lakers just thrive on getting paint touches and spraying out to the corner, which I think is probably the biggest weakness for the Thunder defense, especially when you have somebody that can really drive the ball like LeBron and Luka. That's just a weakness for them. They allow more corner threes than any team in the NBA. We saw this in the playoffs against Dallas.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
It's the same kind of weaknesses that we see against the Lakers. And, you know, I think... I would have loved to see this game finished with Luca and just to see what would have transpired. I still probably think the Thunder hold on or win this one, but it changes the complexity of the court for everybody when there's only two ball handlers out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
And the Thunder can shut that down pretty easily. That's what they see on a night-to-night basis is that it's mostly just two guys. But when there's three, I just think that there's a big difference there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
Yeah, I mean, a lot of it is just, it's frankly Shea Gildershaw's hander coming in the game. 42 points isn't bad, yeah. Yeah, he had 42 tonight. They actually brought him in a little early. They usually bring him in around the six or seven minute mark of the fourth quarter. They brought him in at the nine minute mark. The Thunder really wanted this one. They really wanted to win this one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
They played with a lot more physicality. You saw that from the jump tonight in OKC from all these guys. But a lot of it came down to just shot making for them, especially in those third quarter runs. And it came down to a lot of defensive intensity, too. We saw the Thunder get a lot more steals, a lot more fast breaks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
There was a 10-0 run in the first half that was ignited by three consecutive steals by Alex Caruso. And then in the third quarter, I mean, it was Shea. Shea had 11 points and three rebounds in the third quarter alone. And so... A lot of it is that they have the MVP. And that helps when he's on, which he really wasn't in that first game. He didn't have the greatest game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
He wasn't getting to his spots. But tonight was different. He was able to go off. I thought Jalen Williams did a lot better tonight as well, getting to spots and making shots. And I think that that is really the difference is when the Thunder have those two guys going, they're really hard to beat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I do think this is probably one of the tougher matchups for them in the Western Conference. Just from a little bit of what I said earlier about the three ball handlers having them on the court at the same time, I think makes it particularly challenging for them. Also, the rate that the Lakers made threes, is this sustainable? They shot 45% from three tonight and shot over 50% on Sunday. And so...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
What does it look like when that settles down to like a 39% from three? It's like, we're not like saying like they need to shoot poorly from three, but what if they're normal good from three? What does that look like? So I think that really changes things. But I do think like having, again, it's back to me, it's about, the ball handling and what they can do. And then it's about the corners.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
That's something like LeBron James and Luka Doncic are experts at finding guys in the corner. Those are like the two best in the NBA, like two of the best all time, probably. Both these guys have made their living getting into the paint and finding guys in the corner. And they have guys that can make those shots. They have multiple guys that are 40 plus percent from the corners this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
So I do think it's a bad matchup in some ways. Thunder need to dominate with more physicality, though. They're the bigger team, which is not something that we've been able to say for a while. They are the bigger team. And so you just need to see them dominate in a different way once the playoffs sit. And I think we will. You know, the Thunder aren't playing for anything right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
Like, they're just not. The Lakers have to win two more games. They have to. And the Lakers wanted to. I thought the Lakers weren't going to play anybody tonight. That's right. I was impressed. They have to win. Yeah. They have to win too. So I, I struggle to, I'm, I'm grasping at like takeaways from this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
And I think there are some, but I don't think that from either of these games, there's a whole lot to take. Yeah. When it comes to the playoffs, I think the playoffs, I think it would look very different.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
It was so... It was funny because... I went and talked to J.J. post-game, and I listened to what he had to say. He said Luka was talking to a fan. And then you hear from the Thunder side, and you read the pool report, J.T. Orr, the official, believed that it was being directed at him. And even Mark Dagnall had talked to J.T. after he was ejected, asking what was going on, and J.T.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
You need somebody on the outside to stress you. You need a therapist to come in and move your knee. You need another team to come in and actually push you. You can practice 100 days in a row with your own team and you won't be stressed like you will be against an opponent.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
They have coaches that they practice with. They have a lot of guys on the coaching staff that are able to kind of practice with them. But, yeah, there's no substitution.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
oh no no i don't think you can but it would be an interesting idea right like hey it's like the stay ready crew you know it's an interesting question from youtube user in the chat is the west really that much better than the east the two and three seeds are gone and didn't look very impressive everyone said boston cleveland were a tier above i think new york and indy are as good as golden state
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I was going to say that they would probably be a team that doesn't have to go through the play in, I would assume.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I would say this. The two and three seeds being gone in the West actually shows its strength. Exactly. Rather than its weakness.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
And you also have to get rid of your seeding brain a little bit. Yeah. And just look at what the records were for these teams in the Western Conference. Because the Lakers had 50 wins. The Golden State Warriors, who were the seventh seed, had to go through the play and had 48. It's not like we're talking... Like, oh my gosh, the Lakers were so much better than the Warriors in the regular season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It's two games. We're talking about a two-game difference between those teams. And so it's not like it is in the Eastern Conference where between the three-seed and the seven-seed, it's literally 10 games. So there is a difference there. I just think that the middle class of the West is just much bigger. The middle class of the East is like two or three teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
seating andrew because the parody is here man i know it's here but you can't do that like like adam silver's like you know what use the all-star game as your playground to just make yeah like don't use the actual league to do that how do you feel about is memphis when they expand you think memphis gets to gets to move to the the east I think so.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Yeah. It's gotta be, it's, it's gotta be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
One of my favorite things. I got to sit at the scorer's table on Monday. The thing I've missed most is just hearing him berate the officials.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
and like he'll like really lose it it's great i did want to i did want to bring this up because someone told me this recently about like what team should when we do have expansion what team should move yeah the east from the west and so i'll pull up a map here tennessee touches states that are bordering right here at the at the atlantic coast i'm sorry nola to me nolan is the argument
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I'm sorry. The truth is, Minnesota geographically would make a lot of sense for them to be in the same division as maybe the bucks and the, you can see, you can see that like you have, you have these teams that are all like they're geographically quite close.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I think geographically, I think that the Grizzlies have the best case, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Kind of does. The first half of the Wolves game definitely felt like March Madness. Oh my God.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I do have a gimmick today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I think we're going to do a worry meter for these teams. What team should be the most worried? right now so the top tier the s tier is the most worried d not worried at all we i want to what is what do these stand for what does s stand for s tier yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
um super duper i think got it okay i was like abcd and then there's s okay that's the super duper cheer i want to start with indiana because i think it should be the team that should be not be worried this should be the team that's like is it all gravy you know like no one really expected them to get to the conference finals again and now they're up 2-0 and heading back to indy
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
where the crowd is great and they should be feeling good. Also the Cavs have.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Super duper worried because one, you have the injuries. Yes. That's the scariest thing. Is Evan Mobley playing? Is he playing again?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It's very concerning.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
He said that the S tier or sometimes S class represents the highest class, indicating something powerful, rare.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
If they lost and they lost Steph, we'd put them in the Super Bowl. But because they won, we'll put them here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Okay, Mike in the chat again says that we'll see a lot more Jonathan Kaminga. What do you think, Zena? Yeah, I was going to say Zena.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
But they're both quite bad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, he's got to play. What's up with Pods? What's going on with him?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
yeah i thought i thought that kind of gets buried just because they won you know but i don't think a lot of people talking about him today but yeah they should be worried and like you're right dave it's like it's all about those in my mri results today like yeah if he misses one game i think you feel pretty honestly i think you feel pretty good like if he if he's gonna miss one game i put him i put him here yeah right right i would change that too but if it's
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
One felt like math. which was the Celtics. I was like, this is calculator ball. And then the Wolves got bad luck.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
There you go. You guys know how many playoff games Buddy Heald has played in? total no idea try to guess try to guess after last night 17 okay 10 it's 12 isn't that weird he's just been in the league for forever he just played for so many bad teams
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
That does feel very strange.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, no question. Yeah, I was talking to Alex Spears about this just a little bit ago, but also like the Pacers game felt... like the ball just bounced the way of the Pacers at the end of the game. Yeah. That it was done for the thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Especially, especially with the hindsight of like, what's going to happen with Darren Fox, you know? Right. You just have, now you're left with no point cards and you're like, okay, what is this? Now we have DeMar DeRozan, Zach Levine carrying the offense. Like what's happening? How do, how do, how do we get here? You know? Got to be how it feels. Okay. Next team, Minnesota. How worried are you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
If you're the Minnesota Timberwolves, you lose game one. How worried are you at this point?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
In the NBA, if you have an owner that has a clear vision and they allow the leadership of the basketball operations to run the team, then you're probably in good shape, especially if they hire somebody that's good. But if you have an owner that's got basketball opinions... And they got basketball friends.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It felt like self-inflicted, you know, the whole thing self-inflicted with just what happened there as from a coach's perspective, you know, a lot of people, I want to hear your perspective on this, but a lot of people are very, very critical of Mark Dagnall, you know, the last couple of days, I just want to hear a little bit more of your perspective on like how he handled the end of that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Well, again, the treadmill of mediocrity. I don't know. I don't know. I'm out. I'm out on all of it. I'm out of it. On the kinks. I'm talking about the Kings, too. Let's move on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
What about the Nuggets?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. You're the lower seed. You're not expected to You don't even expect it to win. I mean, I think that they, I mean, the odds of them winning the series before it started were very, very low. And so now it's still game one. You've got to be chilling.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
So the thing that pushed him to 40 was that the Thunder put him on the free throw line so much. And so I do think that there is a way to defend him without fouling him as much as they did.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I know. You can do a better job than the Thunder did, though. He didn't have to earn that many fouls, in my opinion. Yeah. I thought a lot of them were just handed to him throughout. He took 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I don't know. I think that they did a good, a relatively good job on him really until the last six minutes. He scored 16 points in the last six minutes of the game. You know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
There were some big problems. There were some really big problems.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I think they should be concerned. I don't think that there should be like really. Well, maybe then.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I know I'm I'm here to listen to you guys, too, about this. Sure. Maybe I'm too close to it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Here's the deal. Here's why you even think that it was more than 14. It's because it should have been. The only thing that killed the Thunder was second-chance points. The Nuggets were just... They were more physical, and they were ready for second efforts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
That's the thing about it is that you don't need him to be the second best player on the team. He should not be the second best player on the team. You just wasted it, though, because Thunder fans should be very excited to talk about Alex Caruso. Instead, they're very mad talking about fouling up three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I mean, it's just one of those. Tonight, we're throwing them up here. Well, yeah. I mean – You said – what did you say? The Thunder lose tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Tell me why you hate it, because I don't mind the strategy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I'm super worried. I mean, let's just be honest.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
yeah yeah i think we ran the numbers somebody on reddit ran the numbers i think in the history of the league only four teams have gone down oh two as the home team and one yeah wait first of all i am dying at you putting yourself in the reddit family we ran the numbers somebody on reddit my reddit family my reddit are you not part of the reddit family i i tried to be and they won't let me comment on anything so i just let it go really
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Well, one day you'll be able to say we as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Don't do it, Zena. Don't do it. Don't do it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I love NBA Reddit. I love it. It's chaotic, but it's great. If you're missing something, you can go to NBA Reddit and they'll help fill you in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Let's go to the New York Knicks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Do you think that the Knicks feel now that they can win this series?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Oh, you would? I would.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah, it was about 14 seconds left, and he fouled in the backcourt. In the backcourt. That's the thing that's killing everybody today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It's some kind of viral illness.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
He's important. Next factor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
They won without Porzingis last year. Sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
That's fair. Here's how worried I am. I'm not worried at all if I'm the Celtics. I'm just not worried. Don't let them drop this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
They won't. Here's the deal. The biggest opponent for them in their conference is...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
down oh two right now this is why i'm not worried it's like when i look at the rest of the field i don't i do not think i actually think they should be even though they're not in the position they want to be in today i think they should not be worried i i don't know andrew i think the pacers match up with the celtics really well we'll see we'll see about that you think that indiana pacers are going to be in the nba finals
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
And I think the Pacers are very good. I have underrated them all season. However, I have a hard time. And maybe this is a me problem.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I can't imagine them. They just won the title. I just can't imagine. I just can't imagine them actually getting there. And you know what?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yes, absolutely. Oh, okay. The NBA finals, though, is where I just can't get there. And sometimes I lack imagination. I could be guilty of that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
That would be much weirder to me. It would be much weirder to me. I'm not trying to hate on the Pacers. Just imagine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Okay, this is actually a good time to recap it. So I'll recap our tier list. So this is our worry meter. What teams and fan bases should be the most worried? So we're saying the Cavaliers should be most worried. they're in their own tier of worry right now when it comes to injuries and the position that they're in down 0-2.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
The Warriors, although they're up in this series, you lose Steph and you absolutely should be worried. Minnesota, a little bit below them. I have the Knicks and the Thunder in a tier. The Celtics are, between the three of us, kind of floating in between tiers here. Again, I'm not worried if I'm Boston, but I think it's fair to put them here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
And then Indiana and the Nuggets are just playing with house money here. They're doing great. No worries whatsoever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
We were just talking about that. Andrew would be shocked, apparently. Absolutely shocked. I would be floored. I would...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I know. We're losing ass here. Yeah. Here's why I would be surprised. Preseason title odds. Here are the teams that had better odds before the season started than the Indiana Pacers. Grizzlies, Heat, Suns, Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Sixers, Bucks, Mavs, Thunderwolves, Nuggets, Knicks, Celtics. That's why I'd be surprised. We just haven't had them in that bucket at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Even before the playoffs started. I don't think anybody really put them in that bucket. I think it's surprising that they're in this spot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
They're a much better team. They should win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
If Mobley's not going to play, there's going to be issues.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Yeah. I still don't think they'll win the series. I still think the Celtics will.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I still think the Celtics will be the team in the NBA Finals.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. It'd be kind of fun, though. The finals at MSG would be kind of amazing. Insane.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
I mean, at this point, I think it would have to be the Knicks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. I think it would have to be the Knicks. Also, just the way the vibes around the Knicks have been so weird for a while. Yeah. They don't feel like as good of a team as the Pacers. The Pacers feel more steady at this point, is what I would say.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It's been great. Let us know about our tier list, how worried these teams and fan bases should be. Again, the most worried teams. the most worried team, actually, that we have, and it's a tier of its own, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The next tier, we have the Golden State Warriors, mostly due to Steph's injury.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
The tier below that, we have the Minnesota Timberwolves, who just looked horrific against the Warriors, and the second-to-last tier, OKC, Knicks, and Celtics, and the not-worried-at-all tier. the finals bound Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets. So let us know what you think. Let us know in the chat. Let us know in the comment section, please.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
If you would just comment on this video, not necessarily the chat, but on the video would be great. And then if you would like the video as well, if you're watching on YouTube, we appreciate you guys listening and we'll talk to you guys again next time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Glad you said it. Glad you said it makes me feel a little bit better. Walsh in the chat. Why foul up three instead of up two? If they hit a three to make OT good on them, that strategy should be to take away an instant loss. OT isn't that bad if you hit the shot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
welcome to the morning shoot around here on the athletic nba dailies youtube feed we've been doing this for a couple weeks now it's just a time for us to to get together and chat in a more long form way engage with the chat and just to just hang out honestly it's just a good hangout time here every single wednesday you can join us here on youtube We would love to chat with you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Zena, how's it going? What's up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. Yeah. Period. Yeah. Mike Weisberg in the chat says that they scored 29 in the third. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. What do you guys think about this? So – Both the Nuggets and really all these, like the lower Cs just came off of series where they were highly competitive. They had to be completely engaged. They're turned up to 11. And these other teams like the Thunder have one concern, not one concern about the Memphis Grizzlies ever winning that series. They were never going to win the series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
So with me, I'm Andrew Schlecht. With me, I've had Dave DeFore. Dave, how are you feeling after last night?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
The Cavaliers didn't have really any concerns in round one. The Timberwolves just handled the Lakers. No concern at all. I just wonder about... these teams that have had to have like real playoff rounds versus teams that did not. And then in game one, it's the teams that have already met that level of competition. Like they're still there. Yeah. Everybody's like, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
It's going to be exhausted. They're going to get killed in this game. No, they actually came out and had that same level of competitiveness. Like I thought the thunder were actually the better team the whole night and It's just that edge and that level of physicality and competitiveness was not there for the Thunder, but it was there for the Nuggets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
Yeah. And you can't stress yourself. It's almost like I make this... The moment has to come.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
But here's the thing. In the right moments.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Thunder should be worried | Morning Shoot Around
i just don't think like i i uh i would draw a comparison to like my physical therapy and going through right now like you can't like your knee like when you're trying to bend it whenever you like have this new acl you can't move it past a particular point like your body won't let you and like when you're practicing with your own team you can't stress yourself
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Okay, well, let me go the other way then. Don't be down three, right? That's the other solution to this. I've seen people tweet this out, but I think that's a valid argument, counter argument to this thing. Don't be down three. Don't be in this situation to close the game. And also, if you are up,
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
three and you're getting fouled or if you're down basically make your free throws right free throws are free for a reason um they are you know for a lot of people they say it's the easiest shot in the in the game make your free throw right that's the counter arguments of this i also think strategically um you know miss the miss the free throw intentionally sooner
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
probably gonna have to think about because it's it's just it's what is a huge game you know if i'm wrong doesn't fiba do something along the lines of it being an intentional foul right if you foul in this way it becomes an intentional foul and it's immediately a free throw plus the ball right yes the take foul rule yeah Right. So do that. I feel like that might be the way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
But then there's also ways to game that system. So it's like, are you adding another level of gamesmanship that can be exploited?
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
analytics have definitely caught up to the fact that this is the most efficient way to win a game when you're up three points i think the game is the game but also at some point when are you going to make the tv product a little bit more engaging for fans especially when you have an all-time level game like we watched tonight Ja, und mit der Prävalenz der drei, richtig?
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Yeah, the math battle came to help OKC tonight a little bit. So OKC ended up taking 95 shots, Minnesota ended up taking 84. The offensive rebounds were massive. Now I know Minnesota kind of clawed back in that department. Overall towards the second half. But you mentioned turnovers. That's a huge part of this, where OKC constantly played with a lead in this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
And it was Minnesota trying to claw back with the three-point shooting. I mean, their bench was just incredible in this game. Between Nasri, Dante DiVincenzo and Nikhil Alexander-Walker. They're cousins, by the way. They're cousins, if you guys don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Did you know? They're related. Wisst ihr, dass Chet Holmgren aus Minnesota ist und SGA und Nikhil Alexander-Walker sind Cousins, Leute? Aber nein, es war ein unglaubliches Spiel für Minnesota, also war die Art und Weise, wie OKC antwortete, großartig. Ich möchte den Playmaking von SGA anmerken.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Er hat heute Abend mit 10 Assists gespielt und Minnesota war klar auf dem Weg, was er als Tore machen wollte. He still ended up with 40, which is ridiculous to Andrew's point. But the fact that he was making the right reads, I thought this was like maybe the most consequential playmaking game of Shay's career that I've watched because he was making the right calls, getting it to shooters.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
And to your point, Andrew, the shooters knocked down the shots. They capitalized on the opportunities Shay was creating for them. That's what you want out of your lead guard. That's what you want out of your MVP. And tonight he showed it off. It was awesome.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
You know what? I still have to cook through this, but from what I'm looking at here... SGA, J-Dub und Check kombinieren für 95 Punkte heute Abend. Das sind viele Punkte. Und ich habe durch die Geschichte von OKC geschaut, um zu sehen, ob andere Trios so viel gespielt haben. Die einzige Zeit, in der sie nahe waren,
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Was in 2011, it was a triple overtime game against the Minnesota, actually it was against the Memphis Grizzlies. OKC won that game. James Harden, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook scored 94 points. And tonight... It was 95 by J-Dub, Chet and SGA. I mean, mathematically, statistically. They are better, I think is what you're saying, S. These guys are better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
It was the best OKC-Trio game of all time, apparently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Yeah, it seemed like he was a step slow to everything. And I think the jumper wasn't flowing for him early. And I don't know, when it's a game like this, where Ant has to get things going for you, like, I mean, he had six assists and five turnovers tonight. I think part of that, to your point, Andrew, was the pressure that OKC was applying.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Lou Dort was massive in this game as the primary assignment on Ant Edwards. And I think Ant did an OK job, actually a pretty good job, I would say, of trying to get...
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
minnesotas offens running like the reason they got those corner threes was because of the driving kicks because of the fact that ant was putting pressure on the rim randall was not doing that um and i think that was a very very missed opportunity from randall to do that the question you have moving forward with with minnesota and if they can do it is like can they replicate this type of shooting on the road against okay i don't know if that's necessarily the case i think this is a very very tall task for minnesota moving forward
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
Kann ich, kann ich nur sagen, ähm, zurück zu 2011, 2012. Ja. OKC war 2-0 im Western Conference Finals, also Spurs. Und sie haben es aufgerufen und haben vier Mal gewonnen. Und es war wie ein wachsender Moment für KD, Westbrook, Harden. Und du denkst dir, wow, diese Leute haben es herausgefunden. Sie bewegen das Team, das die Westen jahrelang dominiert hat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
And it's not the same tonight because Minnesota is still a young team and they have a young player on the other side with Anthony Edwards. But we've seen like multiple moments in this postseason run for OKC where they're growing up. Game seven versus Denver is that grow up game. This game, I think, was a grow up game where you saw their three stars to show up in in the best way possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
And like this is terrifying for the league because all three of those guys playing the way that they just did. It seems sustainable in an era where it's really, really hard to remain sustainable as a contender. So just thinking moving forward, it's just really impressive that this game turned out this way for OKC2.
The Athletic NBA Daily
SGA drops 40; Thunder go up 3-1 on Wolves
100 Prozent. The game is the game. The rules are there for a reason. And if they say you can foul up three with no consequences, cool. Teams should do it more often. Right now, it has come to bite OKC in the butt before. Right. I mean, you remember game one versus the Denver Nuggets, where Aaron Gordon came back. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
They probably got another blowout in their favor coming.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Another opportunity. You have a table setter like Harden who knows how to handle a double team, and it opens up so many things on the floor. And I like Norm Powell. I mean, he can score with the ball, but also works so well off the ball, coming off screens. And then they have all these high floor players. You know, Chris Dunn, who can lock a guy down for you. I mean, Evita Zubac. Zubac.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Amazing season. So, I mean, this team, like, look, they're 11 and eight right now after getting smacked by the Celtics, which everybody gets smacked by the Celtics. But, you know, they look competitive. And when you look around the league and you look at, you know, just the parody around the league and how tight the West looks like it's going to be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Man, if they can survive long enough, you know, to either where Harden is actually like fully in full in James Harden shape, which he's not quite there yet. It takes till like February, March or, you know, somehow Kawhi can come back and add something to this team in the spring come playoff time. They are going to be dangerous no matter what, because they just have so many dudes at the very least.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yeah. Well, go and read them over at The Athletic. Lyle Murray, one of my favorites. You're going to do power rankings right after you leave us? Is that what's happening? Tuesday morning. There we go. Go and catch those power rankings, everybody. Stick around after the break. S and I are going to talk about why so many small guards are finding success in the modern NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
We put the call out on the website and you guys answered. We got a bunch of questions. If you didn't get a chance to leave us your questions, go to theathletic.com. Go and check out the NBA front page. You'll see we put up the mailbag request on the website. I'll put the link in the show description so you guys know where it's at. But we got some great questions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
First two questions from the website for the new pod. So here we go. We got Bodie S., which I can't help but think of Point Break. With Scottie Pippen Jr. experiencing success lately and how successful Jalen Brunson has been, will NBA teams start giving small, talented players the same opportunity they give long, athletic wings who have no actual basketball skills?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
All right, let me just set the table here first. Number one, that's not... the, the actual, no actual basketball skills does not happen. Definitely doesn't happen anymore.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Not anymore. I mean, there were definitely guys who, you know, it was like, he's six, eight and long, and we're going to try this project. We're going to teach him. Yeah. It doesn't happen anymore. There's no bums anymore. And I would say this, you're never going to see the smalls, like the real small guys get true opportunity because it's just the, the level, like the floor is lower.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
I mean, literally and figuratively, but, I mean, I guess the ceiling is lower, but the floor is actually lower just because the height does matter in the sport. But what I'll say is this. Part of the reason why smalls have become more successful is because of spacing bigs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
You've got more space to operate in, which means the defense has more room they have to cover, which means when you're small, you can open up bigger windows. Now, it's still – I mean, you got to work. You watch Scottie Pippen. I don't know how many miles he's running the game, but I bet it's quite a bit because you're having to work so much harder off the ball and a lot of backdoor cutting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Now, Brunson, what he's able to do, I mean, he's just putting on his Timberland boots and going to work. I mean, he plays like a much bigger guy. He almost plays more like DeMar DeRozan.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
usually winds up being when these small guys don't make it, it's the defensive end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Thomas, man, like guy was guys five, nine and, and had a really good run, including that whole run with the Celtics. Yeah. Before he, he had the hip injury. I mean, honestly, he had one of the best sort of hesitation dribbles ever in the NBA. And then they started calling it a carry. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
We're rooting for no injuries there. And let's not forget what he does for them defensively. It gets lost how important he is for this team as a rim protector. Early in this season, he was out there locking guys up at the end of games. I mean, I think about him guarding James Harden. quite a bit, like from early on in the season. So yeah, big news for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yep. And it was useful. But next question. Here we go. KCB. Here we go. And this was this is a good question. Who is most likely to become the next great former player turned head coach? Asked about Jerry Stackhouse, maybe Rajon Rondo. I'll say Stackhouse might be the guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
You know, I know some folks that have worked with him in some of his previous stops. I mean, I really thought that by now he would have gotten a chance, especially like coming off his Toronto G League.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
The Warriors bump that he's getting, I don't know if you noticed, but a lot of people giving him credit for the improvement in the defense. I mean, part of that's personnel, but clearly he has got a huge instructional role there. I think Stackhouse is probably a good thought here of the guy who's going to be in the next round of conversations when an opening comes up. Anybody that we're missing?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
I saw Kemba Walker on the bench tonight, and it reminded me that he's sitting on the bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yeah, I mean, listen, I... The pipeline now seems very clear for the former player to get into coaching. We know about how it works with the front office. So I think we're going to be seeing more and more of that just as the, you know, nepotism is a thing, right? Like, and that's, it's going to play into it. So it is a corporate environment too. And these players already know everybody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
And they know what you know going in. You don't have to prove yourself if you're a player. So it's a little bit – maybe I'm not even going to say an easier path because that would be disrespectful. But it is a different path, I'll say. But Stackhouse, from everything I know and everything I've heard from people who work with him directly – That guy is going to be a guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Doing a great job. And he had a pretty, you know, he had an OK summer, I think. I mean, it wasn't as bad for him as people want to make it out to be. But yeah, it's been pretty good this season. That's going to do it for today's show, folks. Thank you guys for tuning in. Really appreciate it. For S. Baraheni, I'm Dave DeFore. And this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Also, hey, John Morant, he was back last night. He scored 22 points. The Grizzlies handled business against the Blazers. What'd you think about John? I mean, outside of the huge dunk and the huge, like, I mean, you know, the highlight reels, I thought he looked pretty good overall.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
I mean, he is also, to be quite honest, he is the one player that is constantly trying to make sure you got your money's worth.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yeah. Every single time he has an opportunity to try to yam on somebody, he's going for it. I mean, he misses a lot of dunks because of it. But, you know, so it is good to see him out there. Also, he as the drink, sir, for Memphis is going to open up a lot of things. I mean, Desmond Bain has been doing it here the last couple of weeks and somehow, you know, they've managed to withstand that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
But now things are going to start to look a little bit clearer for Memphis. If Zach Eady can get back healthy. you know, you start to see this team coming together quite a bit. I mean, they've been a little bit forgotten early on in the season because they, you know, they've been riding this wave, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
I don't know about that one. OK, speaking of forgotten teams, the Pelicans got some good injury news. DeJounte Murray is going to come back apparently Wednesday. But, you know, you got to ask, I mean, what does this mean for Alfred Payton? Alfred Payton last night played his first basketball game since 2022, had 21 assists in the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
And then we're going to answer a couple of listener questions. S, I got to ask you a question. Jaden Ivey hits a game winner over the Raptors. Will the Raptors take the L or are they going to file a lawsuit? Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Good morning. Some big news in the NBA. We had, I mean, a busy Monday night. You know how it goes. But we got to start with the news.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Now, look, they were playing the Pacers at home, and that meant, S, that Tyrese Halliburton showed up, and so they lost that game. But still, great performance from Alfred Payton. That's kind of incredible. The most single-game assists this year by any player, Alfred Payton, up off his couch. But Tyrese Halliburton is really the story from the game last night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Looked good, but it was a home game like we talked about yesterday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
I got to I got to ask you a question. Yeah. Had some some disappointing performances last night. I got to ask you which one's worse. Okay. The Warriors blowing an 18-point lead to the Frisky Nets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Yeah. Or the Denver Nuggets not even showing up against the Knicks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
That's right, and everyone, when they lose to Utah... They play harder that next game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Guys, stick around. After the break, we got Law Murray to break down the Clippers just getting swatted away by the Celtics. The NBA Daily Curse continues. S, we just got to quit. Yeah, we're like 0-6. Yeah, we got to quit doing this to people. Law Murray, Clippers beat writer at The Athletic, joining us right after the Celtics just destroyed the Clippers. It was 126-94.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are coming back for the NBA Cup matchup tonight against the Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Law, you made the trip for the blowout. At least you got to see Kristaps Porzingis. He had 16 points. How did he look?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
And honestly, like this is this is actually awesome that they are coming back for this game. Now it's a national TV game and these guys get up for that. But also the Suns are a team that we like coming into the season. We thought they were a contender. We've liked them when they've been at full strength and they just lost five straight. So it's good to see them getting back to full strength.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 26, 2024. Coming up, Kevin Durant's going to come back and we're going to talk about his impact on the Suns. Man, they really missed him. Law Murray got to see Christoph Porzingis and the Celtics dust the Clippers. And so we got his perspective on Porzingis and what happened with the Celtics just absolutely crushing the Clippers in this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kristaps Porzingis; Ja Morant return | Knicks demolish low effort Nuggets
They really do need both of those guys. It's just going to help their rotation just kind of sort itself out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, but this is a 55-win floor for this team, right? Like, I mean, listen to how you're speaking about them. You know, this is a team that's... Isn't it a 60-win floor, honestly? It could be. Like, I mean, they just have so much talent. And now with Porzingis back and, you know, they look really... Like, you see this complete team at times, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Like, we know what is going to become May and June. So do you feel like... This is more just, OK, they're they're working their way through the season because they know what it takes to get through it and to try to be healthy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
I think they are. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Well, let's let's talk about Drew Holiday. I want to want to bring up that four of 17 from three game. I mean, that is sort of I've got a huge pin in that on my Celtics board. You know, when I'm thinking about, you know, getting to playoff time, what are the narratives we need to consider? He's going to be left open to shoot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And I think that, like you said, it creates this sort of lineup dilemma a little bit when you're closing games. But If you're the Celtics, I mean, is there really a world in which you could see Peyton Pritchard getting the green light down the stretch of games over a guy like Drew Holiday? Well, it is happening.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Any big takeaways from this one game that you're going to be looking for? You know, and again, understanding that the Sixers have had such a rough season and they're still getting their feet under them. But, you know, what do you want to see out of the Sixers and what do you want to see out of the Celtics?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, I agree with that. Now's the time, Jared, where I ask you to give a New Year's resolution for these teams because we're actually taking the rest of the week off. It's very, very nice. Wonderful holidays around here. So, Jared, I mean, I think the Sixers one probably is just related to health and, you know, getting rest and recovery.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
But would there be something that you wish for them for the rest of the season outside of health?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, sounds like we need Nick Nurse to get an offensive playbook for Christmas. What about the Celtics? What do you wish or what should their resolution be for the for the new year? Stay healthy. Stay healthy. Stay healthy. Keep shooting threes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah. Well, guys, go and read Jarrett over at The Athletic. Again, he's one of the best writers that we've got and one of my favorite guys to podcast with. So thanks for popping on the show. We don't get you on here enough, but, you know, 2025 is going to be busy for Jarrett Weiss. I can see it right now. Guys, stick around after the break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Zena and Anthony Slater are going to talk about the Warriors and Lakers. Steph versus LeBron because it's Christmas Day and the league is out of ideas.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Merry Christmas to everybody from the Saturday Slammin' Jam. I'm your host, Andrew Schlecht. With me is Alex Spears. We are here to talk about some Christmas wishes. Al, what would you like to see happen in the NBA around Christmas time for maybe a fan base or a player or a team? What you got?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And then Andrew Schlecht and Alex Spears give their Christmas wishes for the NBA. Good morning, everybody. We wanted to wish you guys a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever reason you're celebrating this time of year. It's a good one, and we hope you have a safe and happy time. Enjoy the games on Christmas. It's going to be a good time. We've got Stephan LeBron. We've got Wemby in New York.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, I think that they may run into a problem here. You know, like Ron Holland is a really interesting prospect. 6'8", but the shooting is going to be a concern. Same with 6'7", Asar Thompson. I feel like they have... problems with each of them. But the issue that I would have with, with trading either one of them is that it's so early for each of them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And like, which one is going to pop, I think is a, is a legitimate question. And I would probably lean a SAR Thompson just because I, I like what I saw from him last year, but like, do we know for sure? And then if you traded the wrong one, because both these guys have like some serious upside and some serious downside, uh, That would scare me a bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
But also, do you have the developmental time for either one of them, you know, for both of them actually to get on the court and to play significant minutes to figure it out? I think there's a lot of issues with the Pistons, but that's probably where I would start. And if I'm Portland, that's where I would start with the trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
It's like, give me one of those guys is who I would want in a deal just because they're at least intriguing enough for a rebuilding team. Yeah. But if they traded a Sar Thompson for somebody, I don't think it would be lauded. I'll say that. Okay. Probably not. Probably not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
They may have some leverage, but I think we might still be a little bit away from them having a kind of equivocally great trade done. Okay. My Christmas wish... And it feels like it's already on the table.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Like, let's let's be honest, Sam Amick and Anthony Slater, good friends of the program, are reporting that there is some interest in trading him and trading De'Aaron Fox from the Kings to somewhere. The Spurs have been brought up as a team that would be interested.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And then Fox has even talked about he talked about it on Draymond Green's podcast that he wants to make sure that we're in a position to try to win in the future because that's ultimately what I want to do. For me, it's are we looking like we're continuing to get better year after year or are we going to be able to compete at a high level?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Not looking so good for the Sacramento Kings, who are currently sitting on at 12th in the Western Conference. Now they're only. what four games back of the six spots. So like things can change quickly in the Western conference, but losers are four in a row. As we sit here recording this 13 and 17, it's just, has not been a great season for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Um, even if they did have a great few weeks and they climbed back into the play in race, um, I just feel like they're stuck in the middle with this roster. Just probably the worst place to be in the NBA. And if this really is how De'Aaron Fox feels, that he wants to compete and get better year after year, and he has Rich Paul as his agent, I just wonder if we're heading toward some kind of trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And to me, it makes sense for both parties. For the Kings to probably... bottom out a little bit, although they were stuck there for 16 years. They're just going to have to do it the right way to trade Fox, get something good in return, which I think that you could just because there's not a lot of great players on the trade market besides he and Jimmy Butler.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
So for the Spurs, I just wonder what it would look like. Now they could trade. a package of like Keldon Johnson, Trey Jones, Malachi Branham, and probably like three first round picks for Darren Fox. What do you think about that kind of deal, Al, for Fox?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
I don't either. I don't I don't I get the feeling that they would not be, which would almost make them stuck in the middle more. I also wonder if like instead of picks, they would want a Jeremy Sohan, who is like more of a ready made product. I don't love the idea of putting Sohan next to Damanis Sabonis. Maybe you would trade Sabonis at some point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Instead, I also don't know if the Spurs would be willing to include him. I think he's an interesting player for sure. And an interesting archetype of player that's not necessarily easy to get. And there's not also necessarily the player that you want just because of the shooting. So I don't know about throwing him in or not. But I think there is there are many pathways, I would say.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
for the San Antonio Spurs to get in on this, whether it is a picks heavy deal, they have young talent that you could throw back at the Kings. I think they are, they've already been mentioned by Amick and Slater, but I do think there's a lot of viable trades that exist there. I also wondered about this one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
If they wanted to stay competitive and they wanted something for the future, I wonder if Houston would be willing to get in on this and trade Fred Van Vliet and Reed Shepard to the Kings for Darren Fox, Kevin Herter, and Trey Lyles just to make the money work. What do you think about that kind of trade? Of the ones...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Mm hmm. Yeah, the Reed Shepard to the Rockets was always a funny fit to me. Because if you look at what the plan is for this Rockets team, it's a lot of length and athleticism and guys that can defend. And he's like none of those things. He doesn't fit the mold as a Rockets player at all. And so I think that giving him...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
A fresh start with Sacramento, letting him have the ball a little bit more and create. I think Sabonis is a pretty as a good big for him. Not that Shangoon wouldn't be, but I think that it's hard to find the pathway for him right now. And I think that if he had another place where he could really flourish under Mike Brown, who coached a guy that's similar to Reed and Steph Curry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
I think a lot of people have made that comp. Obviously, Reed is nowhere close to what Steph is, but he's a similar kind of player and similar kind of shooter. I think that could be pretty interesting. So that was my favorite. A couple others were De'Aaron Fox to the Toronto Raptors, a team that... has trouble bottoming out. And so I think that he would be interesting there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
They just extended Emmanuel quickly. I don't love his deal more than I examined it. I don't love it. But if you're the Kings, like he's a player that's ready to play now, he's 32 million over the next 32 million a year right now. And then Grady Dick, and then probably an extra first round pick. Does that, does that get the juices flowing at all? I like the idea of Grady Dick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah. And then the last one, just because it's the Lakers. You got to throw the Lakers in there. It have to be there. I think they only have one first that they can trade. So they'll give give the one first. And then D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves and Dalton Connect for Deere and Fox. Any thoughts on that? Yeah. Yeah. Russell's expiring. So a little, a little cap relief there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
You get Austin Reeves. Who's on a really, he's got, he's on a really nice deal. And then you get Dalton connect. Good shooter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Oh, I think about like literally in the NBA, not in the NBA, but he's he's looked good. He was he's ready to play in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, it's a problem with the Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, the problem with the Lakers, though, is like, I don't think you're getting anywhere with the depth you have anyways.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Listen, I don't, I mean that they are not going to be a team that competes for a championship, like period. So you might as well. So then you shouldn't make this sort of trade. You should just get a, you should just get a great starting five. I don't know that like D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves, Dalton connector. Are any of those guys going to be on the next great Lakers team?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
You know, I'd rather just have deer and Fox.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, it is. That's I mean, and that's why you do it if you're the Kinks. Yeah, because you just don't believe that this is going to last. And you pick up like a couple of role players. You get some cap relief with D'Angelo Russell expiring. I think it's interesting. Overall, I think that I would guess if if he is traded, the two Texas teams make the most sense. You know, get him to San Antonio.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
There's a lot of ways you could do that. And then I do think the Rockets have intriguing pieces to make this happen. You start with Fred Van Vliet's contract and then you work your way around it. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah. I think they're reasonable too. I hope you guys get some reasonable presents on Christmas and that we get some reasonably great NBA basketball on Christmas. Really thankful for all you guys that tune into the Slammin' Jam every Saturday. We really appreciate you guys a lot. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and we will talk to you guys again in a couple weeks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
It's going to be great. Coming up, guys, we've got S sitting down with James Edwards to talk about that game, to talk about why Wemby is playing on Christmas and why the Knicks might have one of the best offenses in NBA history.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 24th, 2024. Coming up, it's Christmas Day and we're talking about all the games. We've got S sitting down with James Edwards to talk Spurs-Knicks. I sat down with Jared Weiss to talk about Sixers-Celtics. Zena got a chance to sit down with Anthony Slater to talk Warriors-Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Joining me to talk about the Sixers and Celtics big Christmas Day clash, my good buddy, Jared Weiss. Jared, welcome back to the show. What's up? The Christmas episode. That's what's up. Before we jump to the game, you know, you just dropped a piece at The Athletic on A.J. DeBonsa. This guy, I saw some clips of him over the weekend for the first time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
And let's just say he pops, just pops from the screen. Tell me about A.J. DeBonsa.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Oh, interesting. Well, so go and read that over at The Athletic. Jared does a really good job breaking down draft prospects every year anyway, and one of the better storytellers that we probably have writing about these guys. But Jared, you're here to talk hoops, man. We're here to talk about the games on Christmas Day, a tradition unlike any other, the Sixers and Celtics. Needless to say.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
These two teams have not had similar starts to their season. I think the Celtics look just as good as they closed out last year, obviously winning a title. And the Sixers have had what you can only describe as a season from hell between the injury stuff and just general morass. And honestly, it feels like cursed vibes around there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Catch us up to date on where they are now, because things are actually starting to change for both teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Okay, now where are the Celtics? That was perfect. I couldn't have said that any better. I love that so much. Please catch me up to date on the Celtics. Where are they right now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
It was perfect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
I think we'll see times where Isaiah Hartenstein has time on him. I think they'll throw the kitchen sink at Giannis tomorrow night. So we'll certainly see that. But it's really more about their team defense. How do they do against a player with that kind of gravity, with that kind of force going at the rim? And so that, to me, is probably the most interesting thing about this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Because it really does matter if you're playing the Bucs. What does your defense do? There are numbers out there and people are saying it. This is one of the best defenses ever. Period. And... how do you do against a guy like Giannis? I think is really, is really important. And how do you do with the pressure of like winning this game?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
You know, the Thunder, they've been in a pressurized environment before, you know, they were in the game six with Dallas and it was, they were one play away from winning the game. I know that that is, there's a bad taste in their mouth from that. And so now it's just another time to stress test that particular thing. It's like, how do we do in an elimination game? And so it's a cool opportunity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Who's going to capture the cup, Dave.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Yeah, I mean, as a post defender, certainly you'd want Hartenstein to be that guy. But I think it's going to be a lot of guys. I think we'll even see Kendrick Williams being that guy at times. And they're just going to throw multiple guys at him. Let's be clear. They're going to make... Tori and Prince prove it. And they may pay for it because they've done this in the past.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
If you go back, just go look at the numbers for the Mavericks in that series last year with the numbers for Luka and Kairi. They weren't good. The Thunder did a great job on them. And they were like, hey, everybody else on the Mavericks, prove it. Prove that you can beat us. And they did.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
And so the same thing could happen tomorrow where they throw everything at Giannis and they're like, Tori and Prince... welcome to the show. Good luck. You know, they could do the same for AJ green. I think he's somebody else that they're like, Hey, great. Undrafted. We're really proud of you. Can you make seven of 10? You know, let's try it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Let's see if you can do it because that's what you're going to have to do to beat us. And so that, that's kind of my expectation for how they handle this is like, let's, let's take away that thunder, give up more corner threes than any team in the league, by the way. And so it's, I think that it's more important for the Thunder to stop rim attempts than it is to stop the corners for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
And sometimes it really works in their favor and sometimes it doesn't. And we'll see what happens tomorrow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Mm hmm. Yeah, I think quite different. They're also missing Chet, too, which changes the way that they play on the offensive end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Obviously, Chet is... Yeah, go ahead.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
He played so badly. I remember that. It was one of those games where... It was probably a game where Chet shouldn't have played, if I remember correctly. And he was just bound and determined to play all 82. And so he played every second that he could have last season. I think it is a lot different because there was a place to go, you know, within the Thunder defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
And it was always to, okay, let's, you know, Josh Giddey's the weak link. We can get a switch. We can, you know, if we get him on Giannis or on Chris or on Dame, it's, you know, it's time to cook now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
there's really nowhere to go and certainly in the starting lineup if they start case and wallace well there's no there's there's no hole in the defense and then coming off the bench it's really isaiah joe or aaron wiggins are probably the two worst defenders on the team i would say but they're on any other team you would say like oh that's a good defender they're an average defender.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
They're both fine. Isaiah Joe is actually top five in charges taken this season. So he's consistently putting in effort. And so that to me is the biggest thing. Josh is a really talented player. But one, you have to really figure things out offensively with him because he doesn't shoot it. And then... defensively, it was always challenging.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
I mean, the Thunder had to pull him from the starting lineup against the Mavericks last season because of the issues that they had with him. And so the fact that you can go one through 10, basically, and have no weak defender is a pretty big deal. Yeah, and the Bucs can't say the same thing because I think you look across and you wonder who defends Shea, right? And if that's your best guy,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Well, who defends J-Dub now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
There's major issues. And if they're able to generate switches and get Dame to guard either one of those guys. Barbecue chicken.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Yeah, I think a lot of people will treat it that way. But Shea's been around, man. I think that people just don't notice because the league does such a bad job of promoting this Thunder team. It's funny because every national TV game the Thunder get, they're always like, hey... Let me introduce you to this cute little team that we got here in Oklahoma City. Have you heard of this guy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
He's got a really long last name. It's Shea Gildress Alexander. Can you believe that? That's wild. He's actually good. You know, I feel like this happens every time they play national television. And He's been good for a while. He's been top five and MVP twice already. He should be, again, this season. He's got a max deal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
When he gets his extension, he's going to be the first $80 million man in the NBA. This is a guy that has been around. He's got a signature shoe coming. He... This is this is one of the stars of the game. And the league is missing out, not promoting this guy as such. And they're missing out, not promoting this team as like one of their up and coming teams. They didn't play an opening night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
They're not playing on Christmas Day. It's it's a problem that's that's like high level NBA level. because I think that the league doesn't know what to do with these guys. They're like, they still want to point to, Hey, you guys remember Steph Curry and LeBron? Like we still, those guys are still playing. Can you believe it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
You know, it's, it's a problem because those guys, the clock is ticking and those guys are still good. And there's still, Fun to watch. Don't get me wrong. I still love watching those guys. When I can see those guys in person, I want to see them. But those guys promote themselves. You don't really need to promote LeBron anymore. Now it's time to invest in the future.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
And they have with Wimbledon to a large degree, but the Spurs aren't ready. And that's not Wimpy's fault, but you have a team that is ready. They're going to... you know, a lot of people think they're going to the finals. So why are we waiting to promote this team? Why do we think that some cute little story?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Respect the cup. They're going to respect the cup tonight. I think they're going to do it. All right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Oh, no. I mean, it's all business here. It's all business here, Dave. They're locked in. They're ready. I think the thing that is maybe this is most interesting is that the Thunder really just want to test who they are under this environment because it is a different environment. Yeah. One, you're in Las Vegas, which I think is it just presents a lot of variables, I would say.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
And then two, I think that just being at this game where it's not a it's not a hostile environment that you're used to being on the road. It's not like this warm environment that you have when you're at home. It is just different. It just feels different. Even they're viewing the game. It just felt strange.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
So I think they just want to test themselves under this environment. And that's kind of the messaging. and I'll tell you this, they want to win this thing. The Thunder are locked in. They want to win this thing. Obviously, J. Will wants to win it for the money. He's not even playing. He hasn't played at all this season, but the dude won't stop talking about how much he wants the money.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
But I think that these guys see this as an opportunity to show the world, like, hey, we've actually been here, but now you get to notice that we're here because the Thunder really are that good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Yeah, I think the answer that you would get is probably the latter, that it's more about like the environment. But I really do think that it's important for them to to beat a team that has a guy like Giannis on the other side, because I think there are a lot of people that would say that Giannis is the best player in this game. And I think that's that's totally fair. He and Shay are
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
very different players stylistically obviously size-wise they're very different but i think that one of those two will be the best player in this game like i think that we can say that and feel feel good saying that um and they don't they don't necessarily have like the guy that you would want to defend yannis and so it's really going to stress test their defense
The Athletic NBA Daily
Bucks & Thunder square up for the NBA Cup | Shai or Giannis for MVP?
Because this is a team that they do not want players to score at the rim. And they pack the paint and recover is kind of their strategy. And so they will pack the paint on Giannis. They'll throw a lot of guys on him. My guess is that Dort will start on him. I'm guessing Alex Caruso will see time on him. I think J-Dub will see time on him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Yeah. I mean, listen, I love a coach that that likes to tinker, but you have to be careful, man. Like sometimes you can get you do a little bit too much tinker. You get a tinker stinker and that's not fun. Come on, dad. I'm telling you right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
blown out in one of these games and people are just going to hammer some rotations for Mark Dagnall. Andrew, thank you very much for joining us and giving us the feel in the arena, which, by the way, one of the best arenas in the NBA to watch a game. I got to see Steph Curry there once. Man, so much fun.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Coming up after the break, we're going to dig into Victor Wiminyama and tell you why he's shooting way too many threes. All right, guys, on our way out. Look, we've been hammering the email NBA daily at the athletic dot com. And we've gotten some emails. And tonight was a perfect night for this email. So Victor Wiminyama has a great game. The Spurs look pretty good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
And this is going to sound funny when we get to it, because Victor Wiminyama hit a bunch of threes. The Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings one sixteen and ninety six. And Victor Wiminyama was awesome. So I want to read this email because it's timely. Hey, guys, really enjoy the new athletic NBA format. Dave was a great choice, which thank you very much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
I'm going to skip the part where he's saying the nice stuff. If anything, I wish it was longer. Hey, you know what? Keep those emails coming. I haven't heard much conversation about Wemby yet on the pod and how bad of a season he's having. A 7'5 generational player whose shot selection is looking like Michael Porter Jr.'s. I'm not a Spurs fan. This is a Wolves fan, so take that in mind.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
But I've tuned in a few times to Spurs and have really been surprised by how bad he looks. He'll do something incredible once or twice a game. And defensively, he says fine here, Isaac. Defensively, he's amazing. But at what point do you ditch all the outside stuff and make him play in the paint? He reminds me of Carl Anthony Towns. And I'm going to just cut it off there. Thanks and take care.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
That's from George Fallon in the UK, which is fantastic worldwide show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
This is a funny night to complain about Victor Wiminyama shooting threes because he goes six for 12 from three, Zena. But his average shot distance this season per Joe Wolfson on Twitter is 16 and a half feet. Damian Lillard for his career, 16.4. That is a problem, even just spiritually for me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
He's a little too skinny to post up. I mean, Alex Caruso shoved him around in that game the other night. Dubonis Sabonis last night was shoving him around. So that's tough. But for me, a big man who can shoot, who can dribble, who can pump fake and go, and who can pass like Victor Wiminyama would be extremely valuable at the elbow, at the nail.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Somewhere in the middle of the court where he can get the ball, make a decision, make a dribble, and make stuff happening. But, I mean, listen, the guy's amazing. He was amazing in the game last night. I can't complain. I just would like to see the 7'5 guy put the ball in the basket more than 30% of the time. That's going to do it for today's show, folks. Thank you guys for listening.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
For Zena Kata and Andrew Schlecht, I'm Dave Dufour, and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Yeah, Jared Allen had to leave the game, suffered an injury, so they finished the game without him. No update as of recording, but you mentioned the bench and the depth, and they actually won the game for him. Absolutely. You look at this game and the Bulls starters, I think for the majority of the game, they really did kind of outperform the Cavs starters. Donovan Mitchell kept them in it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
With the 25 points, he needed that. But the bench, you had Ty Jerome, you had George Niang. You had these guys coming off the bench and getting points. Ty Jerome had a bunch of key steals and was out there. They ran an interesting lineup for a little bit. We didn't get to see it very long, but it was three guards.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
It was Ty Jerome, it was Darius Garland, and it was Donovan Mitchell with their two bigs. And that was interesting. So this team, they have just a lot of different lineup combinations. Everything's clicking for them right now. They're just shooting the leather off the ball, which they're also getting a little bit of shooting luck on the other end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
But last year when it was happening for OKC, we didn't hold that against them. I'm not ready to hold that shooting luck against the Cavs either. I just think that when you look at what they're doing defensively, it looks better than the numbers maybe are. I think they're still top 10 in defense. But they've got some moments here in the game last night where –
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
The starters were out there after the bench brought them back, and those guys were flying all over the court. You had Donovan Mitchell X-ing out on shooters, and you had Mobley and Allen working the baseline together. So they are able to lock in and kind of crank it up to another level, even defensively, too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
And so it's nice. It's nice when like Darius Garland is the second guy on a swing swing. Right. And they keep having guys out there, even Evan Mobley. A guy catches the ball, swing, swing. The guy who catches it knows what to do with it. Those guys are just – and they're clicking. Kenny Atkinson, we're going to now be hammering the Cavs every day because Kenny Atkinson has that offense humming.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
We've got to talk NBA Cup because that's tonight. I mean, this is – it's a huge deal. And, you know, last year was so much fun, and we're going to be locked in on it for the whole month here, and we're going to be out in Vegas. So it's very important to us, and unfortunately – Being colored by injuries.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
I mean, as we go into the opening round of group play for the NBA Cup, we've got the Chet Holmgren injury, which we're going to dig into after the break with Andrew Schlecht. He's out eight to ten weeks. Kevin Durant out at least two weeks with a calf. Zion Williamson, four to six weeks with a hamstring. John Morant, week to week with a hip.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
How about those calves, Zena? 12 and 0. When are they going to stop? I actually asked you this, you know, in our little group chat. When are we going to believe in them? That's that's the real question that we got to start getting to because. I'm starting to believe a little bit, even though they got another scare from the Bulls. You know, the Nets put the scare into them the other night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Damian Lillard, we found out last night, is in concussion protocol. So he's going to miss the Bucs game on Tuesday. The vibes keep getting worse for Milwaukee. This is going to be a rough week for a bunch of teams, but... It's not all negative. Okay. Luckily, Joel Embiid is going to come back. He's going to make his season debut. And man, I'm excited. And they need him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Did you just hit an Arsenio? I did. In 2020. Were you even alive for Arsenio?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
I'm just kidding. I was not. But it was still fun. That's going to make social media, I bet. So yeah, Zeta, Embiid's back. Look, I know you're big on bigs. So I mean, this is like a big deal to you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
We'll see. I don't think we're going to see that on Tuesday night. I mean, I just don't know. My expectations for Joel are very low after missing training camp in the first month of the season. But, you know, it's the NBA Cup. Guys are going to be playing hard. It's a good point. Give him grace. That's it. That's not how this works. We've got a hammer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
If you're out there playing, I expect you to play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Now, there's another comeback. You're going to be in the building for this, okay? Yes. Captain Clay. And I need one of these hats. Look, if the Warriors are listening, please send us one. Just send it to the show. I'll keep it, but send it to the show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Clay Thompson's going to come back with the Mavericks. I mean, look, this is probably going to be emotional. The tribute video, the well-deserved tribute video, unlike some of the ones that are handed out, It is probably going to happen. You're so silly. Tears in the audience. I mean, I think people are going to be crying. So on an emotional night, like, what do you expect?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Do you think the Warriors are going to just want to stomp clay?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
They survived. The Cavs now 12-0 after beating the Bulls 119-113. And, you know, we highlighted Darius Garland on yesterday's show, and he's been amazing. And this was not his best game last night, Zena. But luckily, you know, when Garland doesn't have it going, you just have Donovan Mitchell. He's been awesome this year, too. So, I mean, what a game for the Cavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
But it's going to be like that time Ringo Starr played against the Beatles. I honestly don't know. No, no, no, no, no. I love being old enough to be able to tell people anything and they maybe believe it's going to be weird. I hate to see those guys broken up like this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
It's going to be a fun game. Coming up after the break, we got Andrew Schlecht, who is on the floor at the Thunder game. And we're going to talk about Chet Holmgren and hopefully we're not going to cry. The Thunder survived their first game without Chet Holmgren last night against the Clippers, which I just can't believe, Zena. I thought Ivica Zubac was just going to dominate.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
And then I looked at the starting lineup that the Thunder ran out there. Shea Gilgis-Alexander was the tallest guy. Andrew Schlecht is here. He was at the game. Andrew, is this the plan? They're just going to run out a bunch of guards, say Shea, just score 45 points, get nine assists, get five steals like you did last night. Just do that every game until Hartenstein comes. I mean, this is crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 12th, 2024. Coming up, the Cavs are 12-0. Even though they got a scare from the Bulls, we got a bunch of injuries that are going to color the NBA Cup opening week. And we got Andrew Schlecht to talk about the Chet Holmgren injury and how that's going to affect the rest of the Thunder season. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Zena. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
They're increasing their league lead in steals. I mean, they're like running away with the team steal record right now. 16 steals in this game. We mentioned double teaming Harden. They're flying all over the court. And the ball pressure. Again, this is a bunch of guys. Now, it's funny because... There have been teams like the Raptors team where we talk about all these guys who are 6'9".
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
The Magic, they're shooting for these guys that are 6'10". And we think about that. A team of guys who are 6'6 and under who can all handle, all take shots. All move around. They're all versions of each other.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
I mean, they're missing Dyson Daniels, basically, on this team. But they got all the rest of the guys. I mean, they could be running amoeba defense out there, Andrew, by the time this is all said and done. I don't know. It's kind of amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs stay undefeated | NBA Cup Preview
And it's too bad. We're not in the 10 day contract territory. Cause you know, we could be getting like DeMarcus cousins in Oklahoma city. Like this is like desperate. That's absurd.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Es gab auch Zeiten, wo sie um acht waren. Und ich dachte, es fühlt sich an, als wäre der Thunder um 28. Genau, ja. Und es sind nur kleine Dinge für sie.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Es war wirklich nur das Rebounden, ehrlich gesagt. Das defensive Rebounden war eine komplette Messe heute Abend. Und ich denke, dass die Physikalität, die Denver von Anfang an gebracht hat, die Thunder, ich fühle mich, als ob sie es anwesend waren. Ich will nicht sagen, als ob sie es nie erwischt haben. Aber wenn es um zweite und dritte Effekte ging, Das war in Denver, die ganze Nacht.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Die Thunder, ich denke, war der erste Eindruck großartig. Sie haben viele Fehler gemacht für die Nuggets. Aber wenn es um die zweiten, dritten Eindrücke ging, war das Aaron Gordon. Das war Jokic. Wie viele Taps haben wir gesehen, nach einem Fehler von den Nuggets? Das ist es für die Thunder. Sie müssen boxen. Die Thunder sind kleiner, was heute Abend gezeigt wurde.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Und es ist wirklich ein Match-Up von Größe versus Geschwindigkeit für sie. Und sie müssen einfach schneller auf den Ball kommen. Sie müssen einfach schneller auf den Ball kommen. Sie müssen mehr entscheidend sein. Und sie waren einfach nicht einer von diesen Dingen heute Abend.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Chet und Jadub müssen besser sein. Sie müssen besser sein. Sie müssen Schüsse machen. Jadub geht 2 von 9 von 3, Chet geht 0 von 3 von 3. Du wirst wahrscheinlich nicht gewinnen, wenn die Jungs 2 von 12 von 3 gehen. Und sie verletzen auch 4 Freestöße. Es sind nur kleine Details für sie. Ich dachte, dass sie defensiv okay waren. Sie hatten sechs Block zwischen den beiden.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Aber wenn es um diese Jungs geht, müssen sie scoren. Shett hat 5 von 11 gewonnen. Jada hat 5 von 20 gewonnen. Manchmal ist es einfach so, dass man 5 von 20 nicht gewinnen kann. Man kann nicht 16 Punkte auf 20 Schüsse haben. und trotzdem ein Spiel gewinnen. Sie brauchen einfach effizientere, offensivere Spieler aus den beiden. Das ist es. Und dann kommt Isaiah Joe auf die Bühne.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Er ist ihr erster Sub. Dieser Kerl konnte nicht einen Schuss machen. Er ist 0-4, hat nur 13 Minuten gespielt. Aber sie generieren sehr offene Schüsse für diese Jungs. Es ist nichts wirklich falsch mit dem Offensiv. Es ist nur so, dass sie keine Schüsse machen. Manchmal ist Basketball einfach so. Es sind viele Dreier. Ja.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Ich war gerade hier für das Spiel und konnte Shae sehen, wie er ihn drückte. Er hat ihn beherbergt. Und er hat gesagt, stopp mit dem Finger drücken. Ja, ich meine, hör mal. Mark muss besser sein. Ich denke, das ist eines der größten Vorteile für mich, dass Mark jetzt in einer Situation ist, in der er effektiv ein Spiel für den Thunder verloren hat. Und wie kann er besser sein?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Wie kann er davon lernen? Es ist ein Teil des Ethos von The Thunder, von deinen Fehler zu lernen. Du musst es durchgehen. Niemand auf dem Podium war heute sauber. Wir wissen, es ist Spiel 1. Wenn du Spiel 1 verlierst, gibt es Spiel 2. Und tatsächlich gibt es auch Spiel 3 und 4. Ich denke, dass sie den Moment verstehen. Und sie müssen durch diese Dinge lernen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Für The Thunder war das Einzige, was verpasst wurde. Das ist das Einzige, was ich für sie verpasst habe. Sie haben den Roster, sie haben den MVP, sie haben die Defense, sie haben den Regular Season Record, sie haben all das, aber sie haben keine Playoff-Erfahrung. Und die Nuggets haben das. Diese Jungs haben das. Und sie haben das auf einem hohen Niveau für eine sehr lange Zeit erzeugt.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Und jetzt ist es Zeit für den Thunder. Okay, kannst du diese Erfahrung während dieser Serie bekommen? Können sie es bekommen?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
What does that mean? What am I admitting to when I'm saying they should be worried, I guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
This is still anybody's series. Let's just be clear. It's just game one. Thunder win game two, they win game three. Then we're flipping it back over. Should Denver be worried?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Honestly, if you're an NBA fan, this is what you want. You want it back and forth. You don't want anybody just mowing over a conference. You want to see adversity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
That was a very jarring sequence. It really didn't feel like Denver was going to win that game until literally the shot went down from the wing right over here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
From Aaron Gordon. It felt like the Thunder were just going to like, like they're hanging on by a thread. Right. At the end of this game. I think they were out executed. von einem Team, das viel mehr Erfahrung als sie hat. Das Wichtigste an diesem Match-Up ist, dass die Thunder fast alle Vorteile haben. Außer Erfahrung. Das ist das Einzige.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Und wenn es in der Länge dieses Spiels kam, waren sie komplett ausgezeichnet. Von der 6-Minuten- und 28-Minuten-Marke des vierten Quartals bis zum Ende des Spiels wurden sie 26-11 ausgezeichnet. Und viel davon war nur Exekution. Sie haben zu viel gespielt. Sie haben die Nuggets auf der Linie zu leicht gespielt. Sie haben nicht viel gespielt. Die Nuggets nicht. Die Thunder gab es ihnen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Und dann die letzte Sequenz, die Strategie. Und jeder hat es gefühlt. Man konnte die Nervosität in der Arena fühlen. Als sie mit den 10 Sekunden übrig waren, oder ich glaube, es waren vielleicht 14 Sekunden übrig, war es wie... Sind wir sicher? Ich denke, alle werden sagen, sind Sie sicher, dass das, was Sie tun sollten?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Denn wirklich, lasst ihn den Ball auf den Platz bringen, nehmt fünf oder sechs Sekunden von der Uhr und dann schießt, wenn Sie diese Strategie ausführen wollen. Und ich denke einfach, dass es nur diese kleinen Dinge gibt, die der Thunder gemacht hat. Und es war für den Thunder, es war ein Tod durch 1.000 Schüsse. Es war nicht nur ein Fehler.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Ich glaube, es war der offizielle Fehler, aber auch die Verletzungen, die Verletzungen, die Verletzungen, die Verletzungen, die Verletzungen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
Yeah, that's a great question. I think one of the things that the Thunder tried to do tonight was to make him a scorer and not necessarily a guy that's going to be spraying the ball out. And they did a pretty good job of that, I would say. One, they got to keep him off the free throw line. That was a problem. They had their hands reached.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Should the Thunder be worried?
I think he shot two, twice he had free throws on three-point shots. You can't do that. You gotta know he's coming with the rip-through. Es sind kleine Dinge, die man nicht machen kann, wenn es um Jokic geht. Ich dachte, sie haben ihn gut gemacht. Ich dachte, sie haben ihn gut gemacht, aber... Überall war die Exekution, von Anfang bis Ende, schlapp. Sie waren nicht scharf.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah. Yeah, I when you when I'm watching this game first, like it was not much of a game. So you start thinking about other things. So I start thinking about, you know, the Jalen Brunson connection. And then when I was thinking about bringing you on the show, I start thinking about Quentin Grimes because there's obviously like a Knicks Mavs connection here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
But there's also this this stop in the middle in Detroit. Right. where somehow the Detroit Pistons just gifted Quentin Grimes to the Dallas Mavericks this summer. And I just keep thinking, how and why did this happen? He was obviously a player that... They got to basically salaried up a player and they get back a player who I think is more helpful to them than what Tim Hardaway Jr. was.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Explain to me how this happened, James, because I just can't I can't get there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah, he had fouled out of three previous games in Minnesota. This has been a problem for Damanis Sabonis. And give him just tons of credit. He played really well. And this game, to me, is about the return of Malik Monk, if we're talking about the Kings. They had missed him desperately. They lost four in a row. He'd come back against the Thunder. Didn't look quite right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
He was even kind of limping around. But in the fourth quarter alone, he had 11 points and five assists. which really was the difference maker there. You had nine points from Fox in the fourth quarter as well. Those two really helped deliver this game. Also, Jay Crowder. Yeah. Raise your hand if you knew that Jay Crowder was on the Kings because the Kings didn't even know that yesterday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Shout out to John M. for this question. It's a great one. Now, guys that can't shoot. Now, here's the deal with the draft is that you have to be able to do a lot of things to make it in the NBA today, right? I think about a guy like Jabari Smith, who's a good player who I think will be in the NBA for a long time. But why is he not taking off like some of the other guys in the class have?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Well, he doesn't have the multiple skills. He doesn't have the ball handling. He doesn't have the playmaking that some of these guys have. And I think those two skills, for no matter how... big you are like those, those two are going to translate. And that's what I think teams are looking for is just like rhythm feel like those things are always going to be helpful to a team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And I think that there are teams looking for those kinds of guys. I mean, you can look at the 23 class, like the Thompson twins. Those are guys that have that. Anthony black went high in that draft, even Kula Bali. We've seen that from him and this one. And I think those are definitely skills that people are looking for. And you just can't have one singular skill anymore.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
You just can't. And you have to be on a very specific team. I think about the guys who are three and D only that are actually surviving in this version of the NBA. Like you almost have to play for the Mavericks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah. Still, though, players that are tall and have good length... Yes. ...you will always reach for those guys. You will always take the Saloon or the Ron Holland... or the Cody Williams of the world, just because it is hard to find guys that size in the NBA that can do multiple things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
So I think teams will continue to reach for those kinds of players, certainly, but it's more about skill than it ever has been in the NBA, and especially with the drafts. It's multiple skills, and it's playing with a particular rhythm that I see NBA teams really going for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
They brought him off the scrap heap and he actually played pretty well. Like what they need is just a physical veteran, which is what they've missed in Harrison Barnes. And we've talked about that here on this show is like they just need somebody competent to take that spot. They're just not getting that enough. And especially without DeMar DeRozan, who's out with a back problem.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Oh, before Thanksgiving, you had put two trees up today, Dave. I don't know if you're disappointed in me or not. I don't really care. Pretty early. You know what? Listen, I've got kids at home and I want to cherish the holiday season as much as I can. OK, so if you think I'm a big loser for it, not at all. Not at all. Own it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Like, yeah, you need that veteran presence. And at least for one night, it was Jay Crowder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
I don't know that I go offering up Dylan Brooks to other teams, but you know, like somebody else don't do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
It's not great. No, let's start with that quote right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Dave, this is outrageously concerning to me because this is this is about the internal leadership within the wolves. And it seems to be fractured at at best. Yeah. As to who they are. I think it is good that Ant is admitting this. Not good that he's admitting it to the media, in my opinion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
These are the kinds of conversations that he's having with media in front of everybody that typically happen behind closed doors with NBA teams. And then gets leaked to the media. Yeah, and then it's eventually leaked, and then somebody wants to beat up whoever leaked it to the media.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
But I think that this, it is really interesting to see, and this really does, and Krasinski pointed this out beautifully a couple nights ago, where... It feels like that first Rudy Gobert year where the entire season, it felt like they made a bad move, which is the cat trade, and they're never going to recover from it. And now it's still the thing that they have going for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
It's still early in the season. And their record isn't so bad. It's not like Sixers bad at this point where they can't recover from it. I think that they'll be fine. But as far as a championship contender, I think the maturity of the team and the lack of a point guard are the two things that are going to hurt them the most. And right now, I think that...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
The maturity is squarely in front of everybody's face right now, especially with all the comments from Ant last night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's all about, and this is, this is where they are right now. It's like finding like, who's the man, you know, you watch a lot of other teams and it's very clear who the man is, you know, even for the Sixers who, I mean, Tyrese Max in the second half at 28 points in this one, he was clearly the man. Uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
In this one, Jalen Green should have been the man, but they continually did not go to him down the stretch. It was it's just confusing, I think, who they're supposed to go to because it's it's somebody's night. I mean, Jalen Green last night was not good for them. Yeah, has 41 tonight. I mean, it's just it it bounces around. Who is the guy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
I don't know if it's a coaching issue, but this is where they are in their process, which is totally fine. Like this is a young team that has a lot of young guys and they're trying to figure out who they are and winning while doing that, which I think is, is pretty crucial for them. And eventually they're going to be able to consolidate a lot of these players into a really good player, I think.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And then I think they already have a really nice foundation there in Houston. So I really like what they're cooking with.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah, I mean, that shot was a complete dagger. And the big difference to me in this game was just the bench production that the Hawks got. I mean, you got almost double digits from everybody that played, nine from Kobe Buffkin, but you got from Bogdanovich, you had 17. From DeAndre Hunter, you had 26. and then 10 points from Inyeka Okonwu.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
When you're getting that kind of production off your bench, it's difficult to lose games. And so you had Trae Young closing this one out, but I think that he was just really buoyed by his teammates in this one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Listen, Dave, Tyrese Martin. who, if you have heard his name before tonight, you are like an NBA G League sicko, and I applaud you. But Tyrese Martin, in 28 minutes tonight, was 8 of 10 from 3. He scored 30 points. Dave, he didn't score 30 points one time in college. That's amazing. Let alone... In the NBA, he had 33 total points in his NBA career up until tonight. He had 30 tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Just an unbelievable showing from a guy that no one's ever heard of. That's awesome. They beat the Phoenix Suns with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and Devin Booker in the lineup. And I have to give the credit to the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff and obviously the shooting of Tyrese Martin. But just the fact that you can just plug a guy in like this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
It shows that they have like a foundation of just a general offense that you can just plug guys into, which is really helpful. Not every team. I look at this roster and I think this Nets roster is clearly not what they want. This is clearly not the way they want to win, but they are winning this way because they have good coaching and they have a good developmental staff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And those two things can carry you a long way. Eventually, they're going to completely pull the plug on this thing. They're going to go try to get the number one pick. But for now, it's just kind of fun. They're floating around 500 and we're getting to talk about Tyrese Martin somehow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Without a doubt, we've got we've got some pies in the oven as we speak here at midnight Central Standard Time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah, the question that I've had about the Knicks all season is just from your perspective, what's going on with Mikael Bridges? He played okay tonight. I thought offensively he was okay. Still doesn't get to the free throw line. Doesn't seem to be in rhythm. Even defensively, he's not been the guy that I thought that he would be for New York. What's going on there from your perspective?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Yeah. Yeah. There is a motor thing with Mitch. I have no idea what he can give you as far as the more is concerned. I've said just start at 20 minutes and inch your way closer to 25 as you can. Deuce McBride, a massive plus tonight. Yeah, he was great. He finished plus 12 in a game they lost by three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Which is ironic. Nick's bench is two and a half players. And they're still pretty good tonight. But Deuce gets his... I mean, Carl Anthony Towns and Deuce McBride in their 14 minutes together are plus 24. It's a lot of it has to do with that fourth quarter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Right. So... Look, the numbers off the charts have been off the charts when Mitch has been in the game, when Deuce has been in the game. It's really just this mediocre starting five that the Knicks have had to navigate this year, which, I mean, it goes back to Tibbs, but I really don't have any smoke for Tibbs after this. It's the...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
it's the challenge in the third quarter, but I understood like that's Brunson's third foul, fourth foul. And you want to try and take it away. Maybe leaving Brunson in after he picks up a fourth foul so he could pick up a fifth. Yeah. Um, is it tough call? So, um, Or whatever. I think I'm blanking. I think it was actually his third foul. And so you challenge it so he doesn't get to three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Regardless, I didn't see enough on my first replay to challenge it. And I think he should have took a note from what not to do from the Piston series with JB Bickerstaff and how many times they kept using their challenge when it was at best marginal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Well, so what I have changed the lineup months ago? Sure. Yeah, right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Again, the starting five has just been very average the majority of the season. And it's why we're talking about the deuce minutes, the Mitchell Robinson minutes. And that's how the Knicks are going to win their margins in this playoffs and through this run. And we've seen it all throughout the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Look, I thought they should have changed their starting lineup after game three against Boston. I thought they should have changed their starting lineup after game two against Detroit. And they made it to the conference finals and were up by 14 with three minutes left. So I don't think...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
after a game one loss that ripped your heart out and took again, all of the things to be a collapse that you make a radical change like that. But man, as far as what I'm looking for in game two, you mentioned it. It's mental. If they clearly look like a team that is battling with the realization that they now have to win five games in this series, because you already blew one. Totally. Then again,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
No, I can't. I can't experience it as crazy or unbelievable. I know, I know. It's heartbreaking is what it is. And for the rest of the series, if they win game two, it's like, oh, you should be up 2-0. If they lose game three, it's like, oh, they still should be up 2-1. The entire calculus of the series changes. Yeah. And it's why it's up to Tibbs. It's up to this captain, Jalen Brunson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
It's up to the guys that have been telling Knicks fans throughout the playoffs, believe in us. You're going to have to earn that belief that you could come back from this. Because if you do, my goodness, will you have earned it? Because you're coming back from one of the lowest points in franchise history now. And that's just the reality of what they're up against over the rest of the series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Figures he does it after the shot goes in, not realizing that it's a two pointer. He only needs something to happen first before he, the front runner decides to actually make some, listen, you wear the Reggie Miller hoodie after game seven, not in the tunnel on the way to game seven. It's just the reality. You can be the wrestling heel, but you have to wait until the count is already up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
he does a great job of being the heel I know the rest of the country thinks he's adorable and I do respect him as a basketball player the reality is that the Knicks should have won this game despite Tyrese Halliburton hitting a crazy shot and like for the majority of this game they largely contained him so as far as where he ranks he's annoying he's not a villain to me the Knicks lost this game Tyrese Halliburton didn't
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
It's almost disrespectful to Reggie Miller to put him in the conversation. By the way, Reggie Miller, a career 26-41 against the New York Knicks, and lost way more than he did in Madison Square Garden than he did win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Let me start it on Trey young, who is seven and 18 against the Knicks in his career. Oh, let's add the five playoff games, right? So the four and one, he went against the Knicks. So we're at 11 and 19 and we have to go to four wins in the playoffs against Reggie Bullock, Alfred Payton and New Orleans. No. Well, wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Well... Let's start here. Thank you for having me. Yes. Mr. Schleck behind the glass, thank you for the invitation tonight. Yeah. Never thought that when I'd be honored to make my first appearance to the Athletic NBA show, non-Trade-A-Palooza edition, that it would be after the worst loss in Knicks history. And I don't think...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
I've found one yet in my memory bank that has felt like this is a fan. I'm going to be 37 years old, so I don't have a fond memory or even not fond memory, a memory of the Ewing finger roll also against the Pacers. If I were to go to many a Knick fan, they would say that the finger roll game or Reggie Miller 8 points in 8.9 seconds would be their two.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
The solace I've been trying to make work is that the... the game in which Reggie Miller put up the choke sign, they lost that series. A lot of people don't remember that. That was game five. They then blew a game six in Indiana in which Reggie missed two big free throws down the stretch. John Starks had a very big game to force a game seven in which the Knicks won and went to the finals.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And this basketball team that has had so many ups and downs during a season that we thought we were resigned to how the season would end. This would be a team that gets the three seed, hopefully gets to the second round against a tough Detroit team. Yeah. It goes out in a gentleman's sweep against the defending champs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And then we look for a new head coach gives us this, this moment, this feeling over the past four days here in the big Apple that, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
I don't think any of us have ever felt like any, any time the Knicks have prospered in their franchise history, it's coincided with a hint of an expectation, especially when you factor in the underdog that they were plus 1000 going into the series against the Celtics. Yep. Yep. So you show up for this series, not just having overcome all that, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
put a lot of doubt from a lot of people in the past, one of the most raucous environments in game five. And you kind of recreate it in that fourth quarter when you go on a 14-0 run after Jalen Brunson picks up his fifth foul. I didn't think his process was great when he came back in, but I do understand Brunson in crunch time being like, they can't guard me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
The guy was 13 of 18 from two-point range tonight, had 43 points. They don't have an answer for Jalen Brunson. And the 14-point lead that you had at 116-102, they call a timeout. Chuck Carlisle called a very smart timeout to freeze Brunson before the second free throw. He misses it, and then the Neesmith onslaught happens.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And if you look at the anatomy of a collapse S like so many things have to go wrong to blow a 14 point lead.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
So it's like knee Smith has to have the heater of all heaters. OG Ananobi has to have two turnovers. Jalen Brunson has to miss. He obviously missed the first free throw. Jalen Brunson also has to inexplicably pass the ball to OG when running the ball out, like literally run the clock, run the clock out, run the ball, run around. You're the point guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And you add in a missed Karl-Anthony Towns free throw, a missed OG Ananobi free throw. And yeah, that's history. And you add in the insult to injury that Halliburton, I know his foot was on the line, but the Kawhi bounce that ends up happening.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Look, last year they were up six with 30 seconds left against the Sixers in game five. And Tyrese Maxey went on a seven-point run seven to one run by himself right over that stretch that was also a crazy series I mean yeah that was at least game five and you let the Sixers back into it and that was that felt like pulling teeth the whole time
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
the Knicks were three minutes away from celebrating a game one victory in which so much good could be taken out of it. What you're getting from your two bench players, Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride. I mean, you said you thought OG played well tonight. I thought this was one of OG's worst games, especially when you're looking at, um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
especially when you're looking at the, the offensive and defensive process, how late he was on a lot of these, uh, coverages, those knee Smith threes in that is a very valid point, but how about you? You don't drop so far when they're clearly going to shoot threes. Yeah. Yeah. Um, Yeah, I thought they... I will say... They took five... Go ahead, sorry. They played perfectly up until that moment.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
They played well enough to win a double-digit game. Yes, yeah. It's what I'm trying to wrestle with here because... Right. Respect to the Pacers for the unreal comeback, the scorching hot shooting to come back and tie the game and send it to overtime and then win it. This was the Knicks collapsed. I'm not trying to take away anything from the Pacers and coming back and stealing this one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Again, the turnover, the miss, the all the different things, the blown coverage, the not getting up on three. Yeah. The Knicks collapsed here. And as I started this, it's the worst loss. And it's going to have to become an irrelevant loss. Like the Knicks are going to have to now rebound and make it an irrelevant loss. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
you know, five years in the making, you're building for this after Leon Rose got here. And if this team loses this series and then doesn't make a finals, we'll be thinking about game one forever. And it's the reality I think a lot of Knicks fans are living with today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
I mean, I'm doing my best, as I promised you, to not think about the final three minutes, but that's why it is an easy adjustment or spin on what you do better in game two. You close. You close out. They did so much well tonight. That... fourth quarter stretch where Indiana was making their run and they cut it to one. I believe it was a two-point game when Brunson left with his fifth foul.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And I repeat, they just had no answer for him tonight. The narrative of a Brunson stopper that Aaron Neesmith ever was one of those was always kind of silly to me. Brunson got hurt and was a step slow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
He missed shots that he normally makes over the course of the final five games of that series. And in one of those five games, in one of those five games, he had 43 points. And in another one of those five games, he broke his hand. So there was no stopping Jalen Brunson on Neeson's part. And you saw it tonight. And it's why I understood Brunson's
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
trying to take over down the stretch because throughout the night, he got to his spots, he got downhill, he got guys on his hip, and just did whatever he wanted in two-point range. Missed his threes, but you can forgive it to an extent if you're doing everything right. And 43 points on 25 shots, and you get to the line 14 times. This was a formula for a great Jalen Brunson game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And to your point, we haven't seen a game like this from Cat... I'd argue in months. I got to be honest. And it's not even a cat thing. I've not seen him be guarded solely by centers. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
He enjoys that. Yeah. Well, so not just the miles Turner matchup, but I'm sure, you know, this teams have been putting their biggest wing on cat and their center on Josh Hart. since January. So the fact that the Knicks went into this series and one of our questions throughout our previews was how are the Pacers going to guard it? Are we going to go Siakam onto Cat?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Are we going to go, you know, maybe like you realize what Nismith is or like you, I mean, that's really the only option. It's Nismith or Siakam or you just go with Turner. And Cat cooked the majority of the night. And I got to be honest, there's a defensive portion of this where if you get him in space, that's always been a problem for him. When you have a guard like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
Like Halliburton or like Nembhard and Katz up in the air. Honestly, just go back to the last two series when Cade is on him or at times when Derek White or Drew Holiday or even Jalen Brown would get downhill. That's where you have trouble with Carl Anthony Towns. It's either an automatic foul or a direct path to the rim. If you take the space away, and this is what Minnesota did last year,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
you just... You put him on Jokic and just say, be big. Be big. Be a big body. And you saw Siakam's trying to back him down and Kat's only block tonight was when that was the formula. And as long as you make it a half-court game and the Knicks went to their double-big lineup, which built a 16-point lead, like, that's the formula.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Stun the Knicks in MSG
And that's how you're going to be able to make Kat not be a liability on defense throughout this series. So you have... Look, the... the process to the positive spin zone is very simple. Yeah. You built a 16 point lead on this team, a 14 point lead with three minutes left. Yeah. And then like the sky caved in. Yeah. put an umbrella up next time and you're good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
you know um nobody is happy right everybody about that and you know and i don't blame them because the problem is when you try to change too much i don't know how you guys felt about the all-star game format being there in person just i want to use that as an example okay a significant change to an nba event um it's not a four-point line because it's just an exhibition but yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
made major changes to the all-star game. Yeah. I was there in person and I'll be honest with you. I stopped caring like 20 minutes in, like I literally stopped watching. Well, they stopped caring.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Yeah. I mean, I just I was totally disconnected. I'm going to share a quick story that illustrates how disconnected I was. I walked to whether it was the bathroom or whatever. I walked down press row. at one point in the middle of the action. And then when I was coming back, my friend and colleague from the Washington Post, Ben Goliver, was videotaping a moment on the court.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And, you know, Ben's got a good social media presence and likes to get the big moments. But I saw him with his phone and I'll be honest, at first I was like so disinterested that I was like, what is he filming? What the hell could he be filming? There's nothing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Well, it was one of the first games and there was a game winning dunk that I walked right in front of his camera as he was trying to get the shot. And he kept giving me a hard time. He shows the video and it was like just epic timing. And my body literally covers the entire camera like right when there's a game winning dunk. And I just looked at Ben like, well, who cares?
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
I didn't care about this event. It was too many games, too many players. You look on the court, and I forgot who was actually an all-star.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Well, and by the way, as a shout out media members, you know, friend and colleague Rachel Nichols did a nice job over the weekend. She got all these NBA all stars on camera to commit to taking part in a one on one tournament. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
that was, you know, one angle that definitely moves the needle for me, where if you want to get gimmicky, I just think that is incredibly, that's something that we all can relate to from growing up playing the game. Unrivaled has had some success with their one-on-one tournament. That's how she framed it was, you know,
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
asking guys if they'd seen the unrivaled thing and whether or not they'd be willing to do it. I think the league probably assumed they wouldn't in that regard. Shoot. Rachel was doing the heavy lifting for them and getting them to, you know, give their two sets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
It feels like they are, but Adam, when asked about this topic, doesn't agree. And Charles Barkley in particular, who is wildly entertaining and obviously a legend, Adam was asked about the TNT crew being critical recently, and he chalked it up to them being like the old crazy drunk uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner table. I don't think he said the drunk part, by the way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
I guess I added that part in. But like, you know, it was like, you can just kind of shrug at, at, you know, the uncle who is grumpy about different things. And I would tend to think, and I think Dave, you probably agree and ask as well, like that, you know, it has more of impact than that. Like it's,
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
probably not something you should just shirk off and be dismissive about and i will tell you because we all have our people in our lives right who enjoy the game i'm going to share a text message that i got from that night from my nephew jackson who's a big time nba fan uh somehow growing up in the bay he became a huge okc fan and and i don't think he'd mind me sharing this he sent a text
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And he says, disaster of a broadcast. We need people who like basketball to talk about it again. I like Jackson. He says, Candace Parker was the only one I could listen to tonight. And so for me, just kind of having the everyman's perspective like that, brought it home. And I do think it's something that they need to pay attention to.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And not only have they not seemingly very much, but I mean, I've enjoyed covering Draymond as much as anybody, but my God, now you have like, you know, Barkley 2.0 sour, man. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And, you know, maybe I'm wrong on this, but, man, if I was given my two cents –
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
a couple things come to mind like i understand you know like mr beast by the way is an extremely influential online personality who my kids had taught me all about and i knew who he was so he's integrated into all-star weekend i get it like that's eyeballs that's influence but um i'm going to share the fact that i don't know if you guys have watched this at all yet
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
But I'm about halfway through Netflix's Court of Gold documentary. And I think it's fantastic. It's incredible. The locker room access and the behind-the-scenes stuff and the storytelling, because they feature, and this relates to the All-Star NBA discussion, they feature legitimately behind the scenes with Team USA, but also with the Canadian team and the Serbian team and the French team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And I'm watching this and thinking to myself, Okay, why not lean into the storytelling and the access on All-Star Weekend? You just had an incredible trade deadline, which, by the way, as an example, Malik Andrews just talked to Kevin Durant about some of the stuff that went on with Phoenix and the fact that he was nearly traded from the Suns.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And he didn't go into great depth, but you had Kevin himself addressing –
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
the some of the interesting stuff that preceded all-star weekend there's part of me that just says there's got to be a way to shape the programming about all-star weekend more about the storylines and the people and through access and through storytelling rather than you know the outside the box ideas and the shiny glittery stuff that you think is going to work
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
court of gold did a great job of it because this is stuff we've never seen before and that level of access was something i never saw before yeah i mean just to finish that point s i mean because you guys have watched it like my god watching joker uh yeah light up i believe bodan bodanovich for his defense on kevin durant in the game i'm sure bogey didn't love that clip being in the dock but like yeah come on like take the good with the bad this is perfect
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
this is the real stuff and joker is a guy you talk about how the nba has its own celebrities that it needs to lean into like the nba to this point has not been successful at convincing somebody like joker to pull the curtain back we still don't know him uh shout out mike singer my buddy who wrote a whole book about joker and tried his best and did a fantastic job of telling that tale but on television like you had this five second clip
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
where i was like that is a version of joker i have never seen we've never yeah exactly lighting a teammate up because he's so competitive which i we thought he we thought he wasn't competitive right we always heard that he didn't care about the game uh and so that is this stuff like you you're hitting it on the head as like these are your celebs these are your your people
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And the fans who are tuning in, they just can't get enough of learning more about who those guys are and how they're wired, how they move amongst one another. So yeah, I think that's the way they should go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
You know, they're dominant. They're going to be getting Chet Holmgren back. They've got depth. Their defense is just incredible. Again, we talked about the Court of Gold documentary, like, you know, having Shea and Lou Dort, you know, on the same squad and all these long, you know, Jalen Williams just showing out at All-Star Weekend.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
These dudes who don't seem to care that they're new to the party. You know what I mean? Yeah. Now, you know, I don't know how the NBA marketing folks are going to feel about OKC being on that final stage. But, you know, if I got to pick one, I'll go with the Thunder. They'll just bring in Mr. Beast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
recovering had a good time in san francisco and i'm a excuse me a barrier boy so it was fun to see the city put on a good show but uh nice to be with you yeah um also if you're watching on youtube uh that's willow amic in sam's lap there hanging out who is our national dog insider
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
I mean, it's hard to get the trade deadline out of my mind. You know what I mean? Like it was such a wild couple of days. You know, I'm going to I saw Luca playing his first game in L.A. before the break. You know, next week, Dallas is rolling through, excuse me, L.A. So it's not going to be in Dallas, which will be the more emotionally charged reunion game. But you do have a reunion game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
right around the corner you know at all-star weekend it was really interesting to talk to a lot of people within the league about that trade whether it's front office folks or other players so that one is top of mind um i'm also on the trade front you know the the warriors go three and one with jimmy butler um that went over houston
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
before the break was one that I think we're going to get to this, but Draymond Green had said after that game that that's the kind of game the Warriors would have lost before. He's obviously feeling fired up about this version of the Warriors, and so I'll get a chance to see them on Friday here in Sacramento as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
But these new and improved teams where now we get to see if the on-paper product looks as good as the actual thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
so there's an event on friday before all-star weekend called tech summit always one of my favorite things to go to it's honestly a pretty tough list to get on and the benefit of it is that while the panels are off the record and they're super interesting panels and they want the panelists to have the freedom to speak freely off the record the hallways at this event are kind of a reporter's dream
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
when it comes to owners executives agents players a lot of former players being out there and you can just have casual conversation sometimes you even get current players who appear to be kind of plotting the next stage of their post-planning career trying to learn about business and tech and and that type of a thing. So I look up and Draymond is at the event.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
He spends most of his time chatting with Baron Davis, his podcast buddy. Um, and they're just kind of milling around. And eventually, uh, I decided to go over and say hello to Draymond at the time. He was talking to a guy named Brandon Schneider, who was the Warriors team president and, um, just wanted to catch up and get his thoughts on the trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
And when we did that, I mean, the funny part in hindsight is that, uh, You know, obviously, I did not know that he would then go on on Sunday night at the All-Star game to declare to the world that the Warriors were going to win a title. But to show you how genuine it is and like actually authentic, I think, in terms of his opinion, I literally just said, so what do we think?
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Like, what do we think about Jimmy and this new look? And the first thing out of his mouth was, oh, like we can win the title. And my favorite part was that, and I wrote this, I then had to tactfully figure out how to not be like, what the hell is wrong with you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Yeah. And I did say, I was like, are we talking about this season? You know, I didn't know if he thought it was going to just kind of eventually grow into that. And he said, absolutely, absolutely. You know, and you know how he can be extremely confident. So, yeah, I mean, I later found out, just to add even more kind of meat to the bone, I talked to Warriors owner Joe Lacob about this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
the Draymond interaction while I was at an event with Joe and it cracked me up because he kind of smiled. He goes, yeah, he told me to, you know, like, so Draymond has been running around telling, you know, anybody who will listen that the warriors are legit again. And, and if nothing else, it certainly makes them compelling down the stretch. I mean, it's better than acting like you're not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
know i don't know what the next change is i feel like more than ever uh you know adam silver did his all-star weekend press conference where a big focal point was just the state of the game and so like while i don't know what the change is i can't remember a time when the state of the game was in question so much you know where lebron got a similar question you know how do you feel about the state of the game and everybody it's one of those things where if everybody's asking
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
then then then the answer can't be great right even though a lot of people you know and dave i think you feel this way and you know i to a large extent i feel the same way that today's game is in a great spot um i think yeah i think a lot of the things we're talking about here
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
we should probably my two cents leave the game alone and just start realizing that the major reason this discussion is happening in the first place is just because the environment around the game has changed so much in terms of how people consume games generational differences when you talk about social media and the marketing business component of the game that is what is in question the reason that adam silver wants to pontificate about 10 minute quarters
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
is because a two-hour game fits more neatly into a certain television streaming time slot. That is a different conversation than what do we think of the players and the teams and the talent and the entertainment value of the game itself.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
Yeah, no, and I think you're right on all that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
State of the League | LaMelo out-duels Luka; Lakers lose
I think that, you know, Kevin Durant, honestly, I know, you know, raising your hands and doing nothing is not the answer, but I did kind of love Kevin's tweet where here's a guy who I think his spirit at the moment is kind of this energy of, you know, we're pretty damn good and the game is in a pretty good place, but everybody keeps complaining all the time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And we should mention Chris Middleton off the bench. He had eight points. He was plus 20. He's been struggling a little bit and was dealing with the, you know, tendinopathy from the ankle. Remember, he had bilateral ankle surgery. What do you think about Middleton off the bench? You think that this is like the long term thing for them or injury management? I don't know. What do you think to me?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Look, it's not often that you're going to get Doc Rivers benching a veteran as an actual benching. And Chris Middleton's coming back from injury. I just have no reason to think that this is some sort of a permanent lineup change. And it's not even like in Phoenix where Bradley Beal's coming off the bench and they see it as a way to boost their offense, which actually I tend to agree with. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And as you know, we were talking a little bit about about this game after the game. And, you know, the Cavs win 129, 122. It's the most points that the Thunder have given up this year. We were we were talking about just like it worked out that Cleveland actually won this game. And, you know, shout out to Joe Varden. He called this their last test.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
This is not necessarily even that, although it does help this bench, you know, as extra ball handling a guy who can organize them a little bit. And maybe you see a path to him working his way back into shape. And we got a little bit of news to cover because, you know. The Orlando Magic have basically been a mash unit all season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Paolo Bancaro expected to make his return from a torn oblique either Thursday night or Friday night. So either Thursday night against Minnesota or Friday night against Milwaukee. And he's been out since the 30th. Now, he's played five games, right? Five games of Paolo Bancaro. Franz Wagner's been out for a few weeks now. Jalen Suggs, obviously missing some time here. Mm-hmm.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Somehow Orlando is the four seed and anybody is talking about any coaches coach of the year. And it's not Jamal Mosley. You are wrong because this guy, like just get rid of expectations and look at what this guy is working through. His literal two best players, all three of the guys that stir the drink for that team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
It's probably Kenny Atkinson. Let's be honest. Yeah. Cavaliers. I mean, we're going to close the show with the with the subject that we started with. But the Cavaliers are probably the story of the season so far. So, you know, it's likely Kenny Atkinson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
When Paolo went out, we were talking about can they tread water? Yeah. And they're the fourth seed. I don't know. I think it's a magical coaching job. It is a magical coaching job. There you go. That's going to do it for today's show, folks. Thanks to Andrew Schleck for hanging out. I know he's got a bum knee and it stinks to stay up late. Thanks to S. Barry Henney. Thank you guys for listening.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
I'm Dave DeFore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
So we were wondering how they were going to guard Shea. And I don't know, Andrew. How did you feel about the defenses that they were throwing out there against Oklahoma City? Evan Mobley got some time on Shea. They went into the zone, and that really kind of bothered the Thunder. But do you feel like, again, it's 129-122, and it's funny to start with defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
But this is a game that was high scoring, but they had excellent defense at both ends. And I just think that that's a point I want to start with. So I don't know. What did you think about the Cavs guarding the Thunder?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
If I had told you guys that Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell were going to combine for 29 points in this game, would you have thought that the Thunder would win? No, I would have thought OKC did their job.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
A little bit of we had like a Super Bowl last.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And I'm not just talking about the Evan Mobley air ball that Jared Allen caught. But, I mean, the big-to-big passing is such a huge advantage. I mean, we've seen that in the last few years with teams getting bigger. And, I mean, to that point, Andrew, this was a game where Oklahoma City, like, I'm reminded – They still are not healthy. No Alex Caruso.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And then the big guy that they're missing in the middle is Chet Holmgren. And, you know, we were talking a little bit earlier today, and I asked you, like, hey, is he off the crutches yet? Like, what's going on? Because he's not going to be ready for the game in eight days where they have the rematch, right? But do you feel like Chet is going to be ready come, you know, playoff time?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Like, especially like second round, you know, once we get into the sort of championship deciding rounds?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Yes. You know, I got to say, Andrew Schlecht, Espera Henning, as I just jump right in because I'm too excited. The game had a very heavyweight feel to it, and it was nice. I loved that the officials let these guys play. Andrew, what about you? Just just your reaction to how the game felt like before you even talk about the game itself.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Best player in the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Yeah, I mean, to your point about Hartenstein, he picked up his fourth foul, I think, with about seven and a half left in the third quarter, and they were up one. And that's when the Cavs went on that little run and built the lead that wound up giving him the win. All right, we've been talking a lot about the Thunder. Let's talk about the Cavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
I want to set this up because this team is – every single game they win, they are making history. They're now 32-4. This was their 11th straight win, by the way. And just to put a pin in this –
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
If they don't lose again between now and next week when they play the Thunder, they would be going for their second 15-game winning streak of the season if they can just win the next three, which they're going to beat the Raptors here in a day or two.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
The Pacers have been better, and they got them on a back-to-back, so we're going to see how that goes. But 11 straight wins. They ended the Thunder's 15-game winning streak. And the Cavs are the first team to start 32-4 or better since the 15-16 Warriors, who were 34-2. And of the six previous teams to win at least 32 of their first 36 games, four of those won the title.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And I want to ask you this question. Wow. Because... We know it's about getting to the finals. If you can get to the finals, especially with the way that the league is set up and you got the right matchup, any of these contenders can win. Absolutely. Who has a better chance of making the finals, the Cavs or the Thunder?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for January 9th, 2025. Coming up, the Cavs ended the Oklahoma City Thunders 15 game winning streak. So we got Andrew Schleck to talk about it. Wemby and Giannis based off. So we're going to talk about that, of course. And Paolo might be coming back for Orlando. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, guys. How's it going?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Yeah. Yeah. I just don't believe in any of the other teams. At all. And I haven't seen enough Kawhi Leonard. If Kawhi Leonard is the best player in the Western Conference like he was when he got injured this past time, all right, it's a different conversation. But I just haven't seen enough from anyone to feel like OKC is going to have a challenge.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
Yeah. All right. Well, stick around after the break. We're going to talk about Wemby and Giannis. And Wemby does something every game that has my mouth agape. Victor Wiminyama and the San Antonio Spurs were in Milwaukee, and we were getting our first Giannis and Wimby face-off of the season. A little bit of a dud, if I'm honest. Not a great game. The Bucs won pretty handily, 121-105.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
I think Giannis won the head-to-head matchup, if we're going to give a winner in a team sport.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
It's funny because we talk about all these guards and wings that are trying to yam on him. They're trying to catch him. Kobe White caught him. But Giannis is really trying to put him... Like, yeah, he he Giannis had a drive tonight and he got into a nice jump stop and was able to just smoothly push Wimby like underneath the basket.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
I got to say, though, the way this game started, I thought this was going to be another one of these ridiculous Wemby nights. Yeah. The first shot he makes. It was incredible. It was a pump fake one footed running three. Yeah. Just he basically a floater. No one should shoot like that. It looked like LaMelo Ball took the shot. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
And it's really impressive. And then just a couple of minutes later. He has the ball kind of in the mid-range corner on the baseline at the three line. And he gives a little pump fake, goes around the defender, jumps up and is met by Giannis at the basket. And instead of just trying to go over the top of him, as you would think a guy who's 7'5 would do,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
yeah he he does a two-handed windmill it's not even it wasn't really quite a little like because he didn't really get his hands up kind of flip of the shot maybe a finger roll in there i don't know i need to see the phantom cam of this of this shot and so it's just like and i keep making this joke s it's like what did wimby do tonight and he did these two ridiculous things yeah but the game itself
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs vs. Thunder; Game of the Year | Giannis vs. Wemby
For him, not good. Ten points, ten rebounds. He did have three blocks because it's Wemby, and he wakes up in the morning with three blocks. But he didn't have the same sort of impact that we're used to seeing. I mean, what did you think? Was that Giannis being physical with him on defense? Was it the Bucs in general being physical?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
Zwei Spieler in dieser Lineup.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
We're going to start with JJ Reddick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
Two, six and seven.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
Really ruin Andrew's day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
I'm going to go with Chris Paul.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Shooting Luck? + Clippers SNEAKY Contenders? | Slam N Jam
Let's see, let's see, let's see. So we got Blake, we got Elton Brand, we got Chris Paul, right? Mm-hmm. He played enough. Let's throw Paul George on there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
In the last five years, only two teams have gone to the finals more than once, the Heat and the Celtics. And we are guaranteed to have our seventh consecutive unique champion this season. Do you think the parity that we're seeing in the league is changing the way that teams approach their team building process at all?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
been diminished in the past couple weeks but but they were fun to watch and it was just a cool environment to be a part of yeah it's no joke it is it is legitimately crazy loud and like the seats that we sit in were in the corner kind of across from the the visitor bench and we have to stand up Ich denke, es ist nicht sehr typisch, dass man in einer Medienseite stehen muss.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Aber es gibt Teile des Spiels, in denen Tim McMahon vorne sitzt. Und er musste so viele Male umdrehen, weil er weiß, dass ich eine blöde Knie habe. Und er sagt, sorry about your wheel, man. Und dann muss ich aufstehen. Ich würde sagen, versuch nicht, McMahon als einen politischen Mann zu bezeichnen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Du hast über Boston gesprochen. Alle glauben, dass wir sehen, dass sie den Betrag steigern, wenn sie in eine Transition-Saison gehen, mit Jason Tatum. Glaubst du, dass Boston einen von ihren mehr wertvollen Spielern, wie Derek White oder Jalen Brown, handeln könnte? Oder glaubst du, dass es eine Priorität wäre, diese Spieler zu halten und Leute wie Porzingis und Drew Holiday zu wechseln?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Drew würde natürlich die Wahl sein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Ja, das wird schwierig sein, weil es so viel Intentionalität hinter dem, was die Teams tun, gibt. Man kann keine gewissen Bewegungen mehr machen. Ich glaube, Phoenix ist wahrscheinlich das Posterchild davon. Man kann nicht nur diese Bewegungen machen, um den Talent einzusetzen, weil es dann einfach nicht möglich ist. Es kann nicht passieren.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
So the intentionality and like the biggest advantage right now probably in the NBA is like good ownership, good GM. You know, like you just have to have both those things at this point and they have to know the CBA very well. But yeah, it is very tricky for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
So with Tatum's injury and all the uncertainty around the Bucks, the East is suddenly looking like it could be extremely weak next season. Are there any East teams that you think are well positioned to make a big move this summer to gain an advantage and take advantage of this opportunity?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
So let's talk about the Thunder a little bit. What are your big takeaways from that series for OKC against the Wolves?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Yeah, hopefully everybody takes care of their obliques this summer. Yes, so many oblique issues. That was the weirdest thing. I don't even remember hearing about oblique injuries until those two with their two stars, which is so strange. Let's talk about KD. He's one of the big names that's expected to be moved this summer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Mark Stein had reported a couple teams in Houston and Philly who are interested in KD that the interest may be overstated. The two teams that reportedly do have interest are San Antonio and Miami. Do you think the Spurs and Heat are definite frontrunners for KD? Are there any other teams that you see having interest in KD? Um...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Yeah, my guess is like Philly is just going to take somebody here. But like they're in such a weird situation, right? Ich weiß nicht genau, wo du von hier her kommst, wenn du Daryl Morey bist. Du könntest es in vielen verschiedenen Wegen sagen. Ich würde empfehlen, hey, warum würdest du nicht einen jungen Mann nehmen und dann die anderen Jungs wegwerfen und jetzt den Rebuild starten?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Du hast dich mit dem dritten Pick begiftet. Du hast einen jungen Tyrese Maxxie. you have a way to kind of shift this. It doesn't seem like that's the direction they're heading, but they're going to have to make a decision sometime soon.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
15, 14.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Is it Al Horford?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
So horrifisch, horrifisch Zeit. Lass uns sehen. Ab 3-1. Alex, kannst du die Frage wiederholen?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
I honestly don't know the others. I'll say the Lakers, just because they've been there so much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
1981.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
No, I would not have. The Thunders best lineups are like Caruso, Queso Wallace, small ball lineups. They just don't play them for long stretches. They're like... Little tiny death by a thousand cuts type thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
um who does not score so single digits most games played um this is like mitchell robinson or deuce mcbride i don't know well that was two names you can only i know i was gonna say we have a cheater in our midst i know um I'll say Mitchell Robinson. Andrew, that is correct. Damn!
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that makes sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
2012.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Kevin Martin, Luis Scola Rockets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
The most turnovers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
I would guess, based on his turnover totals against OKC, which were very, very high, this is Nikola Jokic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Thank you. Congrats, Andrew. Alex feels so reluctant to congratulate me on that. I thought he stumped you. Right? Please go read Sam Amick at The Athletic. Sam, anything in particular you'd like to plug today?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Who was rooting harder for the Thunder that night? Thunder fans are your family.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
I think that's what I told you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Thank you to Sam for coming on the show. If you will, please leave us a five-star view on Apple Podcasts. We'll read it on the show. Hope you guys enjoy your weekend and the basketball. And we'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking to Sam Amick about the Thunder moving on to the finals, the Eastern Conference finals, some off-season topics, and then we'll do some trivia. With me as always is my good friend Alex Spears.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
And also with us is a good friend, Sam Amick, who I got to spend some time with here at OKC, which was a delight. Sam, welcome to the show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Ja, ich meine, es gab alle die Reden darüber, wie sie jüngere Jungs spielen wollen, aber als es in den Playoffs kam, mussten sie viel spielen. Und das sind nur Roster-Issuen, die Denver hat und die sie in der offenen Saison beantworten müssen. Aber das wird ein interessanter Punkt sein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
subplot here uh i did want to talk about okc a little bit more because a lot of there was just word that teams were not afraid of oklahoma city heading into the playoffs uh but league wide how do you see people how do people view the thunder and like their run that they've had yeah i mean that that word afraid like they they're i think they're afraid now you know like it's it's changed um in game five for example
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Finals Appearance + Offseason Primer with Sam Amick | Slam N Jam
Yeah, have you heard anything about Nikhil Alexander-Walker on that front as well, with him being a free agent?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
At PwC, we build for what's next. So you can get there now. So you can protect what you built. So you can create new value. PwC. So you can. PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
At PwC, we bring the power of a global network grounded in local know-how. From shifting regulations to fast-moving tech, we deliver tailored solutions that work everywhere you do. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you've built. So you can create new value. We build for what's next. So you can get there now. PwC. So you can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
At PwC, we bring the power of a global network grounded in local know-how. From shifting regulations to fast-moving tech, we deliver tailored solutions that work everywhere you do. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you've built. So you can create new value. We build for what's next. So you can get there now. PwC. So you can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins + DPOY Madness | Slam N Jam
Get ready.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Glad you're here. Thursday night was the first playoff game at the Intuit Dome. As someone who's covered this team for several seasons, how did the playoff atmosphere at Intuit compare to past seasons?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Hmm. You have a feeling you know who I'm taking at three, do you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Give me the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
And then I will take... Ugh. I want to take somebody on the opposite side of the thunder bracket, but I don't know who to feel best about today. Yeah. Like when I'm like taking, uh, taking a tip, even a temperature check here. Cause like golden state's got the Jimmy thing. That is very, very concerning.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Uh, the Lakers and wolves have looked, uh, a little bit blah and Houston just doesn't seem like they're ready to win multiple rounds. But, uh, I guess, I guess give me the Lakers again. I took the Lakers in the last draft. I'll take the Lakers again. If they can get in close games, I believe in the execution down the stretch, but I'll take the Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Wow. Moving on up Pacers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Ooh, look at this. Look at this. Uh, I guess I can, I'll, I'll still, I'll still put Denver in this group, even though they have not looked inspiring. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
there that's a bunch of uninspiring teams i'm looking at right now so i'll take i'll take denver they still have nicole yokich and the series is not over although last night it kind of felt like it was like this series not is not over yet so i'll go with the nuggets
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
We should have some stability within this. There should be at least a little bit of stability in this. Law Murray, thanks so much for joining the show. If you're watching on YouTube, I feel so bad because I had to call and wake Law up. This is like the life of a beat writer during the playoffs. He's yawning so much on this podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
And I feel like with every yawn, like a little bit of me dies is like this. as a host and producer of the show. So I'm very grateful to law for joining this podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Yep. Yep. Go read The Tears on The Athletic that Law wrote. It's a very fun exercise. And then go read everything he writes about the Clippers. Thank you, Law.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I've been excited about this all week. I want to hear your response about this specifically. Rewinding to game two. What was it like watching the Pistons get their first playoff win?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
That just doesn't even make sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
So I want to know about what you think about Jalen Duren. Yeah. Because last season, it felt like some of the fan bases were starting to turn on him. League-wide, people were just kind of turning on him as well and just kind of worried about his long-term outlook. But he's been a lot better this season, had some nice moments. He put up 16, 8, and 3 in Game 3.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Where are you at with Jalen Dern right now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
So regardless of what happens the rest of the series, the Pistons will head into the summer with some flexibility, being open, being able to open up some cap space and also having access to all their first round picks after the draft. What do you think the Pistons biggest needs are moving forward?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
It's cool because like it's like this identity that they've had for what, like 50 years or something like it's it's been a long time that they've had this like same identity. And it's been dormant for a little while, but it's back now. And it is very cool.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I will go with Blake. Blake Griffin. Andrew, that is correct. It was Blake Griffin. Kofi, you cannot hand deliver me answers, okay? Got to learn from that one. All right, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I'll give you a very uncomplicated answer and just say Caden Duren. Andrew, that is incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
How can that be true? How in the world can that be true?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Seems like he has. Andrew, do you have any ideas? What about Reggie?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Dude, we would have been here all day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I would have passed away not knowing the answer to that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Oh my gosh. That is crazy. Number three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I can only think of two.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
That's not what you said.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I have no recollection of him playing for Houston.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
So when they were bad? Yes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Four players with 50-plus blocks. 50-plus blocks. 50-plus blocks. I don't like the Thunder have the guys to do it. I just don't know that their guys played enough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I don't like this question at all. This is not a fun question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I'll go ahead and say Thunder, but I feel like I don't know if they got four. I feel like maybe they got three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I mean, I just could not just peel myself away from the TV. Reggie Jackson. That is correct for one point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
I guess if I answer this guy early on in the game, I'll say him again. Blake Griffin. Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Minnesota Timberwolves. Please go check out Kofi's YouTube channel at Kofi, Y-K-O-F-I-E-W-H-Y. Very fun content at his channel, so go check it out. Let's get him over 100K this weekend, people.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Thank you, Kofi.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Pistons trivia is always tough, man. Huge thanks to LaMurray and to Kofi for joining us on today's show. If you leave us a five-star review, we'll read it on the podcast at the very end. And so if you do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
we'll do it and this one we have comes from sf slim he says slam dunk five star slam and jam continues to dunk over the competition despite miscalculating the number of surprise teams this season didn't didn't you guys forget the clippers look it up nonetheless no hold on they do not count because you have to have a preseason over under below 36 and a half below 36 yeah yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Nonetheless, Alex and Andrew rule the NBA podcast world. Keep it up. Thank you so much for that review. This next one comes from... Yay, playoffs! Five stars. This is wonderful, entertaining, and interesting. Thank you so much for that review. And our final one comes from...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
joel law or joe joe law or joel awe four two six uh slam and jam slams and jams uh my favorite hour of podcast listening each week alex's review of the week is writing gold in the funniest nba content out there totally agree with that uh the pod does deep dives but keeps it light and i play along with the trivia each week and i'm excited when i know one
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
That also serves as a reminder that I should probably consume less MBA and spend more time with my wife and kid. Thank you so much for that review. Yes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Wouldn't that be amazing? I don't even know what to say. I don't even know what to say. I don't know what to say. Hey, enjoy the basketball this weekend. We'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Yeah, you mentioned Jokic. How have you felt like they've defended him? What does that look like to you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking to Law Murray about the Red Hot Clippers. Kofi joins us to discuss his beloved Pistons, and then we will do some trivia. With me, as always, is my good friend Alex Spears. And now we're going to talk Clippers first. But let's get to our BetMGM line of the week, brought to you by BetMGM.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
The Clippers are currently minus 400 to win the series against the Nuggets, or plus 310. I thought this would be a little bit better matchup than it has so far, but the Clippers seem to have the advantage. And to talk about the team that has the advantage, it's my good friend Law Murray from The Athletic. Law, what's up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kawhi the best in the NBA? + The Pistons are here | Slam N Jam
You've been around this Denver team a little bit. There's been rumors about there being beef between teammates in the locker room. They are struggling to kind of find their footing against the Clippers. What have you noticed just about the vibes around the Nuggets through these first few games?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
19.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
We haven't even talked Cooper flag, right? I got to get Cooper flag. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I like that too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
I don't feel great about it. I'm going to say Tyrese.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who should the Sixers take in the NBA Draft? + Thunder Rolling | Slam N Jam
Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking headlines from the week of NBA basketball, rookie of the year odds, and we're going to have Trill Bro Dude from the You Know Ball podcast to talk about the chaos. That is the Philadelphia 76ers. And we're going to do some trivia after that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Mm hmm. So with this two and 12 start, I think we've how many times have we said that on the show now, like five or six times with this two and 12 start, you started to hear some Sixers fans wanting to tank the season. I know you've been spending some time on Tankathon. Is it even possible for the for them to just punt this season? It's definitely possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
And then also you take pressure off of Nick Nurse. It's like this. They're both represented by clutch. So you just wonder you just wonder if like clutch is just like, hey, you know what would be awesome if we make our guys look good and everybody else look bad. That's you know what I mean?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
And if he's talking about elephant in the room to them all the time, I'm sure they're saying it all the time, too. Yeah, it's contagious. It's a contagious thing. OK, so one thing that the Sixers do have going for them is that they have some extra draft picks and they also have some tradable salary. If the Sixers were going to try to salvage things via trade this season,
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Is there any kind of player that they would look for? Is there any slop that we can cling to in this time of need?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Yeah, I remember hearing a scout say before the draft that they thought McCain was the best shooter in the draft, even better than Reed.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Back to back, it's 16 and 17. Trill, I have to know what you think about Paul George. Like I just he he did he did a podcast where he like click baited his team basically with like a hey, let's see what really happened behind the scenes. Like what what is happening? Like I need to know like what what is your opinion been of Paul George since he's come in the doors for the Sixers?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
And then like what do we make of him using his using all of this like downfall to help his own podcast? Like what do we make of that? Well, it's a fellow content creator. You got to hand it to him. That's kind of genius. Yes, sure. If the podcast is the most important thing, he is crushing it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
That's a very respectful response, I would say. Way to go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
It's going to say we will not be ignoring the Sixers. In fact, we're not going to ignore them starting right now. We're going to go to our BetMGM line of the week. Brought to you by BetMGM. So we're going to give you a little negative spin on the Sixers and a positive one. The negative one is, of course, there's no way that the Sixers could hit their over under a 50 and a half this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Yeah, I just can't get out of my head. I just can't get out of my head. The you haven't seen playoff P yet. And then him just getting absolutely outplayed by Joe Ingles for six games. Like, I just can't get that out of my head.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Is this just Sixers or what is this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
No, whole league, whole league, whole league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the number one pick for me is is super duper easy. And it's Anthony Edwards.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I would never watch the Timberwolves if I knew Anthony Edwards was not in the lineup. Because then what is it? It's just a lot of Julius Randle jab steps. It's like trying to make Rudy Gobert a thing on offense. I mean, it would be brutal. So yeah, give me Anthony Edwards, number one. That's a great one, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Which it just seems it's just funny that like that was like the Vegas over under. And it made sense. Like they had a really good summer. They you know, they should win 50 games. And now they're over under is at 38 and a half. And even that feels like if they if they got over 38 and a half would feel like a little bit like a miracle. Right. The way it looks right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Unfortunately, we've seen this just a ton and a ton this season. It's Zion Williamson. I have no interest in watching the Pelicans when Zion's out. Just none. And especially when they're playing this badly. They just can't win games. They just don't look functional. And Zion is so much fun to watch. In that playing game against the Lakers, that was so much fun. And it was peak Zion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
And you were like, okay, this is going to be amazing. You're going to get to see him in the playoffs. And it was just... A disaster not to see him in this season has been a clear disaster for the Pelicans. I didn't think I was going to do this, but I think I am. I'm going to go Cam Thomas. Let's go. Cam Thomas. Cam Thomas, wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
The Nets have just been in a lot of competitive games this year, and so there's a high watchability with them in particular, and they just have a lot of random guys, but the thing that keeps your eyes glued to the TV... is what is Cam Thomas going to do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
He's either going to shoot them completely out of this game or he's going to go completely nuts and he's going to do things that very few players in the NBA can do. Yep. Like, Trill, I know that you've talked about this on your show in that. It is hard to decide if he's good or like what like what is he?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Because he's I mean, if you read his stats out, if you read these stats out about any player, you would say, hey, this season, a player is scoring 25 points per game, three boards, three assists, almost a steal per game, shooting 45 percent from the field, 39 percent from three on seven attempts per game and shooting 86 percent from the free throw line. You would say all our conversation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
That's an all-star. That's a guy I want to build around. And our own Sam Amick has reported that, in fact, they don't want to. And so it's just his career is fascinating to me. But also just watching him this season has been fascinating. And if he's not in the lineup... Count me out. I don't care.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
But before we get all of that started, Al, please tell me, what are the top stories from the NBA this week?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Yeah. Is there another player that's 23 years old that has done this that we have had this kind of opinion on ever?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe this is all-star D'Lo, you know, like 18, 19 D'Lo is 22 years old, made the all-star team for the Brooklyn Nets in a, in like almost this exact situation where it's like the glue guys nets, you know, and he was 21, four and seven. He took seven attempts from three was 37%. I mean, yeah. Maybe this is just like a DLO season where he bounces around.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
People have to convince themselves of him. That is probably like the most likely scenario with Cam Thomas. But I just find him to be outrageously entertaining.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Are you taking the over then? Oh, yeah. Yeah, baby. Go Sixers. OK. OK. The next one, let's spin it positive now in which I ask myself this question every time I watch the Sixers. And like what what what does an alternate universe look like where the Sixers just decide to take somebody else? And at the 16th pick, like, what is it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Toby was on there. Let's see. It is wild how much they have turned this team over. It's insane.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
What about Robert Cullington, who I just mentioned?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
This is so scary, Al. It's so rare.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I'm trying to remember. There's a player I'm thinking of, but I just don't know if he did it during his rookie season. I kind of think that it wasn't during his rookie season. I won't say his name now. I'll mention it afterwards. Another 2020 draft guy. 26 times. That's a lot for a rookie. That's a lot of rookies.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
What does that world look like if they just I mean, there are a lot of, you know, decent role players in this draft. Is it just so crazy to think that maybe they would have taken like Tristan to Silva or. Even Yves Misi, who I think has been pretty good, but I don't know what would make that big of a difference for the Sixers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I don't think he did a turn guess rookie season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I mean, I was thinking this is the one that I don't I don't think it's right because I don't think he did it during his rookie season. But Sadiq Bay, I know he scored 50, but I think it was maybe in his second year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I mean, Allen Iverson. Correct, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Or if they took Deron Holmes, like that was a Twitter darling out there. Is it so crazy to think that they would have taken if they took somebody else? But if they did, just think about how much more hopeless the situation would feel. Because right now, Jared McCain, if you go to BetMGM, has the best odds at a plus 140. For rookie of the year. And I think it's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Does it count? Do injuries count? Do injuries count? Could they be like, could they like play a game, be injured for 20 games, come back? Does that like count as consecutive games? Is that is that a thing?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
That was one of the... I mean, I do a lot of dumb things. Put it on the list of one of the dumbest things I've done. Wow. Can I just hand trill an answer? Let me just give him an answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
But it's Allen Iverson. I mean, come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Yeah, I just looked it up. I remember him being awesome. I remember thinking, man, the Sixers have really got something going here with MCW. Dude, he had nine steals in his first NBA game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
He has had an excellent, excellent stretch here. And it looks like he should be rookie of the year. He looks like he's clearly the best player in this class to me so far. At least he's had the best start to anybody in this class. Besides Dalton Connect, who is a plus 200 to win rookie of the year. McCain looks like a steal for the Sixers and probably their lone bright spot this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
This is... I honestly don't have any clue who this is. This is hard. I don't have any clue. I know like... Malik Beasley and Karis Levert and those guys were after this, but they definitely weren't selected by the Pistons. And it has to be someone who ended up not playing a lot. I know. I think the Sixers got freaking Korkmaz in that draft. But I have no clue who the Pistons took.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
So no guess, Andrew. I mean, I just don't know. I just know all the guys that I've listed were after Yabu, but I just don't know. I don't remember who the Pistons took, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Henry John Ellenson. I don't think I've thought about his name since the draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I think I'm done with the Ellenson fun facts. We can move on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
career high oh boy um i don't even know where to begin with thinking about a career high for kj martin um i did once talk to kenyan martin in line in vegas while we were standing in line getting pizza about his son so that was cool that's the only that's the only thing That would be very helpful in this moment. It would have been really helpful if I were like, do you know what his career high is?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I don't know. Is that a hint? He played well. Hmm. What could that be? I'll say 23.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Oh, boy. Embiid, Maxi, and... God, there's a couple guys that I gravitate toward, but I just don't know which one it is. Actually, it could be another one, too. I will go with Eric Gordon. Andrew? Andrew?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
If I only didn't just hand you the Joel Embiid answer just on a silver platter. God, that was so dumb. Hey, go listen to the You Know Ball pod. It is a really fun NBA podcast. It's for the sickos. It's for the casual fan. It's a great pod. So go check it out. Trill, thanks so much for coming on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
That's great. That's a great schedule. Great. Yeah, that's going to be wonderful. Looking forward to watching some Denver Nuggets and digging into the Nuggets. Getting to watch a lot of Russell Westbrook will be great. Yep. Yep. Yep. Hey, if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, we will read it on the show, just like this one from Steph Curry 30 Money. What?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I just started listening to this. This is five stars. I just started listening to this, and I'm a teen, but this is honestly amazing. It keeps me interested and captivated. It also has good info about the NBA, just like an overview of basically everything. Definitely please listen to this. Thank you so much for that review. Next one, five stars. Love the show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Thank you, Alex and Andrew, for speaking about...
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
belgian players this saturday i hope it did not frighten anybody with my smiley face this morning in brussels while running and listening to you uh thank you so much that review comes from belgium this next one comes from australia nice pod five stars a great pod good vibes and i wish andrew tried to win the quiz a bit harder he seems happy to lose the quiz from well wjd throwing it oh
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
And it's going to look even worse now to Will W. DJ as I just... Yeah, this week it really does seem like you threw it. Literally handed one to Trill. Did not mean to. I don't know. My brain just jumps all over the place during... during the trivia, so not great. Thanks so much for listening. Please leave us one of those five-star reviews we'll read on the show. We'd very much appreciate that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Please share the show. We are on YouTube, so if you are looking to listen to the show on YouTube or you want to watch the show, you want to watch the look on my face when I get wrong answers on trivia, please join us on YouTube. You can search for The Athletic NBA Daily, and you can find that. Please subscribe to the channel. We'd very much appreciate that. Hope you guys Are doing great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Enjoy your weekend and the basketball. And we will talk to you guys again next Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
It is honestly unbelievable and really such a big win for them because there's a lot of guys that just aren't delivering anything to their teams that were selected, you know, 16 and below. So at least the Sixers have that. And Al.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
I just didn't. I just didn't think we were going to burst Cleveland Cavaliers fans bubble this week with that stat. It is a little rude.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
That would be fun as well. Something else that's a little rude is just talking to anybody that's a Sixers fan for a real long time. We're about to do that with Trail Bear Dude right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Welcome to Philadelphia. So let's let's talk big picture a little bit. The six years are arguably had the best offseason in the league. And we're coming into the season with people talking about this being the team that is like the most talented Sixers team in the Joel Embiid era. Now they're 2-12. How would you approach the rest of this season as a fan? Like, what are you supposed to do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
True Title Contenders + Are the Sixers Cooked?
Do you have hope still that things can turn around? Or have you completely given up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, no kidding. But that's all self-inflicted pain, though. Like they did that to themselves.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah. Apparently not. That does feel impossible. That is crazy. Yeah, it would be kind of cool to see Cooper Flagg in Brooklyn. That would genuinely be pretty cool. Also, put Cooper Flagg in the Eastern Conference. Yes, please. Please. The Eastern Conference needs more stars. Please, get him to the East. Okay, my favorite stat this week. Everybody wants to talk about free throw merchants.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
It's a thing that people like to do online. Well, I want to talk about the other guys. So I... You have to play 2,000 minutes or more, so you can't just be some nobody that doesn't take free throws at all. I'm trying to workshop a name for these guys, like contactless delivery, like door dashers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking title odds. Our players of the week and Matthew Tynan joins us to talk about the San Antonio Spurs. But to start off, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I don't know what you call them, just guys that avoid contact at all costs when they're scoring the basketball. A lot of these guys are mostly three-point shooters for the most part, which makes sense. But the door dasher of the year is Keegan Murray. Per 100 possessions, he takes 1.4 free throws per game, which is the least amount of anybody this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Mikael Bridges, which is a little surprising because Mikael just doesn't just sit out and take threes. He does a lot more, but the guy does avoid contact at all costs. He's also a door dasher. 1.7 free throws per 100 possessions. Tumani Kamara is on the list at 2.4, Jaden McDaniels at 2.4, and then Dylan Brooks rounds out the top five for the season at 2.5.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Just didn't take them. The year before that, in 22-23, Reggie Bullock, .8 free throws, .100 possessions. These are just incredible door dashers. Yeah. Royce O'Neal appeared. I went through a bunch of years. Royce O'Neal was on the list. Kevin Herter, Patty Mills. I don't know. I just don't know why no one talks about those guys. Everybody wants to talk about the free throw merchants.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
No one wants to talk about the door dashers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, he was the one outlier because it mostly is. You're talking about Reggie Bullock and Royce O'Neal. Those guys just catch and shoot. There's a reason why they don't get fouled. Guys don't get fouled on three-point shots very often. And so, yeah, he was the one outlier where maybe he is the true champ where all these other guys aren't really doing anything.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
It is definitely contactless for most of these fellas.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, he's already played a career high in minutes. He had never played over 1,000 minutes in a season. He's already done that this year. Yeah. So shout out. Shout out. My favorite player this week... I was just looking through stats, and I just landed on this one with Dyson Daniels. And I don't think that we can understate the steals year that Dyson Daniels is having.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
So he's currently on pace to be tied for the 16th most steals in a season, which no player in the modern era is really touching. He currently has 194 steals, total steals, as of Thursday afternoon. And here are the players that he's ahead of in total steals, if he reaches this 233, which he's on pace for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
John Stockton, Michael Jordan, Alvin Robertson, who currently holds the Steelers record at a 301, which is like, how do you even do that? Michael Ray Richardson, Slick Watts in 75-76, and John Buse. Like, that's it. Like, there's nobody else that has done that. So the players in the modern era that are even getting close to touching these numbers... are Chris Paul, who in 2010-11 had 188.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
07-08, he had 217. And then 08-09, he had 216. So Chris Paul was amazing. And he's going to pass Chris Paul if he stays healthy this season. But the last time that he did that was 2011. You look at Baron Davis in 07-08, who had 191. Rondo, who was in 9-10, had 189. Dwayne Wade in 08-09 had 173. Andre Iguodala in 07-08 had 171.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Really like the only player that you can see on this like stat head database that ranks in the top like 200 that's happened in the last like five to seven years is Paul George in 1819 with 170. So he ranks 188th on that stat head database list. And that was like the last like great steals season ever. So I asked myself the question, where have all the steals gone?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Is this just teams being more efficient with the basketball? Because there's not a player in the modern era that's touching the top 20 in steals. The last time someone cracked the top 20 in total steals for a season was 1996. And it was Gary Payton. That's the last time, which doesn't make sense to me. Dyson is about to leapfrog that. He's about to leapfrog into the tops.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
He could land at 16th if he just stays on pace with three steals per game. So I just don't think that we quite understand the gravity of what he's doing this year with just steals in general.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Now, I don't know that he deserves to be defensive player of the year or anything, but when you read through the stats and you contextualize it, it does start to feel a little bit almost like the Russell Westbrook MVP year, where it's like, wait a minute. No one's really done this. This hasn't really happened in a very long time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And so I just wanted to bring a little bit more context into it, because we know the deflections are crazy. It's like the most deflections ever. The steals are crazy, but I didn't quite realize how crazy it actually was.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Because the guys that are getting these big steals numbers are early 90s and 80s, when I guess people are just a little bit more loosey-goosey with the basketball than they are today. But man, Dyson Daniels is having just an epic season when it comes to steals. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
It's it was really fun. So my my son is 12 years old now and he is like he loves the NBA. And every morning he'll hop out of bed and he'll run in there. What happened last night? Like, tell me what happened in the league last night. And like showing him the highlights from that game was absurdly fun. Yeah. It was very fun to watch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
My moment of the week was that Cade, and you mentioned it earlier, the Cade Cunningham game winner against the Miami Heat. And one, it was impressive. It was over Bam Adebayo. It was like a pull-up three that he's just gotten much better as a pull-up shooter overall. Cade Cunningham had a triple-double in that game. Jalen Duren played really well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
He had a really big offensive rebound kick out to Cade down the stretch to help him win that game, but It's just so interesting just to think about these two franchises and the direction that they have. And really, preseason, I don't think that you would have predicted their records would basically be flip-flopped.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Where the Detroit Pistons are almost 10 games above .500 and the Miami Heat are 11 games below .500. It's just... It's just kind of wild to see these two teams go into vastly different directions. And it was just kind of fitting to see Cade hit that game winner over Bam in that game. And as you see, the Detroit Pistons have a lot going on for them. And we talk about it on this show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We talk about it on the NBA Daily. I know that those guys love this Pistons team. But this team is for real. And they're young and they have a ton of development potential. going on within their team. They don't even have Jaden Ivey right now, and Dennis Schroeder's done a pretty good job of filling in for him for the most part, but they don't have one of their key members of their team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And they've just been impressive. And then for the Heat, you just wonder, where does this go for them? I don't think when you look at the collection of players that they're as bad as they've been lately, but you also just wonder, where does a Bam Adebayo, Tyler Hero team take you? And this draft has suddenly become extremely important for the Miami Heat. They don't have their pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Next year, they'll be unprotected to the Thunder. And you just wonder, where does this go? And a lot of times for the Heat, when you wonder that, they pull a rabbit out of their hat in free agency and something happens for them. And maybe that's what's going to happen here with them. But I don't wonder about the Pistons. I think the Pistons are on their way up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I think in the Eastern Conference, they can definitely make some noise. But for the Heat... I just wonder where this goes and how everything plays out for them. So I just thought that that was a very interesting moment that kind of symbolized two things happening for these teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Against the Heat, yes. It was terrible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, I think it was something crazy like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, there's no question. And they are a fun team. And maybe he's still mad about 04. Maybe that's it. I don't know. What else would it be? Someone who's not mad about 04 is the San Antonio Spurs. We're going to talk about them. I don't know. Maybe they are. We'll be right back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We've got Matthew Tynan, who's the host of the Small Market Bias podcast. You can also find Matthew's writing at Corporate Knowledge on Substack. Matthew, thank you for joining Slam and Jam.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
So let's talk about Steph Castle. He's the favorite for Rookie of the Year after making a big push in the second half of this season. In his last 30 games, he's averaging 17-4-3. Where have you seen the biggest improvements in his game over the course of his rookie season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Are there, are there any player comps that like Spurs fans have for him in particular? Yeah,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We got to talk about Wimby. I think we're just going to assume that he's coming back next season. Everything's all good, that he's feeling good. And we all kind of hope that that's the case with him. But he's having an NBA all-star caliber season and he got shut down. He became more efficient on the offensive end. Even when he increased his three-point volume, he even looked better then.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
What do you think is the next evolution or the next step for Wimby as an offensive player?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
What a wild week of NBA basketball, Al. Our BetMGM line of the week brought to you by BetMGM is the odds for the winner of the NBA championship. I just thought we might check in. It's middle of March. We're a month out from the playoffs starting. And just see where we're at. And I just want to hear your thoughts on this. So the Thunder are the favorite currently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
The Spurs made their first big move of the Wimby era with the Deere and Fox trade. They're able to hang on to most of their picks and young players potentially setting themselves up for another trade. Are there any realistic trade targets around the NBA that Spurs fancy as a perfect fit next to Wimby?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
But you're being too nice, Matthew, you're being way too nice. Okay. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Slight favorite over the Celtics at a plus 185. Celtics are a plus 220. And then a pretty big drop for the Cavs at plus 500. The next team in line after Thunder, Celtics, Cavs is the Los Angeles Lakers. And some of this is, you know, who's going to bet? Who's betting on these lines? Can we lure these Lakers fans in? Can we reel them in? And boy, I'm sure they are reeling them in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Oh, last three Spurs rookies to have a 30-point game. That is correct. Wimby.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Oh, really? Oh, we're doing it this way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Okay, Wimby, Steph Castle, and Malachi Branham.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Plus 1,000 for the Lakers. The Warriors are next at plus 1,200. And then the Nuggets are below those two teams. which is just really interesting to me. Specifically, what are your thoughts on these West teams? I think the East is correct. You have the Celtics and Cavs at the top, followed by a giant drop to the Knicks, who haven't looked great, the Bucks, who haven't looked great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
LeBron. I don't know. Old guys. Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Boy, I don't know if I can. I'm going to have to really guess this one. I just have to throw out a spur. Name a spur. Name a spur.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
But what do you think about this order for the West, which is Thunder, Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
No, I think there's more than that, because I think DeJounte was on that team, too. He was, man. The thing that I'm trying to, in my head, trying to think about is, has Davis Bertans played in the NBA this year? Is like the question I'm asking in my head right now. I can't even, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And I don't know if he has. I don't think he has, but I don't know if he has. Interesting. I also believe Kyle Anderson was on that team as well. I think he was still a spur. So I feel like this number could be as high as five, but it all hinges on. This four fingered shooter. And I can't. The Latvian laser. I can't. I, I don't think he, I'm going to say four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
It's one of like the loudest sounds on a broadcast for an injury that I've maybe ever heard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I don't think he has played in the NBA this year. I'll say four. Andrew, two things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
That summer. Because I wanted the Thunder to take him so bad instead of Terrence Ferguson. I can't believe I forgot about DeJounte.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Pretty simple question. Pretty simple. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Man, I'll go... I'll go with Vassell. Correct answer is...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
He is. Running around. Incredible posture. Incredible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I just have never thought about anything like this before. It's kind of wild that he's doing it at 39, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, it really is. I feel like it's been a long time. I'll say 2014, 2015. It's been 10 years. Andrew? Andrew?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Wow. Go listen to the Small Market Buys podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I don't think about that. I'm not thinking about it. I'm thinking positive. I think we're getting the Warriors or the Wolves or... I think it's going to be Jamal Shed Week on Slammin' Jam. I wouldn't mind Washington. I wouldn't mind Washington.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We've got the Memphis Grizzlies. Man, it was on the Thunder for like so long. I thought we were actually going to get the Thunder, and we did not. We got the Memphis Grizzlies. Nope, never again. Apparently never again. But we did get Nick Gallo, which feels like a good way to go out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
In Oklahoma City, yeah. You'll probably be there. I was going to say, I will make sure to be there for the wheel. All right. That'd be great. That'd be great. Something else that would be great is if you left us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. And I meant to mention this this week, and I'm glad that he left the review. It's from cool underscore rancher.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
He says, I love the new pods with S, Zena, and Dave as well. Been a listener for years, but just gotten an iPhone so that I can leave this review. He didn't have to do that, Cool Rancher, but we really appreciate that. As of 3-12-25, Andrew's unofficial record calculated by me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
So a strong chance that there's a mistake, but we're at least in the ballpark for Andrew versus the beat is 64, 68 and four. He sent some screenshots to us on Twitter and on blue sky showing the date, the wheel team, the opponent, the outcome and all of that. And he put in a ton of work. So we really appreciate you doing that. Um, And so I'm creeping up to 500. I'm getting closer to 500.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Did that today. That feels pretty good. He says, love Slammin' Jam. Keep up the great work.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah. As long as I stick to it. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
This one comes from a factual opinion. Five stars. A daily ritual. I wouldn't have a reason to get out of bed if it wasn't for the NBA Daily Podcast. I would die in my bed from dehydration. My family would have to call a service to remove my rotting carcass.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
experience and they would have to struggle they would struggle to forget but thanks to the podcast i do get out of bed every day in fact i leap out of bed to hear each new episode thank you my family thanks you my higher power who i choose to call dyson daniels thanks you Do not ever stop making episodes or I will die. You know what? Saving lives out here. Really appreciate that review.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
I'm reading some of these and some of these are specifically for the other episodes of the NBA Daily, but I wanted to read them on here too, just to give them some shine. This one comes from... Beth Mikkel. So smart, so upbeat. The camaraderie is so enjoyable, lighthearted and serious simultaneously. And she gives a shout out to Xena in here as well, which is wonderful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Xena has done a spectacular job this season. And so has Dave and us. It's a great show. So really appreciate you guys leaving these five star reviews. Leave them. Leave us some more. We'll read them on the show. Would really appreciate that. Hope you guys enjoy your weekend and the basketball. And we will talk to you guys. again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, it's funny because we follow the Thunder closer than any other team. And we feel like there is some Thunder disrespect that's going around. People love to ask themselves the question, does the Thunder have what it takes to win the whole thing? And we'll see where they're at this year. But the Cavs have been better than the Thunder in lots of stretches this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Now, not this very second, but there have been a lot of stretches where they've been better than the Thunder. In fact, they beat the Thunder in... in what I thought was the best game of the season. And so, yeah, I think that they should be in that plus 200-ish range as well. But for whatever reason, they don't get the same respect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And maybe it's that they don't have a true MVP candidate, and maybe that's what pushes the Thunder to the top, is you can see the Thunder doing well because they do have a true number one guy. But Mitchell's been awesome this year. I think Donovan Mitchell probably... is somehow one of the more underrated players in the NBA. He's had a tremendous season for the Cavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
But yeah, I just thought the overall finals winner was just interesting to look at based on these numbers. And I think I would definitely have the Nuggets higher overall. Then both Lakers and Warriors, I think they're just... Honestly, the Lakers and Warriors are just fun to watch right now. And they have a lot of names of guys that everybody knows.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And because they're giant fan bases, people probably do bet them more than they would bet the Nuggets. But I would give the Nuggets better odds.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Yeah, that is crazy. My favorite quote comes from Tim McMahon wrote this article on ESPN about the Suns, which is it was fascinating in so many ways. But this quote really stuck out to me from Matt Ishbia, who's the owner of the Phoenix Suns. He says, it's surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuild process. Like, oh, let's rebuild it. Are you crazy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
You think I'm going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding. I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today and we're going to try. Although let's say that doesn't work. Guess what? Maybe next year we won't be as good, but we're going to try again. The next opportunity we have, we're going to try to win and compete again.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And it will work. We will win a championship here in Phoenix. Might not be this year, but I promise you, we're going to do it. And that's what we're focused on. This, to me, would be the scariest two paragraphs that I could read as a Suns fan. Because, one, it shows that Matt Ishbia, which most owners do this, is completely driving the direction of this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
And he's the one pushing for them to keep trying. And the fact that, one, he clearly doesn't know what drives winning and losing in the NBA based upon the team that they have. Like, just doesn't really get it. And it is terrifying for Suns fans to know that this guy is going to keep pushing and pushing and pushing until the wheels fall off a thing. Listen, the wheels already fell off.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
This is a team that has a super high payroll. And they are not a good basketball team. And it's because of the way they've been constructed. And ownership is so important in the NBA. It is one of the most important things. And the Celtics, we don't really know much about the new ownership group for the Celtics. We know he's a Celtics fan, but what is he going to do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Ownership change is maybe the biggest thing that you can do to a sports franchise. And to have a guy like Matt Ishbia, who has done a lot of good things for fans in Phoenix with making the broadcast free for fans that are local, the concessions, we've talked about that on the show. There's been a lot of really good things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
But the fact that he doesn't quite understand how the NBA works, this team is in the middle and falling. And the heart, one of the hardest things to do in the NBA is to get out of the middle. And he's basically saying like, well, no, no, we're going to be in the middle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We're going to stay in the middle, which almost guarantees that the thing that he said that we will win a championship here in Phoenix is not going to happen. Like you, this is not how you win championships.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
Well, I mean, James Jones came out and said that he didn't really care about the draft. Not that long ago. Yeah. You know, you don't have to, if you don't have picks. So it's, I don't know. I, That was jarring to me. That was jarring to me. In a league where I think that most teams understand the rhythm and flow of NBA teams. Most do not want to be in the middle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
We're seeing that right now with all the tanking that's happening across the league. Most teams understand that we need to try to get the number one pick. If we don't get the number one pick, there's other guys that can help us get out of the middle. But man, to be this unaware is scary as an NBA owner.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
We've only gotten 148 minutes this season with Klingin, Scoot, and Sharp on the court together. They're three under 22 prospects. I'm betting that at some point this team will shift their focus and maybe Shane Sharp will be the big beneficiary. But it's a risk, Andrew, I acknowledge. It probably won't happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That does feel risky. Mine is going to a player that I... He's definitely not a focal point. He's not going to be a guy that is going to make like a leap into stardom or even like All-Star game or anything like that. But he's a guy that is going to play a really crucial role for a really good team. And it's Aaron Wiggins on the Thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Since his birthday, January 2nd, he's averaging 14 points, five rebounds, two assists.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
and has been shooting 55 from the field 38 from three on almost five attempts and 87 from the free throw line he's been the third leading scorer on the thunder since january 2nd and has been just such a huge piece of what they do uh in the month of of february he's had just a ridiculous month if you look at his splits he's averaged 25 and two in the month of february a lot of that buoyed by a 41 point game that he had but
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I think as the Thunder kind of move into becoming contenders and like a team that is just in the playoffs as a mainstay, I think they're going to need like a more consistent go to score off the bench. And that's something they kind of struggled with, especially when Shea is when Shea is on the bench. They have struggled a lot. And I think that Aaron Wiggins could be a part of that solution.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slamma Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking about the updated Defensive Player of the Year odds, the players that are making a pre-leap, and then Lauren Williams joins the show to talk about the Atlanta Hawks. But to start with, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
You know, he's only 26 years old. He's a guy that he was the 55th overall pick. He's not somebody that was really supposed to be here kind of thing. But he's really developed into a three-level scorer. He's a guy that's got a couple really nice spin moves to the bucket and can finish around the hoop. And then he's a guy that has really shot the ball well off the catch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And so he's somebody, if he can catch this kind of consistency, not that he's scoring 20 points per game, that he's scoring 12 points per game the rest of the season off the bench. I think that he could make a huge impact
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
on this team and on the playoffs as a whole because the Thunder just needs some more consistent scoring off the bench and not just from three, but just in transition, grading in the half court. He can shoot a mid-range jumper. When he does get to the free throw line, he makes his free throws.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's just a guy that I think the Thunder have started to count on a little bit more over this last stretch, and he's somebody that I think could become the future six-man for this team. The Thunder have him locked up
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
on what i think is one of the best contracts in the nba he's 10 million this year he's 9 million the following year eight seven and then he's at 7.9 in 2829 and if he really is like this sixth man for the thunder getting him at under 8 million in 2829 it's going to look ridiculous So just want to give a shout out to Aaron Wiggins.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
While All-Star Weekend was a big event for the NBA, the actual top story this week was the news that Victor Wemby would be shut down for the rest of the season due to a blood clot in his shoulder. The Spurs announced that this is an isolated event. They do not expect any long-term issues, but it's a disappointing end to a great season for Wemby, who put up 24-11-4.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And I think that he's somebody who is developing and becoming like a legit NBA score. And you can just kind of see it in his confidence level.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So my final pick. less about me believing that this guy has some crazy ceiling. This is more about this guy fell into an incredible opportunity where he, in my opinion, is obviously about to put up career numbers. And that player is 24 year old Quentin Grimes of the Philadelphia 76ers. He was recently traded the Sixers from the Mavericks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's now starting for the Sixers has started the last two games. He's getting 30 plus minutes every night. Eric Gordon is without a timetable to return from his wrist injury, which means we're about to get a whole lot of Quentin Grimes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And let's be honest, Embiid and PG are probably going to miss some games down the stretch, whether Philly is still hopelessly trying to catch the Chicago bulls or whether they shift to maximizing their odds to keep their pick. Regardless of the scenario, I think Quinn Grimes is going to be a big beneficiary.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's already had a 30 point game in the last game before the all-star break against Brooklyn. He's taken over six and a half threes per game in Philly. Now he hasn't shot it great yet in Philly, but he's consistently been like a 38 to 40% three point shooter over his career.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Depending on how the rest of the season goes for Philly, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Grimes is sniffing 20 points per game the rest of the season. Now, that sounds ridiculous. I know. But coming into last night, he was like at 16.8 through his first four or five games with Philly. I just think he has so much opportunity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Now, if Philly's big three stay healthy somehow down the stretch, that's not going to happen. But... the longer they refuse to pass the bulls, the more you wonder if it does shift their approach at some point, which would give Grimes even more opportunities than he's already getting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I just think this is like the classic guy where at the end of the season or even like a couple of years from now, we'll be like, do you remember when Quentin Grimes averaged like 18 points per game for the Sixers? You know, he's just like, I don't think he's that type of player, but he has this rare opportunity where his pre to post all-star splits are going to look crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I could see that. He's bounced around the league so much. It's been just kind of strange, honestly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's kind of got the Christian Wood thing without the obvious Christian Wood baggage. At least we knew about the Christian Wood thing. People were like, oh, he can be kind of annoying to play with or whatever. Yeah. But we haven't heard necessarily that with Quentin Grimes. But yeah, it is strange that he keeps getting traded. I don't get it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He defends. He hits his threes. He tries hard. He hits his threes. He's a young player. What's going on here? It wasn't that long ago that he was untouchable in a trade for the Knicks. And suddenly he's on four different teams. It's bizarre. My last player is a guy who was taken outside the lottery in this past draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
In the 2024 NBA draft, he was selected 15th by the Miami Heat, Khalil Ware, who is just a really interesting player to me and somebody that... has gotten more opportunity. He's gotten to start 12 games recently. And you look at his splits between being a reserve and being a starter, uh, as a reserve, he was seven points, four rebounds per game. He's playing fine, like shooting the ball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
while leading the league in blocks, something that he will continue to do despite not playing another game. He has a 74-block lead on the number two player, Walker Kessler. Wemby will, however, miss out on a likely Defensive Player of the Year award and a possible All-NBA spot as well. Now, is there a possible Ewing theory with Wemby and the Spurs? Don't do that. No, not at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Well off the bench, you shoot 40% from three off the bench. Uh, He's kind of this interesting guy that can get blocks and threes, which is really valuable in the league. And they've moved him into the starting lineup and the production is ticked up. He's almost 11 and a half points per game, almost 10 rebounds. He's a guy that gets a steady amount of blocks and shoots threes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And like those guys are really tough to find, and especially as a seven footer. He's played really well. He's had like breakout games against San Antonio. He had twenty five, eight and two with two blocks. And the next game against Portland, who during that stretch was playing really well, he was twenty fifteen and two blocks and he made two threes in that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I mean, he's a very rare type of player. And in the draft process, people kind of. questioned his motor and what he could be as an NBA player. And I think that he landed in the exact right spot in Miami where like the motor clearly has not been a problem for Khalil. And he's a guy that I think that he's only 20 and he's only 20 is the thing. Like he's he's big. He's got a great NBA body.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's got long arms. He's a guy that can, again, shoot threes and block shots like that is a rare player to find. And in a draft that this I mean, let's be clear, this draft class has not shown out. This has not been a great draft class, but he's one of the bright spots. And I think that Miami. While they've lost Jimmy Butler, I think there is a future.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'm not saying that Ware is going to be the centerpiece of their future, but the fact that you can keep stacking good players like this, they just have a lot of good players. We were texting about Nikola Jovic, who's also had a really nice few weeks, too. He's another good player that they drafted.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
They're eventually going to be back in the hunt in the Eastern Conference, and I think that just drafting a guy like Ware is going to help.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I was listening to, you know, Ball, they did a redraft of this past draft and Ware went number one. And at first I was like, whoa. He went number one. He went number one. But then you started thinking about it and it's like, you know what? That's not that crazy. Like when you look at the other guys he's being compared to.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And the thing you mentioned about like his kind of unicorn status, like finding a player like that is so difficult. And so the fact that he's already showing this production as a rookie on like not a lottery team, you know, a team that's in the play in that really is impressive. And I certainly like I could see it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I could see us in five years looking back and Cleo Ware is the best player from this draft class. That's that's not out of the realm of possibility. It's totally possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I don't know that I would take him number one. Who would you take number one, Andrew? Let us know right now. Who would I take number one? I'd probably take McCain. Probably McCain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He went number two, so there you go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay. McCain, when he played, was really, really good. He was good. Or Steph Castle. I know that a lot of people don't believe in the shooting, but the guy... He defends, he can pass it a little bit. I just like him. He can get to the hoop. I like Stefan Castle and he's got good size. So that's the thing that I worry a little bit about with McCain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But I just think like the shooting and the confidence is tough to find. So yeah, something else that's tough to find is someone to talk about the Hawks, but we did find somebody and it's our good friend, Lauren Williams, who we are going to talk to right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
All right, Andrew, it is time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel, it lands on a team, and we become fans of that team for the next week. Last week, the wheel landed on the Atlanta Hawks, and because of All-Star Weekend, we didn't get a ton of Hawks basketball this week. The lone game was a 114-108 loss to the Orlando Magic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But the Spurs did win their first Wemby-less game post-All-Star break against the Phoenix Suns, who have now lost seven of their last eight. Another player who won't be playing for a while, like Wemby, but for a completely different reason, is Bobby Portis. Portis was suspended 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
a game in which Trey Young scored 38 points. The loss dropped the Hawks to 26-30, ninth in the East, half game back of Miami for the eighth seed. And speaking of Miami, the Hawks have two big games against the Heat in the coming week, which could be important for tiebreakers. Cleaning the glass has Atlanta as the 17th ranked offense and 15th ranked defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Andrew, if our favorite team is the Hawks, who is our guest?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It's our good friend Lauren Williams from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lauren, thank you so much for joining us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So the Hawks have played four games since their very active trade deadline, where they swapped out DeAndre Hunter and bogey for Terrence Mann, George Niang, and Karis Levert. What are your thoughts on the Hawks' deadline deals?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. And, you know, watching the few games after the trade deadline, it still looks like they're prioritizing their young guys. You know, like Risa Shea is still in the starting lineup. You know, Dyson Daniels is still getting 30 plus minutes a game. So it's not like they're playing all these old guys in favor of young guys. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
In a statement, Portis explained that he took an unapproved pain medication, Tramadol, when he intended to take Toradol, an approved medication. eighth with only three games remaining in the regular season. Is there a possible Ewing theory with Portis and the Bucks? Question mark? No, it's Bucky Portis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So speaking of Dyson Daniels, he's had a breakout season since being traded to Atlanta in the DeJounte Murray trade. He's kind of made his name as a defensive specialist leading the league in steals and deflections. But I'm interested in what you think about his offensive development this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Obviously not known for that side of the ball, but where have you seen him make the biggest strides this season on that end?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. I want to emphasize how much better Dyson Daniels has been than everybody else this season with just his deflection numbers. He has 311 deflections this season. That's insane. Number two, Kelly Oubre, which is kind of surprising, 213. He has like 100 more deflections. Then the second place guy. I mean, he is so far and away like the most disruptive guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I mean, he he took the Hawks from being like they're just like a middle of the pack defense. They're nothing special. But he took he took them to being like one of the most disruptive defenses in the NBA by himself. Like that's all that it took. The Thunder are the most disruptive defense in the NBA. But like next is the Hawks. And it's only because of this guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And so it's just kind of amazing that he was kind of being hidden. in New Orleans a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But the Bucks did win their first game post-All-Star break, getting an impressive win over the Clippers, 116-110. Now, a player who will be playing but maybe should have taken a bit longer to come back is Luka Doncic. In the first game post-All-Star break, Luka shot five of 18 from the field with six turnovers in a 197 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
trajectory or the making that assumption that might be why he got the call but who knows yeah yeah no kidding um so zachary research was the number one pick in last year's draft and is has averaged around 24 minutes per game this season while the efficiency hasn't been there research has been productive for a rookie based on what you've seen so far how much upside do you think research has and what does he need to do to reach that upside
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Lauren is at the Hawks practice facility currently and has kind of snuck away to do this pod for us, and so we're very grateful. If there's interruptions, it's because she's just a true slammin' jammer helping us out today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It seems like there's always whispers about Trae Young's future in Atlanta. Chris Haynes talked about how Trae Young's future was becoming murky. Bobby Marks wrote about his uncertain future because of possible extension talks. How committed do you think this franchise is to Trae? And would a Trae this summer surprise you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Luka has yet to top 16 points in his first three games with the Lakers and had to sit out on Thursday, the second night of a back-to-back for management of his previous calf injury. Finally, we only had really one night of games this week other than that Lakers game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Looking ahead to the summer, let's just assume that Trey Young is a Hawk. What do we think are the biggest weaknesses on the roster and how are they going to address those?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
The best win was probably the Indiana Pacers, who outscored the Memphis Grizzlies 50-26 in the second quarter, eventually winning 127-113. How about those Pacers? After starting 10-15, Indiana has gone 21-8 over their last 29 games and have a one-game lead on the Bucs for the fourth seed in the East. And those were the top stories this week. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I just had one more just about their draft pick. They don't have the draft pick. They traded it. It's looking like the Spurs are going to have two really nice picks, one of their own without Wimby down the stretch and then this Hawks pick. I assume the Hawks are just going to keep fighting and try to stay in the play and hunt, just hoping a prayer that they somehow make the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Is that just kind of where we're headed with all of this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And so, but the 23rd ish pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
trade for DeAndre Hunter they got a couple second round picks so yeah it's not totally that Kings one that Kings one is like is really big that Kings pick is really huge they they need they need the Kings to uh to play some really bad basketball down the stretch because if that well I guess good basketball I'm sorry no no I'm wrong good basketball sorry sorry no they need they need this uh DeMar DeRozan led team to to be good
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, top 12 protected, because right now it's the 13th pick. And it's likely, if it stayed there, it's likely the Hawks would get it. But, you know, just you're dancing on the edge there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
For Atlanta. That's interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Totally.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Thank you for answering all of our Hawks questions today. It is now time to play Andrew vs. the Beat, Hawks edition, featuring Lauren Williams from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Now, Lauren, you've played this before. I've come up with eight questions about the Hawks. I'll leave you one last time, if I remember correctly. Some are easy, some are hard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
You're going to give me a number between one and eight. It'll correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one, and we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So to start us off, Lauren, I just need a number between one and eight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Question number six. Okay, how many players on the Hawks' current roster have had a 30-point game? And as a hint, before the trade deadline, the answer would have been seven.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It may actually make it more difficult to figure out. You have to do some additional math. But before the deadline, it would have been seven. What is it now? The number of players on the roster who've had a 30-point game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
What a week. Al, let's get our BetMGM line of the week in from our partners, BetMGM. It's the Defensive Player of the Year Award, which was going to go to Victor Wimbinyama. but is now, I think, up for grabs. Currently, Jaron Jackson Jr. holds the best odds at a minus 120. We have Evan Mobley coming in at plus 120. Dyson Daniels at a plus 700. And then you've got a group of the Thunder guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Current roster.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay. Zach. I think Dyson. Jalen. Definitely trade. Definitely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
We are counting the new guys. Yes, absolutely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That is incorrect. Andrew, you have a chance to steal for one. What would you guess, Andrew? Seven. So it was seven before the deadline. They traded away DeAndre Hunter and Bogey, who both had 30-point games. They brought in three new players, all of whom who have had a 30-point game, even George Niang. So the correct answer is eight. Correct answer is eight. This season? Oh, not this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Oh, just in general.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Oh, sorry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And the other ones were Trey, Jalen, Okongwu, Capella, and Risa Shea. Capella had a 30-point game most part of the time. Yeah, Okongwu was kind of surprising, too. All these guys, it was like 30 points, exactly. Yeah, okay. Which makes sense. Okay, Andrew, you're next. I'll go number one. Question number one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
According to Cleaning the Glass, Andrew, the Hawks have the 15th ranked defense this season. Actually, I just checked. It's 14th now. The first time that that's happened since the 2016-17 season where they've been a top half defense. In the 2016-2017 season, who led the Hawks in blocks that season with only 92? Only 92, Andrew. Oh, my gosh. 2016-17 Hawks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
16-17. 16-17.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I think this is Dwight Howard. Andrew, that is correct. It was Dwight Howard. Yes. Only 1.2 blocks per game, but that was enough to be the most blocks on the Hawks. Okay, Lauren, the board is yours.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Question number three. Dyson Daniels had a game with eight steals this season. Only six other Atlanta Hawks have ever had a game with eight plus steals. How many can you name? Now, you do get one point per correct answer, and I will tell you, if for some reason you do this, you could get six points. Okay. But I know that neither of you will.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So that's why I'm comfortable giving you this opportunity. And as a hint, as a hint, the most recent game was in 2006. That was the last time I had eight steals in a game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Oh, no. Any Hawks in the past who may have had a game with eight plus steals. Oh, my gosh. No, I can't. Can you think of just an old hawk? I mean, Dominique. Can you think of an old hawk?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So I think Dominique actually... What do you want your final guess to be?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay, that is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Do you have a second guess? Remember, you can get five more points here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That's okay. This is a really hard question. Borderline impossible. Andrew, you could steal five points here, Andrew. For some reason, you knew a bunch of old hawks. What about Josh Smith? No, Andrew. Seriously?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I know. He was like a steel and block man. He was great for fantasy back then. He was. Who was it back in 06 then?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It was 5'11 point guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Does that help? 5'11 point guard? In 2006?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Speedy Claxton! Speedy Claxton. That does not help. Unhelpful. That does not help. Other names? Mookie Blaylock. Maybe you would've gotten that little Hudson. I don't think anyone was going to be shouting out Lou Hudson. I was not John drew. I don't think anyone was going to be saying John drew and then Eddie Johnson was the other one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Lou Dort leads that pack at plus 900. Shea's at plus 3,000. And J-Dub is at plus 4,000. You have a favorite for this award, Al, now that Wimby's out? Hmm.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So really was the only like easy, like the gettable, the one gettable point there, like a huge speedy Claxton fan, which actually was, I don't remember him doing that though. No. Um, okay. Andrew score is two to one. You have control of the board. I'll go number two. Andrew, there have been 15 two-man lineups for the Hawks that have played at least 500 minutes together.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
The best two-man lineup is, unsurprisingly, Trey Young and Jalen Johnson with a plus 4.3 net rating. Which two players make up the worst two-man lineup with a minus 5.7 net rating? And you do get one point per correct answer, so you don't have to get both of them. Risa Shea? Good guess. Yes, that is worth a point. Okay. Who's the other name, Andrew?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Ooh, what about... What about Okongwu?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Onyeka Okongwu, that is incorrect. Lauren, you have a chance to steal for one point if you can name the other player in the worst two-man lineup along with Zachary Risa Shea.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I mean...
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Sometimes these questions are counterintuitive, and the correct answer is actually Dyson Daniels.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
You've got to go with your gut. Okay, the good news is you're only down two, and you have control of the board, so you can tie it up right here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Question number eight, the final question. Okay, which of the following – oh, my gosh. I can't ask this question yet. Oh, this is bad. Okay, I'm going to pivot to another question because I realize I never finish this question. Okay, Trae Young is averaging double-digit assists for the fourth time in his career.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I mean, it would be fun for a guard to win it. Dyson Daniels there at plus 700, Lou Dort at plus 900. I just feel like it's never going to happen again. It happened with Marcus Smart, and now we have to wait another two decades for that to ever happen again. Yeah. I'm going to go with Evan Mobley.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
There are only 11 players in NBA history who have had at least four seasons with double-digit assists, and we're going to name them all. So how this works is Lauren will give me a name, then Andrew will give me a name, and we'll go back and forth until one of you stumbles. So this is players who have had at least four seasons with double-digit assists.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Well, no, sorry, sorry. Actually, you have nine more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Nine more. Oh, okay. Luca? Luca?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That is incorrect. Andrew, to get the points, can you name one more? John Stockton. John Stockton. That is correct, Andrew. The other names. Magic. Magic Johnson. Russell Westbrook. Oscar Robertson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'm overthinking. James Harden. Ray John Rondo. Darren Williams, Kevin Johnson. Darren Williams did it. And Isaiah Thomas. Yeah, Darren Williams. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
You have control of the board. Number four. Question number four. What is Larry Nance Jr. 's career high in points? Now, you get to choose who answers first. You can make Lauren answer first, and then you can go higher or lower. Or you can answer first. Oh, my gosh. Lauren go higher or lower. If you make Lauren guess, and she gets it exactly correct, she would get a bonus point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Well, Andrew, our top story this week was All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. In the Skills Challenge, one of the teams won. More importantly, that little trickster Chris Paul tried to break the game by not even attempting to make a three-pointer and instead just throwing the balls haphazardly toward the basket.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So, some risk involved there. What would you do, Andrew?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay, I... This is funny. We have a Discord for the NBA Daily, and someone was like, Andrew, you answer this question every single time with what number it is. And so I will defer to Lauren this time. So, Lauren.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'm going to guess... I feel like it's like career. I feel like I looked this up recently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I think the Grizzlies have the better defense right now, but I could just see by the end of the year, the Cavs, if they're far and away, clearly the number one seed in the East, there will be a desire to want to give the Cavs some recognition for that. Evan Mobley would be the easiest way to do that as defensive player of the year. I think both of those guys are worthy. So I'll go with Evan Mobley.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It feels like a Steven Adams number to me. Like a guy that's been around a long time, but never really does anything big.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay, so Lauren has set the bar at 26 points. Andrew, would you like to go higher or lower?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That's a great number. I was going to say 27, but I think I'll go lower.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
The correct answer is Larry Nance Jr., career high in points, 23, which means Andrew gets the points. Yes. And that was actually a game against Atlanta in 2020. Oh, interesting. Interesting. Okay, Lauren.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Number five or number seven?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay. Which of the following is not... A basketball reference official nickname for a current Atlanta Hawk. Okay, so I'm going to read you five nicknames. Four of them appear on basketball reference. One does not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Are you ready?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Those nicknames are Swiss Bank, The Gardener, Baby Durant, Stat Stuffer, and The Closer. Okay. Once again, that is Swiss Bank, The Gardener, Baby Durant, Stat Stuffer, or The Closer. Which one of those is not a real basketball reference nickname?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Stat Stuffer. Is the nickname for Terrence Mann. Stop.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Andrew has to guess. So the remaining names, Swiss Bank, the gardener, Baby Durant, and the closer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Who is Baby Durant? I mean, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'll go The Closer, but I don't know. The Closer is a nickname for George Niang.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Baby Durant is Karis Levert.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I made up the Gardner. And this is the question that I had to pivot earlier because I hadn't come up with a fake nickname yet. And the Gardner was the first one that popped in my head.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
The Gardner. It seems like the other ones are so generic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Stat stuffer is like the worst nickname.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
How did that make it to basketball reference? How did that make it there? Like who's calling him that?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
On the other hand, why would you call someone the gardener? What would be the connection to basketball there? I don't know. You just really dig them. I don't know. That could be it. Okay, Andrew, final question. You don't need that. Question number seven. Trey Young leads the league in assists, while Dyson Daniels leads the league in steals.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
The last time two teammates led the league in assists and steals like that was the 2018-19 season when Russ and PG did it in OKC. Who was the last player to lead the league in assists and steals by himself? Didn't even need a teammate. Wow. I'll go with Rondo. Andrew, that is a good guess, but it's wrong. Okay, Lauren, you can't win the game. No.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But you could end on a very high note if you can get this question correct. Last player to lead the league in assists and steals all by himself.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. I just wonder, and maybe this is homerific of me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I feel Chris Paul. Lauren.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Lauren. That is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Wow. In the 08-09 season, Chris Paul led the league in assists and steals. Great pull. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to win. Andrew wins this week, which means the next time you come back will be the rubber match. Andrew versus Lauren. Best of three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Best of three. Go read Lauren at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lauren, thank you so much for taking the time today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
All right, Andrew, that was Atlanta Hawks week. What a week it was. One game. What a week! We're spinning the wheel again, as we do every week on Wheel of Fandom, to see what team we're going to become a fan of next week. And let's see, there's 19 teams remaining. And there's some good ones. There's some teams that are doing well, pushing for playoff seating, all that kind of stuff.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Uh-oh, here he comes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
There's also a lot of teams at the bottom. There's some teams that we really don't want. No disrespect, but please. No disrespect. No disrespect at all. We're going to spin that wheel and see who he gets. Next week's Wheel of Fandom team will be... No way. Right before we started recording, Andrew was like, I just hope we get a good team. I said, I guarantee we were going to get Phoenix.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Listen, the Thunder are seven points per 100 possessions better on defense than the Grizzlies and the Cavaliers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
You said it. I wish we were recording because you said we're probably going to get Phoenix. And then we just lamented about how horrible that team is. God, they're so bad. They're really bad. I guess it's good to kind of whittle away these teams before the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
There's plenty to talk about with this team. What do you do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
There's a lot to talk about with what they're going to do this offseason with all the Durant stuff that happened. There's plenty to talk about. Also about the cheap hot dogs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Andrew, they're not going to do it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
By the way, this stretch that they have coming up, if they don't do something here, I mean, it's probably already over, but if they don't do something here, it's really over. Because their next five games, Chicago, Toronto, at Memphis, New Orleans, New Orleans. Like, you got to go 4-1. You have to. Will they? They won't, but they have to.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
They will not do it. I guarantee it. They're seven points. Seven, which is unheard of. Like, that is a crazy number. I mean, they're four points per 100 possessions better than the second team in defense. I... Maybe they won't. I don't think it will happen either. I'm not saying this is going to happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Because after that, it's like all the good West teams just one after another.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, they're toast. I think they're one of the teams. Maybe they pull it together. Maybe the wheel has the opposite effect this time. Maybe the wheel will...
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
spin things around for them hey go leave us a five-star review an apple podcast we'll read it on the show just like this one from do c underscore x uh from italy hi i'm one of the biggest fans of your show here in italy i just want to say thanks to the whole team behind this podcast especially the slam and jam crew i love the trivia only bad thing i can say about the show is that you almost never talk about simone fontecchio
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So, you know what? Shout out Simone Fontecchio. I think that I made that a category, the Simone Fontecchio award, not that long ago.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That's something. We kind of talked about him in a negative way. So hopefully we get some Simone Fontecchio stuff for the rest of the season, and we'll try to shout him out. Next one. Comes from Mindogui Couscous. I'm sure that's exactly how you say it. Slamma Jam is a great show I look forward to every week. Alex and Andrew have great rapport.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And it's an informative and funny show that keeps up with the news around each episode.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
news around the league each week five stars thank you so much for that review next one comes from Brian Becker says slam and raspberry jam I love seeing the thunder bias come through on occasion on Saturday winky face speaking of does Aaron Wiggins have any shot at six man of the year if he keeps this up after the break he does not have a shot but we did talk about him on the show so shout out to Aaron Wiggins who is
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
one of my favorite dudes on the thunder for sure um from t-o-w-c-a five stars you guys should do a thing where i know this is like snubs where you rate the top non-all-star players okay that's interesting idea Interesting idea. And then this last one comes from Gunny McBoot Boot from Australia. Five stars. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. As of now, we have another great NBA podcast to indulge in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
My favorite part of the week is a slamming jam. I love to try to compete in the trivia and don't think I'm anywhere near a sicko level as you guys, but it's a great pod. All the same. Keep it up. I'm from Australia's capital. So an extra sentimental star, uh, Can you name an NBA player from my city, from the capital of Australia? Do you even know the capital of Australia? Is it Sydney?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Let's see. I mean, there's only so many Australian players. I would guess Patty Mills. That would be my guess. And I will guess Jock Landale.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Ooh, good one. Okay. Now, how do we find out who wins? How do we find... Should we Google this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Capital of Australia? He was born in East Malvern. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But in my opinion, there has to be some way to honor this Thunder defense, which is like one of the best defenses of the past 30 years. And like one of the best Thunder defense or one of the best NBA defenses ever. And so how do you commemorate that? How do you honor that? Their numbers line up best with the 95-96 Chicago Bulls. That's the kind of team we're talking about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Canberra is the capital. So... is what it says here. Canberra. NBA player. NBA player from Canberra. Oh, it says Patty Mills is from Canberra. Is it really? Yeah. Yeah. That's what it says. That's a little player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It's like a planted question to make you look smart.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Uh, Pure guess. I mean, he's the first guy I think of. Him and Josh Giddey are the first ones that I think of, for sure. Go leave us a five-star review and even a trivia question for us, and we'll read it on the show. Thank you so much for leaving those reviews. Hope you guys have a great weekend. Enjoy the basketball, and we'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And they're probably going to get the MVP in Shea, most likely. At least it looks like that. But the defense is one of the reasons why they are this good. Yeah. And to me, either you honor it with putting three of those guys on the all-defense team, which I think is possible, right? I also think that probably Hartenstein should be on there instead of Shea.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
No shade to Shea Gildas-Alexander, who's been amazing. But I think it should be Isaiah Hartenstein on there. But it needs to be at least three of those guys on there because I think they're deserving. Or give Dort a real chance to win the deep play. I think they have it right in that he's the guy that has the best odds for this team. I think he's been their most impactful defender.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I think it would have been Chet. I actually think Chet would have probably won this thing. If he had been healthy for the whole season, just because I think he'd put up... You talk about the block numbers. Chet would be right there with Wimby.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I don't think he would be head and shoulders above him, but I think over the next 28 games, if Chet was healthy the whole season, he would surpass Wimby over these next few weeks. But... I just think there needs to be some way to like show like, hey, yes, the Thunder's impact on this season of NBA basketball came on the defensive end and like some way to commemorate it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And maybe that's just me being a homer. And I'll take that on the chin if that's true. But like this to me, I just think that Lou Dort won deserves a little bit better odds than this. And I just think like when we're talking about. Just the all-defense team. The Thunder need to be peppered within that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Thankfully, the league stepped in to uphold the sanctity of the Skills Challenge, which again, one of the teams won. In the three-point contest, the big question was whether Damian Lillard would three-peat as champ, but he did not. Instead, it was Tyler Hero in his first All-Star game who won the three-point contest, defeating Darius Garland and Buddy Heald in the final.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Well, where this is unfair to the Thunder is that because the team as a whole is so good, because you have Alex Caruso coming off the bench, when people go to look at on-off numbers, it's never going to be impressive. If you look at Jaron Jackson Jr., there's six points per 100 possessions better defensively when he's on the court. Evan Mobley, it's five points.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
When Lou Dort's on the court, they're actually worse defensively. They're worse defensively by two points per 100 possessions. And the reason for that is because you have so many good defenders coming off the bench. So it's not going to happen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I hope that we find other ways to look at that award and not just that because it's such a flawed way to look at it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I know, but it's an extremely flawed way. I know it is so flawed. You get you get the benefit for having a crappy bench that I feel like that has pervaded like all NBA awards now where like if you want to win an award, you just have to couple together the crappiest bench you can so that you can have the craziest on off numbers. Absolutely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
All right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'm done.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
I'm done. I'm done.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
That's enough. That's, that's as much as we're going to cry today. Okay. That's we're done with our little crying session. We're moving on because Andrew, one of my favorite things each season is seeing which young players start to break out after the all-star break. It's one of my favorite things because you never know if what you're seeing is real or not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Maybe they're just getting extra minutes. They'll never see again. Maybe it's just March when nothing in the NBA matters, but sometimes it does. An example of a post all-star bounce being real happened in the spring of 2023 when Kobe white suddenly was more efficient. His assist per game more than doubled.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He was still only averaging under 12 points per game, but he looked like a completely different player. The next season he came in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
averaging 19 points per game he came second most improved player so now that it's post all-star break we're going to try and predict which players will see a post all-star bounce now they could be playing well so far i tried to pick some players later on that are not playing great right now in the hopes that well it can only get better uh so we'll see uh it's a risky way to look at it it is a risky way
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
We've each picked three players that we think are going to raise their game over these next two months. And my first pick is the one I feel most confident about and one that seems obvious to me, and it's Asar Thompson from the Detroit Pistons. Now, Asar had a slow start to the season. He had that blood clot issue, which kept him out until Thanksgiving.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Then over the next month or so, he really wasn't getting the minutes I was expecting. He was averaging around like 18 minutes per game in his first 17 games. Well, the minutes have started to pick up. He's around 24 per game in his last 16. But more importantly, it feels like he's finally getting in a groove. He's a player not exactly known for his offense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He has scored double digit points in his last seven games, including 19 in the last game before the All-Star break. But the thing that excites me is the increased playmaking. He's averaged four and a half assists over that stretch and has had some really pretty passes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He had one in that most recent game against the Bulls where he scored 19, where he cuts to the basket from the corner, got a pass from Jalen Duren, and immediately passed it to Tobias Harris, who was on the wing behind him for a three. He's a menace in transition and around the rim. He's shooting 72% at the rim per clean glass. And he's confident.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
We would see a three-peat on Saturday, however, as Mac McClung did four pretty cool dunks and easily beat the other three contestants, winning his third straight dunk contest. As for the actual All-Star game, the big news this year was the NBA's new format. Ditching the typical 48-minute game, the NBA finally listened to all of us Kevin Hart fans who have been clamoring for more Kevin Hart.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Because of the slow start, I think it's easy to forget how good he looked early on in his rookie season. And I think if he starts getting 30-ish minutes per night down the stretch, we're going to be feeling completely different about Asar headed into this summer. So that's pick number one for me. What about you, Andrew? What is your first pick?
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I like that pick. I'm going with Trey Murphy, who is also probably pretty obvious and is getting a lot of run and getting the basketball a lot in New Orleans. And some of that is they're in this kind of situation where somebody's got to score the points, somebody's got to do it. But as he keeps getting more of the basketball, things just keep getting better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And he actually might be the best player to ever play for the University of Rice draft. By the way, as I was like looking up things about Trey Murphy is like like the best guy outside of Trey Murphy that played for Rice, maybe Morris Almond, Almond and Rice. Yeah, he's been great. I mean, he he has really picked it up and you kind of thought, OK, they're trading Brandon Ingram.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
What's next for this team? Well, honestly, he just slots in. He's just a much better fit for almost anybody than Brandon Ingram is because of the amount of threes that he takes. But to me, it is the playmaking. In the month of February, it's only been six games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
But he's averaging 24 points, six rebounds, and six assists a game, which is something that I probably never thought Trey Murphy could do. He was kind of billed as this 3-and-D forward coming into the draft. Um, I was really just, I've been just blown away by what he's been able to do. He shoots it well from just about everywhere. Like during that six game stretch, he also shot 41% from three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He's a really, he's a good defender. He's a do-it-all forward. And I just think that the fact that he can be a playmaker and he's pretty low turnover as well, I think really bodes well for them. And we just have to remember, they're a team that when you go to Tankathon and you take a few spins, they could end up with the number one pick in this draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And if you're building a team with Cooper Flagg and Trey Murphy, that's a great way to start a team, honestly. I don't know what they're going to do with Zion Williamson or what ends up happening there. But if you can get a Dylan Harper or a Cooper Flagg or even Vijay Edgecombe, who I think has tremendous upside, you're on your way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
And I think a lot of it is just hitting on Trey Murphy in the middle of the draft like they did a few years ago, I think is huge. And just the fact that he, as you continue to give him more, that he can take it on and his usage goes up and his production goes up. I just think it's really impressive. So shout out Trey Murphy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
All right, Andrew, my second pick. This might be more wish casting than it's actually going to happen. It's Shaden Sharp from the Portland Trailblazers. I really like Shaden. I watched a miserable Blazers Clippers game in person to get a commemorative glass with Shaden Sharp on it. On the season, he's... up over 17 points per game, which is great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
He still produces some great highlights, but it's, it's been kind of a disappointing season overall. Part of it is that Chauncey Billups benched sharp in mid January because his defense, he said it was atrocious. And as a result, his minutes haven't been nearly as consistent as they were early in the season. Like that last game on Thursday night against the Lakers, he played 21 minutes. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
It doesn't always feel like he's been the top priority prospect that I kind of expected him to be coming into the season. His shot also – and his shot hasn't come around. There's a good reason why this hasn't happened. Even though he looks very good shooting, he's taking a career-high 6.1 attempts per game, but his three-point percentage has declined each season, 36%, 33%, and now 31%.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Hart was on the broadcast team. And spent the night cracking my ass up. Thankfully, he did finally get serious for the main event, pretending like inside the NBA isn't going to be on TV anymore. Ernie and the gang were honored at half court, a beautiful sendoff that was sadly cut short by a basketball game that had double booked the court at the same time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
So this is a risk I'm taking Andrew, you know, for him to have this post all-star bounce, it's going to take a couple of things. One, he has to start hitting his threes. Like, please start hitting threes. It looks good. Got to start hitting them. And two, the Blazers have to start prioritizing their young players more. You know, that 10 and one run was great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
6 Young Players on the Rise + Hawks keeping Trae Young? | Slam N Jam
Okay, but they've lost four in a row now. They're five and a half games out of the plan. I think there has to be a shift to prioritizing the young guys at some point. Shaden Sharp is extension eligible this summer. You have to make some kind of decision this summer, and I still don't feel like I have a great idea of what they have with him or their other young guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who is Defensive Player of the Year? + Pacers up to speed?
At PwC, we don't just deliver ideas. We make them work. With the expertise and tech you need to outthink and outperform. And we work with you, alongside you, from start to finish. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you built. So you can create new value. We build for what's next. So you can get there now. PwC. So you can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Who is Defensive Player of the Year? + Pacers up to speed?
PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And like but it was also like we understand this might not win us a championship, but it's good and it's cool and we're excited about it. And in like 18 months, you just completely trash canned all of it. And I don't get why. I don't know for who, for what. Like I can, in a vacuum, in the individual decisions, like...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
You need more talent because last year you were about the same level of team, but the West got better. You needed more talent. DeMar DeRozan is talented. He might've been the best player you could get. I get it. You were flailing and not as good as you hoped you'd be. And you'd lost a couple of games, including one embarrassingly at the end, you fire Mike Brown. I don't love it, but I get it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Again, now you're at the point where De'Aaron Fox wants out because you kind of hung that whole thing around his neck. So, okay, you make a trade and you get back an all-star scorer in Zach Levine. And you're like, okay, I get it. But again, vision. What are we trying to build? Are we trying to build a previous failure version of the Bulls plus Demanda Sabonis? And then for what? So...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I look at it and I just say like the the bad team stay bad a lot of times because the people making decisions feel like they're just cats chasing a laser pointer. And I and they don't have like a goal in mind, really. And I would it would bum me out a lot if the beam was just like the universe's biggest laser pointer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Again, guys, I don't bake, but I write and I podcast. So here we go. I got this for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Everybody knows this, but it's worth saying out loud into a microphone. Being here like three years after you had both D'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Halliburton feels insane. Just like, you know, bananas, monkey paw kind of stuff. Yeah. This isn't an answer like it's not a long term solution, but I have this this thing that I love and I have love for the recent years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
It's kind of like Chris Paul is basically like an itinerant preacher spreading the gospel of good basketball across the NBA landscape one year at a time. Yeah. What if you, I mean, and Chris Paul has said like, he's like, I don't know. I'll think about it this off season, but I think I might want to keep playing if he wants to leave San Antonio. And like, I would totally be fine if he didn't.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
But like, say he's like, no, I'll go back to California. It's like a 45 minute flight back to my home. What if you gave Chris Paul the mid-level exception and were like, fix it or organize us, figure out how to get everybody where they will like mentor Devin Carter and Keon Ellis and like show everybody where to stand and what they're supposed to do when they get there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And like then when, you know, in a year when you've made your 13 million or whatever, and you hear the sound of someone else calling you from, you know, another state across the NBA landscape, you, you know, put your bindle on your shoulder and you keep walking out that way. Like I, I like the idea of you, you need somebody who is just like an organizing principle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Who's like, I don't need to be the guy scoring everything. I mean, you had the scorer and you let him go. You had the guy who was just like instant injection of offensive efficiency. You moved him because you needed to decongest the log jam and give it a team to one person. Like, all right, who just organizes it and says, you go there, you go there, I get you shots.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I teach you how to screen for me. I teach you how to work the other end of it. We work from there. I think that makes some sense. And also maybe just gets Sabonis a lot of easy like pocket pass buckets. And he likes that. The lower wattage, not as exciting version of that is like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
if you can get like a buy low Tyus Jones to do a similar kind of job, like organize, don't really get in the way too much, hit some shots when the ball comes to you, high turnover or high efficiency, high assist, low turnover, maybe, but like, I don't know, maybe I'm missing the big swing, but it seems like there's not really anybody in their price range or with their asset collection that is going to like completely revolutionize everything.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So yeah, you know, Chris Paul, basketball preacher, let's do it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So I love that idea. I want more decision makers with gray beards. I mentioned this on the big number with Tom Haberstroh. Like one of my favorite things about LeBron and Draymond this year is that they're just embracing it like full gray beard. I have more guys doing that. And I feel like Chris Paul doesn't seem like he's in danger of that. But maybe we get to salt and pepper in year 40, 41.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So that's that's part of my my self motivation for that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I thought you were going to kick me out. All right, let's move on. All right, Dan.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Yeah, to me, it's Clippers, Nuggets, and it's not... I don't know that there's a nitty-gritty... I was deep in the film and I thought of this. I think the Clippers are better. I think they've been a better team for two and a half months. Basically, since Kawhi got to full minute load, which was, I think, the beginning of February or right around the trade deadline, they've just been better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
They've been awesome. I think they finished with 18 of 21. They've been really good for two and a half months now. And... the Nuggets haven't, I mean, uh, see Michael Malone and Calvin Booth. Um, but they have Jokic. And so like, I, I think all of the matchup components point to the Clippers, but then I'm like, there, there is no matchup. There's no answer for Jokic. So to me, I look at it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think you can, that's a coin flip to me, but, uh, That was that's the one I look at. I'm like, you're going to be wrong kind of no matter what. So but then again, we're in the MVP season where you're wrong no matter what you do anyway. So at least we can sit. I can sit and live in that wrongness no matter what. It's great. I love it. I love the way this feels. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
No, like I really I lack my confidence in this, but it's it's weird. It's almost it's the other way for me because I feel like I'm seeing and hearing a lot of confidence in the Knicks to kind of like pat the pistons on the head and dispense with them. And I don't I don't think so. I don't think it's going to be quite so easy. I like.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
There's I've heard I feel like I'm hearing and reading a lot of Knicks in five, and that feels to me much more like Knicks in seven or maybe even Pistons in six. Like, I think the concern that I would have if I was a Knicks fan was, do you have an answer for Cade Cunningham in the pick and roll? Like he destroyed Carl Anthony Towns, Pesce Pesce Chua.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Whoever was playing center for the Knicks in drop, every time they played, he was awesome. He hit like 52% of his threes. He walked into pull-ups. When the big came up, he just dropped a pocket pass or a lob to Isaiah Stewart or Jalen Dern. Like, He has the answers to that test. Do the Knicks have another test to give to him? I'm not so sure about that. And so that's that's the one that gives me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
But I feel like I'm seeing a lot of confidence in that and I do not share it. But maybe I'm too low relative to consensus there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Look at this. Thank you very much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Just letting you know, putting that out there. The flavor that you gain outweighs the risk. No, I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to steer clear of that one. No? Okay, you know, value-wise, I'll take the calves with my first choice here. Now it gets spicy. It does, because... And Andrew, you brought up the bracket, the way it's fallen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And I would say, I don't feel super confident or super great about any of this. So I'm going to go with... You know what? I have to go with the courage of my convictions with what I wrote. I started with it in my preview of the series. I'm going to take the Golden State Warriors. I'm going to take... Talk to me. Because I think they're going to beat the Rockets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And I think that whichever team comes out of Lakers-Wolves, I like Golden State in the matchup against either one of those teams. I think that the... I think in a small ball series against the Lakers, I think the Warriors have answers to those questions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think in a high stakes, who do you trust more in a seven game series against a Wolves team that's like Ant and then Rudy Gobert and Julius Randall and on and on and on, you know, shout out to Mike Conley, no shade to the legend. I think the Warriors, I could see a path. So if I'm having to pick, I don't, like either Nuggets or Clippers over Thunder. I don't like either Pacers or Bucks over Cavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And I'm kind of like cannibalizing myself there since I just took the Cavs. So my long shot here or my other gambit, my moonshot would be the Warriors kind of making it all the way through. So we're going to go with that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
It's not so much that I... Well, that's the right way to phrase it. I don't want it to be like a denigration of the Rockets. It's as much as it is that... One of my boomer takes is I have to see you do it once to believe it. And I've seen Steph and Draymond and Kerr deal with the bigger, more athletic, more physical team and find answers and break them down over the course of a seven game series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And I've seen Jimmy just tilt a matchup against a favorite. I've seen those things more often. I also saw, I mean, I think one thing we're kind of, I've been surprised. I've seen like, I haven't seen as much conversation about it. Like, the Warriors did this two years ago or three years ago to Ime Udoka.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Like the, like the, this, this was the story of that Celtics finals was that like by the end, the bigger, more athletic, younger, stronger, more physical team was broken by guarding Steph for two weeks. And so like, You know, past performance does not guarantee future results. But I look at that and I'm like, I've seen this work this way. And so I'd bet I'd rather bet on that than the other way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
But of course, in two weeks, I could just be looking like a complete jackass. But, you know, what else is new?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I know I'll note for the record that you didn't present that as an option when you gave me the play in teams. You said, yeah, no, you can get four teams for the price of two. You didn't suggest the I take the both ends of a series. I see how this goes. You bring in the guest and then you treat them like garbage. I see how it works.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Well, the first thing I just want to say, I get where you're coming from with the Giannis pick or the Bucks, but really a Giannis pick. Giannis and Dame on the floor together, about twenty seven hundred possessions this year, plus five point four points per hundred. So not like I mean, good, but not like great. Sounds like a stat from an amateur baker to me. That's right. I don't know ball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I basically I barely know baking. So. I was prepared even before the Dame stuff to pick the Pacers in that series anyway. So I'm going to take the Indiana Pacers on the other side of this match for a couple of reasons. One, yeah, it's wonderful news to hear that Damian Lillard, the situation with the blood clotting appears to have resolved.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I'm not entirely clear on how that has happened, but I hope it has. And I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. It's still not totally clear when he comes back in the series and at what level. He hasn't played in several weeks, and you're throwing him right into the fire in a playoff series against a team that's really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And I think that the Pacers, because people sort of glaze over when they see Indiana, I think they maybe don't realize that's a 50-win team that... If the version of them you think you know is the one from last year, this one's not the same. This one plays defense and better than you remember them. They're not quite as fast. They're not quite as elite offensively, but they're better balanced.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And Tyrese Halliburton has been about as good in the second half of the season as he was in the first half of last year when everyone was like, is he going to make all NBA first team play?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Plus, they've really worked out the offensive balance with Pascal Siakam, who has one of the better all-NBA cases that nobody's talking about, and he's not going to make it, but he's been really, really good this year. They are deep. They use that depth because they pressure you all over the floor. I feel like Dame's going to come back and have to deal with Andrew Nembhard, 94 feet, or T.J.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
McConnell, or Andrew Neesmith. They're just going to keep throwing bodies at you. Ben Shepard is going to get a shift. They have guys they can just keep throwing at you. And yeah, Giannis is probably going to average like 34 and 18 in the series. But I think the Pacers are just a better team top to bottom both ways.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And so I think if they get past the Bucs, this is the part that I don't love because I did pick the Cavs with my first choice.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
See, here we go again. I don't know. But yeah, right. It would get me as conference finalist. And if you told me that the Cavs fell short because the Pacers beat him in a seven game series, it would not stun me. So I feel like I'm getting both ends of that. I'm staying away from the part where I've got to pick somebody who's not the Celtics out of the bottom half of that bracket.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And yeah, it gives me it gives me an opportunity there. So there we go. There's my Indiana pitch. The people of Indiana, of course, have always loved me and supported me. And so here I am providing that same love and support to them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Well, first, can I give you like a little behind the BTS, a little behind the curtain on the content game? What we really did was Ben and I wrote previews for each series and then our bosses like subdivided apart from each of the previews and made that into a different piece of content. Like in the thing from the big short where it's like yesterday's fish becomes tomorrow's soup.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
But yes, we did do that. We did all that work for real. It just was split up twice. And you know, I'm going to give shouts out to Ben because Ben doesn't get enough shouts out. And he wrote the Lakers-Wolves preview. I think his point of like Anthony Edwards versus wherever they think the weakest link on that defense is, I think that's going to be fascinating. You guys just talked about the...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Lack of interior defensive half, but also, you know, we've seen like the last playoff series we saw Luka Doncic in, the Celtics put him under the microscope over and over again. And yeah, I mean, that was not why the Celtics won that series, but we saw that be a strategy to go against Luka with that, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
We've seen Austin Reeves get put under the microscope by teams when they're looking for a place to poke at. And we've seen, you know, LeBron James is 40 years old and I don't think they're going to like try to run pick and roll at LeBron. But, you know, how do what does Chris Finch have in mind? What did that was that Wolves offense have in mind for making him work for finding the weak spots?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Can they shoot enough, as you mentioned, with the paint packing? Are they going to be able to, like, take them out of that? and find some ways for ants to actually get downhill and get to the paint.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think that the way they're going to manipulate that or try to work with that, I'm really interested to see how that works, what they think their best pathway to points is, and just focusing on an ant more specifically. he, you know, we've talked already, there's been the discussion of he struggles with double teams. If you blitz him, you crank up the heat on him, you trap him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
He doesn't want to really get off the ball. He wants to get downhill and score, right? Like, yeah. And if I could do that, like Anthony Edwards could do that, I would want to do that too. But This is like in the hero's journey of a player. Like you make the playoffs, you then make your run in the playoffs. You have the, you run up against your sort of, uh, your weak link, your, your Achilles heel.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And then you got to show that you can sort of evolve with it. So, um, If that's what the Lakers are going to do, if they're going to throw two at him, if they're going to try to blitz it out of his hands, try to make somebody else beat him, is he patient enough for that? Does he trust it enough? Can those teammates reward that trust?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Does this become a series where instead of Ant scoring 40 every night, Ant's getting nine assists a night? I don't know, but I'm interested to see what questions the Lakers make him answer and what his answers for it are. So that's the one that I'm sort of most interested in from the group that we put together.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think he could be a really big factor. You know, I talked about the struggles that they've had in the pick and roll against Cade Cunningham. Mitch is way better at being up toward the level and has the wingspan to play to, to be able to influence the ball handler without losing track of the big rolling behind him and to be able to time out the pass and get up to deflect it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Cat's not so great at that stuff. He's obviously better athletically overall, but that specific version of applying his length and his size and his physicality never been his strong suit. And Mitch...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Mitchell Robinson, before he got hurt last season, was having the best defensive season of his career, not because he was blocking so many shots, but because as your colleague Fred Katz wrote at The Athletic, he was just playing that, like, ground-bound, I'm keeping you from getting to comfortable places and forcing you, like... foul line floaters and jumpers that are lower percentage shots.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Like he's really good at that. He has looked healthy since he came back. He's down in weight too. I think he's playing at like 269, 270 he had said, which he was up near 290 when he came back last year and it was clearly wasn't moving as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
If he's able to stay healthy, play at that level, and play increased minutes, that could really be helpful at the specific problem that the Knicks have had defensively. The other thing is, on the offensive end, he's one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. He made... A previous J.B.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Bickerstaff team in Cleveland, absolutely miserable a few years ago in the first round series that they played by just being a relentless offensive rebounder. If he's if they play two bigs, which is something that it's funny because Tom Thibodeau loves doing it, but he has not loved doing it with this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Maybe it's because he didn't try to keep Mitch on a pitch count, not necessarily wanting to exhaust that in the regular season. If they're able to play two bigs and have cat space and then Robinson attacking the glass, that could be a big problem for a Pistons team. It's not a great defensive rebounding team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Could put, you know, maybe some more fouls on Isaiah Stewart, some more fouls on Jalen Dern, more pressure on that front court and create extra possessions. You tilt the possession game in your favor. That's a way the Knicks were very, very good at that before.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
This has not really been their identity this season, but it's a wild card and a trick up their sleeve that I think it'll be interesting to see how much they play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it'll be interesting because I think that one of the big like talking points in recent years of NBA playoff discourse, what a lovely thing is like, well, Gobert gets played off the floor against teams that go small.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And that has never totally been true and has always been more based on the very loud highlights of teams hitting threes against him when he's tried to cover everybody or Luka doing it and then cursing at him in like, you know, four different languages at the end of last year's game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So, I think if you're talking about them playing a lot of, like, Jared Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura and, you know, guys, you know, or Jackson Hayes, obviously, but if the Lakers go smaller, there's still places that I think Rudy Gobert can guard. I think he can, like, stay in the corner or, you know... it's, it's a little bit of like, I'm going to make Rui Hachimura shoot me out of this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I'm going to make Jared Vanderbilt like back cut and dunk me out of this. And I think that, so I think that's interesting to me. Like I, if Chris Finch, I mean, they still finished sixth in points allowed per possession. They were right there in terms of their defensive efficiency over the full season. It doesn't felt like it, but that's, they were there all season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And then if they do go smaller, yeah, like what do those lineups look like? Randall kind of never played five in New York. Like Tibbs really didn't trust it. He didn't trust the rebounding of it. He didn't trust, even when they did bring in OG Ananobi, they only overlapped very briefly. But like when you did have a guard your yard kind of guy, he really didn't trust it too much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So is Finch more willing to go with it? If he if he sees like this is a way for us to spread spread the floor, but also match up physically with a lot of like six, eight burly guys. I think the point of attack defenders, obviously, Jaden McDaniels is fantastic. Anthony Edwards can be fantastic when he when he dials it up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
The concern to me will be a little bit less of like, what do you do about Gobert? And maybe what do you do about Mike Conley? Because I think that's a button where they're like. Yeah. They're going to look at him and say, that is the smallest guy on the court. He is going to be put into every screen and roll for Luka, for LeBron. We're going to try to hunt him and punish him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Dante DiVincenzo is a pretty interesting answer for that, right? Like that's a guy who's bigger and is more rugged and can handle himself on some of those switches. But then you're taking arguably, you're not even arguably, you're taking your best playmaker, your most, your steadiest pair of hands off the floor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And we know how tough crunch time has been for the Milwaukee offense and how they've gone through the lulls where they struggle to score and get good shots up. So, It's going to be, it's a cat and mouse game and it's going to be, you know, the game of whack-a-mole. Can you hit something hard enough that we got to react to it and take something that helps us off the table?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Then how do we respond to it? I think that's a pretty fascinating question, but Finch has also been pretty comfortable saying like, there's no,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
sacred cows on this team right like if we need outside of ant basically if we need to to put somebody on the bench because we think this gives us the best chance of winning that possession in that game like he'll do it so whether that's conley whether that's gobert what that needs to be i think they're at a point where they're saying it's all hands on deck this is a really brutal matchup against two of the most difficult guys to game plan against in the world and you know whatever week whatever gives us the best chance on any given night i think that's what we're going with
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
defense and physicality to start with right like I mean Imei Yudoka basically built the whole plane out of Imei Yudoka's attitude this is like the black box version of the concentrate of we are we beat the heck out of you we make you feel us on every possession and we are attitudinally disposed to just like
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
make you hurt every possession and to be able to do it with Dylan Brooks and Amin Thompson and Tari Eason off the bench Fred Van Vliet no picnic to deal with the point of attack even though he's small he is handsy and he's a fire hydrant and like and then Shangoon deserves a ton of credit for the improvements he's made like
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
If he wasn't improving on the defensive end, if he wasn't somebody that Yudoka trusted to play big minutes constantly, he wouldn't have gotten to the point where he was making all-star teams, going to be an all-NBA consideration, all that stuff. You're a top four defense with him playing that minutes load. He's doing something right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think the reason they're so weird and so difficult to talk about is you're like, but they're not good at offense, but they're also kind of good at offense. Like they, it feels like they shouldn't be because the only guy, I think there's only one guy shooting over 36% from three on the team. And it's Dylan Brooks who no one really trusts as a three point shooter.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And they're, like, bottom third of the league shooting everywhere. Like, they're bad at the rim, they're bad in midrange, and they're bad from three. And yet they're, like, 11th or 12th in offensive efficiency because they hammer the offensive glass, especially when they play with their two bigs, which has been talked about a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I don't know how much they're going to get away with Shang-Goon Adams against the Warriors. They did it a little bit in that game a couple weeks ago. Seven games against Steph Curry. I don't know. That seems dicey to me. But maybe... But all the wings hit the glass too. Like no, everybody does it. So they rebound.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think they're number one in the league in offensive rebounding rate, number one in the league in second chance points, up near the top of the league in points in the paint. Like they just, they are constantly making you feel them in the paint. That's a big part of it. And they never turn the ball over or they rarely turn the ball over. And that's Van Vliet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Like he is one of the sort of quietly most important players in the bracket right now to me. Cause like, I think the Golden State defense has been sensational since Jimmy got there with Draymond making that late season surge, all that. And a lot of it is they turn you over. And when the Rockets have Van Vliet on the floor, they're really good at avoiding turnovers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And when they don't have him on the floor, they're not. And so can you avoid giving up the ball, get shots on goal, get the advantage in the possession game? If you can tell me by the end of the series, yeah, the Warriors are going to take... five fewer shots a game than the Rockets every game. I think Houston probably advances.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
But I think that the challenge is going to be, can you keep that up against what this Warriors defense has turned into? And that's going to be pretty tricky.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Cheater. No, I mean, I was going to do the same thing, but. You would have been the cheater then. I would have been the cheater.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Those are two easy ones. There was a rookie. I thought there was somebody. I'm going to be wrong. Stephen Castle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Of course you will be. It's okay to be wrong. I was wrong just now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
They went with my gut and they should have gone with my brain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
We're going to go with number seven, Carmelo Anthony. Let's go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Fewest dunks in the league. Fewest dunks in the league. The Nets. Brooklyn Nets, that is incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Oh, okay. I didn't look it up. I have a guess, though, after he's done it. After I get it wrong, you can guess. I'm trying to rattle your cage, brother. After he gets it wrong, I'm in there like swimwear.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I'm like pretty locked in, but I'm not all the way locked in. So there we go. That's the issue. I didn't lock in quite enough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
That's the vibe you want heading into the postseason. I feel good about nothing. I'm tired and exhausted and I hate everything.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
If only I don't get this shot blocked. R.J. Barrett. R.J. Barrett also no. I like that answer, though. I like the idea of it. He gets blocked a lot. He's not an explosive leaper above the rim.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Yes. Oh, that's a good point. I was thinking just like he was getting a lot of shots up when he was. But yeah, the volume, the volume.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So the funny thing about their rivals, we it was I think it was might have been the old show that I did with Jake Fisher. No cap room last season. And we talked to it was during the Pistons being awful. And I was like, here's the worry. What if Kate is kind of just like, you know, a like she she version of R.J. Barrett? And because I think I was looking at the same kind of thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I'm like, like the finishing numbers on the inside aren't good. He doesn't do it. He gets he gets blocked a lot. And then, you know, I got, you know, deposited into a trash can with that take this year. But but it's funny that they're always connected in my brain when we're doing a podcast. All right, Dan, there are four questions left.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I was extremely lost on where the point situation was, but I love it. We're going to go with number five. Let's go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
You know what? I'm not I'm not trying to back my way into success. I'm just going to go with it. Wow. OK. Let's go with number. Let's go with number twenty three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Thank you so much. I feel incredible. I didn't anticipate. I knew that I would be happy that I did this show. I didn't know that I would come out as a winner. This is huge for me heading into a pretty raucous and busy couple of months. So this is incredible. Thank you so much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
That's my secret, Captain. I always have people doing that to me. So really, there's no there's no downside to it. I will say, I think when I think about those polls, I'm going to think about Andrew being like, oh, God, I don't know. I don't know. I have a number. And it's like. It's all, brother, it's all confetti. We can't squeeze it too tight. We got to let it just fly around the room, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
That's right. Okay. I don't bake. I'm not a great knitter. Yeah, this is it. I write and I podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
by the way? I have baked before. I wouldn't say at a high level, but if you want a big cookie that looks like a pie or something, I can do that. I can do a simple thing that's got some chocolate chips in there, a banana bread. I can give you a banana bread. It won't be the best one you ever had, but I can get in there. The point is, Writing, podcasting, somewhere far below that, baking.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I'm a little bit mad. I'm starting the conversation angry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I also, I love that in his post season presser, Arturis Karnishev has said that he was like, Oh, I think you guys predicted us for 28. We went 39. So actually it's like, uh, we did it guys. It's, you know, hang the banner of the mission accomplished right behind me. Um, so, all right, we'll start with the positive. I think that there's a lot to be excited about with Matas Bouzelis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think that he was deeply unscared for a 20-year-old who had been playing in G League Ignite last year. That's good. He showed a way to impact winning. He could attack the basket. There's stuff to get excited about with him. That's cool. The Josh Giddey question is like, is the fact that you shot 38 percent from three on decent volume like is that the new normal or an outlier?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Because you didn't do that before and now you did it. So like if you if that's the new normal, then paying you becomes more palatable and then you're maybe an easier person to build around. I'm a little skeptical of that. I think there's reason to be skeptical of it. But what we saw, like we knew that he would put up numbers given the ball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
I think he was like third or fourth in the league in touches per game after the Levine trade. So like they cleared the runway and he took the ball and he ran with it. That's a mixed metaphor, but he could shoot too now. And so if he can keep doing that, that's good. But the big thing to me is like this feels like an inflection point because you've got some decisions to make financially, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Like there's, you move off the DeRozan contract, you move off the Zach Levine contract. And if I'm looking at spot track correctly, after next season, they're set up to have Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Herter, Zach Collins, Kobe White, Ayo Dusunmu, and Javon Carter all come off the books after next season. And they got a club option on Lonzo.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
So you could like clear everything off and say, we're going to start fresh. And this is an opportunity for us to say, what kind of teams we want to be? What's the identity of a team we want to build? And what I think they're going to do is pay Josh Giddey a lot of money, extend Kobe White, maybe extend Io Dasunmu, not have a center after next year and kind of keep chasing 38 wins.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And so that's the part that I'm worried about. I think there's an opportunity for a big vision. I just don't know that I see it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Oh, my first thought was, you know, I like Sam a lot. I'm a friend of Sam's. I don't know who Sam's sources are. I would never deign to ask. But if I was Monty McNair, I might want it to be out there that none of that stuff was my idea. So don't blame me as I'm on the way out the door. That's the first thing I thought. I was like, huh, I wonder if Monty McNair was the one who made that phone call.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Yeah. And then the other thought I had was, it's an old movie, so forgive me, but Copland, the movie Copland. I think Brian De Palma directed it. Robert De Niro. Oh, no, James Mangold, maybe. Robert De Niro. He's an internal affairs detective. And Sylvester Stallone comes to him like, hey, I didn't help you before. I want to help you now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
And De Niro says, in so many words, you had a chance and you blew it. There was an opportunity here. You had an identity. I just talked about the identity thing with the Bulls. You had a style of play. You had a way things work. You you got the fans excited. It was resonating. There was a whole there was a beam. There was a whole thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
So there's a few teams in like the mid to late lottery. I'm thinking like the Thunder have this Philly pick. Think about even like San Antonio or Golden State that could really use like a big wing shooter. And there's a couple of those guys in this range in Konka Nipple and Liam McNeely. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I really like both these guys, but I don't know who I think after watching them both, I really honestly don't know who I think is better. Who do you think is better and who do you think will go higher in this draft?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam. I'm your host, Andrew Schlecht. With me, as always, is Alex Spears. Today, we have a special episode. We are talking about the 2025 NBA Draft, and we're talking about the current rookie class. And there is nobody better to talk about both of those things with than our guy, Sam Vecini. Sam, welcome back to the Slammin' Jam.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. There's no way Khan is 6'7", right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
OK, I just have watched him because I'm honestly just thinking about the Thunder. Like, can the Thunder get a guy who's like six, seven, six, eight to come off the bench and be a shooter? Like if they could steal one of those guys in the draft, because that's that's like the one piece they don't really have.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
It's a lot more knipples if you want them out there, boys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
OK, we're going to take a quick break and we'll come back. We're talking rookies. And we're back after that quick break. Sam, the narrative about this rookie class was that this is one of the worst in recent memory. Big picture. Has this draft performed about as well as you expected? Better than you expected? Where are you at with this class right now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I was going to say, the scoring is probably the only thing that held Kaysen back, but Kaysen was such a great defender right out the gate.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
What about the Derek Lively Award? The award that goes to the rookie whose fit with his team is even better than you could have imagined.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Another another rookie is going to miss a lot of time and a rookie that we know very well. Yes. Go ahead.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
You know, he said they haven't even really talked about it since they got there. And it was just because they saw what he could do, which is pretty cool. And he's just like the best guy. Like, he's just such a great dude.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
The Herb Jones Award, the award that goes to the second round pick or undrafted player that will be taken in the lottery in redrafts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
What about the De Manis Sabonis Award? This award goes to a rookie who's in a situation that might not be the best fit on court.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
the bones Highland award. This award goes to a rookie who puts up stats as a rookie, but who he hasn't really changed your opinion of the, the pre-draft opinion of yours. Who you got?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
He went completely bananas. He went completely Hector banana bread. I just like that. He used the word bananas. That's all I could think about the whole time we were talking. Sorry. Okay. Keep going.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Oh, boy. What about Dillingham?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that's not very many.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
2012-13 international player. That played on a playoff team. That played on a playoff team. This is kind of evil, Alex. Um...
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Cuts it in half there for me. I mean, kind of, not really.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
dude i i don't know dude i don't i don't have an answer i can't even think of an international player from the 12 draft it's like why i'm saying this that's like the that's the dion anthony davis draft right was there anybody that's definitely right andrew in terms of the draft year yeah i mean i don't know evan 40 i think evan 48 evan 48 That doesn't make sense as an answer, but whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, obviously he was not in the 12 class, but Boyan Boyan Bogdanovich is going to be my guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Maybe he said the oldest rookie ever and is Italian.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I see him on my TV, but I would not have thought of him. I see him on my TV.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, he's a monster. I like Steph Castle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
You guys are doing so good. What about Sar? Who? Sar.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Sorry guys. I'll talk better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
What about the – I'm just trying to think of guys that have actually played a lot because you just need to play a lot. What about Keyshawn George?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Oh, boy. What about the other Phoenix rookie? Oh, so.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Are you thinking of Shaq's Shoot Pass Slam song? Yeah, is that what you're thinking of?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Oh, that kind of makes sense. But he hasn't played like a ton of minutes. I know, but when you think about Reid, it kind of makes sense. That's wild, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Which first rounder has played the fewest minutes? Okay. God, this is a really hard question. This is such a weird class to even think about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Oh, boy. What about... I just don't think I've seen Baylor Shireman play at all for Boston.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I've watched a lot of Boston. I have not seen him play. I'll go with Baylor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that's a good call. I forget about A.J. Johnson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I just feel like I don't even have, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
He dunks a lot. I do know that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Which rookie has run the most miles this season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
86 miles. Shoot. It's just somebody that's played a ton would be my guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
I just don't... I have a name, but I just don't feel good about it. I don't feel good about it at all. I also just think about the wizards. I was just watching them the other night. They just move around aimlessly a lot of times. But it could be a long way. Okay. I...
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
You hear people question if Cooper flag can be a number one guy. Do you, do you question that as well?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Which rookie has taken the most clutch shot attempts?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
yeah something to think about first of all not that it matters then you got to be in the game in the crunch in the crunch um bro um what about what about steph castle
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
pretty good. That was pretty good. That was, that was tough. Hey, go listen to game theory podcasts on YouTube would be a great place to listen to it. Also Apple podcast and Spotify. It's a great show. And go read all of Sam's stuff at the athletic. It's, it's just the best in the business and you have, you have to read it. So rookie rankings, you have a mock draft that came out recently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
So you have Ace Bailey going third in your current mock draft. If Kasperis, help me with Kasperis' last name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yakushonis and Vijay Edgecombe going next. How close are these three? And then is there anything that any of them can do to get into the top two overall?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, so we do these episodes a little differently because we just need to talk to Sam. We just need to pick his brain for the entire hour plus. So buckle up. So Sam, every year at the draft lottery, there's a fan base that feels like they missed the top tier of prospects by one spot. This year, will that be the same team that gets the number three pick?
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
So a lot of cam Thomas games, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
2025 NBA Draft Preview + Rookie Awards | Slam N Jam
Or do you think that it's possible that another prospect joins the top tier with Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper by the end of the season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Will they kick you out of Oklahoma City for that? No. Why would you make that your choice?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Not Miami. Not Orlando. Probably not Brooklyn. Probably not the Knicks either.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Correct. And I think the Raptors played Boston.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Andrew, do you have any guesses? I'll say Giannis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Oh, no. Pressure's on then. You better get it right. I better get it right. Is it Miles Turner? No, Andrew. Bad. Kaelin. Kaelin, do you have a guess? I think it's Pascal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
That is one. Correct. Roy Hibbert. Roy Hibbert, that is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
25 plus blocks. Not Miles Turner. We said Roy Hibbert. We said Jermaine O'Neal. Yeah, those are names that were obvious to me. Gosh, I don't know. This feels wrong. Also, Dale Davis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Which one are you going to say, Andrew? I'll say Rick Smith's.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
I think he started in Chicago, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
reggie miller reggie miller great guess andrew that is correct all right caitlin paul george paul george did it multiple times andrew um goodness i had i had a guess but i think that it's definitely wrong um
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers Rising + Lottery Madness | Slam N Jam
Andrew, who would you like to guess next? Did...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
He's not wearing his brace anymore, Al. The brace is off. So just saying, just saying, get ready.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah, it's it's insane what he's done. My favorite stat of the week is I you look at the east and you look at the standings and it's just like it just makes you want to throw up. You know, I mean, you look at the teams that are in the top 10 and like the Detroit Pistons, like God bless them, five and eight. They're at they're in the 10th seed right now. 5-8 at the 10th seed. It's just crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I mean, you have to be 500 to be the 10th seed in the West. And you're probably going to need to be maybe a little bit better than that to make it in the West. But for the East, the bar is so low. So I wanted to look back and see. Okay, let's try to find a stat that tells you how bad it is this season. And it couldn't be this bad in the past, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Well, no, it hasn't been up until this point in the season. There are only four teams in the East with a positive net rating. That's the Celtics, the Cavs, the Knicks and the Magic. That's it. And so I want to look back and see, OK, up until this point in the season, in the past, let's go 10 years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Has there been a year where there's been four or less teams with a positive net rating through like the first 10 games, essentially? And the answer is absolutely not. There has not been a year where the East has started this poorly. Last season, there were seven teams with a positive net rating through this many games. The year before, it was eight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
In 21-22, Al, we were wondering, is the East back? There were 10 teams with a positive net rating through the first 10 or 12 games. The average amount is seven. 7 is a typical number. So 7-21, 7-20, 6-19, 6-18, 7-17, and then 8 teams in 15-16 had a positive net rating through this first little section of the season. The East is as bad as it's ever been.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And I just don't know what's going to fix this. A lot of this is injury-related, sure. But boy, this trend with the Eastern Conference is crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And you talk to executives or you talk to people around the Western Conference, and they talk about the West a lot, about how difficult it is to get through the Western Conference, not only to get through the playoffs in the West, but to just play regular season games against more Western Conference teams. It's just tougher, and it has been, and it may be tougher today than it's ever been.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Because teams like the Bucks are getting a pass. Teams like the Sixers, there's hope. There's nothing but hope for these teams that have had these horrific starts because the Eastern Conference is this pathetic. It is just wild to me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I'm going to go with Giannis. I kind of feel for Giannis a bit. We have the four and eight bucks. It's been just absolutely pathetic for them. They're 21st in offense, 16th in defense, which is actually like, okay, that's a little bit better than I thought it would be. 16th in defense, I was surprised. But they've been a huge disappointment. And the most disappointing thing to me
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
is that maybe Giannis is better than ever. Here are his last five games. We mentioned the 59-point game. 59-14-7-2 with three blocks. He had 23-4-7. He had 43-13-5. 24-12-2. 31-16-2. Unbelievable. In that 59 point game, he had 22 of the Bucks first 24 points in the first quarter against the Pistons. Giannis now has the most 50 point games with 10 plus rebounds since the NBA-ABA merger.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And that's thanks to user fanofsports44 from Reddit, from the Bucks Reddit page. Same guy, fanofsports44, also reminded us that this week, that the day that Giannis dropped 59 was 15 years to the date that Brandon Jennings dropped 55 points as a rookie. Isn't that weird?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah, I remember like being like Brandon Jennings, like noose, like star of the NBA. Like that was wild to me. But that was 15 years to the day. Like that is absolutely mind boggling to me. Giannis is also the first player in franchise history to record a thousand career blocks. for the Bucs. Giannis has also improved in the mid-range.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I hadn't really... I watched him and noticed he's making more mid-range shots. He's shooting 46% from the mid-range this season so far, which is up 11 percentage points from the last two years. The last two years, like clockwork, he was 35% from mid-range. So it's just a shot you didn't want to take. And now... He's like three percentages away from where DeMar DeRozan is this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
He's been really good in the mid-range. He's been incredible. He leads the league in points per game at 33. He's averaging 12 rebounds and five assists per game with almost one and a half blocks. He's shooting a career-high 61.6% from the field, and yet... All we want to talk about is this just flailing Bucs team. They've been horrible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
They went all in and won a title in 21, which wasn't that long ago. But the NBA is all about what have you done for me lately? And the Bucs lately have just held on to this aging roster for too long. They've made a super calculated misstep in trading for Dame, which has not worked out so far. And they're just kind of stuck.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Everyone wants to talk about trading Giannis, including Giannis himself to our very own Sam Amick this season. But again, to go back to the Eastern Conference, the saving grace for the Bucs is that they are in the East. Somehow they're only one game out of being a top six seed. One game after all of this hand wringing like they could be a top six seed in just a couple of games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
But what happens in the playoffs is going to matter most. They've got to be healthy going into the playoffs, Giannis included, Middleton included. They need to have some success, which they haven't had since the title. But Al, I still love watching Giannis. He deserves some shine for stepping up his game, even though he doesn't really have the squad to support him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah. Also one of two players from Belgium in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
A.J. Mitchell. A.J. Mitchell from the Thunder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
That was so sad. That was so sad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah. I want to say that T-Wolves fans are just lucky that we're not doing panic teams this week. That's all. That's all I have to say about that. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And Dallas fans. Well, we get to talk about Dallas later anyways. But T-Wolves fans, you're just lucky that we're not talking about your team. I'm going to go with the Denver Nuggets. Since I declared that I was worried or panicked about the Nuggets, they've done nothing but prove me wrong. They've won three games against the Thunder Heat and Mavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Now they go on a three-game road trip to play against teams that might have worse injury luck than them in the Pelicans and then the Grizzlies twice in Memphis. They're holding everything together really well at 7-3, which is good for fourth in the West. Most of it is because of the play of Nikola Jokic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Jokic is listed as questionable Friday night against the Pelicans with a personal matter, which I believe... could be baby Oakish number two. Uh, so very exciting for, for Nikola. Uh, but his play this season has been MVP worthy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
His, his numbers are just like video game numbers, 37, 18 and 15 against the Mavs, 30, 11 and 14 against Miami, 23, 20 and 16 against the thunder, 28, 14 and 13 against Toronto. I mean, just absurd numbers for him. Like they just don't even make sense. Uh, and they're like, they're feeling like playful again.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Like after the game the other night, Michael Malone was asked if he ever apologized to Nikola Jokic for the amount of minutes that he plays him. And he kind of chuckled. And then he said, you see his paycheck. Have you seen Nikola Jokic's paycheck? Um, like they're having fun again, um, which is good to see. But later on in that quote, Michael Malone did say that, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
He couldn't play him 38 to 40 minutes sustainably throughout the season. So they're going to need some help. Like they're going to need to get their guys back there. And he said, like, we need to find some guys on the bench to help us out, which they absolutely do. Russell Westbrook has played really well for them in the absence of these players.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And it's kind of interesting because I think that's kind of how Russ is. We talked about. playing until the wheels fall off and disrespecting the game. Not saying that Russ has done that, but I think Russ just knows how to play one way. When he played for the Wizards, he was amazing. I think whenever he played for the Clippers without James Harden, he was super good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And now that he's in this bigger role than you probably think he should have, he's actually playing really well for the Nuggets. There's some optimism for Nuggets fans. Now they need to get it together injury-wise, and they need to have... a good sustained stretch, but they're keeping it afloat until they get healthy, which I think is super important, especially in the West.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
That was vintage Russ. He looked great in that game. You got to give credit where credit's due.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I know. No, it was important. That was a very important win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah. And he was so mad at himself. I felt mad for him. That presser was just tough to watch. Okay, my moment is there was one game on Thursday night in the NBA. And we're going to talk more about the Mavs with Tim Cato here shortly. But I feel bad that this was like the only game. Because if maybe this wasn't the only game, it maybe doesn't get as much attention as it's getting right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
But it was literally the only game last night. End of Mavs Jazz in Utah. About 30 seconds left, the score is 110-111 in favor of Utah. Jordan Clarkson gets Luka in the air on a pump fake, and Derek Lively has to come over and help. So Luka getting burned. Lively has to come over and help.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Lively actually tips the shot, but he has to leave his own man, which happens to be John Collins, who just grabs the ball out of the air and then dunks it. So now you have the Jazz up three shortly. That putback slam, though, it's a harbinger, Al. It's a harbinger for what's about to happen. Next possession... Luca finds Clay Thompson for a wing three ties the game up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And now there's about 26 seconds left on the shot clock or on the game clock. And Jordan Clarkson brings the ball up. He's just looking to dribble the ball out, probably looking to get just a step back three or whatever he can get to see what happens before this game feels like it's going to overtime. That's not what happens here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Lucas is supposed to be guarding John Collins, who's kind of in the dunker spot. And Collins does a pretty good job of kind of lulling the defense to sleep a little bit with his movements. But he moves back into this dunker spot. And you can see, if you haven't seen this, you need to go check it out. Because Clarkson and Collins making eye contact is caught on camera perfectly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Where Clarkson just lights up. You can just see it in his face. And he throws an absolute bullet to John Collins, who then dunks it. And this dunk ends up winning the game. That was a wild sequence that was like... All highlights of like, or I guess lowlights of Luca playing defense. I want to highlight the crowd in Utah. Shout out to the crowd.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Like there's not a whole lot to show up for with this Utah Jazz team. And yet like the crowd continues to show up in Utah. I think that's such a huge deal for fan bases to continue to show up even when their teams aren't very good. And then just go check out Markeith Morris. As this play is happening to John Collins, he's got his hands on his head. His eyes are wide.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
He's just like, no, it's so good. It is so, so good. And then in the final possession, Luca tries to create something. They send a double. Throws to Najee Marshall in the corner, who just swiftly airballs a three. Really, really rough loss for the Mavericks. We're going to continue to talk about those Dallas Mavericks with our guy, Tim Cato, right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
It's my guy Tim Cato from All-City. Tim, what's up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
That's right. We'll always have Tim Cato on Slam & Jam, always. So going into the season, Tim, a common argument for the Mavs over this season was how they played after the trade deadline last season, going 18-9 down the stretch. The Mavs have started this season 5-7, which is probably disappointing for a lot of Mavs fans.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
But what have been the major issues during this slow start for the Mavericks?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
when you take into account- We've been cursing teams so far.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah, just to touch on those late game issues, is there anything else like you talk about the defense? Is there anything else that's like sticking out to you with the late game execution or is it like just like defensive lapses?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Active Mavs that made the All-Star team. Those are the first two that came to my brain. I don't know. Oh, I don't know. I'm done. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Oh, man, I was going to say 11, but I was like, I use 11 too much. It's my favorite number. Use it too much. I'm going to go nine. Dang it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Hey, listen. I have a... I have a... Never mind.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
OK, I'll do half court defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Who was it before? Who was it before? It was Kyrie. Oh, okay. I was going to be mad if it was Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
yes that's a lot of difference between both of these yeah that's a hint um oh gosh what is the other one my brain is not it's not functioning well right now um coffee got poured you know Oh, Derek Lively and Kyrie Irving both played at Duke.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Oh, I think Quinn Grimes played before he was at Houston. He played at Kansas. And so did a guy who had his hands on his head last night, just absolutely bewildered by the final play, Markeith Morris. Is that it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Have you seen this movie? Have you seen the movie, Tim? I've never watched it. Yeah, I've never seen it either.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
It is funny how many current guys just were not in that movie. Because I'm thinking, okay, who is Kyrie friends with in the NBA?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Did you see Carmelo this week on his pod was saying that the moment that he knew he didn't want to be in the NBA was when Michael Porter Jr. called him Unk? Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I mean, Luca just seems like the wrong answer. I guess I'll just say Luca, though, because I'm sure he's played a lot of minutes with him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
but the good news tim you won the week you have defeated andrew five to four congratulations i do look at that between the two of us a clutch time performance that was a clutch time performance and i and i i played the role of luca in in there it's kind of fitting that i even said luca um hey uh go check out tim's work uh at the all city network you can see him on the
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Are you doing the postgame show most of the time for DLLS?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
What a kind of awful week it was. Who's next?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
You've got to be kidding me. Oh, no. Hey, listen, at least they're interesting. At least maybe we'll get some Embiid games here. I feel awful. I've got a pit in my stomach now, like four Sixers fans getting the wheel. The wheel has been not kind to the teams that it's played on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Two big guys. Giants. That's fun. Cool. Sorry, Sixers fans. It might get a little worse before it gets better. Hey, if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, we'll read it on the show. Like this one from Miss Z.C. Zussan. Says, five stars. Nice. Love the pod. Keep up the good stuff. Love from Poland. Thank you so much for that review. And this next one comes from NightBear49.com.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Five stars. I got a shout-out on the pod. I'm writing this review because my Reddit post about Anthony Edwards was referenced on Saturday's Slamma Jam. That's super cool. To be fair, it was sharing a stat from the baseball writer, also from The Athletic, Aaron Gleeman. Either way, I love the pod. You guys are great. Been listening since before the format changed.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
So thank you so much for that review. Again, leave us a review. We'll read it on the show. Hope you guys have a great weekend. We'll be back next week with another show. Hope you guys enjoy the weekend and the basketball. I'll talk to you guys again next Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Oh man. Yeah. We'll talk about the bucks a little bit more later. It's specifically honest a little bit more later, just cause there's been, there's been a lot of good stuff happening with Giannis himself on the court. Before we get to that, let's go to the MGM line of the week. This week, Al, I wanted to take a look at the Coach of the Year odds from BetMGM.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
So I just want to take a trip back to the preseason odds for Coach of the Year for 2025. Joe Mazzulla said it's at the top. Makes sense. Jamal Mosley also sitting at the top at plus 1,000 for those two. Nick Nurse was third, also plus 1,000. We were feeling really good. about Nick Nurse possibly being coach of the year. That's not looking so good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Welcome to the Saturday Slam and Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking about Giannis. We're talking about the Pistons and our other favorite things. We're going to talk to Tim Cato about the strange start for the Dallas Mavericks. And then to end, we're going to do a little Mavs trivia. To start, though, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Mark Dagnall, Chris Finch, another one to round out the top six. They're not looking so good. Taylor Jenkins and then poor man, Eric Spolstra, who we'll talk about later. We'll save that story for later, which I know that you guys probably know this, but Spoh's having a little bit of trouble. Top now, which makes sense. Kenny Atkinson at a plus 140 to win Coach of the Year currently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
It's looking pretty good for the undefeated Cavs. Mike Budenholzer, who's gotten the Suns off to a hot start before all of their injuries. Yeah, they're missing KD, Beal. Nurkic is questionable. Grayson Allen is questionable tonight, recording this on Friday afternoon. So I just think that it's interesting to look back. Also, Steve Kerr is up here. He was nowhere to be seen in there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Jamal Mosley is still on this list. But but what name sticks out to you, Al, for for coach of the year?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Yeah, I like that one too, just because you can see the impact that Steve Kerr is having on the Warriors. Like they're playing their style of ball. Like they have the players now to play their style. And for years they tried to see like, can we get other guys to play individually? in our offense to play this style. They tried James Wiseman, who they spent the second pick in the draft on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
They tried guys like Kelly Oubre, who's not a bad player, but just not a Warriors player. And it feels like this summer, they were just, let's just get Warriors players. Let's just get Steve Kerr players. And I think it's so interesting because I've learned that Steve Kerr and Mark Degnault, who coaches at the Thunder, have a pretty close relationship and talk a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I think some of that is both of these teams have clear identity. That's something the Warriors have had for a long time. There are quote-unquote Warriors players, and there are Thunder players. I think that just seeing both of those guys operate in the way that they operate are pretty similar in a lot of ways.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
I just think that it's kind of interesting to see that line drawn between the two of them I just think it's kind of cool. But yeah, Steve Kerr has his imprints all over the Warriors this season. So it's been cool to see. It's been cool to kind of see the resurrection of that team again.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
This one came from LeBron Ramon James Sr. on Reddit, and it was LeBron talking after a game, just being asked, like, how much longer can you do this? You know, he's gotten three triple doubles in a row, obviously the oldest player to do it since LeBron when he was, you know, I think this was like four years ago, and But he's just asked, how long can you do this? Can you keep this thing up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And he said, I don't know. I'm going to play. I don't know how much. He said, I don't know if I'm going to play much longer. If it's one year or two years, whatever the case may be, I'm not going to play until the wheels fall off. And then I thought this was probably the most interesting part of it. Because like, yeah, okay. We all kind of suspect that a guy who's going to turn 40 soon is like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Not going to play for that much longer. Duh. But he says, I'm not going to be that guy. I'm not going to be the guy that disrespects the game because I want to be on the floor. So he's not going to play until the wheels fall off because he's saying he doesn't want to disrespect the game. I just thought that was interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And I think it's a weird... Honestly, it's kind of a weird way to think about it because Vince Carter played until the wheels fell off. But like... people gained great respect for Vince Carter as he played into his older age and adapted and played into a role. I just think it's a weird way to phrase it because it's almost like, wait, who is he saying this about?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Certainly, he wouldn't be talking about Kobe Bryant, who kind of played until the wheels fell off. Tim Duncan probably played until the wheels fell off. I just don't... I don't really... It's a weird message LeBron is trying to send there with the disrespect the game thing. I think that's just kind of weird, but to say, hey, it could be one or two years, I don't know, is interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And he wants to go out still being a top player. That's fine. I think both approaches are fine. As long as you're... I don't know. I can see the Allen Iverson thing being maybe something you would point to where he just played and was like, hey, I'm the same guy, and clearly he just wasn't. And I guess it's just like a recognition of can you still be the same guy kind of thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
And maybe LeBron's just trying to say, I will only be this. This is what I am, and I will play until I'm no longer this. Um, which is, it's interesting because I don't, I don't think that Vince Carter disrespected the game at all. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Worried about the Mavs? + How bad is the East?
Oh, yeah. Chauncey called them losers, and they are. They need to get rid of Chauncey. They need to do all these things. I wonder if Chauncey's checking their Apple Watches the next morning. How did you guys sleep? Get over here. It's time to check out who the losers are. Who slept well? Who got eight hours in here? Loser.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
You have him pretty high, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
so when you rank a prospect like that so high are you kind of baking in to yourself that like i think he will shoot and i that's why i would take him this high or are you kind of just betting on everything else and if the shooting pans out great yes like is the easiest way to answer that question like yeah it's kind of a combo of all of it right so
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All right, this next question is for our Suns fans out there. I don't know if you've been following, Sam, but they've been going through some stuff. So they've got the last pick in the first round. Who are some late first rounders that would completely fix the Phoenix Suns? Go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That's a great lead into the final question of the super fast lightning round. Now, Sam, you've written that some teams see the six to 20 ish range is pretty flat. Are there any players after six that you feel have established themselves as being in a different tier of prospects? Has anyone escaped that flat range for you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So, Sam, it's almost time for the NBA playoffs, which inevitably leads to questions about whether a given prospect could have survived on the floor in the playoffs. A big man with defensive issues is usually the biggest target for this type of concern. Your most recent big board that's on the athletic, you had Derek Queen ranked eighth.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
How big of a concern are his defensive issues, and what do you think about his potential defensive role in the NBA? Extremely concerning.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All right, Sam, it's our final question. The draft comp market is heating up. Everyone is comparing their favorite prospect to a really good NBA player they like. I'm going to run some draft comps by you that I found online. And I want to know how good or bad these draft comps are and why. I did not come up with any of these. I went to well-known draft websites. I went to Reddit. I went to Quora.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And I'm going to give you these draft comps and you're going to tell us what you think. So the first one up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So that sounds like a bad one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay. Final one, Ace Bailey and Rashard Lewis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Well, Sam, thank you for answering all of our draft questions. It is now time to play Andrew vs. the Beat, NBA Draft Edition. Now, Sam, you've played this before. I always try to do something special when Sam comes. So instead of having the numbers 1 through 8... Each question is actually going to correspond to a draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So the last time you were here, all the questions were about the 2024 draft, okay? So we're going to do the 2016 through 2023 draft. So every question corresponds to one of those drafts. So here's the little card I have. You pick...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
a year for one of those drafts it will correspond to a question about that draft and the answer will be at least one of the players from that draft class so if you feel really confident like oh i really know this draft you might go with that year over another one so sam to start us off you just have to pick a draft year let's go 23 why not
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
23, Victor Wemby leads his draft class in three of the five major counting stats, total points, rebounds, and blocks. The only two counting stats for which Wemby does not lead his draft class are assists and steals. Who are the leaders from the 2023 draft class for assists and steals? And you get one point per correct answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That is incorrect. Andrew, you have a chance to steal and you can steal two points. Andrew, if you can tell me who leads the 23 draft class in assists and who leads it in steals two different names. This is hard. This is extremely difficult. Um, I would say it's pretty easy. I know I am looking at the answers, but in my opinion, pretty easy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Andrew? That is correct for one point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I was like Kamara, like the Thompson twins. Yeah. There's a lot of steals, guys. asar has missed too many games though it's kind of the issue there yeah true um yeah i guess it's for assist and you could steal another point what about god this doesn't feel right i feel like scoot probably has more than this guy else would it be what about kiante It is Keontae George. That is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Another point. Andrew, great start, and the board is yours. You have a question, Zane?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Folks, let's look it up. Let's look it up. Where does Scoot... rank um i'm on stat head right now by the way i should i should talk about stat head more because i couldn't do this without stat head and uh it's a great service and if you're a student you can get a discount on it and it's it's cheap it's only five bucks a month this is i'm trying to look this up right now Fill time. OK, here we go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Are we ready? Get results. You guys can't see it. The little wheels going around and we're going to go sort by assists. And I did the wrong year. OK, so, Andrew, while you're thinking next question, what year would you like? I'll go twenty two. 22. Great selection, Andrew. And get results. Here we go. All right. Total assists. Keontae George, 645. Scoot Henderson, 634. Oh, boy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He might have passed him by the end of this week, by the time this airs. Who knows? We'll have another controversy on our hands. That's wild. Yeah. Okay, Andrew. I feel better about that. Good. Andrew, you said 22.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Despite his down shooting year this season, Keegan Murray has a comfortable lead for most three-pointers made among the 2022 draft class, having hit 506 compared to 333 for the second-ranked player. Who is ranked number two and three in three-pointers made for the 2022 draft class? And you get one point per correct answer. Oh, most threes. Number two, number three. J-Dub? That is incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Sam, you could steal two points here. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Sam, that is incorrect. He is number eight on the list. Number seven, Paulo. Number six, Julian Champagny. Number five, Shaden Sharp. Number four, J-Dub. Number three, Jaden Ivey. Number two, Jabari Smith Jr. Is this Jaden Ivey? I know that surprised me. That's a lot of time. Yeah. And he's got a healthy lead, I would say, on J-Dub. J-Dub will probably catch him by the end of the season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Let's just go in order. Who is the only player who ranks top five in the 2021 draft class for total points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
freely andrew say it again say it one more time there's one player in the 2021 draft who is top five in total points rebounds assists steals and blocks who is that player is it jalen johnson that is also incorrect so can i give you my second guess here yeah sure
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That is also incorrect. Scotty? Also incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Trey Murphy? Actually, you know what? There are two. Scotty Barnes is one. I just missed him the first time. So there are actually two. You guys could have gotten two.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Alpi. Yeah, Franz doesn't have the blocks. Franz is 15th in blocks. He was very close in assists. He was sixth in assists. Otherwise, was top five in everything. Wow. Okay, Andrew, board is yours.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
The hardest question. This is the hardest question, Andrew. In my opinion. Although, I guess they've all been pretty tough. There are four players from the 2020 draft who were drafted in the first round, have played in at least one NBA game this season, and have also played for at least three NBA franchises. Who are they? One point per correct answer. You could get four points here, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
This is a big one. This is... 2020 first-rounders, they've already played for at least three NB franchises, and they've played at least one game this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That's a good answer. Good answer, good answer, good answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Well, I did not think anyone was going to because he just started playing for the Hornets. I know that's just like five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Andrew, can you sweep this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Daniel Turu. I'm just naming fun players from the class.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
He did not. He did not. Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Who was the other one you were thinking? Killian Hayes. Oh, you know what? Killian. No, he's only played at Detroit and Brooklyn.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All right, Sam, the comeback starts now. Just go to... Was there another answer to that?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Plus Precious. Plus Precious. Let's go 19. I'm into it. The 2019 draft is remembered for its top two picks who have struggled to stay on the court. In fact, John and Zion are not in the top 20 in their draft class for most games played. Who has played the most games from the 2019 draft?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Sam, that is absolutely correct for two points.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So the top five is Kobe White, Jordan Poole, who you mentioned, Terrence Mann, Nas Reed, and then R.J. Barrett is number five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
18. The 2018 draft was a loaded draft featuring five multi-time all-stars. Outside of those all-stars, who has the highest career BPM in the class? And as a hint, this player also leads the class in win shares per 48. Who is that player? So it's not one of the five all-stars from the draft class. It's not one of the all-stars. It's one of the other guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
My first draft on this question was all about Luka, and I decided to change it. I've done enough. I've said enough to the Mavs fans.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Sam, you have a chance to steal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
That is correct, Sam. You get the point. Great job.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
DPM loves when centers get assists. Big fans of it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay. We have a game on our hands, fellas. It is five to four. Two questions left. Sam, where would you like to go?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All right, from the 2017 draft class, we're going to name the top 10 players in career points. So how this works is Sam will give an answer, then Andrew will give an answer, and we'll go back and forth until one of you stumbles. So these are all players from the 2017 draft class ranked by how many career points they have scored, and we're doing the top 10. You can name anyone in the list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So Sam, who would you like to start off with?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Tatum is number one on the list. Andrew. Wow. De'Aaron Fox. De'Aaron Fox is number three on the list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Back to Andrew. Oh, man. You sounded so sad, Andrew. We're having a fun time here. Remember their heavy sighing. Bam? Bam Adebayo. He is number five on the list. Okay. Lowry has to be on this list. Lowry Markkinen. He is number six on the list. Back to Andrew. Wow. So we got 7910 and then number four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
What about Kuz? Kyle Kuzma, number four on the list. Okay. Back to Sam. So you guys have gotten the top six. Perfect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
John Collins is number seven on the list. Eight, nine, ten are left.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
OG is not on the list, Andrew, which means Sam gets the points. And it means that going into the final question, Sam has a one-point lead. It is six to five. And the way this final question sets up, whoever gets it wins. Yeah, can I try and run through the rest of this? Malik Monk.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So it sounds like you're saying he's worth all this buffoonery we're seeing from some of these teams out there. Rest in honor, guys. Might be worth it. Not Portland. Portland's out here playing hard every night. Shout out, Portland. Shout out, Portland. Sam, before we get to the other prospects, I wanted to ask you a general question because you've been doing this for a while.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
OG was like 13 or something. He was close.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Andrew, you get first stab at this question. We'll see. This is beautiful. This is great. You guys can't tie. Somebody's going to win right here. The question from the 2016 draft, how many combined career three-pointers do Jakob Pertl and Avica Zubats have? Now, Andrew, you get to choose who answers first.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
You can make Sam answer first, and then you go higher or lower, or you can answer first, and Sam can go higher or lower. Combined career three-pointers for Jakob Pertl and Avica Zubats. That's how this is going to end. This is amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
I couldn't do it without you guys going in order because otherwise this wouldn't have been the last question. That's true. I appreciate you going in order. That's true.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Okay, Andrew's going to say one. Sam, would you like to go higher or lower? So lower, you either think it's zero. Higher, you think it's anything higher than one. But Andrew could have gotten exactly correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
So Jakob Pertl and Avicii Zubats, over their careers, have combined to hit... Three three-pointers, which means Sam wins the week. Seven to five. Andrew, were you ever thinking about three? You ever thinking about the number three?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
And like anyone else, you've had hits and misses. When you look back at the players you missed on, Are there any specific types of players or profiles that you feel like you have tended to overvalue or undervalue?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
Yeah, Zubats has made one, and Pertl has made two. And that was without me checking their playoff stats. Oh my gosh, this could have been a huge controversy. Luckily, they didn't hit any in the playoffs, although Jakob Pertl did have one three-point attempt in the playoffs. Wow. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
All right, Sam, we're only three questions in, but it's now time for lightning round. Five questions. The only difference is I'm going to read them slightly faster than the other questions. First question, a question I liked I found on the NBA draft subreddit from user Manor Superb. They were asking, who is the player with a perceived weakness that you don't agree with?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
In other words, you don't think the weakness is as big of a deal as everyone else seems to think.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Why Cooper Flagg will change the NBA | Slam N Jam
It's okay. I feel like this is usually how the lightning round goes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
And I think, honestly, if I were an NBA star, I wouldn't want to dunk against him just because I know he's going to beat you. I think Mack McCormick is going to win again. I would not want to lose to somebody who is essentially a professional dunker. Let me beat the NBA guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I think that it's been cool to see him, but it's almost like, in my mind, a deterrent from guys even wanting to be in the dunk contest.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
You're not blowing out a candle on a cupcake. You're not going into the Superman booth.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Come on. Give me more props. Come on. You want to move on to our favorite stat of the week, Al?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I mean, that's literally their only option because you look at the guys that they have. I mean, their only true tradable player is Tyrese Maxey right now as a guy that you can go get good value for. They're actually in this weird spot where you can't reset. You just can't do it. You can't even do it. I mean, they have $100 million between Dwell Embiid and Paul George that you cannot trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, yeah. They're in a very tough spot. Speaking of a tough spot on Wednesday night, this is my stat of the week. The Heat led the Thunder 93-83 after three quarters, and the Thunder went on to beat the Heat by 14 points. They outscored the Heat by 32-8, which feels like something that should and would only happen once in a season. But it's not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
It's happened three times to the Miami Heat in fourth quarters. On December 21st, the Heat led the Magic 106-84 after three quarters. And then the Magic outscored the Heat 37-8 in the fourth quarter. How does this happen twice? And it happened another time on February 7th, not that long ago, just a week ago.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
The Heat led the Nets 77 to 71 after three, and then the Nets outscored the Heat 31 to nine in the fourth quarter to go on to win the game. That just made me say, what? And it's not surprising. If you watch the Heat, they can definitely get in the mud with their offense. But to do that three times in a season is wild.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
And what's funny is that the only other team that has scored less than 10 points in a quarter was the Thunder against the Bucs. And no, it wasn't that game that you're thinking of at the NBA Cup. This actually happened when the Thunder blew out the Bucs so badly. The Thunder only scored nine points in the fourth quarter and still... beat the Bucks in that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
But I just thought that was wild that this had happened three times to the Miami Heat. And they've blown a lot of leads. I think they've blown like 14 different double-digit leads this season. But to have three fourth quarters where you score nine, eight, and eight points in a quarter is just wild to me. And for it to be in the fourth quarter... when it's everything is supposed to matter more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
It's just, I mean, that's just embarrassing. Just a, just a wild, weird season for the Miami heat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
They just, now they just lost in the Mavericks who have like, I mean, they've got Kyrie still, but they're like really just like putting this thing together and, And somehow are still beating teams. Shout out to the Mavericks, who, despite all the bad press around them, the team actually is still delivering, which is pretty wild.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Still got the win. The zombie Mavs. Unbelievable. You want to move on to our player of the week, Al?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that was an incredibly important draft pick to hit on for the Nuggets. Getting him at 21 in the draft and then him developing into this is absolutely crucial.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Going to have to pay up. He's literally been better in transition than Giannis this year, which just seems impossible. That's insane. My player this week is DeMar DeRozan, who he had a really nice game on Monday against the Mavericks, scored 42, won the game for them. He's averaging 21-3-3. This season, keeping the Kings kind of in the play-in, playoff hunt, been pretty good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
But I found this stat that just blew my mind about DeMar DeRozan. So he... obviously is like a maestro in the mid range. He's a guy that's like keeping the mid range alive so much. So he has taken 417 mid range jumpers this season. That's 190 more than SGA who's second in mid range.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
And he's taken more than 100 mid-range jumpers than the Grizzlies, Hawks, and Nets. Wow. Like that, that just absolutely blew my mind. Like the mid range is dying to a degree. And obviously there are players that keep this thing alive. But the fact like DeMar has like doubled and tripled down on the mid range this season and is taken already.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I mean, he's on pace to take close to 800 plus three mid range jumpers. And the fact that he has taken more mid range jumpers than 10 NBA teams just absolutely is mind boggling. So shout out to Marta Rosen. That just that just absolutely blew my mind.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. And I... know firsthand like how significant this can be i i donated a kidney to my father-in-law it'll be 10 years in may of this year and his life significantly changed in so many ways like like almost everything about his health got better and so like i'm i read the story and i you know i'm very grateful you know to see that happen for nate rob because it really will just
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
upgrade the quality of his life in so so many ways so uh shout out to nate robb uh hey al after the break we're going to talk to kelly eco about the houston rockets and what's going on with the houston rockets right after this quick break
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
It's our favorite Rockets beat writer, Kelly Eco from the Athletic Kelly. Thanks for joining.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
It's all good. No, we're glad you could join. So, Kelly, prior to the last two weeks, the Rockets hadn't lost more than two games in a row all season. What's been the biggest issues during this recent stretch for Houston?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
The Rockets stayed pretty quiet on trade deadline day, only making a couple small moves. Was there any point where you thought that the Rockets might get involved in something bigger and be more aggressive than you thought they would be?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Do you think that Shingun is part of that group? Do you think that he's somebody that they would want to keep? He's made his first all-star team. He's had a really great career and a really great start to his career. But is he somebody that you think would be enticing for their teams and a guy that they'd be willing to part with? Or do they see him as one of their top-tier building blocks?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I feel like this is probably one that he did early on in his career because I just feel like he's another guy that just doesn't care about scoring. I'll say... 27? I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Is that the first time that we've gotten a bonus point on that kind of question? Is that the first time? It may be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I feel like I've been dancing around it. The past few weeks, I feel like I've gotten within two so many times. Okay. Question number one. Yeah, you have.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I don't. I mean, that's early. That's like that's before they were that good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I don't. Yeah, I'm cooked. I don't know who else was on that 90-91 team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
They have to play a lot. It's like kind of the thing. Mm-hmm. first four seasons and what's the number again 2100 so you said 2100 rebounds yeah okay i don't think i don't know why i keep 25 a year yeah that's a hard one i don't really it's not capella just didn't play enough he's like a guess in my head but i just don't think he played enough to start his career With the Rockets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
There's another guy in my head that I don't want to say yet because I don't know if he played enough in his first four years to do it. I don't know. I'll say Capella, but I don't think that's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
One of the guys. What about Damanis Sabonis?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
If I get the last one?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I believe he played for Utah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
You tried to make a comeback there. I did. He tried. He tried. Just like the Rockets just keep trying to win. Hey, Kelly. Go read Kelly at The Athletic. Thanks so much for coming on the show. All right. Appreciate it guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Okay. We have an all-star. I think we have an interesting team of sorts to talk about. Of sorts. Hey, you know what you could do? You could leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and we will read it on the show just like this one from Olive Garden Grandpa who says, mock draft. You guys should do a mock draft for 2025. Okay. Great suggestion. We will do that. Thank you, Olive Garden Grandpa.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Next one comes from Kingcorn66, who says, he, Giannis, is the goat. And then he says Giannis and has all these emojis. I'll accept that one. But if you would, just, you know, mention the show. Something about the show would be great on a five-star review. Would appreciate that. Hope you guys enjoy All-Star Weekend. And we will talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, someone said that Hubie Brown has probably educated more people on the game of basketball than anybody to ever live, which is probably true. Like, he just watches broadcasts. Like, he's consistently been good through the years, and then with the way he coached, and I mean, it's pretty remarkable, the career that he's had. More than Naismith, I'll say that. That joker. More than Naismith.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Al, you pretty pumped for All-Star Weekend? You getting yourself pumped up? Parts of it. Parts of it. Parts of it. Parts of it. What about the All-Star MVP? What we're going to talk about right now, our BetMGM line of the week, is the All-Star Game MVP. And let's go name the top five guys. Steph Curry, plus 500. I mean, makes sense. Hometown boy. SGA at a plus 750. Victor Wimbinyama plus 900.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
And then LeBron James plus 1100. Now, this is different because a lot of times you just think about, OK, who's going to score the most points across this 48 minute game? Well, that's that's not what's going to happen here. It's probably going to go to the team that wins it. And it's only a 40 point game. And so there's not going to be a lot of points to go around.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I think this will be interesting to see. I think it's going to be probably more of like certainly the stats are going to play into it some, but it's going to play into it less. And it's going to be more about the moments these guys have, which I think will make it a little bit more interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
welcome to the saturday slamming jam i'm your host andrew schlecht with me today i've got my friend alex spears on today's show we're talking all-star mvp some wild stats and kelly eco is going to join us to talk about the houston rockets but before we get to all of that al tell me about the top stories this week
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
At least we're hoping and praying that it makes it a little more interesting, I guess, is the way to say it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
That's the only way they went. How does that team score? Who are the guys that score on that team? That would be my concern. What if the game just times out? It just goes on too long. No, you got to get to 40. You got to get to 40. Yeah, but what if they never do? They just never do because Tumani Kamara just goes crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I mean, Chuck's team is clearly the favorite in my mind. I mean, they have Jokic, Shea, Wimby. Isn't that enough?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Okay, who's going to be the biggest try-hard? It's Wimby. That's why it's going to be Wimby. You do think it's going to be Wimby?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Shane, Shane, Wimby will be interesting. Also Trey young and Wimby could be interesting too. Like they've, they've got guys that can find him. Like Donovan Mitchell's just kind of like hiding on this team too. I just think like Chuck's team is just destined, destined to win this one. What about this scenario?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
What if, what if the G league team somehow no makes it like Reed Shepard just gets hot and somehow this G league team with Mac McClung plays dink pate. makes it to Sunday. That's a disaster scenario. This is where I think it's fun to give them a chance, but this is where I would not do it just because like, The upside does not anywhere eclipse what the downside could be, honestly, for this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, but still. Like, the upside's not there. It doesn't exist.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
For all star game MVP. Yes. Go, go get your odds at BetMGM. Alex, let's move on to our favorites this week. Do you have a favorite quote from this week?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I mean, very deserving. They're legitimately a fun team to watch. I enjoy flipping on Pistons games. They're a fun team. My quote came from Dalton Connect, who, if you didn't see, if you missed this somehow, he was introduced as a Charlotte Hornet. And like very legitimately thought he was a Charlotte Hornet for, for a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I mean, this was his quote after he came back to LA, it was like a movie. It was hard. I got drafted here. So LA means a lot to me. So hearing that, and then I go to Charlotte in the morning with one of my guys and get introduced and start meeting all those people and then fly out to Detroit to what was called my debut game. And then now I'm flying back to LA with,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
uh to la rob called me and said you're coming back what a movie that would be i mean i don't know i don't know about how good the movie would be guy goes to city and then has to go back to the city he came from he makes a round trip flight
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Round trip, making a round trip.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that might be a connecting flight. There it is. Um, I just think it would be don't connect in the movie. who's a good, let us know. Actually, you can comment in Spotify.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
If you're listening on Spotify or if you're listening in the athletic app, you can comment there too, or you can send it to us on blue sky or on Twitter, but let us know who should play Dalton connect in the connecting flight. Let us know. Let us know. Just a wild week for him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
I think that a lot of times we just think about these guys and these teams and we think about it in 2K, but these are real people that are having to literally uproot their lives because of trades. And then for it to be rescinded must just be such a strange, strange week for all of those guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
And then I had one more from from Mac McClung, who said this would be my last year for me. I really loved it. You know, you run out of dunks. So this is probably where I'm at after this. You run out of dunks. Yeah. none of this is Mac McClung's fault. None of this is. I think we've talked about it on here, but it's time to move on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
If the dunk contest ever has a chance of being good again, you can't have basically a professional dunker in the dunk contest. You can't do it. Mac McClung is in the league because of his dunking. And God bless him. He's done everything he can. And I've stood next to him before. He is small, and that's part of the allure of it is because it just looks crazy, anything that he does.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Sixers Direction + What's wrong with the Rockets? | Slam N Jam
But you have to get him out. You have to get him out of the dunk contest. You have to stop bringing in gimmicky people like this if this dunk contest is ever going to come back to be anything that people want to watch. He does cool dunks, yes. but it needs to be NBA guys. They need to find a way to get NBA guys in there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, I don't think it would be either. You know, the destination that I love, and our buddy Sam Vecini mentioned this one. What about the Grizzlies? I know that's not on his list. No, there's no way the Grizzlies would do it. I just I just wonder because they they suddenly have some depth with some of the young guys that they have. Yeah. And so I just wonder if you could cobble that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
The problem is like cobbling enough salary together to to get there. But they have enough salary to do it. And Jimmy, wouldn't he be so endearing in Memphis? Isn't he like he's to me, he kind of he's a grizzly. He kind of reads as a grizzly personality wise.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I don't see what the other option is. Yeah, the alternative is pretty tough. It's pretty tough. And then do you think if he does resign, do you think that Shams is going to say that he let ChatGPT write his tweets? That's a great question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. I'm your host, Andrew Schleck. Today on the show, we are talking about the NBA Cup, our favorite things, and Adam Maras of DNVR is going to join us to discuss the Denver Nuggets and play a little trivia before we get to any of that. Alex, please tell me, what were the top stories this week?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He needs an editor. Let's get the man an editor because he's pumping out some great tweets. We just need a little editing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
.98, .94, .97, .98.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah. That was called by you. Nice little spin zone there with the bad stat, but good for my team thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I have another little spin zone stat for you. I have I'm going to I'm going to go through the top five and bottom five picks. Best and worst pull up shooters that shoot at least nine or more pull up shots per game. So these are the guys that like a lot of these are stars or guys that take enough shots to be stars. So the top five pull up shooters. Number five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Anthony Edwards shooting 41% on pull-up shots. Number four, Brandon Ingram, 42% on his pull-ups. That's kind of his bread and butter. SGA, also 42%, a little bit higher than Ingram, but 42%. Damian Lillard, number two, 44% on pull-up shots so far this season. And the number one pull-up shooter in the NBA. You have any idea who this is, Al? KD? No.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
No, it's DeMar DeRozan shooting forty eight point six percent. Wow. Almost almost five percent better than number two. So shouts to DeMar DeRozan. Now, the bottom five pull up shooters in the NBA starting at number five. Mr. Luka Doncic shooting 35% on pull-up shots this season. Number four. Jason Tatum is hitting 34% of his pull-up shots this season. Number three. James Harden.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
32% on all of his pull-ups so far this season. That's great. This is great. Best is yet to come for the Hawks. And maybe another spin zone for a team that needs... That needs the spin zone maybe more than any other team in the league. Tyrese Maxey for the Philadelphia 76ers is shooting 31% on all of his pull-up shots so far this season. I think all those are spin zone, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I think the best is yet to come for all those teams. Listen, best is yet to come. Everybody that's doing good, Kings, watch out. You think it's been bad? About to get worse.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Honestly, this is like the anti-spin zone here. He had 24 points in that game against the Knicks, which had to have been like maddening to Knicks fans to see him like continually make shots. He hit four threes in that game, but that's just kind of who he's been. I mean, he's been pretty good. He's had in the last five games, he's had 20 points or more in each of those games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Now, he doesn't contribute a lot. He's like, just doesn't rebound. You think he gets like three rebounds a game, which is really strange for a guy who's six foot eight. And he's not really a passer. And he'll get a steal every once in a while. But just as a score. from the forward position, he's part of why the Hawks have started to put it together a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And I think it's just been impressive. He's somebody that probably people wrote off. You know, he averaged, you know, points around like 13, 15 points per game. Like he's a fine player, but he's never shooting it well enough from three. He's not taking enough for it to really matter. You know, this season he's taken six threes per game, shooting 44%.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He's shooting 48% from the field, averaging almost 20 points per game. which I don't think a lot of people would have thought would happen with DeAndre Hunter. He's 27 years old. I think probably a lot of people probably just said he is who he is, but he's found himself in a new role. He's taken a couple more shots per game, and he's been super effective with this Trey Young-centric team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And so the Hawks just like quietly have just a lot of like big six, eight wings that are super helpful for Trey. You have Jalen Johnson. You have DeAndre Hunter. You have Risa Shea, who they took number one. You have Dyson Daniels, who they brought in. You have Bogdanovich, who's coming off the bench. You know, I think Bogdan has been great for them. Like this team just kind of makes sense now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And this was said by Zena Kata earlier this week, but. The early returns on that DeJounte Murray trade are looking really good for Atlanta, which I didn't think could happen. Honestly, you thought like it was a mistake to trade for him. And now you just have to cut your losses kind of trade is what it felt like. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
But getting Dyson Daniels in that trade has really started to turn things around. I mean, Dyson has been really good for them. He's never he's never going to be like the shooter that you need him to be. But you need somebody that can defend like that next to Trey Young. And I think that has also helped everything to click into place.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
But I just want to give some shine to DeAndre Hunter, a guy who's been maligned and just thought of as just kind of like a vanilla player that doesn't really do a whole lot. But he's really scoring the ball so far this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
That has got to feel good. That's got to feel really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I can't believe you keep bringing it back up. I'm not bringing it up. You keep bringing it back up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah. Incredible. Let's go Grizzlies. Climbing to the top of the West now. Okay, mine is this moment that I haven't really been able to stop thinking about it since it happened. It's the foul at the end of this cup game that was called on Jonathan Kaminga. where you get the meme of Steve Kerr just standing there with his mouth literally just wide open, just can't believe it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I cannot believe that that was the call. Billy Kennedy, who is one of the most hilarious officials. If you're ever at a game or can ever watch on League Pass or on TV, a game where Billy Kennedy gets to go to the camera and talk about a challenge, he's ridiculously hilarious. But he... Called this foul on Kaminga in a moment that, yes, there was a scramble. There was a missed three by Curry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
The ball gets to GP to he tries to pass it over to a teammate. He really just kind of rolls the ball across the floor and guys are just diving for the basketball, you know, arms, legs, everything going everywhere. And it's. I wouldn't have a problem with it if that's how the game was officiated the entire time. Yeah. But that's not how it was officiated the entire time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It was a very physical game. There was a play, and Steve Kerr mentioned this post-game, where Steph Curry gets fouled on a three-point shot, and he just gets raked across the arm, and they don't call it. And they don't call other... There was a lot of physicality during the game. But the fact that that's how that game ended, it was a great game. A valiant comeback from the Rockets...
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I mean that the the Warriors didn't score in the final three minutes and three seconds of that game. And so like some of it, some of it is certainly on the Warriors to execute, get yourself a bucket and you don't have to have this problem. But I just hated how it ended. Like, I don't want that game to end on free throws and on a play that was in the last two minute report says, yes, it was a foul.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Sure, it was. But I promise you. In there's probably like 90 percent of those fouls are not called at the end of games. Like you're just you play physical. You just kind of let the game dictate itself. But I felt like the officials took that one into their own hands and the Rockets got the win. Not that they're undeserving of the win. I think that they deserve it. They fought back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
They did, you know, have a run there at the end to win. But I just hated how it ended.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah. Yeah. That's I would. Yes. I would have rather seen that. Like if Jalen Green. It's funny because Jalen Green's signature moment for his career is somehow two free throws, you know, but. And I'd rather be Jalen Green hitting a setback jumper or hitting a three or, you know, at least drawing a foul to get to the free throw line, you know, not just like diving on the floor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And that has to be the fact. I don't know. It was it just annoyed me. And I just felt I felt annoyed. I would get if I was a Warriors fan, I would be losing my mind about that right now. But on the bright side, spin zone, they they get a bunch of they get a bunch of days off and get to kind of have like a mini training camp. So.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Listen, we're always turning just the things you think are the worst things into the best things. Something else that's the best is our buddy Adam Mares, who we're going to talk to about the Nuggets right after this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It's the guy that everybody thinks about when you think about the Nuggets. It's Adam Morris from DNVR. He's also the co-host of the All-NBA podcast with Tim Legler. Adam, how's it going?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
At least not me. I think about you first, and then maybe Jokic. Let's start with a pretty simple question. How panicked are you about this team on a scale of 1 to 10, where 0 is, don't worry, they'll figure it out with the guys they have on the roster, and 10 is, this version of the Nuggets is over?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So another big question was whether Jamal Murray's play in the Olympics over the summer was just a weird slump or whether it was a sign of something more concerning. He's dealt with some injuries so far, missing five games, including the last two with a hamstring injury. His shooting percentages are also down. Do you feel like he's on his way back to where he was or you still have concerns?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So thinking ahead to the rest of the season, how would you rank these scenarios in terms of likelihood? First is a Nuggets stand path this season. Next is Nuggets make a small trade for a rotation player. The next is the Nuggets make a big trade involving a key rotation piece. Or the last one is Michael Malone is fired.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Are there any fun fake trades that like Nuggets fans like continue to throw at you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, he's got to have a lot in the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah. What about Andre Iguodala?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Total rebounds? Oh, boy. So this is like a longevity question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I'm literally confused. I literally get confused by this question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Okay, as a nugget. Dude, I don't know. What about Kenneth Farid?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Who is it? This is an awesome question and one that I just have no clue how I would even know this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You just got to guess. Russell Westbrook. Did Russell Westbrook ever do it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He knew it. He had it loaded up. He knew it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You're very tall, Peyton Pritchard in Denver.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
How about KD?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I feel so ashamed.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
That's a lot. Oh, man. Wow. There's a lot. Man. There are very few questions that make you just like think and hate yourself the rest of the day. That's definitely like one of them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Oh, boy. It'd be really impressive. I don't think this guy's number three. Okay. We mentioned him earlier. What about Nene?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Oh, my gosh. I did not feel good about that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Nuggets aren't Nikola Jokic. It's kind of hard. What about? What about Antonio McDyess?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
what a week what a week what a week before we get to our favorite things let's go to our bet mgm line of the week brought to you by bet mgm and we are talking about the nba cup mvp al yeah uh Number one, as no surprise, Shea Gildas Alexander at a plus 120. Giannis, number two, at a plus 300. And then it drops off. Shangoon, plus 650. Trey Young, plus 1,000. Jalen Johnson, plus 1,000. Dame?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You're correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, he doesn't block. That was wrong. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
6-2, a dominating win. 6-2, that hurts. That is embarrassing. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Wow. please go check out all of Adam's work. They do great stuff at, at DNVR. It's, it's a very, it's a, they do a very fun post game show, uh, that you should, if you're a fan of any team and your team plays the nuggets, you should definitely just go listen to their show. Cause they have like, it's, it's always a really fun vibe. Um, and then go listen to a show with Tim Legler.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It's, it's so good. What, what, what's the topic this week?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Kind of a negative Friday. Any little preview of somebody that's on the list?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, go check out the All-NBA podcast and everything at DNVR. Adam, thanks for coming on. Thank you, guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You know what? Spin zone. You thought it could get worse. It's getting much worse. Indiana, we're coming for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
not in the cup not in the cup this time man just think man they were in the they weren't in the cup last year they were in the in-season tournament last year and Pacers fans are riding high man I met this Pacers or Pacers fan from Hawaii and he came to the in-season tournament from Hawaii I just thought that was just unbelievable
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It could actually happen. So luckily it went a little bit further. They would have all gotten smallpox. So, okay. please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. We will read it on the show. Also, if you'll leave us comments on Spotify, I may start reading those on the show as well. So leave comments. You can leave them on specific episodes. So you could do that. as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
If you're a Spotify user, um, this comes from a Gabre eight, eight, two, uh, five stars. Great pod. Glad to hear Alex concedes. The grids are legit contenders after beating the Celtics in Boston on Saturday, five stars. Uh, This next one says Slam and Jam is a great show. Five stars. Excellent NBA show with Andrew and Alex. And wow, John Hollinger this Saturday. Y'all on fire.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Thanks so much for that. And this last one comes from Wizards Trash Talker. Five stars. Slam and Jam. Curse of the Wizards. The wheel of fandom is undefeated. Denver thought they were safe. But the Thanksgiving slam-a-jam hiatus opened up the window for the Washington Wizards to strike. In a Saturday night game, which I was in attendance, Jokic had a monster 56-16-8, and it wasn't enough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
The Wizards broke a 16-game losing streak, and Jordan Poole got MVP chance at the foul line. An incredible highlight in our sad season. The Wheel of Fandom has shined upon us. Praise be to the basketball gods, five stars.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
five stars uh thank you for that review again leave us a five-star review we'll read on the show and you can leave uh comments in spotify if you would prefer to do that also leave us some some comments on our youtube page if you're not watching on youtube uh would love for you guys to join us there um as well uh hope you guys have a great weekend enjoy the basketball and the cup
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It's just really funny that Dame is below Trey Young, Jalen Johnson, Shangoon. It's just funny to see him there. J-Dub is plus 4,000. And then if you are just... Just want to just throw money into the wind and just hope that somehow it comes back to you and has multiplied. You can bet Dyson Daniels plus twelve thousand five hundred.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Respect the cup, everybody. If you're going to be in Vegas, I will be there along with my cohorts with the NBA Daily. So be sure to say hello. Hope you guys are doing well. And we'll talk to you guys again next Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You think it's more you think it's more likely than Dylan Brooks? I mean, Dylan Brooks will at least shoot it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I believe it's just for the final game, yes. Okay, okay, okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, if you wanted to get into a Hawks argument, one of them could be that Jalen Johnson's been their best player this year. You know? Yeah. I don't really want to get into a Hawks argument, but I think it's been... Trae Young has been really good, and he's really taken to this role. I'm going to talk about him a little later. Yeah, well, we'll talk about him later. I love the dice rolling.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I loved all of that. He said that he planned that with his brother, you know, before the game. You know, he's already planning his celebrations before this came into York. That's the way to do it. You have to visualize your successes, Andrew. Hey, it's true. And he does. Pretty amazing. Who do you think will win the cup MVP, by the way?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
not just who you bet but who do you think is actually going to win not like who's got the best odds or whose odds do you like but who do you think is going to win it
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I don't know if it's likely, but it's possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
How many games did the Hawks have to win for me to look good in my preseason prediction?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Okay. Okay, I'm feeling really good about it, by the way. The Hawks are just really fun. I don't know that they'll get there, but I think they're a really fun team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, that that is really wild. It does. It honestly breaks my brain that that they are that, you know, it should be an impossibility. Andrews should be an impossibility, although they are a ton of fun and they just fly around everywhere. OK, my quote of the week does come from Bernard Lee. OK. Bernie O. Lee on Twitter, who has a profile picture of his baby son as his profile picture.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Who quote tweeted, shout out to his baby, quote tweeted Sham Sharania's tweet. And it's so good. I just have to read it. I just absolutely have to read it and then discuss a little something else.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So here's here's Bernie Lee after Shamshrani tweeted the Phoenix Suns are another team that Jimmy Butler's agent Bernie Lee has indicated in league circles that the six time all star is open to as a destination. While Miami while Miami listens to trade offers sources tell ESPN joining Dallas, Houston, Golden State. He quote tweets it and says, all right, listen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I gave you a pass yesterday because I was busy. But if you don't stop putting my name on your complete and utter made up BS, because, you know, you normally aren't worth my time to acknowledge. I don't know what I'm going to do because I'm a middle aged man, but I just know that it would indicate a severe dislike. Yeah. World. All this is fabric. All of this is fabricated.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I have never honestly I have never. And honestly, it wouldn't help me or the position I represent to do anything that's been reported by this said, quote, journalist. He says, Shams, this is your opportunity to say my bad. I let chat GPT write my tweets and it went old and went old school. Peter Vesey, Shams, Peter was a writer in the 90s. He's like he's explaining it in his tweet. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Be a trendsetter. Invent a new I was hacked. Carry on all. Thank you. Just a strange way to like publicly shame these reports. But I will say back on April 17th of this past of this year, Shams tweeted that there was fear that Jimmy Butler had a MCL injury on his knee and could miss some time. And Bernie went on Sirius XM radio and just talked about how this was completely untrue.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
How could the how could he have said this? Why did he do that? He's not even in the room. How could he report this? Yada, yada. Just hours before it was reported that he had a sprained MCL and it was going to be sidelined. And so. I'm just saying this has happened before in kind of a different way before.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
But I can see why you wouldn't want all of this playing out in the public like it is for Shams and what ESPN is doing, which has been a very normal part of the NBA ecosystem. What's not a normal part of the NBA ecosystem is agents retweeting Shams and quote tweeting Shams and just like airing out their feelings. I appreciated it. It was a lot of fun.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I expect that either Jimmy's going to get extended by the heat. This feels like a pressure move to get the extension with the heat. Or maybe he is traded. Do you have a favorite Jimmy destination that you're like, oh my gosh, this would be a great place for him to land?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, it would basically trade all their depth. It would have to include P.J. Washington. So I don't get that one either.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
That's a lot. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it's a good one. He had a really great season for me. Denny Avdia. So in the Blazers traded Malcolm Brogdon, the 14th pick in the draft that became Bob Carrington, a 29 first round pick and two second round picks. One, honestly, that's way more than I remembered. The Blazers giving up. I didn't remember they gave up that much to get him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
But when I initially made that deal, I really scoffed at it. I got thought, oh, my gosh. What are the Blazers doing? They're so far away. Why are they trading for players? They're trading away a lottery pick to get a player in. It's been just a home run for the Blazers to get Denny He's averaged 23, nine and five in March with insane efficiency.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He like initiates the offense for the Blazers and at six foot nine over 200 pounds, like he he's giant and he has guard skills. And on top of all of that, he's got a ridiculous contract. He has a descending contract that'll pay him 11.8 million and 2728. That's going to be like rookie scale money by that time. And to get a guy who will be in his prime for that money is crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He's increased his VORP from 0.6 to 2.2. His blocks plus minus from negative 0.9 to 2. His win shares from 3.2 to 5.5. The Blazers are over six points better per 100 possessions on offense with him on the court. He's had a spectacular season. He had a stat line against the Bulls, 37-11-5. I mean, this is a very, very good player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He had a 30-point triple-double against Cleveland in an overtime game. And above all that, the Blazers have just been way more competitive than anybody thought they would be. And I think that a large part of the credit should go to Denny Avdia, who was a guy that could not drag the Wizards to anything. And that's kind of why I didn't think this was such a great trade for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
But Denny is clearly improving and was not familiar with this part of his game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
At least they have him. They couldn't.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Could just have Bub, which I'm a Bub guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
welcome to the saturday slam and jam here on the athletic nba daily on today's show we are bringing you the moments of the week the slammies are here once again and mike richmond of lockdown blazers joins us to talk about the portland trailblazers but to start al tell me about the top stories this week
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I don't hate that. I think Franz is, is a great player. They just need more perimeter help. Like it's great that his usage is that high, but like they need, but it shouldn't be. Yeah. That is not great. Uh, I'm another Homer pick for me. I'm going with Chet. I think Chet Holmgren is going to be one of those guys. I think he can be dominant on both ends.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Offensively, since he's come back from injury, we haven't quite, we've seen it in spots. Like he played great in Phoenix the other night, got to the free throw line a ton, but I still think that that area of his game is coming along. But when you saw him at the beginning of this season, like the first game of the year, they, they just killed Denver and,
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He had 25 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks in that game against Jokic. He was an absolute monster against Atlanta before the injury. 25, 9, and 4 with 6 blocks. I mean, this guy was just an absolute beast. And he was taking more threes. Just like the quick trigger threes I think is really important.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
So just like some context for that particular number. Victor Wimbanyama's teams are shooting 62%. whenever he's the defender in their restricted area. Anthony Davis, 66%. Gobert, 63%. Evan Mobley, 61%. Triple J, 63%. Chris Epps, Porzingis, 59%. Daniel Gafford, 58%. And teams are shooting 54% against Chet Holmgren whenever he's the defender at the rim. He's an elite from Protector.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He's a guy who can space out and shoot it. His drive game is starting to improve. He shot 13 free throws the other night against Phoenix. There's a lot there for Chet. And if he's had two fluky injuries, and some of that you can point to his body. Absolutely. I think that he's got to continue to improve his body. But...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
If he can stay healthy like he did his rookie season and play all 82, but play 75 games next year, I think that we will think of him as a top 20 player by the end of next season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I'm talking about starting centers. That's why.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I am too. Are you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Why didn't you just pick Luke Cornett for your The Future Is Now Old Man Award? Come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I'd really respect that. I'd really respect that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I kind of want to know about Houston, too. That would have been my pick as well. My second pick is Denver. They fired Calvin Booth. They fired Michael Malone this week. They could just kind of stand pat, keep the guys that they have in-house, promote everybody from within, let go of Russell Westbrook, and move forward. It could be pretty boring. But what if they flame out in round one?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And then ownership is like, hey, we need to cut payroll. Yeah. We need to not be a team that's paying this much. We need some more flexibility. We're not going to pay the tax for a team that's going out in round one. What do we do here? Can you trade Michael Porter Jr., and what does that look like? Do they look at a Jamal Murray trade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I think that it's very volatile, clearly, in Denver right now. And I think regardless, they need to do some work to their roster to bring in better players for Jokic. But I think that this should have been... one, a very easy team to build around because like you have the best player in the world and you have a guy that literally almost anybody can play with this guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And I just think they've made so many missteps to get to this point. And now it's like, okay, how do we either undo some of these missteps and get this car back on the road? do they continue to go in a bad direction?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And then like, not that they would trade Jokic this summer, but these are the kinds of decisions and this is the kind of instability that would cause a star player like Jokic to say, you know what? send me somewhere else. And so I just, I'm curious to see how this all plays out. Like maybe they make a surprise conference finals run and then everything feels fine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And David Adelman is the guy and everybody feels pretty good. That could happen. But if they flame out in round one, I think that there's a lot on the table for Denver. So I would love to know what happens in Denver.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
It is pretty wild. That is pretty wild that he has become the best player of that bunch. Al, I'm going with the Houston Rockets. I'm just pleasantly surprised by how good they've been and really how good they've been lately because it wasn't that long ago. On March 4th, they were 37-25, looking like a team that was just more in the middle of the pack of the West and they could be a play-in team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
What's going to happen here? Since then, they've gone 15-3 in their last 18 games. This has been a very good basketball team. They've beaten a lot of good teams. They beat the Thunder. Most recently beat him like a drum, in fact. And I just think that Emei Yudoka has done such a good job. I mean, they're getting so much from so many guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They have seven guys that are averaging double figures right now. And you think about some of the guys they have on their team, like Jabari Smith and Amin Thompson and Jalen Green, like all top picks right they've meshed pretty well for guys that are selected in the top five of the draft like that, that probably should have a lot of ego. And just being able to manage that
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I think it's been super impressive. Shangoon's emergence has been super impressive as an all-star as well. And the defense has just been monstrous. Now, they do need to establish who the star of the team is. But man, you're feeling really good about this team. And they've done it in short order as well. It wasn't that long ago that we're...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
that Raphael stone was a punchline to a lot of people with what they were doing. And, and now you like feel great about them and you, you feel like, okay, they're a move away. They have a lot of guys that they could trade away thinking about Reed Shepard. If they need like the centerpiece of a deal, like some teams could convince themselves that a guy who hasn't really played for them is
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
is the centerpiece of a deal. And they have all these draft picks. Cam Whitmore is another one that you could throw in there and be like, oh, that's a great young prospect. And you could keep all these guys. And you could just add a star onto that team. And so, I mean, I know that they were saying it was overstated, the Kevin Durant interest.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
But with the little amount that you actually have to give up for Kevin talent-wise, if you just threw Kevin Durant on this team with the defense around them... I don't know. This is a team that's going to be interesting really fast. And I think, like we said earlier about their odds, I think even without a trade, this is a very interesting team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And so I was pleasantly surprised at how good this Rockets team has been for sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah. They put themselves in a really bad position, and they did a very bad thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They're fine. I don't know if they're fine. I don't know if they're fine. Oh, man. I had a couple here. Honorable mention is the Brandon Ingram trade to the Raptors where the Raptors are just like trapping themselves in mediocrity. Yeah, I just I don't I don't like moves like that. Overall. Zach Kleiman at the trade deadline. traded Marcus Martin a first-round pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And if you were to look out and say, hey, just say this out loud, hey, the Grizzlies are going to trade Marcus Martin a first-round pick. What do you think they're going to get back? Oh, that's interesting. I bet you they could get somebody useful. They got back Marvin Bagley and Johnny Davis.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
For our first round pick, they also gave away Jake LaRavia in this deal, which we know the cap restrictions, the fact that they declined his fourth year option. We all know that. But to trade away two guys that could play for you in LaRavia and Smart in the one deal and a first round pick and a first round pick. And you get back two guys that you know can't play for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Like these are former lottery picks. Yeah, we all know the names, Johnny Davis, Marvin Bagley, but two guys that can't play for you. And this wasn't within their control, but Jalen Wells being out for the season is a bummer. Brandon Clark being out for the season is a bummer. They fired their coach, Taylor Jenkins, and it's not gone well. I think they're three and four since they fired him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
That to me, you strip the depth of your team. And a lot of this is just about saving money at the end of the day. And so just... a disaster, in my opinion, to just give away and not only give away, but pay to give away to rotation players that would be helping them a lot. I mean, look at what's happened to the Wizards. Like, smart's not that bad. Like, what are we doing here?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Like, that to me is just wild. And they clearly need somebody like Marcus Smart, especially now that Jalen Wells is out. Yeah, yeah. I think that that that is one that if if the Nico Harrison, Luca, all that didn't happen, I think we'd be talking a lot more about Zach Kleinman and the Grizzlies and in a really terrible direction that they're going.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, he's a rotation player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I think that's all very fair. I think it's all very fair. Mine is. And this actually didn't didn't end up working out like I would have hoped. But I still feel really good about picking the Hawks as my surprise team. And they have suffered a ton of injuries. Obviously, Jalen Johnson going out in January was a really big deal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He was on his way to at least being considered for the All-Star team, I think, and was having just an incredible season. But losing him was a huge deal. But I think you just feel much better about the Hawks now. moving forward than you did before. And I don't think that you should really question about, you know, is Trae Young going to be there? I think he absolutely should be there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I think that he's the kind of star that they need. And when you surround him with guys like Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Kongwu's had a nice season. Zachary Resache has been really good for them. I think that you're kind of onto something. And so I like the Hawks. I think that they can have some growth and have a bounce back year. If you get Jalen Johnson, you know, back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And I think this is a team that could surprise next year in the Eastern conference. And like that, that to me is like the biggest message, like they're in the Eastern conference. I think that you have a lot of these young guys, you know, Jalen Johnson's only 23, Dyson Daniels. Is it true that he's only 22 years old? Like he just turned 22.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I mean, there, there's a lot of growth to be had still in Atlanta. And I think this could be a team that if they can make the right kind of trade or bring in the right kind of guy, you know, to just kind of compliment this group, like this could be a team that, that is fighting for home court advantage in the Eastern Conference. I think that that still is in there somewhere.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They could be in the class of Indiana. Would it surprise you if they were where the Indiana Pacers are? I would be shocked by that. So I'm going with my take on the Hawks. I think that they're set up pretty well moving forward.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, mine. I mean, I have a lot that I could choose from, I think. I didn't like the Jimmy Butler trade for the Warriors. And that still may... that still may not go like great for them. Like if they lose in round one, are they still feeling good about doing that extension, bringing them around?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I mean, Steve Kerr last or today on the radio even said that the lineup with Draymond, Jimmy and Jonathan Kaminga just doesn't work. He said, saying that on the record, you know, like that's, uh, that's pretty rough. It's a rough, a rough position to be in. Um, But obviously, they look much better with Jimmy. So I feel like that was the wrong take.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I also said that I thought that Jamal Murray and Mikael Bridges would be on the all-star team, that they would make their first all-star teams this year. I don't feel good about that. I'm sure that I could come up with 100 other ones, but those are the ones that keep me awake at night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
That is bold and spicy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I'm going to have the Detroit Pistons moving on to round two. Is that bold?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I'll give you bold if you say five or less.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I was going to say gentlemen sweep the Knicks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Okay, there we go. That's bold.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
There's my bold and spicy take right there, is that they will gentlemen sweep the New York Knicks. Actually, it feels bold because I'm having a very hard time saying it and believing it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I feel so weird about saying it, but here we go. Then you know it's bold. I want to I like the Pistons. I like a lot of people that cover the Pistons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I do like James a lot, but this is me picking against James. Oh, yeah, that's true.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Oh, no. Oh, no. Well, those are Slammys. Let us know what you agree with, disagree with. Let us know. You can comment on Spotify is a place you can comment. You can also comment if you're listening on the athletic app and then also on YouTube. So if you're on YouTube right now watching, let us know what you agree with, disagree with in the comments. We would appreciate that. We'll be right back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
We're going to talk about the Blazers on the other side of this break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
We've got Mike Richmond, host of the Locked on Blazers podcast. Mike, thanks for joining us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yes. Beautiful. The Blazers this week announced a multi-year extension for GM Joe Cronin. He's had the job for three and a half years now and has overseen an almost complete makeover of the Blazers roster. What do you think about Cronin's performance as GM so far? And do you think the extension was well-deserved?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Do you expect Chauncey to stick around?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Yeah, he's shooting 55% in the restricted area, which is not great for a star. It's a little better than Jeremy Grant's 46%, but we don't have to talk about that. Let's talk about Donovan Klingin. He's the Blazers' big-name rookie this year, seventh overall pick in last year's draft. He's already shown some significant defensive upside this year worldwide.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
What's something about his game that stands out to you that might not be obvious to someone who doesn't watch the Blazers every night?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I can't believe that one of the Dallas stars names is Miko. Oh, that's true. I didn't even think about that. They cannot escape it. One of his nicknames is Rance, which I really like. Oh, Rance. I like that. Yeah, don't call him Miko. Al, it's time for the annual Slammys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Mm-hmm. So I think the Blazers have a lot of options in front of them, and I'm just curious what your hopes are for the Blazers, and then what do you expect them to do this summer?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I don't know if this is right, just because this is not the three-point era. But the dude was just a ridiculous bucket. What about Drexler?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I mean, I... I mean, I have some Blazers names floating around my head, but I don't have any clue who it is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I mean, I, I mean, I don't think Rashid took enough threes, but I just think about Rashid, but I don't think he took enough threes as a blazer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
That is just a name I haven't thought about in a while. Steve Blake.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
He's, he's good. Um, boy, who would this be?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Who guesses, Andrew? I do. I have guesses. Okay. That's good. That's a good start. I don't think Zach Collins did, but that's the name that just keeps punching me in the head. Okay. Zach Collins. Is that your final answer? Sure. Whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And what's the number of dunks? A hundred, uh, 65, 65, 65. He started a hundred. I was like, Oh my gosh. Yeah. Just more than 65. Who would this be? Um, six, six, you say, I do say six, six, you say, um, what about J Dub?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Relatively short kings.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I think the Thompson twins are 6'7", so I don't think they qualify. I'm trying to go through my Rolodex in my head of teams and players. This is challenging. Dude, I... Oh, what about Christian Brown?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Give them a chance. It feels like they're loading up to beat the Rockets, but I'd be hesitant about that. Not that there's some much better option out there at the Western Conference. It's just going to be tough. I think that they're just as tough. My stat of the season. The Thunder are 18-10 in games that they trail by 10 points or more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Wow. Well, what a performance. What a performance. I'm still just in shock that Mike answered that question absolutely correct. Mike, thanks so much for coming on. Go listen to Lockdown Blazers. We appreciate you, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Please come check it out. Thanks, Mike.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Okay, Al. It's time to put the wheel of fandom to bed for the year because we are not spinning the wheel anymore because we have the playoffs to talk about. So we'll be getting guests specifically about teams. You know, we don't want the wheel screwing this up. We don't want to be in the middle of April and somehow hit the jazz and be like, what are we supposed to do now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Now we'll be talking about these playoff teams. And so we'll pick. interesting teams from week to week. We'll preview the playoffs next week. So the playoffs start next Saturday. And so we'll be dropping a preview for you guys to listen to that morning and all day that day as we try to preview as many games as possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
But you can still leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts where we're on the show, just like this one from ArcaneJackalope.com. He says, Slamajam has been my favorite NBA show for years. You guys are the best. Thanks for a great show. P.S. Bring back ghost points. Bring back ghost points, Al.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
StickyWizard00 says, Slamajam has become the most unique and fun podcast covering the NBA, all while still educating listeners and making them smarter NBA fans. Andrew and Alex's chemistry is obvious, and I hope this podcast lives on until I am dead. Thank you, Sticky Wizard, for that one. And then our final one is from The Gilman, Gilster. Five stars. Love the slam and jam.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They said two goats couldn't coexist and they were wrong. Thank you so much for leaving that review. Again, leave us a five star review. We'll read it on the show. Hope you guys enjoyed. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the real intense basketball because the West race is just intense. It's just going to be so exciting. So enjoy the basketball. We'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
That's the best record when trailing by double digits for any team in the last 29 seasons. So no team this season is better than 500 Cleveland. is next at 13 and 14 in games that they've shown by 10 points or more. I just thought that that was pretty wild. And it shows the resiliency of this Thunder squad, that they get down early or they're even down in the second half.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
We've seen them down in the third quarter 10 points, and they'll just have these avalanches of points where suddenly they're down 10, now they're up 10. We've seen that many times, and this stat really bears that out. This one came from John Schumann from...
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
nba.com but i just thought like if you're looking for a stat that kind of indicates like who the thunder are in a lot of ways it is like these monster runs that they go on and it starts on the defensive end for them it's not just you know they're nailing a bunch of threes a lot of it is that they're able to get out in transition they're able to just shut teams down and
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
We saw them do this to the Lakers the other day after Luka went out. They just went on this massive run after it was a very close game. And things like that happen for the Thunder often. And this record indicates that. It's an unusual team in a lot of ways, the Thunder are. But this stat really, to me, kind of stamps that for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They have they have 66 total clutch minutes. which is the fewest amount of clutch minutes since the 98-99 Cavs, who had 68. So they've got two more games. By the time you're listening to this, we'll know if they actually played crunch time minutes against the Jazz in a game that nobody really cares about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
But they have basically two games to have the lowest total clutch time minutes that I can find, at least.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Speaking of obliviousness, I just can't get away from any Matt Ishby a quote. And I just have to bring some of these up again from Tim McMahon. It's article on ESPN. It's surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuilding process. Like, oh, let's rebuild it. Are you crazy? You think I'm going to go for seven years and try to get there?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we're holding. I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today. And we're going to try. Although, let's say that doesn't work. Well, guess what? Maybe next year we won't be as good. But we're going to try again. The next opportunity we have, we're going to try to win and compete. And it will work. We will win a championship here in Phoenix.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
Might not be this year, but I promise you we're going to do it. And that's what we're focused on. Al, this is a team that is going to be spending $366 million this year on their team. Close to $400 million. Their salary is at $240 million. They're paying $150 million in luxury tax, which is just insane. more than any other team is paying by $60 million. I mean, it's unbelievable.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
And this team was completely eliminated from the play-in the other night by the Thunder without SGA. Hartenstein, Dort. Without Hartenstein, without Dort. I mean, they were sitting, resting guys for this game and felt confident about beating them. They beat them by double digits. Yeah. Ishpia at the helm is I would be terrified. I would be terrified.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
I think I said that whenever I read this quote earlier this season. I just don't think that Suns team is going anywhere. I expect Kevin Durant, like everybody else, is saying to be traded. And this could end up being like one of the bad, bad teams in the Western Conference. Because like this, you look at the roster. Like they paid a lot of money for the roster.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Awards "The Slammies" + The Blazers Future | Slam N Jam
They have stars, but you can't even sniff the play in. I mean, that's that's just awful. And like these quotes, just like they need to keep him away from a microphone. Matt, it should be like he's just he's just got to stop.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He's been on fire. Another king.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
It helps that the other Pacific Division teams have their times of struggle as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
We should have bet our mortgage on the Kings.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Isn't that insane? Yeah, they passed Phoenix. It's wild. It felt like they were hopeless. Yeah. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Al, my player this week happens to have the best odds at winning the most improved player, according to BetMGM. Shout out to BetMGM for the line of the week this week. At a plus 150, Cade Cunningham is favored to win most improved. Next, Evan Mobley, Tyler Hero, Jalen Johnson, Norman Powell on this list at a plus 1300.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Victor Wimbanyama, Jalen Williams, Dyson Daniels, and Austin Reeves sneaking in there at a plus 3000. Wouldn't bet that one. But the reason is that part of the reason that Kate is on here is that the Pistons are good now. Like, they're decent. They're 8-2 in their last 10 games, Al, with Kate averaging 25, 5, and 8, shooting 45, 35, 80%. He's been very good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
How did that happen?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
And the Pistons themselves have picked it up. In the last 10 games, Al... They're eighth in net rating. They're eighth in offense and 10th in defense. And a lot of it is the leadership of Cade Cunningham. And in fact, Cade, this is kind of a crazy stat. He leads the league in most games with five rebounds and five assists per game this season with 29. It seems impossible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
You would think it would have to be Jokic. I know. Not Jokic. I know, and maybe Stat Muse is just telling me lies, but that to me was wild. Cade has been very, very good for this team. He is providing the leadership necessary for this roster. He wants to be the guy. He's continually beating that drum that he wants to be the guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He wants to be the one to help make this team better and get this team back to the playoffs. And you can see it happening. Like he's going to be an all-star, or at least he should definitely be an all-star reserve in the Eastern Conference. And it felt like they were so far away.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
When you looked at what the Pistons were last year, you just thought, boy, like how are they possibly going to get there? They won 14 games last season, which was the franchise low. And you thought they're so far away. But to be sitting at 19 and 19 right now, They lost to the Warriors. In fact, I don't know if you saw this play. Cade gave them a chance to get a shot at the end of this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
The officials didn't even see it, but he threw the ball and it nicked the rim before it hit the backboard. and he gave them a shot to win this game. They didn't end up winning the game, but they were super competitive against a very desperate Golden State Warriors team. But just to be competitive night in, night out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
It has been so long since we've seen competitive basketball out of the Detroit Pistons, and they're finally showing it, and it's through the leadership of Cade Cunningham, who's been on a heater lately, and you're getting a lot from even the spot-up shooting of Malik Beasley has been super helpful. Isaiah Stewart, I think, has been super helpful on the defensive end.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He finally got Asar Thompson back, and Asar has been just a maniac recently. A lot of good things happening in Detroit right now, and they're just like a normal team. It's just good to see a normal team in Detroit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, the passing to me and just like the playmaking in general from him this season. I mean, for him to almost be averaging 10 assists per game is a huge deal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Because he was under five last year and is now almost at seven. Yeah. Yeah, and he's in year four of his career. I'm totally cool with it being a year four guy for most improved because I do think that people thought that he maybe stagnated even last year. And so for him to get to this point is great. And I think the hardest thing is to just pull this team up from the very bottom.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
They were there, and it just seemed a little bit hopeless. And so it's just nice to see some hope there and a team that could make like you could easily see them making the play in, you know, in the Eastern Conference. And I kind of expect them to. And just just the chance to play in a meaningful basketball game for the Pistons is a big deal. So shout out to Kate Cunningham.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it really worked out in that way. And the viewers showed up, too. The NBA Communications sent out a tweet earlier today that they had 1.87 million viewers on Wednesday night. It's up 20% in a comparable window from last year. They got the viewers that they wanted. It's good to see that. Really, the The Cavs, certainly the way they executed down the stretch of the fourth quarter was amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
But just watching that third quarter was just really something of beauty. Both teams were it was highly competitive. The shot making was incredible. The Thunder won the quarter 43 to 41. And both teams were shooting over 50 percent. The Thunder almost shot 70 percent. The Cavs almost shot 60 percent in that quarter. And it wasn't just like them running up and down.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
It was like highly competitive, good shot making, just gritty play. Jared Allen was four or five in that quarter. He was amazing. J-Dub had 10 points, four assists, a rebound, two steals in that quarter. I thought he was spectacular. It was just really cool to see two teams go at it that you're like, oh, OK, I can see this being interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
a finals matchup or you can see how both these teams are going to be uber competitive come playoff time and it's just good to see those kind of matchups in the regular season because oftentimes you know i watch a lot of nba basketball and there's a lot of games that you're just like man like the the competition level isn't up to snuff but this was like the both teams desperately wanted to win this one
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
The Cavs won at fair and square, and I cannot wait to see the rematch next week. That's the cool part about it is like both teams get time to prepare. I think obviously Donovan Mitchell wants another crack at the Thunder, I would assume, after only scoring 11 points in this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I think that Shea, while he had the stats, I don't think anybody would say this is one of Shea's best performances, even though he had 31, 5, and 4. I think that the turnovers were a lot for them. 13 is a lot of turnovers for the Thunder. The fact that they had four more turnovers and steals is pretty unusual for this team this season. And so I think that both teams want another crack.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
And it's great that it's just a week apart, basically, that we get to see both these teams play again. And so I think we get to see high level coaching, high level play from their stars. and just competitive basketball all the way through. So I'm excited to see the rematch. Something else that I'm excited to do, let's talk to our friend Will Guillory right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Oh, it's Will Guillory back again. Been on Slammin' Jam many, many times. Pelican's beat writer at The Athletic. Will, I won't even ask you how you're doing because I know it's terrible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
We got socked in the mouth with the Jeremiah Robinson Earl experience. It was just wild. So, Will, everyone knows about the injuries and the effect that they've had on this Pelican season. With that said, should they really be this bad? 20 of their 31 losses are by double digits. Their point differential is only better than the Wizards. Why is this team so bad?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. So we're almost in trade season and the Pelicans have a lot to think about when it comes to Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum. If only one of those players are traded by the deadline, who do you think it is?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Are there any, are there any fake trades that people like keep coming back to like Pelicans fans do or like targets, you know, that Pelicans fans have in mind?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
So for a lot of Pelicans fans, the rest of the season will be spent on Tankathon, just spinning away, just saying prayers for that number one pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
So if we assume that the Pelicans start next season with Zion, DeJounte, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Misi, what kind of player do you think they'll be looking for in this draft?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, they get to tank without having a tanking quality team, you know, which is like it's a pretty unique opportunity. Like it really doesn't happen like this for many teams, but they really need to if they do move on and get a new coach, like they've got to nail that higher. You know, we've seen in Cleveland what nailing that higher can mean for your team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
And so like they have to nail that higher. Also, if you get VJ Edgecombe, third VJ in the history of the NBA. By the way, I was looking this up the other day. I was like, is there another VJ to ever play in the NBA? Didn't know who the guys were. VJ King was one of them. Don't know who these guys are. Sorry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
This is a very good player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Eastern Conference. Eastern Conference guard. God, this is really... This is really tough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I don't think this guy made that many all-star games either.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Anything. The last team he played for was the Clippers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Wow. Maybe that was wrong of me to think that the hot chocolate would be going to Kyle Lowry's butt. Okay, number one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
And three pointers made in total. Three pointers made.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Or was this the year after? The year after they were in OKC. I think maybe it was the year after.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shoot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He led a team in three-pointers made. I haven't thought about Dan Dickow in so long.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Amazing week of basketball. Successful week of basketball for the NBA, seeing the clash of the Titans. It was pretty cool getting to watch more on that later. Al, let's move to our favorite things. Our first one is our favorite quote of the week. Mine comes from... one of those Titans, Jared Allen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Dude, I don't know. What about Hilton Armstrong?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
This feels like a trick question. Dan Dickow. Is it Dan Dickow? It's Dan Dickow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
there's so many guys that you feel like probably that scored definitely scored a lot for the Pelicans but it's hard to imagine them actually scoring 50 right shoot did pages somehow do it like I don't know Andrew that is incorrect will do you know the answer
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I like how you say my name there. I don't want to give Andrew any hints.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Jared Allen has been talking about ethical basketball, and someone asked him post-game, like, what does ethical basketball mean? Tell us what that means. And he just smiled with the cheesiest smile ever and said, farm-raised, non-GMO, organic, free-range, ethical basketball. Alex Jared Allen is one of the most pure bonafide dorks of the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Shout out to the Basketball Jones for Gustavo Aion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Let's go with... I think you do if you remember Gustavo Aion.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
What are you talking about?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I know Emeka Okafora is on that team. Okay. I'm pretty sure Eric Gordon was on this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
That is correct. Can you get one more name?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
And I think Gustavo Aion is right. Gustavo Aion is right, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
You're mixing up the Brian Roberts teams again, Will. Come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
This is really hard. I mean, Jared McCain, even though he's missed a ton of time, had to score more points, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
This dude was giggling so hard at his own horrible joke after this. It's just almost too pure. He's one of the best centers of the game. A guy that I think should make his second all-star team this year. But that dude is a certified dorkasaurus. That Jared Allen is such a big dork. And there's something awesome about it because he marches to the beat of his own drum, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
What about Tristan Da Silva? Is that a crazy name to say?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. I thought about SAR. I just, that's yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
They probably have more than that, I would guess. Maybe. Taking that many. I'll look it up. Okay. This is a really tough one, Aaron. This is so tough after Boston. They do have three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Tatum, White. Peyton Pritchard. Peyton Pritchard. Yeah. Peyton Pritchard. Pritchard. Yeah, Pritchard takes just a ton. He's getting them up. All right, Andrew, there's two more teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
That guy is pretty awesome. And it's just like these weird moments like this for Jared Allen that is not what you'll see in every locker room. I'll tell you that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
This just feels impossible to know. I don't know. 28 points. Who knows? I have no idea.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Another heartbreaker for Will. My heart rate's at a 107 right now. Will, thanks so much for coming on the show. Please go check out all of Will's work at The Athletic. Will, we appreciate you coming on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
We were very blessed to not have to do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I thought it did land on Toronto, actually. When I popped up Boston, I was like, okay, okay, good. Okay, that's good. That's good. We get to watch a good team for the next two weeks. Okay, please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we will read it on the show. This one comes from Nick Boonstra, and he says... uh, really slams my jams five stars.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
I absolutely love the Saturday slam and jam. Not only are Alex and Andrew fun and knowledgeable individually, but the chemistry they have together is phenomenal and it really makes the show what it is. Andrew versus the beat is easily the highlight of my week. With that said, I'd love to know how Alex would feel about a fan submitted question for the quiz. I'm a lifelong Celtics fan.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He's a lifelong Celtics fan, Al. I don't know how... Listen, some people probably don't believe in how genuine the wheel is. It's extremely genuine. This is not just...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
for nick boonstra okay um i'm a lifelong celtics fan and i have a pet favorite stat that i'd love to send you in consideration for when the seas are made the face of the wheel of fandom holy smokes i promise you this was not planned uh he said let us know so thoughts uh yeah absolutely uh yeah you can contact uh andrew on twitter or me on blue sky and and you you would have yeah andrew will send you my email if if he needs to and that's fine
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
welcome to the saturday slam and jam here on the athletic nba daily on today's show we're talking leftovers from thunder calves talking some nba stats and even some most improved and then will gillery of the athletic joins to talk about the new orleans pelicans and what's going on in new orleans but first al tell me about the top stories this week
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, don't do that. He says, shout out to the Daily Crew, Dave, S, and Zena. Clearly no ball and are my one-stop shop for keeping tabs on the league. Keep up the good work, everyone. Thank you so much for that review. That means a whole lot to us. Please be sure to leave those reviews and we'll read them on the show. If you want more content from Alex and I, go check out Down to Dunk.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
We are on every single Wednesday. If you want to hear a recap of on the Thunder Cavs game. Alex and I did one for Down to Dunk on Wednesday night. So you can go check that out. I would really appreciate you guys listening to Down to Dunk on YouTube or Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Would really appreciate that. Hope you guys are doing great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Hope you guys enjoy the weekend and the basketball. And we'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
That's right, Andrew. After this year, he's got two years left. He's got $45.9 million next season, and then $48.9 as a player option the year after that. That's not awful. It's not awful. I just wonder, one, do the Bulls even want to trade him? I think it's a question. Oh, you think they might zig? Or would they be zagging? I'm just telling you that the Bulls made that Josh Giddey trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
But before that, they hadn't made a trade in like two years. They just don't make trades.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I just think that they would rather... Stand pat and be... They fill the seats in the stadium. They're selling jerseys. I mean, it's all about the money there. They are decently entertaining. Yeah, they are entertaining, and they're winning games. I just wonder if ownership is going to sign off on a Zach Levine trade after he's had such a great comeback. Why would we trade him?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
It's going to be hard to get a player like him. I just wonder... if you can trust management to do the right thing, which is trade Zach Levine, which is to try to get a higher pick in this draft. To me, that's the right thing to do. Give yourself a direction. Get yourself out of the middle.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Right. Alex, my stat of the week is I'm going to turn some trivia on to you. Oh, no. And I'm going to ask you for the best and worst catch and shoot three point shooters on high volume. So this is guys that take five or more threes per game. I want to see how many of the top and bottom five volume catch and shoot three point shooters that you can name. So let's start with the best.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Alex, how many of the best can you name? Top five. Top five. Well, I'll say is Tyler Hero on it? Tyler Hero is not in the top five. He is in the top nine, I believe, though. He's one of the few that is shooting over 40%, but he's not in the top five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
No, think about a team that takes a lot of... Think about a team that takes a lot of threes. Derek White. Derek White's number two at 44% on almost six attempts. Okay. Peyton Pritchard? Peyton Pritchard's number one at 47.6% on 5.1 attempts per game. I'm heating up. I'm heating up. Brandon Miller. Not Brandon Miller. Think about a guy who's one of the best shooters ever, Al. Steph Curry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Not Steph Curry, no. Klay Thompson. Damian Lillard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
clay thompson 5.7 attempts 42.9 percent uh now think about a guy who is uh an attender rumors he's a rumor guy oh cam johnson cam johnson 5.5 attempts per game 44 and then think about a guy who's much more known for defense you would never ever put him on this list but the stats say put him on the list Defense never would be. But he has to take a lot of threes still takes a lot of threes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
It's five or more threes. This guy is actually taking five or more threes for consecutive years. OK, man, I have no idea. Lugens Dort is 42.5% from three this season on five attempts per game. He is fifth on the list. That's right. That Dort Moonball is going in. Okay, now let's go to the worst. Guys that are taking five or more threes per game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
These guys are all shooting 36% or worse from three on high volume.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
There are a couple Boston guys on this list. Drew Holiday? No. He didn't take enough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
No. Porzingis? Porzingis is number two. Second worst at 34.3% on five attempts per game. Okay. What are some other hints? A guy who is second in all-star voting among guards. LaMelo? Yeah, LaMelo is shooting 34.4% on 5.1 attempts. That makes sense. From three. One guy changed his shooting motion this season to look all weird, but he was worried about him. Yeah, 35.7% on almost six attempts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Although that kind of looks like Michael Gilchrist's shooting motion. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was trying to put that tiny window that he was trying to look through. And there's a guy who, another Celtic is on this list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Al Horford? Al Horford. He's fifth on the list at 5.2 attempts per game at 36%. And then you haven't gotten the very worst one. I'll reveal it. It's Keegan Murray.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
is shooting 31.1 percent on 5.2 catch and shoot threes this season i would have i would have never gotten there i know i know it's it's funny because like if you were to say if you were to make a bet before the season who's going to shoot better on catch and shoot threes this season keegan murray or lugans dort who are you choosing And I think everybody would choose Keegan Murray.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
He's shooting 31%. It is like by far the worst. Everybody else is like 34, 35%. You know, it's not too bad. 31% is like, please stop shooting them. You know, it's that bad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
Just overall, 30%. It's kind of shocking because he's clearly a good shooter. I wouldn't tell him to stop shooting. I would tell him to keep shooting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Time for Zion to go? + Cade Cunningham MIP? | Slam N Jam
The thing that's wild, though, is that he shoots... I personally would not. I would say keep shooting. I'm big on keep shooting. 33.8% from the corners, even. Wow. Which is strange. He was 43% in his rookie season from the corners. Last year, 32%. This year, 33%. It's just weird.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
We tried to, we tried to stay zeroed in on the, on the series a little bit, but there are some, there are some massive implications that I think that they'll, the team will change no matter what, but it probably, this depends on like how much it will change.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
it's not too difficult for that one. Okay. Alex, why don't you go first? Okay, fine. Great. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
It's definitely possible. What's your feel on the Thunder right now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
So. Yeah, no kidding. Let's start with the two teams that were knocked out of the playoffs this week. First, the Clippers. After pushing the series to seven, the Clippers didn't show up in Denver and failed to make it out of the first round for the third straight season. Do you think the Clippers should consider trying to pivot at this point?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
So Andrew and Cleveland, I should say, by the way, I say, I was going to say Cleveland too. I did want to say that Chet after the game did talk about how Kendrick Williams basically came over to his house and the day after and just was like wanting to watch the games with him and like gave him just like some perspective on like, like how he should handle missing those free throws.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Like basically like just like lean into it, like be like, you should want to shoot free throws again. Like you need to go into this game wanting to shoot free throws. I think he took seven and in game two made them all, you know? And so like, there's just a good mentality there too, you know, behind that. Cause like sometimes moments like that can derail you, um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
for a series or for your career that are that bad that where you like you feel like I mean he probably pins the game on himself because he makes us do free throws even if he just makes the second one he gets their defense set and like maybe you can stop them but anyways I thought that was an interesting note okay the second team here this is I feel like it's already tricky it's super hard I...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
This may be really, really dumb. I'm still taking Boston here. I knew you were going to take them. Down 0-2. Down 0-2. It looks bad. It looks really bad. I was watching that game in the Thunder Media Dining and Tony Jones, who is a huge Knicks fan, who's covering the Nuggets for us at The Athletic right now, was just going bonkers. He was so pumped to see the Knicks beat them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
But I still just think I mean, Jared is going to talk about it, but there are just these moments where it's like, man, just shots that should have gone down that didn't. Not just one, but multiple shots that were good shots. And you just... I kind of believe in the process of
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
for them and I just think it will go ahead he just believes I just believe I do I think I think they're gonna I still think they'll win this series and I think that the Knicks fans I mean I feel for Knicks fans if they do just because you're riding high right now that would be a pretty awful collapse but I'm still sticking with Boston
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Or were there enough positives this season to feel good about running it back and extending Harden?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
I'm going to hedge and take the Knicks. Oh, nice hedge. Nice hedge. Because if they do, Indy's really good. And it was probably between them and Indy that I would go between. I don't know that either of these teams will win the title, but I think they have a chance to get to the finals from here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
And if it's Indiana, New York in the East finals, which is kind of what it looks like it could be right now, When you get into close games with Jalen Brunson, you have to just trust him at this point. Tyrese Halliburton, you could say the same about. He's been clutch as well. He's been clutch as well. I just kind of believe in Brunson at this point. And so I'll go New York Knicks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
I remember he's telling me that they're going to win the East.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
And now I'm like, now he's got to be really loud about it. Yeah, it's getting there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
I got the wolves. I got the wolves. Slater, thanks so much for coming on the show. Please go read Slater today at The Athletic. Go listen to Warriors Plus Minus. On your podcast feed, if you're looking for recaps of these games, they have podcasts that are usually up pretty quick after the games are over. So go check that out. Anything else you want to plug? No, I'm good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Great playoff league wide. It really has. Yeah, no kidding. No kidding. Thanks later. All right, y'all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
With us now, friend of the show, friend in my life, Jared Weiss, who covers the NBA for us here at The Athletic. Jared, what's up, man?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful thing. So after winning 61 games this season, the defending champs are now down 0-2 to the New York Knicks, dropping both games at home. The Celtics' outside shooting has been the big story. They've missed 75 out of their 100 three-pointers through two games. It's very kind of them to produce such a nice round number there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
The most misses in consecutive playoff games in NBA history, which is just insane. So while shooting variance is obviously a factor, what have you seen from the Knicks that has been contributing to Boston's offensive struggle so far?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
So on the other end of the court, the Knicks offense hasn't been great in either game, but they have consistently been able to generate shots down the stretch in both of the comebacks. What have been some of the Celtics' biggest issues defensively at the end of these games?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Looking ahead to games three and four, are there any adjustments beyond hitting a couple more threes that you expect the Celtics to look at?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
I'll let Jared guess. I can't even begin to think of a baseline number for that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
I'm in that same position every week where I feel like I'm within like two or something. And then whoever it is guesses the right one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
It would be pretty helpful. How about our guy, Luke Cornett?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Oh, sure. Dang, I see. I thought of Al. I was like, he's definitely played enough games, but how many times do you look at the box score and he's got eight?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Just want to say it. Is it okay if I say it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Name number one is... why is it so hard for me to think of this? I feel like my brain is just completely dead at this point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Can I even think? Name any player. Of a player at this point? I don't feel like I can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
See, I thought about him, but I couldn't. I just didn't know if he played that many games against him. Man. Please go read Jared Weiss. Yeah, the Cavs years. Yeah, I guess that would make sense. I guess that makes sense. Please go read Jared at The Athletic. Jared, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks again to Jared and Slater for coming on the show. Listen up, guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
On Monday, we have the draft lottery, which is one of my favorite days. It's one of the weirdest days for the NBA. The fate of so many teams is determined on days like this. And it's very exciting. And so on Monday, during the draft lottery, we will be doing a live stream. Alex and I, a slam and jam stream. Wow. You can follow along. Watch the lottery with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
But we should try to get him. I bet you he's there. I bet you he's going. He might be there. Yeah, I'll hit him up anyways because he would be amazing on the live stream. I feel bad we haven't had Josh on, honestly, this season. The wheel did not get him. Maybe we can bring him on if and when the Wizards get the number one pick. How about that? Okay. That would be cool. That would be cool.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
And we're going to take our own little Tankathon spin right now. just to get ourselves ready get the juices flowing for the lottery let's see this slam and jam spin it's going to be first pick oh my god the San Antonio Spurs jump seven spots the Sixers jump a couple spots result This is a cursed result. The Wizards stay at two. Utah falls to three. Charlotte falls to five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Poor New Orleans falls to six. Brooklyn at seven. Toronto at eight. Sorry, yes. Man, that is a... Let's close that window. Yeah, you better close that window quick. Quick. If you would, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Five stars only, please. And we will read it on the show. This one comes from LilLaser11. It says, five stars. Great. I love Slammin' Jam. Al and Andrew are a great duo.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Thank you so much for that review. This next one comes from Philly Iverson. Five stars. Slammin' Jam. Great show with Andrew Schleck and Alex Spears. I love the last few weeks when guests... We're some of the less frequently heard guests doing YouTube channels. Keep up the great work. Thank you so much for that review.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
And then somebody left this YouTube comment that I wanted to read as well from at Jeeves2328. My daily dose of unavoidable can't miss NBA news. The insightful podcast has become my favorite daily podcast fix. Truly the best show out there for staying current with the league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
What I appreciate most is that they don't create artificial animosities among players, especially stars, nor do they spawn fake rivalries just for drama. Listen up, first take. This is how you do a show. And then we had Thunderwood below said, Agreed. I actually end up watching more games because I'm curious to hear what they have to say about them the next day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
So thank you so much for just leaving comments like that. We really appreciate it. We're really proud of what we've done so far this season and through the playoffs. So please continue to leave us five-star reviews. Leave a comment on... The YouTube page, we would really very much appreciate that. If you're watching on YouTube right now, just hit the like button and leave a comment.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
We would very much appreciate that. I hope you guys have a great weekend. Enjoy the basketball. And we'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
So after beating that Rockets team, the Warriors moved on to face the Wolves in the second round. The Warriors had a surprisingly dominant Game 1 win, but lost Steph to a hamstring injury that will keep him out until at least Game 5. Seeing how good Game 2 went without Steph, what's the recipe? Not how good, seeing how Game 2 went.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking to Anthony Slater about the Western Conference playoffs, Jared Weiss about the Boston Celtics, and then we'll do some trivia. First, we're going to our friend Anthony Slater. He's a national writer here at The Athletic. Slater, what's up? How are y'all?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
How do they extend this series? How do they get to the point where Steph can actually join this team?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. What about Draymond? Like, where's everybody at with kind of like the antics and like where all that's been? First take.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
This is, this is what you get. at this point, like if you want to win, this is what you get, which is a, it's a tricky, very tricky situation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
830 Tips are brutal. Yeah. Getting out of the arena at like 3 a.m. I'm at home. I haven't left home. And it's been a week just because the tip is so late.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Are the Celtics done? | Slam N Jam
Yeah. We're recording this on Friday afternoon before Cavs, Pacers, and Thunder Nuggets game three. What's been the single most surprising thing for you that's happened just in the playoffs in general so far?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
welcome to the saturday slam and jam here on the athletic nba daily so glad to have you with us on today's show we are breaking down the most improved player odds xenakeda will join us to talk warriors and then trevor lane joins the show to talk about the los angeles lakers but before that Alex, please tell me about all the NBA headlines this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
super impressed through these first eight games or whatever yeah he he's he's been really good and his size as a shooter yeah is is pretty special is pretty special on the wing and he's just a goofball and i kind of like i just like that about him he's just he's an absolute goofball uh my favorite player this week benedict mathurin Al, on October 28th, the Pacers fell to 1-3.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
And Paolo Bancaro posted a 50-burger on this Pacers team. And Ben Matherin really didn't play. He played 13 minutes. He had five points, two boards. But since then, Ben Matherin has been on a tear. He had 30-11-4. And a win against the Celtics. He had 19-6-3 against the Pels. And a loss 16-7-3. And a surprising win against the Mavs. And then 20-11-1 against the Orlando Magic. And a win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Mather is scoring in a variety of ways. He's shooting 70% in the restricted area so far this season. Also, he's got a little bit of an attitude. There was a kerfuffle with Jordan Hawkins postgame against the Pelicans. And honestly... I kind of like to see some kerfuffles, and Mathern will give those to you. Mathern is one of the reasons why the Pacers roster still has some upside.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
And he's shown in the last four games that he's really worth investing in. He's just a really fun and dynamic player that I think because of the injury last year, he got a little bit lost. He wasn't a part of that Pacers run to the Eastern Conference Finals. So you forget about him a little bit. But in these last four games, he has really shown...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
that he's a player that, you know, can help this Pacers team take the next step. So I've really enjoyed watching Ben Mather.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I don't know. Them and the Sixers are having this strange competition between the two of them. Who can have the weirdest, most awful beginning of a season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
OK, I mean, listen, Sam Presti says the sky falls on every single team two or three times every season. So that's right. We're going to have our we're going to have our time to panic about everybody out this week. It's the Orlando Magic who've dropped five straight. They're three and six right now. Their last four games. They're 98.2 offensive rating dead last in the league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
They're 11th in defensive rating. They're 29th in net rating with only the putrid Utah Jazz behind them out from the corners. they're shooting 23% from above the break. They're shooting 23% from the mid range. They're shooting 32% in the paint. They're 41% in the restricted area. They're like a fine 62%. The offense is just non-existent.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
They have their 2021 draft picks leading the way with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs doing the best they can. Franz averaging 26 and five with Suggs at 18, five and five. Suggs has actually been really good for them. They're doing all they can. But Al, do you know who their third leading scorer is without Paolo right now? OK, so Franz.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
goga's fourth actually all right mo wagner is third and scoring for them they just frankly cannot score like they've got guys like window carter could be that but he's dealing with this like plantar fasciitis thing kcp has not had a great start to the season anthony black is really not that guy rookie tristan da silva is playing a ton for them jonathan isaac doesn't play enough minutes for them uh one thing is i don't
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
quite understand why Cole Anthony doesn't play, especially now without Paolo in the lineup because he's somebody that can actually score. And so I don't quite understand what's going on there, but I'd be panicked. Now, the Magic are going to have to get some wins in these next five games. They've got the Pelicans that we've mentioned who are dealing with a ton of injuries.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
They've got the Washington Wizards. They've got the Hornets. They've got the Pacers. And they've got the Sixers. And so they've got to win at least two of these games. And the thing that they have working for them that's in their favor is really something that is really not even within their control. They're just in the Eastern Conference, in which everybody's terrible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
So the Eastern Conference is very forgiving to teams that have stretches like this, unlike the Western Conference. But I'd be worried. Because without Paolo, I just don't know how they score. I saw them in Oklahoma City earlier this week, and it was really the Thunder didn't even play well and were able to just cruise to a victory because they just couldn't score.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Like they just go through these these stretches where they just absolutely cannot get buckets. And so I'm really worried about the Orlando Magic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Six? That's 100 teams, right? You say 103 teams or 106 teams? 103 teams. 103 teams. Six have made the playoffs. Oh my gosh, 97 teams didn't make it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Yeah, the vibe around the Sixers fan base is appropriate and terrible. So not surprising.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Nice. So excited to have you here, Zena. Before we get to the Celtics game, looking at the season as a whole, how surprised have you been about the Warriors' 7-1 start based on how you felt in the preseason?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
So Buddy Heald has been one of the biggest stories of the season, and he continued his hot streak in Boston, hitting four threes, including a clutch three with less than a minute left. There were some questions about Buddy coming off last year's playoffs. And while he's probably not going to shoot 50% from three, how sustainable does his play overall look and feel right now for the Warriors?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
So looking ahead, what do you see as some obvious needs for the Warriors? And are there any like clear trade targets that perhaps are popping up from Warriors fans?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Hey, go find Xena Keita right here on the NBA Daily. And then the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. It's a great show. Xena's the host of it. Go check it out. Right after this break, we are going to talk to Trevor Lane about the crazy, crazy week that the Los Angeles Lakers had.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
We've got Trevor Lane, who is the host of the Lakers Nation podcast and co-host of the front office show. Trevor, how's it going?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
It has been a wild week to be a fan of the Lakers. I will tell you that, especially especially last night. And we'll dig into some of that here in just a second. But if you had a couple of weeks, if we had you on a couple of weeks ago. I would say that this would be a very different conversation. Anthony Davis has missed the most recent game. We're recording this before the Friday night game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
But has there been any common themes in these four losses after the hot start for the Lakers?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
So from your perspective, whenever he had the mic drop moment after you asked the question, just in the question was about like effort. Yeah. What was the room like? Were you expecting that to happen? What was going on?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Mm hmm. Yeah, I just hope I just hope all these losses don't kill JJ so much throughout the season, because it does seem like it seems like a lot. It's like, man, it's early November and he knows this like he played in the league. I just it just feels everything just feels like really weighty. You know, I don't know if maybe that's too dramatic. I don't know. Is that too dramatic?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Yeah. So Dalton connect is already part of the rotation in his rookie season. Even if his minutes haven't always been consistent game to game. What have you thought of his early season play and his potential role on this team going forward?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
It feels weird to say this to me, but this is LeBron's seventh year with the Lakers, which is it's kind of mind blowing when you think about it, which I think ties the longest stint that he's had with any team in consecutive years. So you've seen him play seven seasons in L.A. Where have you seen him slow down at all?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Obviously, there's a lot of talk about him almost being 40 years old and all of that. But where have you seen him slow down so far this season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Man, what a week it was. What a week it was. Let's let's take a look at our BetMGM line of the week brought to you by BetMGM. It's the most improved player. So in the preseason. Everybody thought Victor Wibinyama, which I would have been just totally miffed if we gave this thing to Victor Wibinyama. Yeah. Just makes no sense. Wimby had the best odds. J-Dub from the Thunder, second.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I don't know if this guy's played enough. It's like the only reason why I don't know, but I know he played with them for two teams. What about Jared Vanderbilt?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Jordan Clarkson? Like, I don't know. Andrew, that's absolutely correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Jonathan Kaminga, third. Jalen Johnson, fourth. Now, Al, one of your favorites, Jalen Johnson, favorite at a plus 600. R.J. Barrett. Shout out to R.J. Barrett. He's had a really nice season so far. Plus 700. LaMelo Ball. Boy, do you see his name on the preseason here? On the preseason odds?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
These questions, you always have to go new era. And I just got done asking him a question about LeBron being there for six full seasons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
All right, Andrew. This is where it starts getting juicy. Oh, my gosh. He couldn't have taken that many threes per game. So this number has got to be not super high.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
What about digging back into the Shaq and Kobe days? What about Rick Fox?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
That's what I was going to go with, too. This makes me feel like this is some weird player. I don't know. Like, is it Jackson Hayes? Like, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
What is it? That's a weird one. That's a weird one. But he's had a great season. And then Grady Dick, who I think we're going to talk about here a little bit later on here, is fourth in odds for most improved player. Anybody that you like so far, Al? Any names that pique your interest?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Oh, my gosh. Cam, I'm sorry. That feels unbelievable. It does feel unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. He's played well for the Lakers recently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Gosh, I feel like people have been reading these names off. Because of the Victor Wimby. Because of Wimby, yeah. One Laker to do it. One Laker. One Laker. Was it Vlade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Yeah, I remember seeing the list. I remember I read through the list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Didn't make the All-Star game as a Laker, but they're active players currently.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Let's see. I'm trying to think. I feel like there's been a lot of players they've drafted that have moved on and then been good, or that they've traded. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Oh, yeah. That's like the same. This is like the same deal, basically.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Hey, go check out Trevor Lane. The front office show is really fun. You should go check that out and then go check out the Lakers Nation podcast to stay connected to the Los Angeles Lakers. Trevor, thanks so much for coming on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
The Dallas Mavericks. I like this one. This is good. The Mavericks, that's a good one in itself. It's good to kind of catch up on the Mavs. They've been very good this season. I talked to a lot of people in Oklahoma City earlier this week and was asking the question, who do you think the second best team in the West is?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Because at the time, the Thunder really looked like they were just head and shoulders above everybody. And this was before the Warriors win against the Celtics and all that. But a lot of people said Dallas. Well, we've got a juicy week. Listen to this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
But those first three, pretty good. There's a lot of juice in those first three. That's exciting. Cannot wait to dig into Mavs week. Hey, if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, we'll read it on the show. just like this one from the Gil man, uh, Gilster. He says back on top again, the Kings of content and true goats of the game. Andrew and Alex are back ball. Knowers rejoice.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Thank you so much for that review. Uh, This next one comes from DG7007. Quick and informative. So this is more about the NBA Daily, which I would just like to read anyways, because if you're not listening to the NBA Daily, you should. It's a great show. And this one from DG7007 gives a great review on it. He says, five stars.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I like the new format of the 20 to 25 minute max during the week and an extended slam on the weekend. The most sports podcasts are available No longer than 20 minutes are padded with mindless chatting, arguments, and repetitive opinions. Just give me the headlines and the main stories from the previous night and some brief analysis, and I can get on with my day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
He says, I love the throwback theme music with the funky horns. Thank you so much for that review. This next one comes from SpammyJ21. It's a five stars. Great show. I've been listening for a few years now, and I love the Saturday Slam and Jam. Alex's snark when Andrew guesses wrong and trivia always makes me laugh. Insightful, informative and maybe most importantly, positive.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I do miss the theme and the intro, though. I often would listen while I was doing my yard work and the presence tickled me. Also, and to be 100% honest, I wrote this review to say that Keldon Johnson is in his sixth NBA season, and I couldn't find Spears on Twitter to inform him of this crucial trivia fact check.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Andrew, people are going to keep you on. They're going to keep you on your toes. Al, you know that, you know, that's true. I'm going to make spurs week. The hardest trivia. I can't, whatever that happens. You're punishing me for these people calling you out. Um, uh, Last one comes from Jen Marco 262 slam and jam created a monster five stars as a five foot four female school teacher.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Most people don't expect me to be to have a wealth of knowledge about the NBA. I've been a huge fan and follower of my hometown Sixers, tragically, for many years. But Slam & Jam started my love for basketball podcasts. For the last three years, I've been a student of the game, and now I get to show everyone up with my knowledge.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Andrew and Alex, thanks for creating a basketball podcast for every level of NBA fan. This teacher says, keep up the amazing work. That is... Might be one of my favorite reviews we've ever gotten. That was really very nice. Appreciate you guys listening and tuning in this week. I hope you guys enjoy the weekend and the basketball, and we will talk to you guys again next Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Yeah, I worry about that one in that is he improved or is this a someone has to score the points thing with the Raptors?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Very competitive. Another competitive team, the Detroit Pistons, Jaden Ivey has made a leap as a scorer. He's up from 15 points to almost 20 points per game. He's shooting the three ball well. He's had five attempts, 41%. He's looking great. I mean, there were times last year where you hear murmurs from people around the league saying like, I don't know if this guy is really very good at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
And he's starting to answer that call a little bit. He's been pretty good for the Pistons so far. And you can get him at plus 1700 still. You can get him on BetMGM. Go get him. OK, so that brings us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Well, it's funny because JJ, JJ has talked about the bench group quite a bit and how like their job is not to score. Like they have their scores in the starting lineup. Like they, the job of the bench is to come in and like change the, uh, Just like change the environment on the court with their defense, which has also not been happening, by the way. The Lakers defense has not been good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
So it's just funny to hear because he's saying like, yeah, that's not really what we want them to do. But also there's a limit. Don't go too far. Yeah. Yeah. Go too far with this. My favorite quote was this one. It's from Steve Kerr and Steph Curry. And I'm sure a lot of you have heard this already. But I just I just think this this is actually really cool. Steve Kerr said.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
After the game, Anthony Slater, our own Anthony Slater, who was on the NBA Daily earlier this week, talked about how the beauty of Steph is that I can yell at him. And then Steph Curry later said, I want to be coached just like everybody else. This whole week, and we're going to talk more with Zena Kata about the Warriors shortly, it just gives me shades of Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
Those two, it just feels similar in that, one, they just have continued success at times where people don't necessarily think they're going to. And a lot of it just kind of stems from this top-down that exists with Steve Kerr and Steph Curry. And I think it truly is something special. It's something that doesn't come around a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I mean, honestly, I think like the pop and Tim Duncan one is probably the last one that we can kind of turn back to to say like, oh, I think this was like that. This doesn't really happen. One, like players don't stay in one spot like this and coaches don't stick around this long, typically for a franchise. And so there's a uniqueness that exists there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
But just the relationship between those two, I think, is probably a big reason as to why they've gotten off to this great start is that. Steph Curry has ultimate respect for Steve Kerr. And like in just these quotes, that's they seem small. But to me, they are very indicative of like why there is continued success around the Warriors. So I just kind of gravitated toward that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
This one comes from NightBear49 on Reddit. He posted that Anthony Edwards has made the third most three-pointers through his team's eight games in a season in NBA history. All the other ones, all the top five are just Steph Curry, Steph Curry, Steph Curry.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
But you have Anthony Edwards here, which I just think is so, so interesting because when Ant was coming into the league, there were a lot of questions about his shooting. Like a shot selection one and then just his ability to be efficient, too. I mean, he at Georgia, he took a lot of threes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
He took seven attempts per game at Georgia, which is a lot in college and only made twenty nine percent of those threes this season. He's shooting eleven point one attempts per game at forty six point one percent. I mean, that is just outrageous. And his previous high was 35% on 8.4 attempts per game. And that was in his second year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
But that to me is such a huge deal for this Timberwolves team to have Ant, who is just like this three-point monster. And... He's still it's funny that he's doing this and he's been like the best three point shooter in the NBA so far this year. And that's not even like the thing that I if somebody were to tell me like, hey, tell me about Anthony Edwards game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I don't know that the threes would be the first thing that I would say about him. You know, I talk about his athleticism, his ability to get to the hoop, the way that he is just a monster in transition. But the fact that he has this and it's at like literally the top level in the NBA right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
just shows you like the ceiling that is rising for Anthony Edwards and like the future that's bright for this Timberwolves team. It's pretty astounding because obviously teams are pushing the limit on three-pointers right now. And, you know, Anthony Edwards is kind of leading that just on an individual level. But I thought that was pretty wild.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Lakers Chaos Zone + Refurbished Warriors
I mean, for him to be on this list, kind of smooshed between other like Steph Curry records, it's just interesting to me. And just something that caught my eye.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
stints with a team where he just even refused to look at the rim he would he would receive the ball not facing the rim and immediately pass just an odd odd stint for him so who's who's our gordo of this trade deadline the gordon hay award the gordon hay award uh i struggled on this because it's hard to just like predict someone's downfall but i went with yonas valanchunas
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
That's exactly right. This is going well. Fred, we're going to do trade awards today. And so I have several different categories that we're going to go over to kind of break down the trade deadline. And the first one is the Powell Gasol Award, the trade that made a team a true champion. And I don't know if there's really another answer to this other than Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I mean, I mean, it's just kind of like their backup center and they have gone all in on offense only. You know, you get Zach Levine, you get Valanchunas. They do not seem to be concerned about the defensive end of the court at all. And so they'll be fun. I think they'll be a fun, fun, like post trade deadline team. There's kind of see how it all works.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, my good buddy Fred Katz joins to hand out some trade awards in just what was an insane week of trades here with the NBA. Fred, how was your last 24 to 72 hours? Sleepless?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
But yeah, I have Kyle Kuzma here, another wizard. Are we 100% sure that even though Chris Middleton is limited and he can't play the minutes that you want him to anymore, are we 100% sure that Kyle Kuzma is going to help the Bucks be a better team? Because he's been one of the worst players in the NBA this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And I'm just not totally convinced that you should have given up a swap or really should have traded for him at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
and so i i just i don't like this i know a lot of people have talked about how this feels like the beginning of the end for the bucks and like the how sad it is as a bucks fan to see a guy like chris middleton go for a guy like kyle kuzma i'm just not 100 sure that this would be the guy that you would want coming in and replacing those minutes i know he can play more which is about the only argument that i've heard that maybe makes a little bit of sense is that he can play more
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
than what Middleton could. But I just, I honestly, I just hate this deal for the bucks. I just, I don't think it's helpful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Because it's Luka Doncic to the Lakers. And we've talked about this on many podcasts. I'm sure that you have heard about it if you're listening to this show. But I think that there's nothing else out there, in my opinion. Yes?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yay! So the draft pick is going to be unfurled. I hate trades like that. If you're calling the Wizards, and maybe you have an answer to this, why are you not asking about Corey Kispert?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, he's a good player. He's one of the hidden gems in the NBA that no one ever talks about. But he would be great, especially with Giannis. He would be great. He's got a really good contract. According to Cleaning the Glass, Kyle Kuzma, when his on-offs, minus 11.8. It's the worst on the team. And it could just be that he's just tired of this. He's tired of being in Washington.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
He's tired of the situation. Doesn't like the new coach. Whatever. Who knows? There's probably a lot of ingredients as to why he has played the way he has. But if I were a GM, there would just be no circumstance where I would ever trade for a guy like Kyle Kuzma. And I just don't get it. And I also don't get why the Bucs dealt for Kevin Porter Jr. either. Like both deals make no sense to me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
If you're trying to win now, those are not the kinds of players that I would want in a win now situation. Next award is the Purtle Award to the team that gave up a first round pick for a player and everyone will question it. for all of next season and maybe even beyond. And I think that this has to go to the person who made the Purtle trade originally.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
It's to Masai Ujiri, who dealt for Brandon Ingram. He dealt Bruce Brown, Kelly Olenek a 2026 first round pick, which
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
is indiana's pick it's not their own pick so it's a it's an okay pick you know whatever um but if you're if you're the raptors and you're trying to build this team wouldn't you just rather have more bites at the apple in the draft like that's like what are we doing dealing for brandon ingram um it's it's funny because i think that messiah has been definitely
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
People don't talk favorably about Masai in the media in recent history. But I just also wonder, has he just been the same guy all along? Because what he's done as a guy who makes trades is he buys low on everybody. That's been his MO every single year. And just one of those years, it happened to work out with Kawhi Leonard, and they bought low on Kawhi, and it worked.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
But I just wonder, like, has Masai actually just been like the same guy this entire time? Because a lot of people praised him then, but it's just all about the outcome of these buy low scenarios. And so to me, I think one, Masai really hasn't probably changed at all throughout his entire tenure as a GM. And like, this is just like another example of him buying low on a guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And I think Brandon Ingram is a very talented player, but he's very inflexible in
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, especially when you're about to add a lottery pick and like possibly a top five, like even top three pick to this team. It feels like a very tough environment to develop a player when you have so many guys that need the basketball in order for them to be maximized. Like you said, I mean, if you if they ended up getting like a Dylan Harper and. in the draft. Well, that's great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
But like, we're not talking about spot up guys or movement shooters or anything like that. We're talking about guys, like you said, that need the basketball to get in their best positions. It's just a really rough environment to develop somebody like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Honestly, Cooper Flagg would be a great fit for them if they did end up getting the number one pick because he's not somebody that has to have the basketball. He's kind of like this like all encompassing connecting guy on offense and defense and can do a lot of things. He'd be perfect. But when we're talking about some of these other guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
i think it's a tough environment for development and it's it's a lot for for darko to have to kind of stitch together and so i i don't i don't understand it i don't love it and i think that we're going to be talking about it for the next year or so you know i just think that that's just the nature of this one um okay we have three more awards to go we have the mike conley award a trade for a veteran that will end up helping turn a team around i and this isn't necessarily turn them around
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
but I think Dennis Schroeder is going to be good with the Pistons. I think that Schroeder, did you have that too? Yeah, I think he's going to be awesome with them. I think that Schroeder is good in situations like this where like they just need a little bit more and like they actually need him to get out there and score. I think that he fits well with their style of play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I think he's going to like playing with some of these younger guys. I think they have guys that can set good screens. And I think that they just need somebody else that can go get buckets and And I know we can say some of the same things about the Warriors as we can about the Pistons, but we've seen in the past, it is not easy to fit in the Warrior system as a guy like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I mean, look at Kelly Oubre, who's been really, really good for the Sixers, who looked like he might be on his way out of the league whenever he was with the Warriors. And so I just think this is a great change of scenery. I think he's going to help them. I personally think the Pistons will probably make the actual playoffs, and I think that Dennis Schroeder is going to help them get there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I'm with that. Do you think they'll miss Levert's playmaking, though? Because they... he he's been really good for them. Like he, he has played a pretty important role for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And so I just wonder, cause the thing with Hunter is like, he is basically, he's one of like the, the only like three and D guys in the league, because like most guys can do a lot more, but like Hunter is, he's not a good rebounder. He's not much of a passer. He's not much of a playmaker in general. Um, I just wonder if they'll miss that playmaking.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I, I obviously like him a little bit better in this role, but I also, um, Would like to see what it looks like too, just because Levert has really made himself into a really good player on this team and found a way to fit in. And so I think there's some elements that they'll miss of Karras.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Next award is the Simone Fontecchio Award. It's the trade that NBA sickos just obsess over and you just talk about it so much. I remember hearing the name Simone Fontecchio in my ears so much because I listen to everything. I'm obsessed with NBA podcasting, if you didn't already know that. But I just remember so much talk about Simone Fontecchio and how much it's going to help and this and that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
So who is the Simone Fontecchio of February of 2025?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, no. I mean, this is the one. So where would you put the Lakers in the West at this point as far as contenders in the Western Conference?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Oh, sorry, but it won't move the needle, but it won't move the needle at all. Sorry. There we go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I like, I think that they were all just putting their hands in the huddle and looking around. It's like Jake LaRavia here. Nope. All right, we got a chance. Let's go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Here's how, you know, it is like the sicko, like Simone for techie award. Is that like, when you talk to people that are the NBA sickos, they're going to talk about, well, shouldn't it decline that fourth year option? You know, like that, that sentence right there is like the NBA, like cap dork sentence right there. I'm talking about the fourth year option.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Shouldn't decline for the year option, man. I can't believe they did that with Jake LaRabia. Okay. Last one. Wait, what's your, what's your answer? I had LaRavia here too. I considered another one that I considered was Bogdanovich because he's somebody that I think a lot of people are talking about.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
It's tough. Would you put them behind Denver? I think that I'd probably have Denver just due to continuity, and we've seen those guys do it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
He's had a really rough year for Atlanta and a guy that they haven't been able to play all that much. And he is like, so like he's so theoretical in a lot of ways in my head, just because you think about like his ability to be a playmaker and his ability to shoot it from deep and to kind of be a guy that can score from a lot of different spots on the floor and everything.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
But he's also one of those guys that's a little bit older than you think he is. He's already 32 and has just, he's had a rough year in Atlanta. And so I just, I mean, Atlanta was the team that had to give up the assets, you know,
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
know in this deal and so like i just i just wonder about him because i think he is being talked about in a pretty favorable way but you know a lot of people aren't watching atlanta and specifically not watching him and just kind of have you have this like cemented like version of him in your head about what he is and what he's all about and and maybe he is that in la but i think that that that might be a little bit over talked about um
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Just because he may not end up having all that much of an impact on the Clippers. Because they've got guys that can play. And have had guys all season that can play. The last one is the Bogdanovich and Burks Award to the most overrated trade deadline. God, remember how much people were like, man, the Knicks won the trade deadline. It's Bogdanovich and Burks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
The double B boys that are helping out the Knicks. And then they just didn't play. I have... I have this Jimmy Butler trade as my Bogdanovich and Berks deal, just because I think it's talked about too much. I think that in the grand scheme of things, it's going to be completely inconsequential. I think that's just being talked about too much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
A lot of it is the names that are involved in this deal. And just the fact that we've been talking about Jimmy all season long and, you know, even like the Andrew Wiggins portion of it where like everybody's crying because he's leaving. They love him so much. Blah, blah, blah. I just think that ultimately we're talking about the playoffs. We're talking about this title hunt.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I don't think the Heat or the Warriors have enough. you know, to get to where they want to go. And I think it's going to be pretty inconsequential in the long run. In fact, you could even argue like, this isn't, this is not good for like the future or a cap sheet for the warriors. Um, and I, I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I just like, to me, I just think that it's, it's, it's going to be one of those that we all talked about a lot. And then once we get to June, we're going to be like, wait, why do we spend so much time talking about that?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Oh yeah. Yeah. And a guy that was like a second round pick that they traded for that was never supposed to even be a starter in the NBA that it like made himself into an all-star level player, like in front of your fans in front of these people. And he's like a good guy, like great to the community, like all that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Like he's, he's like the whole package of like a player that you would want on your franchise.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I would love to know where you're going with this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, they're in sixth right now. And like, I mean, ask Utah, you know, what it's like to be picking in like the back half of the top 10. You have to like really sell out to do this. Like you have to do it right. Like these half measures of tanking is what gets you in the middle faster than anything. Because, I mean, you look at like the prospects that Utah has right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
You could argue that none of those guys are going to be on the team in the next five years. It's a tough place to pick when you're picking six through 10. It's a tough place to be. You need top five picks. Sometimes you can catch lightning in a bottle and get the best guy in the draft at seven or eight. Sure, that happens, but you're way more likely to get that guy if you're in the top five.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
You have to sell out to be in the top five. You have to actually do it. And, yeah, they're probably going to end up with the sixth best. And, you know, you can fall. You can fall far. They could end up with the eighth pick in the draft. Like, those kinds of things happen. And if that happens to you, man. And, like, they could still get lucky, like you said.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Like, they could sneak up and get the number one pick. I'm doing tank-a-thon spins right now. Seven, seven, seven. Eight. I mean, this stuff is tough. This stuff is really, really tough. So yeah, I agree. They should have just traded him because they're eventually going to trade him. You're going to do it. It's like, why don't you just do it right now?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Well, that's going to do it for our trade deadline awards. I appreciate you guys listening. Appreciate Fred for joining us today. If you'll leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, we will read it on the show. Just like this one from Torian Prince who says, I'm him, five stars. Look, I'm going to get to the point. You guys need to include me more. I lead the league in three-point percentage.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Okay. sorry about that torian prince uh next one comes from missing mikhail five stars for slam and jam i've been listening to this show every saturday for years and i've got to say it's my favorite pod of the week these guys are awesome and the trivia is great i laugh out loud at least once a week at the hilarious questions that they come up with keep up
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Keep keeps me going during my Saturday choice. Appreciate that. Trivia will be back next week, by the way. Alex couldn't swing this morning. And so thanks to Fred again for joining. And Alex will be back with some trivia next week. And Rockets week will be extended another week, which has, by the way, not gone well for the Rockets. So take that as you will. Next one comes from Chrissy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And The F's Friend, incredible stuff. Great show for anyone who wants daily updates with the NBA. I follow basketball quite a bit and haven't even heard half the news that they mention. So it's been nice to listen every morning. Also, behind MJ, Kobe is the second greatest of all time, RIP. Thank you so much for that review. I agree.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
The Athletic NBA Daily crew has done just a spectacular job this season. Next one comes from T. Dot. who says the Saturday late night crew did a great job. NBA news as it happens by Aspera, Henny, Zena, Kate, and Alex Spears, plus Jason Gallagher, a great show. This pod caught Dallas native and now OKC resident Gallagher in his discombobulated feelings right after the trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Alex Spears, you are the master of the emergency pod. Super work for you four. Yes, for sure. That was incredible. If you have not listened to that, it's worth going to listen to Alex and Jason Gallagher break down what it was like to be a Mavs fan in that moment. And then last one comes from LilLaser11. Good show, five stars. And then he says, very good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
So thank you so much for leaving those five-star reviews. Again, we'll read them on the show if you will leave us a five-star review. Very much appreciate you guys doing that. Hope you guys enjoy your weekend and the basketball. And we'll talk to you guys again next Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Yeah. I kind of think I would put the Lakers at three. I've been asking people this question because it's fascinating and terrifying if you're one of these teams, but only two out of these six teams are going to make the playoffs. Clippers, Mavs, Suns, Kings, Warriors, and Spurs to make the playoffs. Who would you put in there? Because I kind of like where the top six is right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
OKC, Memphis, Denver, Houston, Lakers, and then the Timberwolves. I just have a hard time believing the Timberwolves will not be in that mix there at the end of the season. You could consider them in this mix, too, if you'd like. But out of those teams that I just listed, only two will make the playoffs. Who would you put there today?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
So that like a pick might convey. I mean, come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
When we still, in what world is that an okay trade? Like why, why would you even consider that? I don't, I don't, I don't understand that at all.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah, they had a nice offseason. And now, I mean, they had to sell off Yusuf Nurkic, basically. And that's all they did after spinning their wheels for days. It's weird.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
It's one of those trades that you know that there are maybe one or two people in your life that you can talk to that trade about. And the vast majority of people just have no interest whatsoever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Just... I mean, they are like... There's been some more than like I was going to say, like their death by a thousand cuts, you know, kind of death for them. But there's been like some really big mistakes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And this this is one of like the small mistakes that like really good franchises that do things, you know, in a quote unquote, the right way, just don't do like they don't make moves like this. Like they don't they don't make trades like this. It's pretty wild. Let's go on to our next one, which is the P.J.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Washington Award, which goes to the trade that most people didn't like, but this could possibly really pay off in the playoffs. Who you got?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
Yeah. I also had Mark Williams here. I also just think offensively, it's going to be amazing. Like if you want to have a lob threat and a athletic big man to pair with Luka Doncic, like you just want to. And I'm sure there's a lot of ways that could have gone about this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
You wonder if you would have said, hey, we have Dalton Connect in the 2031 first round pick, which might be the most talked about draft pick ever. How many times have we heard about this particular draft pick? Like so much. But he I think that he's going to be amazing on the offensive end for them. I think he's also just an amazing offensive rebounder, too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
And so I think offensively, it's going to be an incredible match. And then like defensively, we'll see. The numbers are very bad. Like one of I mean, he's he's basically in line with like the same kind of rim defense as like Damanis Sabonis. And like we all know what that means. And so I there's definitely concerns there. But yeah, I think Mark Williams is going to be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Trade Deadline Awards | Slam N Jam
I think he's going to be a good addition to the Lakers. OK, next category is the Gordon Hayward Award, a trade that most people praised, but it will reveal that this player is washed or maybe not as good as we thought. Shout out to Gordon Hayward, who just refused to shoot the basketball and like one of like the weirdest things.
The Athletic NBA Daily
John Hollinger + Slammie Awards
Luka is on the list. Back to Andrew. Let's see. Anthony Davis? Anthony Davis...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, Denny's been great. He controls a lot of their offense too, like down the stretch of games. He's been amazing this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, he's had a great year. Mine is Giannis. He had a 35-15-20 game against the Sixers, which is insane. It's the first game in NBA history with at least 35-15-20. I wanted to dig through the 35-15-20 stat and just talk through it a little bit. There's been 20 games of a player with at least 30 points and 20 assists
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
And that's Oscar Robertson, Tiny Archibald, Kevin Johnson, Westbrook, Magic, Luka, Trae Young, Kuzi, Jokic, Kevin Porter, Mahmoud Adourouf. And it's only been done six times with a player who has a 30-point, 20-assist, 10-rebound triple-double. And that's Giannis, Westbrook, Magic, Oscar, Luka, and Jokic. Which is just wild. And what's crazy about that list to me...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
welcome to the saturday slam and jam here on the athletic nba daily on today's show we're talking about the most approved player our players of the week and mike smeltz joins the show to talk about the brooklyn nets uh before we get to al's top stories of the week we're going to direct you guys to our quick survey about your podcasting habits go to theathletic.com athletic survey25
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
is that four out of the six players on that list are active players. And when I looked at the Westbrook one, you think it probably happened during his MVP year is kind of what I thought would happen. Um, no, it happened in, in 21 when he was with the wizards. So all of these have happened very recently. Um, so yeah, he's had, he's had an, I mean, Giannis has had a great year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
He did have 17 rebounds, sorry, but part of like the thing, the NBA release was that he had 15, the first 35, 15, 20 game. Um, I think Giannis in any normal NBA year would probably be the MVP candidate, but he just seems stuck behind Shea and Jokic. But he's had such an amazing season, and it probably doesn't get recognized.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
And I know some of it's like the Bucs have struggled here and there, but... When you look at their roster, what he has done individually and what he's done with this team is pretty spectacular. And this stat line against not a great team in the Sixers, but just the fact that he was able to put those numbers up still just shows what a dominant player he still is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it is good to see Ja back too, because I think... It's looking like they're going to fall into the play in. And if you have a play in game with a job against Kawhi is what it looks like it's winding up to be. I mean, that would be incredible, incredible theater out my moment. And I can't stop thinking about it is I talked about it a little earlier.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
So did you about the end of this Nuggets Wolves game or Westbrook? needlessly goes for a layup where he could have just dribbled the ball out, gotten fouled, played that whole game, and won the basketball game. Instead, he got a little greedy, went in, missed the layup, and then obviously commits the foul on the other end. And just like the whole thing happening after that is just so wild.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Like, the cameraman... were doing their jobs that night. They were doing such a good job. They got Peyton Watson, who just immediately just hands over his face, and you can just watch him. The whole screen is his face as he just lowers his hands over his face. He's just so distraught. They got Westbrook's face just completely zoomed in on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
for what seemed like forever because they went and they actually looked at the foul. And then you have this fan screaming after they get the results of the foul, yelling, the fix is in. He just yells it over and over again. Incredible theater. And it's just kind of wild to me that it was Westbrook when you think about his MVP moment in Denver. It happened in Denver in 2017 on April 9th.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
So just eight years and six days later, he is still helping the Thunder get an MVP while playing in Denver.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of bummer, we're going to talk about the Brooklyn Nets. They're here right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
It's our pal Mike Smeltz from SB Nation and the only Nets fan that I know and a guy that I wish was still hosting the Glue Guys. I'd listen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
So it's been a pretty unique year for the Nets. It's the first time that they've been bad and haven't traded away their draft picks since 2010. What's it been like watching this team this season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
So interestingly enough, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reported this week that Giannis is still plan A for the Nets. The Nets have a ton of cap space this summer, four first round picks in the upcoming draft and control of all their picks moving forward. Are you expecting moves this summer to make this team better immediately? Or what would you want to see as a Nets fan?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Could bring Brooke Lopez back. Does that excite you?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I think he is. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I think he is. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
You get Jalen green. You don't know what other offers are about to be on the table, but yeah, I'll take Jalen green.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Okay, so all eyes turn to the lottery and the upcoming draft. Oh, yeah. Are there any prospects outside of Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper that get you excited? Or are there any prospects that really scare you? I mean...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I I really like Vijay Edgecombe. I think there's like some glaring things with his game that are just kind of weird. Like, why can't he finish at the rim? Like, what's going on with that? But the athleticism is insane and he's going to be an insane defender. And I think Jordy would love Vijay. Yeah, I think I think that I would I would want him. I might even take him third.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Honestly, like I'm just I'm just a big fan of him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
So, yeah, I just did a tankathon spin. Um, That's got the number one pick. Wow. Send it into the office. Just throwing that out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
It's going to be something really wacky.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
There's like a bold part of me that has an answer that I really want to say, but it feels, if it's wrong, it's really stupid. Say it. But I think, I'm going to guess Ben Simmons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
That's got to be Brooke Lopez.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Whoever this other one is, I just have no idea. Do you want to just throw a name out there?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Again, three lucky entries will get $100 to Amazon on a voucher. So you should go do that. If you're a longtime listener or even a new one, we'd love to hear from you, from all the slammers, all the jammers. Again, go to theathletic.com slash athletic slash survey25. That's theathletic.com slash athletic. Slash Survey 25.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Man, I've not thought of that name in so long.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I do not know the answer to this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I don't know. Honestly, I just do not remember who this would have been. You don't have to give me a name. Just give me the award, Andrew. I know. I'm just trying to think. I'm just trying to think of what the award would even be. Um, I don't know. Deep boy. I don't think that's right. What is it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
That is some talent. Shoot. That is tough. I'm trying to roll through some of these teams and figuring out who that is. It's got to be some weird circumstances like the Nets. What about the Sixers? You've got to tell me the player, Andrew. Oh my gosh, I've got to tell the player. I think Kelly Oubre may have played the most minutes for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
It's Meesee.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I don't think I would have guessed that correctly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
You should do a question like that now. Would you rather have a paved road and a copy machine or this player, this Nets player? Ben Simmons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Congrats to Mello. Also easily the coolest person I've ever been in the room with. Yeah, we love Mello. He commands a room. He's amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Oh boy. Okay. As a Brooklyn net is an interesting qualifier. Um, a Brooklyn net. There's some obvious candidates here. Um, And some not-so-obvious candidates here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
This is corrupt. Will you get all three, though? Okay, Cam Johnson. That is one. Um... There's some there's some guys that are just like don't that it feels like they'd be on the edge. Of doing that. There's so many guys that I feel like I probably scored 20 on this team. But I've not scored 30. Shoot. Did. Did Dennis Schroeder do it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I think that I know the answer, too. You don't know it. Because I did a podcast with Dave DeFore the night that this happened, and it was so weird when it happened. It was so, so weird when it happened. There's a YouTube short on it on our channel. I think it was that he scored 30 because he hit like just a ton of threes and no one knew who he was. And I believe it's Tyrese Martin.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
It didn't go well. But everybody thinks he's very cool. Let's go to our BetMGM line of the week brought to you by BetMGM. Now, this week, we're going to talk about the most approved player. And when asked about the most approved player award, Lakers head coach JJ Redick and podcaster said, just call it the high draft pick that's on a max contract and now is an all-star. Just call it that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
That feels really good to get the Tyrese Martin poll. That was the most absurd.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
There are so many names I've never heard before that you're saying to me right now. Yeah. Oh, man. Mike Smeltz. I wish that I could direct people to the Glue Guys pod, but I can't. Anything that you want to plug before you go? Nope. Okay. Thank you, Mike Smouts, for joining the Slam & Jam pod.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Whoever's that guy? Because that's what it has become. So you take a look here. And a lot of it, I think he's probably referring to Cade Cunningham in this, who now is second in odds to Dyson Daniels. Is this because of a certain podcast that happened this week? Christian Brown's got like a long shot at like plus 12,500. Same with Zubats and Evan Mobley and Tyler Hero.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Listen, the wheel is trying to grab these teams before the playoffs because it knows. Listen, we're not talking about these teams anymore. So it is grabbing these teams that we won't talk about a whole lot down the stretch. Hey, please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or read it on the show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Don't have any to read this week, but we would really, really appreciate it if you'd leave us a five-star review and mention Slammin' Jam on it. Also, go take that review, theathletic.com slash athletics slash survey25.com. We would very much appreciate that. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy the basketball. We'll talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
But you have thoughts on Most Improved?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah. The last two winners, though, are Tyrese Maxey and Markkinen, who do not fit that description. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I mean, there's some guys that fit that description, but you also have C.J. McCollum in there, and you have Jimmy Butler in here, and Goran Dragic, and once upon a time, Ryan Anderson won the award, and Aaron Brooks won the award. Those are some good ones. Those are some good candidates, and I hope Dyson gets it. He deserves recognition somehow, and I'm sure...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
A lot of people like he'll be put on the all defense team. Like no one cares so much about the all defense team. Like give him one of the major awards. He's been one of the stories of the season. So, yeah, I think I agree, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Again, if you want this to be a review for Slammin' Jam specifically, you need to leave it for the Athletic NBA Daily. So please go do that. We would very much appreciate that. With me today, my good friend Alex Spears. Alex, tell me about the top stories this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Oh, no, James.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I definitely feel for James. It's awful, the recovery from, if it is ACL, it's awful. My quote, I have a couple quotes. These will be pretty quick. One from Jared Allen. He had this fast break dunk late in the fourth quarter against the Knicks the other night. He was all alone. He kind of brought it back really far. And it was cool. And somebody asked him about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
It looked really cool for a big man, honestly. And he said... And this just... if you haven't like seen Jared Allen a lot, he's re he's just so genuine and just such a big dork. And he was like, I was trying to, he, he said this about the dunk. I wanted to look like LeBron trying to bring it back. He said, I looked at the replay and it was nothing close to that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
And he is just, he's cracking up the whole time. Uh, it's just a joy. Like he said, such a great season. Uh, and then Anthony Edwards after that,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
crazy Jokic game and it was in good spirits because they just won this game he said that might be the best game that might be the best game of my life that I've been a part of Nikola Jokic brah my god he might be the best basketball player I've ever seen close up besides myself to myself which is, that is an all-time quote. That is an all-time, not even just ant quote, but an all-time NBA quote.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Myself to myself is so, so good. So I love both those.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
More Nets content for all you Nets heads.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
That just doesn't make sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that just I can't even wrap my head around that. My stat is this. Isaiah Hartenstein for the Thunder. He's taken 19 threes. He's made none of them all season. And now I'm at the point where I need him to miss four more. Because if he does, we talk about all these Thunder records this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
He will have the record for the most missed threes in a season without a make, which is currently held by Tom Garrick, who is a Chicago Bull of the early 90s. And he was a guard, by the way. You know who else is a guard who missed every three they took? It was Magic Johnson. He was 0 of 21 one season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
I've become kind of obsessed with this stat, and it's one that I just continue to just be amazed at. There's been a lot of Thunder home games, and all I can hope for at some of these games is to just see another clanked three from Isaiah Hardenstein. So keep firing away, Isaiah. Keep missing them. You're almost there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
you can break down offensive efficiency into half-court offense and transition offense. And as a reminder, clean the glass cuts out garbage time, so these stats will be different on other sites. But something unique about the Cavs this season is that they are both the number one half-court offense and the number one transition offense when ranked by points per play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And this is significant for a few reasons. First, their 107.6 offensive rating in the half court makes them the most efficient half court offense in NBA history. And I know what you're thinking. We're in this era of crazy offense, and that's true. But let's just compare them to last year's Boston team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
who played in a very similar league, a league that actually had a higher average offensive efficiency. It actually dipped a little bit this year. The Cavs half court offense is a full point per 100 possessions better than that Celtics team. That's put together one of the better starting fives in recent memory.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
What the Cavs are doing in the half court is really special, even when taking into account the era that they're playing in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
and the other thing that's cool is that being first in both half court and transition offense just doesn't really happen the cleaning the glass database goes back to the 03 04 season through all those seasons all the great warriors teams the big three heat offenses the nash suns offenses only one team has ever managed to finish a season first in both half court and transition offense
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And you probably won't guess it. Now, Andrew, have you already looked at this? Do you know who it is? I don't, I have no clue who it is. Would you like to make a guess for fun?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah. Yeah. The one, the one team I didn't mention, which should be mentioned also is like the hardened rockets. Cause they definitely got close a few seasons. It was the 2011-2012 San Antonio Spurs. So this was Kawhi's rookie season. It was the lockout year. They were the number one seed in the West.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
They got up 2-0 on the Katie Russ Harden Thunder in the Western Conference Finals before losing four straight. That's the only team that's ever done what the Cavs are doing right now. Wow. This is a very special offense, and so I think we should all be very excited to see the number one offense go up against the number one defense next Wednesday night on two days rest.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I feel like I'm hyping this up so much. Inevitably, someone's going to be held out of that game for some stupid reason.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Kyrie, who had 39 in the game, had a shot to put the Mavs up with 36 seconds left, but missed it. and the Wolves got the win 105 to 99. An important note from this game, Luka Doncic left the game early with a strained calf that will likely keep him out for at least the next month. On the third game of Christmas, it was Sixers at Celtics.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Somebody will have a random illness and will be held out. But right now, it looks like the perfect setup.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And if they are being underrated, it's probably likely due to those injuries. Because when that Skeleton Grizzlies team beats the Suns, what does that really mean in relation to the championship? We want to see this fully healthy Memphis team. Because the fully healthy Memphis team is the one that's going to have a chance to win a championship.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So I just want to see this team healthy for like a month. During a tough part of their schedule with all their guys. And let's see how good they can be. They've obviously been incredible with all these guys out of the lineup. But we saw this a few years ago when it was the same deal. You know, jaw was out and they were so good with Tyus Jones.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And ultimately, when it comes to the playoffs, like this. And how you do when all of your guys are out doesn't mean that much. We want to see how everyone does when they're fully healthy. And I think they'd be very good, obviously, but I just want to see it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
The Sixers are finally getting healthy with all three of their stars in the lineup, though that was briefly in doubt when Joel Embiid fell during pregame warmups and went back to the locker room. He was fine though, able to play, false alarm. scored 27 points. Tyrese Maxey added 33 and 12 assists in the game, helping the Sixers get the massive 118 to 114 win in Boston.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And for the Grizzlies to do this the year after they had this season from hell. I mean, when you have one of those seasons, you kind of just think in your head, okay, well, next year is going to be great. Everything will work out perfect. And yet they still are hitting all of these injury issues, similar to last season, obviously not as dramatic as last season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And you're still playing so good night after night, regardless of who's on the court. Which, by the way, Andrew... They're playing the Kings tonight on Friday night. Hey, now. Hey, now. Hey, now. Hey, now. So our next one, our favorite player of the week, and my favorite player this week was Cam Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets. Okay. Outside of a nine point stinker against Orlando.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And honestly, who hasn't had a stinker?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Come on. Cam scored 24 against Toronto, but then he scored 29 and 26 in two games against the Bucks, which were Nets wins. Now, we've all talked about the idea of a team showcasing a player that they intend to trade. What Cam Johnson is doing this season is one of the greatest showcases of all time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
He's averaging career highs in points per game, three point attempts per game, three point percentage. But here's the crazy one. Cam Johnson has played or he had played 317 games in the NBA before this season, regular season and playoffs. 317 games coming into this year. He took six or more free throws in 11 of those games. OK, 11 of the 317 games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Through 31 games this season, he's taken six or more free throws in 10 games. 10 of the 31 games. That's crazy. Who is this guy? And of course, he's shooting a career high from the line as well. When you consider that he's under contract for $20 million next season, $22.5 million the season after... I don't know how easy this trade is going to be because the Nets deserve an overpay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Honestly, the only downside for the Nets waiting for this desperate offer, which I feel like is coming, is that he's playing so well, they're probably winning too many games, especially now after trading for D'Angelo Russell, who's perfectly competent as a starting point guard. You don't go to all that trouble of trading for your own picks to be the seventh worst team in the league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And yet that's where they are. And they're already five games ahead of Toronto for the fifth spot in the reverse standings. But you know what? Maybe none of it matters because someone's going to give the Nets an absolute haul to get Cam Johnson, who is playing the best basketball of his career.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And that win was part of a nice stretch where Philly had won 10 of 13, though they have dropped their last two. They sit at 13 and 19, 11th in the East. And then on the fourth game of Christmas, we got the old
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
guys Super Bowl Lakers at Warriors and once again LeBron and Steph put on a show with both being the leading scores for their teams Steph scored 38 to LeBron's 31 but it was the Lakers who got the win after Steph hit a three to tie it with seven seconds left Austin Reeves at the game winning layup with only a second to go
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah, the upcoming schedule is going to be really fun. Because if... There are doubters out there. This is a great opportunity for Shea because you're getting to play the Knicks, Boston, Cleveland, and the Knicks again, all in a row. Two at home, two on the road. That's about as tough of a test as you can get. They are the clear three best teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
If they did make it to the finals, they'd likely be against one of those teams. So these are going to be really fun tests for both Shea and this Oklahoma City Thunder team to see just how good they are. Because they've had a really nice run. They've had wins that have been impressive. You mentioned the Indiana win. I thought the Minnesota win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
But like that Memphis game, you know, like Memphis was...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
beat up like they've been so we didn't get to see that like measuring stick game that we were excited to see because memphis was without their guys so yeah they blew them out but like ultimately who cares like i want to see them against a healthy memphis team um this is like the real test though like yeah all these next four games are going to be tougher than any of the games that they played in that 13 win streak so yeah it'll be really fun to see just exactly where this okc team is yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Now, the last game of the night between Denver and Phoenix, it wasn't bad, but it didn't match the early day festivities with the Suns not letting the Nuggets get closer than 10 after the 720 mark of the fourth quarter. If you only watch the Suns on Christmas, you probably think things are going pretty well, but they're not. The Suns have only won three of their last 12.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yes, Andrew. Now, there was a moment in the first quarter of a Heat Pelicans game this week where Jimmy Butler got past the ball in the corner and he took what I would describe as the most casual three pointer ever. It was like it looked like a slow mo Dirk shot only if you didn't fade away. just one leg up, just kind of throwing it up, faced up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
It looked like the kind of shots guys take when the refs call a foul, the game stops, and you just kind of throw something up for fun. It's not that serious. The Pelicans announcers compared it to a shot you'd take during horse. Now, a lot happened this week in the Jimmy Butler saga. We had the Christmas Day report from Shams that Jimmy prefers a trade out of Miami.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Then Pat Riley issued a statement addressing the rumors saying that Heat are not trading Jimmy. You had Jimmy saying he wants to get his joy back from playing basketball and probably couldn't do that if he was staying in Miami.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And then on Thursday, a new Sean's report that confirmed an official trade request from Butler to the heat with the added detail that he is willing to play quote anywhere other than Miami. You remember a few weeks ago, it was like, no, just these three teams or just these four teams. Now it is anywhere, literally anywhere outside of Miami. And in light of all that,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Watching this goofy ass three-pointer he took is really funny. And Andrew, we might get more of these goofy three-pointers because as Bobby Marks pointed out, if Miami just lets him opt out and walk this summer, they would have a ton of flexibility, including being 47 million below the tax. They'd have 50 million plus in expiring contracts.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
They'd have access to the non-tax middle level exception, ability to take back more salary in a trade. Unless they're getting real assets, is it really in Miami's best interest to take back matching salary just to move him? You know what I say? Just keep him until the summer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And in the meantime, let's see if this shot was a one-off or if he's about to embark on a wildly entertaining sabotage campaign.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I'm just thinking about the shooting in that starting lineup. If you put Jimmy in there as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
including a current three-game losing streak. This stretch has dragged them down to 15-17, two games under .500, and a full game and a half out of the play-in picture.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
True, true. Yeah. Like I said, it's one of those ideas that is fun for six months and then you get to this summer and you're like, OK, well, are we actually committing to this? Do we really want to sign, you know, 30 whatever year old Jimmy Butler to a longer term contract? I get it. It just doesn't feel like a move that the Grizzlies would ever make. I know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Does that feel like... I understand that Jimmy Butler feels like a Grizzlies player, like historically. He does. He fits in with that. He feels like a Z-Bo guy, you know? Yeah, but he's going to cost like five times what Z-Bo cost. Yeah, they basically were given Z-Bo. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Now, this run is especially concerning because the Suns had had a decently healthy run as of late, but that couldn't stop them from losing at home to a Grizzlies team this week that was missing Ja Morant, Zach Eady, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Santi Aldama, Brandon Clark, Vince Williams Jr., and let's just throw in Gigi Jackson wasn't there as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I don't disagree with the idea that they definitely need... They're one trade away from kind of getting back into this contender conversation. But... That almost feels like two all in. I mean, that is 150 million for three players with Halliburton, Siakam and Butler. Even if you can cobble together the pieces that the resulting team would be so thin.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And it's not like Jimmy Butler has been some Ironman in the regular seasons. So I would not want to do that. That is too much of an all in move.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
The Nuggets. So would that be MPJ? It'd have to be MPJ and just other salaries. I'm just thinking... Okay. I mentioned how the shooting maybe would be a concern with the Grizzlies. The shooting would be a massive concern with the Nuggets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I don't, surprisingly. Yeah. They would be a fun little pair. I think they'd have some great post-game interactions together. They would. They would. But yet, Jimmy's lack of shooting, it really makes it hard for some teams to fit in. Because Denver is one of those teams where they just can't afford. They can't afford to lose MPJ shooting and replace it with nothing, essentially.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I mean, Jimmy Butler's taken, I think, 31 threes. I know. He won't take them. And one of them was that one I described earlier, which wasn't even a real shot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure. Definitely.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
i'm looking at other teams i mean it is tough to come up with one and the and the other angle to this is miami like i mentioned all these benefits they would get if jimmy just walked they would get to completely reshape their team yeah and so what do you like the idea of that flexibility more than potentially taking on that big mpj contract and maybe like one first yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Now, it should be noted that Bradley Beal did leave this game early with a hip contusion, and Yusuf Nurkic was out because he slapped, shoved Najee Marshall's face early in the week, which did lead to a three-game suspension. But regardless, you have Katie and Booker. You're at home. The Grizzlies are beat up. What's wrong with you? And are bigger moves on the horizon if this keeps up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Unless the asset coming back is like a real primo asset.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And the other thing they've got to think about is their future picks as well. They do. They have a potential unprotected pick going to OKC next year if they miss this year's playoffs. Otherwise, OKC will just get their pick this season. And then they also have that outstanding pick from the Terry Rozier trade, which is, again, lottery protected in 27, then becomes unprotected in 28. So...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
they don't have a lot of their own flexibility right now, adding onto the, like just looking at their pick assets. And then you factor in the cap situation, especially if they decide to bring Jimmy back, like they would be really locked up. So that flexibility is looking more and more enticing. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
All right, Andrew, it is time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel, it lands on a team, and we become fans of that team for the next week. Two weeks ago, the wheel landed on the Charlotte Hornets and crushed them under its weight. They went 0-5 over the last two weeks, part of an eight-game losing streak that is still ongoing, if you want to check in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
The Hornets won one game. In the month of December, they've lost 16 of their last 17. They are 7-25, 13th in the East. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Hornets have the 28th-ranked offense and the 20th-ranked defense. Andrew, if our favorite team this week is the Hornets, who is our guest?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Well, another team on the outside of the play-in that did decide to make a big move this week was the Sacramento Kings, who fired head coach Mike Brown. Brown led the Kings to their first playoff appearance in 16 years, two seasons ago. He leaves the Kings with a 107-88 record.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So this team did look pretty competent. I mean, they were pretty competitive at the beginning of the season. They started six and nine before this current one in 16 stretch. And looking at the game logs, it's hard to not notice that this current slide kind of coincided with Grant Williams tearing his ACL.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Mike Brown was fired by phone on the way to the airport before the Kings' next game, and none of Avek Ranadive, Monty McNair, or Wes Wilcox have made themselves available for questions regarding that move. All we know is that Kings former player Doug Christie has taken over as the interim coach. Now, was Mike Brown doomed by clutch play?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
How important was his loss and what are some of the other factors that have contributed to this slide?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Two seasons ago, the Kings were 9-7 in games decided by three points or fewer. Last season, they were 6-5 in those games. This season, 2-6, including some absolute heartbreakers in these last few weeks. Now, the Kings have won their last two games, including a win over that healthy Sixers team that included a 15-0 run by the Kings to end the game. The Kings are 15-19.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah. Grant is such a good example of like when people talking about rebuilding teams and just needing a veteran to make everything work, like to help other guys develop.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I remember, I mean, me and Andrew OKC fans, but like Mike Muscala back in the day, like not some amazing player or anything, but just having a shooter on the floor who was a veteran and consistent made it so much easier for everyone else on the court. And it sounds like Grant Williams was kind of filling that role where he could just do things that other guys just can't do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And when you take him out and, people are put in positions that they're just not ready for probably.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Now, two teams that didn't play on Christmas that do deserve to be mentioned are the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the two best teams in the NBA. The Cavs are 29-4, have won eight in a row. The Thunder are 28-5 and just won a franchise record 13 in a row as of Friday morning. As I mentioned, they are playing the Knicks on Friday night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
You mentioned Brandon Miller. So his efficiency stats are down from his rookie season, but overall stats are up across the board. Points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, three pointers per game, all higher than last season. And part of that is just increased usage. But are there any areas of his game where you feel like he's obviously gotten better from his rookie season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Now, if you're wondering, when do the Cavs and Thunder play? That's what I want to see. Well, guess what? Next week, Wednesday night, ESPN, Cavs at Thunder. And here's the best part. Both teams will be coming off two days rest in the history of the NBA. We've only had 30 teams that won at least 28 of their first 33 games, and we got two of them this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
The last time two teams started off this hot was the 93-94 season with Seattle and Houston. Wow. Yeah. It's been a minute. Seattle. It's been a minute. Some quick hitters from this week. We got a trade. The Lakers sent D'Lo, Maxwell Lewis, and three seconds to the Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shaq Milton. We got two scuffles.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Well, Brian, thank you for answering all of our questions about the Hornets, but it is now time to play Andrew vs. the Beat, our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head-to-head with an NBA beat writer. This week's challenger, Brian Geisinger, co-host of the Buzz Beat Podcast. Now, Brian, how this works, I've come up with eight questions related to the Hornets. Some are easy, some are hard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
You're going to give me a number between one and eight, and it'll correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one, and then we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So all I need from you to start is a number between one and eight. All right, let's go with one. One.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
In addition to Nurkic and Najee Marshall, we had Ahmed Thompson and Tyler Hero getting into it with Ahmed throwing Hero to the ground, which was fun. We had a birthday. LeBron turned 40.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Ooh, this is a fun one. The Hornets are currently on an eight-game losing streak. If they hadn't beat the Pacers on December 8th, it'd be a 17-game losing streak. The longest losing streak in franchise history was 23 during the 2011-2012 season when the then Bobcats finished 7-59. We are going to name all 16 players who suited up for the Bobcats that season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So how this works, Brian, you're going to give me a name, then Andrew will give me a name, and we'll go back and forth until one of you stumbles. So, Brian, a name of a bobcat from the 11-12 season. Oh, man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Also, I just want to say it's kind of wild that there were only 16 guys because most of the time when you just have that terrible of a season, there will be like 31 guys who got shot at some point.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Byron Mullins. We're big fans here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Oh, Boris Diaw. Great selection. Back to Brian.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
and unfortunately we also had a bad injury just two games after scoring a four-point play to beat the kings jaden ivy suffered a broken fibula in the fourth quarter of the game against orlando finally we got our first all-star returns from the fan vote leading vote getters in the west were yokich katie lebron sga and luca and in the east it was yannis tatum towns lamello and donovan mitchell the starters will be announced in only three weeks
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Gerald Wallace was not on that team, Brian. Which means, Andrew, you just have to give me one name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Guys, Gerald Henderson was on that team. He was the leading scorer. Corey Maggette, Reggie Williams, Derek Brown, Tyrus Thomas, Jamario Moon, Eduardo Nahara, Tasanya Jopp, Matt Carroll, and Corey Higgins. All right, Andrew, the board is yours. You just can't choose number one. Let's go number two. Number two. LaMelo Ball already has 14 30-point games this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
There are only four Hornets who have had more 30-point games in a season than LaMelo Ball has right now. Now, one is Kemba Walker. It's obvious. How many of the other three can you name? You get one point per correct answer. So these are Hornets throughout their history who just have a ton of 30-point games. And Kemba is number one. He had, I think, 84 for his career.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I forget how many he had in one season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
What about Baron Davis? That is incorrect, Andrew. Not Baron Davis. Brian, can you think of a name?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
That one, incorrect. The other two names. Wow. Jay Rich, Jason Richardson. Oh, wow. And Kelly Trapuka. Kelly Trapuka. I believe that's how you say his name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah, I watched a very long video about him getting his number retired or something at Notre Dame, just waiting for them to say his name so he could learn how to say it. It took them forever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So, Brian, you have tied it up. It's 1-1, and you have control of the board. All right, let's go 7. Question number 7. Taj Gibson is 1 for 2 so far this season from 3. How many three-pointers has Taj Gibson made in his career? Now, before you answer, you get to choose who answers first.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
You can make Andrew answer, and then you can go higher or lower, or you can answer, and then Andrew goes higher or lower. However, if you do make Andrew answer and he gets exactly correct, he would get a bonus point. And as a hint, just to help you guys out a little bit, the most threes Taj Gibson ever hit in one season was 15. So factor that in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I don't know. All right. Andrew has set the bar at 60 career three-pointers for Taj Gibson. Brian, would you like to go higher or lower than 60?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Andrew, you got within five of the correct answer. And the correct answer was 55, which means Brian gets the points. You've got to be kidding me. That was a really good one. That was a very good guess, Andrew. All right, Andrew, the board is yours. You're down three to one. Okay, number three. Question number three. Charlotte has dealt with a ton of injuries this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Those were the top stories this week. Happy New Year to all the Slammers and Jammers out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Their most played lineup has only played 60 minutes together. Now, to put that in perspective, there is only one team in the NBA whose most played lineup has played fewer than 60 minutes. Which team is it? Wow. Is it Philly? Oh, great guess, Andrew. That is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Tied the game up. Nice. All right. So, Brian, the board is yours. Tie game, 3-3.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Question number five. Here we go. Oh, another Taj Gibson question. This is fun. Taj Gibson has played for seven teams in his NBA career. One is Charlotte. Obviously, everyone remembers Chicago and New York. And Andrew obviously remembers his time in OKC. Can you name the other three teams Taj Gibson played for? And you do get one point per correct answer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So I've given you Charlotte, Chicago, New York, and OKC. There's three more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Why are you so up on where Taj Gibson's been playing? You just rattled that off immediately.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
What can you learn from his four games in Detroit to project how he might do in Charlotte?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
That is incorrect. Andrew, you can steal two points here if you get the other two teams. I believe he played for the Zards. He did play for the Zards. It's upon time. Can you name the other team, Andrew? The last team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
No, I didn't. And he did play for Minnesota, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
All right, Andrew. You have a one-point lead. Three questions left. Number four. Question number four. The last time Charlotte was in the playoffs was the 2015-16 season. Who had the most dunks for the Hornets that season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
the 2016 season who had the most dunks yeah you're probably watching on a hornet's ball back then oh just deep diving on some hornet's ball getting caught up in the fever dude i have no clue marvin williams i have no idea it's good guess he was on the team that is incorrect though brian any guesses Cody Zeller. It is Cody Zeller.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Al Jefferson was legit. That one season was memorable. Okay, Brian, you've tied it up. All right. Two questions left. All right. Let's go with six. Charlotte has had 13 different players start a game this season. There are only six Hornets who haven't started a game this season. Can you name two of them? I hope so.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Isaiah Wong. Great poll. I was really hoping Andrew would get that question because I feel like he would have been screwed. I don't know. We just watched the Hornets.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
I'm going to give you four hints, okay? Four hints to help you out. Eastern Conference team has won an NBA championship. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Charlotte lost in seven. And Christian Wood played exactly 13 games for both the Hornets and this franchise. Who would you guess, Andrew? Oh, my word. I gave you four hints, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Andrew... That is incorrect, which means Brian wins the week. Brian, who would you have guessed? Miami Heat. It was the Milwaukee Bucks. Hush and Wood played 13 games for them. I did not remember that. Congrats, Brian.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
That would have been a good bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
All right, Andrew, that was a fortnight of Hornets. And guess what? The next team is also going to get a fortnight because we're having Sam Vecini on the pod next week. So that means whatever team we land on, another two weeks of them, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you feel about how Wheel of Fandom has gone this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So we're going to spin the wheel and let's see who we get. Who will be the Wheel of Fandom team for the next two weeks? It will be... No, it's not. That just can't even be real. So last week I mentioned that the spinner wheel came so close to choosing the Pelicans and I was really worried about it for the Pelicans sake. Well, this week it's the Pelicans.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So two weeks of the Pelicans who are currently the worst team in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So we just went from the Hornets who have won one of their last 17 to the Pelicans who have won one of their last 21. My goodness. So that's 2 and 38, if I'm doing my math correctly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
That is 100% happening. And we've got two tank battles. January 3rd, January 5th. Wizards, wizards, wizards, wizards. Back to back. Let's go. No way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah, I love this division just because they're all kind of ready to make a move. They all have available assets. Most of them, some of them, have available assets to make a move. But the Clippers are getting Kawhi back. That's a huge thing. What if he stays healthy the second half of the season? They're probably the favorite in this division.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
The Lakers still have those future firsts they could trade. What if they make a huge move? The Warriors still have all their future picks. They could make a move. The Suns... the Suns, okay, they don't have anything in the future to trade, but maybe they'll do something to shake up their team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And then the Kings, as bad as it is, plus 2,500, they're actually only four and a half games back, which is a decent amount, but that's not crazy. They still have moves available to them. So yeah, I just think the Pacific Division going forward is going to be really fun. I've been so impressed with the Clippers and how they've weathered this storm without Kawhi Leonard. Totally.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Andrew, our top story this week was what Santa brought down the chimney this year, because on Christmas Day, we got an incredible run of games. On the first game of Christmas, the New York Knicks beat the Spurs 117 to 114. And in his Christmas Day debut, Victor Weminyama showed up big with 42 points and 18 rebounds.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And if he comes back and if he's just close to what he was last year, I mean, he was really good last year. He was very good last year. And played a lot of games. If we get that Kawhi with the way they're playing right now, it's hard not to see how they'd be the favorite, which is what they are right now, plus 210. But, you know, the Lakers are playing well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
LeBron had a crazy game against Portland last night at age 40. So, yeah, I just included this as our MGM bet of the week just because I love this division and I don't know what's going to happen to all of these teams. Who's going to hang the banner? They should start doing the ads now. Who's going to hang the Pacific Division banner?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Honestly, you win it this week, or you win it this year, I think you deserve to hang the banner. Hang the banner.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
But it was the Knicks who got the win, led by Mikkel Bridges, who scored a season-high 41 points. The Knicks have won nine in a row as of Friday morning and are now 24-10, only a game back of the Celtics for the second seed in the East. By the time you listen to this, though, that nine-game winning streak will have come up against the OKC Thunder 13-game winning streak.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Yeah. And part of this is normal. Like part of this should be expected because Ant is a great player and he should be expected to get doubled like this. And part of him making that next step is learning how to deal with this. But part of this is also a factor of their roster. Where a lot of times when he's out there, yeah, why would teams care about anyone else on the court?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Why wouldn't you double Ant on every single possession? And so, yes, they're going to have to figure that out. Dante DiVincenzo playing a little bit better as of late, that helps. But yeah, I don't see like the clear answer on their roster as currently constructed to really take that pressure off of him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
My favorite quote of this week, Michael Malone, he was asked about Mike Brown's firing in Sacramento. He said, quote, no class, no balls. Referring to the Sacramento Kings management team. Very direct. And I think very appropriate. The fact that it just like immediately leaked how they had fired him. I mean, this is such an easy thing to handle. Like they're around this guy all the time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And they can't just meet him in person and say this. Did they really like come up with this plan right after practice? I mean, he was in practice. You let him run a practice and then fired him by phone immediately after on the way to the plane to go to the next game. These are like very simple things like it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
You just have to stop for like five minutes and think about, OK, what's a good way to do this? This is a very big decision we're making. And then to not come out and have a press conference about firing a coach like Mike Brown, who, like I mentioned, he's going to be very significant in the history of the Sacramento Kings because of the season they had two seasons ago.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
Like he is always going to be remembered. So this is a bigger deal than just some random team firing some random coach that was off to a rough start, you know? And this isn't anything to do about like whether Mike Brown should have been kept or not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
You know, there's arguments against it because a lot of people see the changes with the roster and felt like that Mike Brown wasn't making the necessary adjustments to really incorporate DeMar DeRozan. That's fine, whatever. This is more just about like how you treat human beings. And so Michael Malone coming out and saying no class, no balls, very direct, very simple and very accurate.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
And it just it's very annoying because it felt these last couple of seasons like the Kings had finally made this turn. Towards just being a normal NBA franchise. And Mike Brown was a big part of that. And so to send that guy away and at the same moment kind of bring back all of these terrible Kang's memories that we had for the previous decade and a half, it was just really disappointing. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So we'll have to see who has survived as of Saturday morning. On the second game of Christmas, we got Dallas and Minnesota. which looked like it was going to be a snoozer. Minnesota led by 22 entering the fourth, but then the Mavs woke up. Dallas outscored Minnesota 31 to 15 in the final frame, getting the game to within two with a minute left.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
So next up, Andrew, is our favorite stat of this week. And I wanted to find a stat to honor the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, along with OKC, are entering rarefied air with their start to the season. The Cavs are 29-4. Yeah. By the way, I mentioned earlier, there's only 30 teams that have started off winning 28 of their first 33 games. So of those 28 teams, 13...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Jimmy Butler Trades + Cavs and Thunder Dominance
have gone on to win the NBA championship. If you're casting out there and interested, one of them made the finals, but did not win. We all know who that was. 73 win warriors. Another 10 made it to the conference finals. So 23 of those 20, I guess it's 24 of those 28 teams made it as far as the conference finals, which is very exciting for both those fan bases on cleaning the glass.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Think about getting a new mascot or something, just something shiny to distract everybody. I think I would lean into entertainment. I'd invest into T-shirt cannons, get more of those. I think I would lean into that. This is we're going to have a good experience here as we win 38 games a year. I like that. I really don't know. I don't think there's any sort of move.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
It's not like Giannis is all of a sudden going to go from averaging like 30, 10, and 8 to 45, 25, and 20. Is that what would need to happen for this team? There's no roster moves. There's no draft picks. I don't know. I feel bad. I don't know what you do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I mean, Bucs fans were really in that post in that last game, the elimination game. They're like, finally, Doc is starting Bobby Portis and Kevin Porter Jr. Finally making the move like that's where we were at. And that's that's not that's that's playing energy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I grew up in Massachusetts and grew up a Celtics fan. And I still really like Paul Pierce, even though he played for the Nets. You know, like I feel like I didn't be like, oh, man, he's on the Nets. I hate Paul. I still you can still put a statue up. I'll still be OK with it, even though he wasn't there the whole time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Now, granted, I have the hindsight of knowing that turned into Tatum and Brown and where they are now. But at the time, still, it was like, OK, that was that was wonderful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
the drew holiday uh injury kind of lingering out there where i don't feel like we've gotten an update since that series is wrapped up with orlando i feel like that could actually cause some some issues for boston and jaylen brown already kind of you know limping around a little bit and then lost a finger i think halfway through that series as well so i i think that could be something but i actually like the pacers i i think halliburton uh the the way that
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
going to say, if you want to talk about another well-rested team, their starters were playing like 28 minutes a game in the playoffs. They were treating that like it was a tune-up. It was incredible. Well, I appreciate you allowing, as I already mentioned, my Celtics fandom of allowing Boston to fall all the way. You're welcome. So I will absolutely take Boston.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
My only concern is Drew Holiday and not to even... Even with Drew Holiday a little dinged up, I feel like the takeaway from that Knicks series was like, I can't see them winning more than a game in the second round. I just did not believe in Brunson was awesome. But Carl Anthony Towns again had like 10. What's going on? We got to get Cat the ball. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Yeah, it's like the opposite of the vibes they had last year, and it doesn't make sense. But anyways, yeah, so I feel pretty good with the Celtics. I think that matchup against Cleveland, I hope we do get it just because I think it's going to be so, so fun. Because I agree, I think Cleveland is legit, even though people are still like, well, we need to see them do it in the playoffs first.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
But I think that'll be a fun series. All right, I'll take Boston and then... Listen, I'm going to lean aggressively into the Anthony Edwards hype, and I'm going to take Minnesota here in the second round. I was one of those dorks, like Andrew, who was taking the Lakers pretty confidently last week, and I am now a true believer. It's just fun. That's just a fun team to root for right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
So give me Minnesota. And I like the path, whoever they get, whether it's Golden State or Houston. I like the way they'll match up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
you saw even though I mean clearly they just took care of business against Miami right but Tyler Hero is still putting up big numbers and we saw guards be able to attack the backcourt of Cleveland so I think I think Indy could be frisky but I also think we're I'm putting that energy out there so that we get a long series but it does feel inevitable that it will be Cleveland and Boston
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Let me ask you this, though. If we find out they're wearing those 5280 jerseys again, will that change your pick? It is the worst. We got to we got to do the same. How Milwaukee's investing in T-shirt cannons and mascots. We need Denver to reexamine some some say they were they were amazing in those jerseys the other day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Denver and Golden State are two teams where the game before has no impact on the game after it. You can see two very different performances. I'm not worried about Golden State getting smoked by Houston in that most recent game. They'll wash it off. They'll be fine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
in the second round this is this is how this is how strongly i feel against the knicks is that i'm going to take the team that's not even in the second round yet oh i'm going to take the houston rockets over the knicks okay i'm betting on upside here like i i feel like if the rockets make it to the second round then i'm playing your game theory i'll have at least a shot at a western conference finals and i could have done the same thing with the knicks but it won't happen
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I that's that's such a great question. I still think I lean Denver. I almost feel like the Clippers are the better team. But I just I feel like the Denver Nuggets are so unpredictable. They're probably hard to game plan around just because like you never know what you're like. Are you going to get the one armed Michael Porter Jr. game where he knocks down like six or seven threes?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Christian Brown all of a sudden found his three point shot tonight. Like the Jamal Murray can drop 40 at any given time. And you don't have to worry about the random James Harden game where he only takes like seven shots in the game. So I think I think Denver, but I don't feel strongly about it. I think both of these teams are the two scariest teams for OKC.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
But I also think OKC is just very, very good. And we'll and we'll get through.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Yeah, they won't die, right? It felt like that game was over three or four different times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I think they're probably just a lot better, at least for me personally, than I was giving them credit for. I thought this was going to be a tough matchup for them. And I know it was going to be like, if the Wolves can play big enough and just out-big the Lakers, then maybe that's how they get through. But they really only did that one time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
And they were just better than them in almost every facet of the game. So I do, I think I just, me personally... underrated them and again, I took them high in that draft. I'm all in on the Timberwolves now. What do you think, Al?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
One of the things that I noticed in that Lakers series was it very rarely was someone taking a shot where you're like, oh, he's probably probably shouldn't be taking that shot. Like, it seems like they have very clear roles and an understanding of what their role is. And I think that is very important when it comes to playoff runs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
And like, you know, Russ, for all the great things and sometimes frustrating things he does, like you never kind of know what you're going to get from Russ, which is like part of his charm. I don't feel like you're getting that with Minnesota. You're like, you know, Nas is going to be out there and he's going to stretch the floor.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
You know, Nikhil Alexander Walker can go out there and just like be a dog defensively. You know, Dante DiVincenzo is going to have a ton of confidence in everything he does. But I think that that was something I don't think I had pinpointed until watching that Lakers series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Do you know why I feel like it is kind of bad right now is that there's this whole conversation about Giannis maybe leaving Milwaukee. And I haven't heard anybody really say, what about Miami? And that makes me think it's kind of bad because I feel like that would be the first that's anytime anybody wants to go anywhere. They're like, well, the heat could be a pretty good spot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Man, I love watching Ahmed Thompson. I think I want to see Ahmed Thompson. And then it's like at least four more games of Dylan Brooks maybe doing something weird. Like, I think that's true. Of course, we want to see Steph as much as possible. I think that's the easy answer. But I want to I'm here for the Ahmed Thompson, the Ahmed Thompson journey.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
There was like a couple of possessions in a row where they kept trying to set some screens up top. And he just was like almost like a worm, like it was just kind of slivering in front of them. Like it was just refusing to be picked. I've never seen a defender do that. Yeah, he's so he's so good. And that, again, only going to get better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Both of those dudes like this were like the early stages of this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
A significant contender, I think, is an interesting choice. I think we're all going to learn again that OKC is very, very, very good. And I think that where the Thunder are right now, it's going to be more than a center for the roster the Lakers have to all of a sudden compete with a team like that. And that's not like I don't want that to be slanderous to what LeBron or Luka are doing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
They're not there. They played five guys. So yeah, if they get a center, they can play six. Like they just don't have, I don't think they're as close as maybe we all thought they were a couple of weeks ago. And again, that could change if all of a sudden Luka comes in in crazy shape and returns to form. But I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I feel like we haven't really heard too much about that. So I don't know. I don't really see the path forward to Miami. I feel like they have a lot of nice pieces there, but I don't know what the right move would be that all of a sudden would vault them into the contender conversation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I mean, like what is the center that they could get that like Walker Kessler and we're like, are they in one seat? Like, I don't know if that's going to do it, you know?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
It's going to be great. Move over, Ben Simmons. You're no longer the main gym watch in August. It's now Luca.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
You know, I would love though, if Jordan Goodwin heard that and was like, he's talking about me, baby. He's got to be talking about me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Do you think there is a center that all of a sudden changes it for them? Or is it more of just kind of working around the edges, like a rotation center, but not like a game-changing player?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
That's not too tough, right? Yeah. Well, I will say from the receiving end, everything feels tough. I'm overthinking it immediately.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Tried their damnedest. I don't think it's quite the same, but I think Peyton Pritchard could get there in 20-point scores if he stays off the bench. But not the same level of impact of a player. I wanted to clarify that. But as a trivia answer, I could see that happening. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I'll take five just to just to make this awkward situation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Oh, and you said so confidently will not make the Hall of Fame. I'm pretty confident. I should check just to make sure. Yeah, no, no, no. Oh, man. I so confidently was the second he started. This was like it's it's Nikola Vukovic Vukovic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
man yeah I wanted to go Vooch here but now not and I mean not that I'm just to be clear too I'm not being like Vooch is a hall of famer that's not what I'm doing but but with the confidence that you said he wasn't I'm now I'm like oh like did did Drummond get one like back in the day Drummond is a great guess yeah all right he made the playoffs a couple of times right Or was it a one year, Blake?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Let's just do Drummond. Let's do Drummond because it's fun. And who knew that Andre Drummond's name would get mentioned on this podcast? You know?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I know it's bad, too, because I was really talking myself into those Davion Mitchell minutes here down the stretch. Yeah, me too. Davion's a pretty nice piece. And he is. He was great. He was great. But that was the point of them. We're not used to talking about Miami like that at this point in the season, I don't think.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I so badly want it to be higher. I'll be honest. I was thinking I was going to guess like if I had to pick a number, I was going to say like 14 or 15%. I was like in that range. I want it to be higher than 27 just for comedy. I'm going to say lower, though. I'm going to say lower.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Man, now, God, COVID has just messed with my brain for like time. Like, when was Russ on the Wizards? And did they win a game? You know? That's what my brain's doing right now. That's a great question.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
It's got to be the Wizards have to be one of them. I'm going to say the Wizards. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Listen, technically, you can get to a triple-double with only scoring 15 points. How about James Harden?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Okay. All right. I'm just going to keep saying James Harden until I get one right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I'm just thinking I'm just like locked in on eight threes. Can I can I throw one out there? Yeah, sure. We can't get points, but I was excited for this poll. Did Bogie get there? Did Bogdan do that? Bogie did not.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Did this person have a good game tonight? I'm not telling you that. I just feel like Nick Batum has always been in the playoffs. He's just always around. Yeah. Is that your guess? Yeah, just because it's late.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
No, go check out the NBA Bit. We're over on Playback 2 under the NBA Bit name if you want to come watch some playoff hoops. But thank you guys for of you guys and been listening for a while. So it was fun to come on and embarrass myself during trivia.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I wonder if Orlando kind of has to wait until some of the bigger dominoes fall. I feel like we get a good clear of what Memphis is doing this offseason. Not even Ja, but I don't know what they're going to do with Ja, Triple J, and Bane. But if one of those guys were to all of a sudden become available, I think that would be a great fit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I know that Trey Young is the obvious one that gets talked about all the time, but I don't know if... If Trey would like that, I don't know if Orlando would like that. I don't know if Orlando fans would like that. So I don't really know. I don't know who is the right fit or who would be like the right playmaking guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I think if the Dame injury didn't happen, that could have been like an interesting conversation. But yeah, I don't know. Have you guys like circled anybody that you're excited about that could make sense there?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I think he could beat out Corey Joseph for those minutes. I mean, enough for what?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Oh, well, it was kind of nuts that they they were holding on as strong as they were throughout the season with Paulo and Franz going down. Like, did we learn that Suggs is actually the best player on that team? Yeah. Because they lost Paulo, they lost Franz, they still kept winning games with Suggs out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Suggs goes down, the other two come back, and then it was just like a nosedive there for like six to eight weeks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I mean, that's right. We saw Cole Anthony play like, cause he was playing meaningful minutes down the stretch. And then in that first round, they were like, how about two to four minutes a game cold? That's what we got for you now. Cause that's the second he get out there, they were, they were just going right at him. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
No, especially looking at the teams in front of them currently, right? Like we saw what Milwaukee just did here. And I know we'll talk about Knicks Pistons, I'm sure, at some point. But yeah, you're absolutely right. They're not that far away at all. Being an Eastern Conference. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
No, I mean, I love Cade. I think he's so fun. And I think like if you were a Detroit fan at the beginning of the season, I think your hope was to just come away from this season knowing what you have with your young core and Cade and Duren. And I know Ivy got hurt and that was an unfortunate injury, but Thompson as well. And I think you come away from this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
You're like, man, you got you played seriously. You honestly could have won five of them. It felt like they should have had a ton of wins in this playoff series. So I don't even think they have to shake it up too aggressively. I think, right, you find some shooting and maybe it's upgrading those spots.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
I mean, Beasley was awesome this year, but like of the Tim Hardaway Jr., I don't know what Dennis Schroeder looks like next year. And maybe Ivy is able to step into that role when he comes back healthy. And then Duren just continuing to evolve. Like, I don't think they have to shake it up too much. I mean,
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
like Tobias Harris as being like the, the wily vet that came in and all of a sudden just completely changed the narrative around Tobias Harris this post season. It was wonderful. Um, so I, yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't shake it up too much. I don't think.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I think that's so interesting because I feel like Paolo and Cade probably have similar ceilings. But Paolo gave the Celtics fits. I mean, he was so good. He was so good. And like, again, if you're an Orlando fan, yeah, you probably didn't have a shot in this series from the very beginning. But at least you're like, well, we got a guy that's going to show up in the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
And so that I think I would lean Orlando, too. But. That's not even a knock. I think both of those organizations are in a great spot to continue to develop. I'm taking Detroit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
Mike, what's up? Hey, guys. How we doing? We enjoying tonight's NBA action?
The Athletic NBA Daily
NBA Contender Draft | Slam N Jam
You got to be feeling good as a Pistons fan, you know? Yeah, you're feeling awesome. I watched this game tonight with my good friend Justin, who is a diehard Pistons fan, and I've never seen someone take a playoff loss so well. Because this is house money, baby. You get to go back to Detroit again. It was wonderful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I checked it again this morning. I just had to know. I just had to make sure this was true. Alex, it's the Los Angeles Lakers. Teams are shooting 70, 77 percent against the Los Angeles Lakers at the rim right now with Anthony Davis. I mean, that blew my mind. Is that am I crazy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, that blew my mind. I mean, it's early. Most of these stats mean nothing. Whenever people bring up offensive and defensive rating this early, you played only a few teams. You don't have enough of a sample to know who's really that good on defense, who's really this good offensively. It's all... Unusable numbers for the most part. And so I admit this is probably an unusable number today.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
But it's certainly something to monitor. Because if the Lakers are going to allow a high percentage at the rim throughout the season, that's going to be a huge weak spot. That's where teams want to go. I was talking... to Mark Dagnall of the Thunder the other day in a press conference. And we're talking about threes. And he said, we definitely want to take more threes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He said, but we'd rather have a dunk. We'd rather have a layup, you know, when it comes down to it. And so if teams are shooting 77%, which is just like an unheard of percentage for teams. That's a big problem and something to monitor for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
They're getting better. Listen, it's just getting slowly better. Progress is linear. We all know that. They'll be fine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I have a couple. One, I just want to give a shout out to Lindy Waters, the third who played. He really just played one great game for the Golden State Warriors and then got the start in the next Pelicans game, which is just kind of funny. They played that little thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
baseball series there but he had 21 points eight boards four assists and a steal off the bench he had like a nice hammer dunk like he he just looked great he was plus 26 in that game he only scored three points in the next game still plus 13 he's been very helpful to this team Steve Kerr loves him personality wise I don't know anybody that doesn't love this guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
You know, he played for the Thunder and I got to know him a little bit. I mean, this is this is a really nice role player. And I'm glad that he's landed with a team where he can kind of flourish. And I thought I mean, I thought from the beginning, like the Warriors is a great landing spot for him. It's good for him to show what he can do early on this season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam. I'm your host, Andrew Schlecht. With me, as always, is my good friend, Alex Spears. Today on the show, we are going to go through some headlines. We're going to talk Rookie of the Year. We are also going to go through our favorite things. And then at the tail end of the show, we're going to have our buddy Bryce Simon come on to discuss the Detroit Pistons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
But I'm going to go with Dennis Schroeder. Hmm. The the Nets looked like a team through their first couple of games. You know, they lost to Atlanta in a close one. Then they got just dismantled by the Orlando Magic. And you thought, OK. This is this is the road we're heading down with with the Nets. And then Dennis Schroeder has like ripped off like three really impressive games since then.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
They killed the Milwaukee Bucks, who we're going to talk about here shortly. He had twenty nine, four and six in that game. They played that really close game against Denver where Schroeder had 28 points, zero rebounds before he assists. And then they beat the Memphis Grizzlies by 13 in which he had 33 points, two boards and eight assists. He's been really fun.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He looks like FIBA Schroeder out there. It's been great watching him. I'll flip on these games in the fourth quarter and it's just like Dennis Schroeder time. And I just wonder if... One, are the Nets really going to bottom out here? Are they going to make a decision here? Schroeder's on a one-year contract. I think eventually he will get traded to somebody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And trying to find who that is is not super easy. I wonder about a team like the Denver Nuggets, who you've already talked about the on-offs there. To have a guy like Dennis Schroeder coming off the bench for them I think would be huge just because he... is a guy that can come off the bench and give you points consistently, which they just do not have.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Now it's about a trade package that makes sense. There are players on the Nuggets that I don't know that you would necessarily want, but I did find one. And it's hard to find a trade just because they're in the second apron and you have to match dollar for dollar. But I found this trade. And don't judge it until I'm done saying it. Because... This is a tough one. It's a great setup.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Zeke Najee, Jalen Pickett and Russell Westbrook and a lottery protected first for Dennis Schroeder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I have is I mean, it probably would. Yes, but you know. The Nuggets don't have a whole lot to offer here. And matching is really tough. I tried to come up with a more complicated trade that included MPJ. Because the Nets have a lot of guys that I think would be great role players across the NBA, including Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, those kind of guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And so I tried to make a bigger trade that became way too complicated. It's just tough to trade whenever you're in the second apron in general. But this one worked. I think this obviously would help the... the nuggets in a pretty big way. Um, yeah, I would turn it down.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Hey, cap's rising, man. It's going to look better and better as the years go on. Caps rising. Don't worry. Don't worry, Brooklyn. The cap is rising. Just just please give us a player that is good, please.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, it also shows what a short-sighted move can do to your franchise. Their last decent pick that they had, they had the 17th pick in 2018. They took Dante DiVincenzo. It's a great pick. But they traded him. Do you remember what they got back? There was a four-team trade in which they got back Serge Ibaka. In the trade who just never really amounted to a whole lot in Milwaukee.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And so they they traded him to the Kings. And, you know, Dante's had to bounce around before he's really figured it out. But yeah, wouldn't they love to have a guy like Dante DiVincenzo, you know, on their roster right now? Even Sam Merrill. who was the 60th pick for them in 2020, they cut him loose. But, you know, after that, you're right. Like they've took Andre Jackson at 36.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He was a guy that everybody knew really couldn't shoot. Marshawn Beauchamp, similar story. You know, the other guys that they're picking are really toward the end of the second round. And then this past year, like you said, you know, AJ Johnson was a, was a strange pick. Everybody talked about it after the draft. You know, this is not like recency bias of like trying to watch this guy. It's like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Man, they just clearly struggle athletically, and I don't know how they turn this thing around. But we are seeing a product of short-sighted moves that don't have any vision beyond just a few games and how that can hurt your franchise moving forward.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Man, the New Orleans Pelicans are just in a weird spot. You know, sometimes things are so bad that your pessimism can actually turn into optimism because you just think there's no way that it can be this bad moving forward. And I kind of feel that way about this Pelicans team. Yeah. Right now, they're just dealing with a ton of injuries. Trey Murphy's out with a hamstring.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
DeJounte Murray broke his hand. Daniel Tice with his ankle. CJ McCollum with the abductor. Herb Jones with his shoulder. We just got an update from ESPN saying that Herb Jones will be out for two to four weeks with a right shoulder strain, a partial tear in his rotator cuff, which is, I mean, that's really bad. And CJ McCollum is out two to three weeks with that right abductor strain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
That's brutal. Yeah. But what's been even more discouraging to me is just the play of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson together in the lineup. It's funny because we've known this team to have injury issues, but right now they still have their stars and they just cannot get it together. You know, they got beat by the Blazers and by the Steph Curry-less Warriors twice.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So this was supposed to be a really big season for Zion with him coming into the season healthy, looking all svelte. But Zion Williamson started the season with literally the worst four-game stretch of his career in terms of efficiency. He's shooting 36-25-61. Right now, which is just I mean, that is Will Guillory put this on The Athletic. That is actually the worst four games of his career.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And it's just a really bad way to start. Now, there's there's news out there about him being like struggling with like an illness. And so like there's definitely like grace for that. But this is just looked really bad. He's not only. Not efficient, but he's averaging a career high in turnovers right now. I mean, this is a guy shooting 36% for the field. His career average is 58%.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I mean, this is a guy that is just a monster going to the basket, and he has not been that. And I think things will level out if and when they get healthy. But I'm certainly panicked in a crowded West like this. When you start like this and you already have a team that you knew didn't really fit together. Having all these injuries, it makes it harder to make trades.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It makes it harder to maneuver in the direction that you want to go with this franchise. And I would be pretty concerned because whoever finishes 11th in the West is going to have a lot of good players and is going to be a team that people looked at before the season and said, this is a good team going into the season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And so I fear for the Pelicans now with the injuries and then just the play of Zion and B.I. that this is just not... this is not looking good. And it feels oddly familiar for a new Orleans franchise that has been through this kind of stuff before.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
This happened on Thursday night. John Morant was sitting on the court, sitting on his butt on the court with the basketball, looking for somewhere to go with it. And he remained pretty patient until he saw Santi Aldama coming running toward the rim, and he throws an alley-oop from his butt. to Santi Aldama. He finishes it incredible. It was so fun. I suggest you definitely go see it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It made me think about Josh Giddey last year against the Rockets was sitting in a similar situation, but inside the paint job was like actually closer to the three point line when he threw this. But Josh Giddey was sitting in the middle of the paint and decided to just shoot the ball from his butt and made it. It reminded me of that. And then I also reminded of Jordan Poole
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He didn't end up really doing much, but I just remember whoever was on the call that night for the Wizards, Jordan Poole sitting down in a similar position to Ja near the three-point line with the basketball in his hands, and the announcers just start saying... He better not shoot that like Jordan. Don't shoot that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
You know, they're just so afraid that he was going to try to shoot it from like pretty deep range, sit on his butt on the court. But I love that. I love that moment. I'm so glad John Morant is back in the NBA and the Grizzlies are looking looking pretty good. They've had some good moments so far.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Great to have Steve-O back. Something else that's great to have back is Bryce Simon coming back on the pod. He's talking Detroit Pistons right after this quick break. And we're back after that quick break. Alex, it's time for the Wheel of Fandom, where we spun a digital wheel. And that wheel landed last week on the Detroit Pistons. And the first name that I thought of.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
In fact, I even said it on the show. was my buddy Bryce Simon, who you can find at Motor City Hoops on Twitter. And he hosts a great Pistons podcast. It's called the Pistons Pulse. I've been on it one time and it was awesome. So it's a great show. And then you probably know him from the Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecini, who is obviously a great friend of the program.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And Bryce has been on this show before talking draft. But now we're talking Pistons. Bryce, welcome to the show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah. So the Pistons are one and four, as you just said, after facing a pretty difficult early schedule. That record is somehow worse than last year's team who started off two and one before dropping 28 straight. So while the results may not quite be there yet, what are some aspects of the process that you think are significantly improved from last year?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
This is an MVP rope-a-dope, is what this is. He knew what he was doing. He is decreasing the bench level to increase this number so that we can throw it around and get Jokic another MVP. That's all this is, everybody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It's so weird. It's so bizarre that that happened.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, that makes sense. So one of the big changes out of the gate this season is Jaden Ivey being a key part of the rotation and not playing behind Killian Hayes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yep. For good reason. So Ivy is averaging 21-4-4 while shooting 43% from three on over five and a half attempts a game. So what are the early impressions of Ivy's play and how he might fit long term with Cade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And then as far as Cade and Ivy go, give me the vision for what this looks like in a couple of years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Where do you think the season's going for the Pistons? Like if you were to like crystal ball, like what, what happens at the end of 82 games for this Detroit Pistons team?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And creates his own fanny packs with a local company. I mean, come on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, I hope this is right. I just hope that this feels like a normal season because I sat down with James Edwards after the 2-1 start.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
A direct quote from James as I'm sitting and eating dinner with him in Oklahoma City right before Thunder Pistons, which I think was the first loss of that streak, of the 28th loss streak. He said, I know what a bad team looks like, and this is not a bad team. And then they lost 28 straight games. So I really hope, I mean, it's just like, it kind of feels like enough is enough.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Like, okay, come on, like, let's get it together.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, that was so, so kind. You did? I didn't know you did that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, that's true. It's almost worse to say, oh, these are all easy, and then we're going to both get them all wrong.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Fewer than three players. And there's two teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Two with five or more? Correct, yeah. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
The Sixers. Don't choose the Sixers. Oh, my gosh.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I mean, I know this isn't right. Because I know three that are, but I'll just say San Antonio for time's sake. But I think they have three guys that are at least three. Andrew, that is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And of course... do some ridiculous trivia. That is very fun. Very much looking forward to that. But before we get to any of the trivia, any of the chaos, Alex, tell me about the top stories in the NBA this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I don't think this is the right year. Too much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I'll say cough. I don't know. No, not cough. Not cough. Cry. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
So it has to be threes made while they were on the Pistons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I think I did this last week, too, where I was within one of whatever it was.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I mean, Sadiq Bae has to be on this list, right? He is on this list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He's number seven. He would not have been on the forefront of my mind. Okay. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
This guy didn't shoot a lot of threes, but he just played for the Pistons for so long on the wing. Rip Hamilton.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yo, that was like, that was going to be my guess too. It was Andre Drummond. It sounds so right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, that's... I don't know. I mean, I have no idea. So active players that had double-digit rebound games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
What great stories we have in the NBA every single week. Now let's go to the BetMGM line of the week brought to you by BetMGM. We're looking at the rookie of the year odds. Currently, the number one pick, believe it or not, has the best odds to win Rookie of the Year at plus 450. With Lakers rookie Dalton Connect, there had to be a Lakers rookie sneaking in here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He was a stretch four for a minute. Yeah. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Feels like cheating. Embiid feels like cheating.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It crossed my mind. It crossed my mind, but I know that he was a third string center for the Clippers for a long time. Very smart. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Active player, former number one overall pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I mean, I thought about him, but he's had such a strange career. It's been so choppy. It's been so choppy. But when he's played. Yeah, but when he's played.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
What a game. Hey, go listen to the Pistons Pulse podcast. I love listening to your shows. I even listen to your off-season shows. I just like listening to you guys. So please go check that out. And then, of course, check out the Game Theory Podcast with our guys Sam Vecini and Bryce. It's a great show.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
If you were just like a person, if you're listening to this, of course, you just love basketball. But if you just love basketball, it's like another one that should be heavy in your rotation. So please go check that out. Bryce, thanks so much for coming on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Dalton Connect has had a nice start to his season so far. Zach Eady has fallen to third best odds at plus 550. Stephon Castle, plus 750. Yves Misi, plus 900. Alex Saar... Next, and then above Carrington, a plus 1400. And then everybody else, everybody else's odds are pretty, pretty much a long shot. But these have already changed quite a bit from where the preseason odds were with Reed Shepard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Wow. We'll also see how our listeners do with five-star reviews. If you will leave us a five-star review, we will read it on the podcast. So this review comes from... WB's rec slam jam five stars a year ago. I wrote a review of this and then stopped listening for some reason. Glad to see it's back and better than ever. The best Saturday NBA podcast out there. Of course, it is only Saturday NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
It's the only Saturday NBA podcast out there. But still. Unlike many, there is a remembrance that sports is supposed to be fun and that it is OK to laugh and usually informative. I listen every week. Thank you so much for that review. This next one comes from Schwozay in the United States, says a real basketball podcast. Sounds obvious enough, right? Well, here's the thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
If you expect to skip the first 10-ish minutes of a basketball pod because one of the hosts is giving you updates on their kid's AAU team or his house or his back pain, this is not the program for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
or if you want the host to suddenly pivot to talking about football on a basketball pod again don't bother with this one and if you want the host's personalities to grate on your nerves as you wait for them to finally make some salient points you get the picture this pod is pure hoops every day and it's awesome every episode is packed with opinions and updates perspectives the hosts are simultaneously approachable and wildly wildly knowledgeable thank you for putting this together it's clearly a labor of love for the game
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
and the fans who can't get enough of real basketball talk. Thank you so much for that review. If you will leave us a five-star review again, we'll read it on the podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Listen, it doesn't seem to be going too well on the other podcast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Is he listening to me? Schwozay is not holding back on the other basketball pods that they're listening to. Please do leave us a five-star review, and we'll read it on the podcast. Would very much appreciate that. Hope you guys enjoy your weekend and the basketball, and we will talk to you guys again next week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Second, don't really see his name here. He's not really getting a lot of burn just because there's so many guys in Houston. Risa Shea was third. Matas Buzelis is not playing a lot, was plus 900 to start the season. This is going to be interesting because I, I don't think this is going to be anywhere close to what the order is going to be in like, I don't know, like two months.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
You know what we see here today? I think it's going to change a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah, it's just I mean, the whole league is just like, all right, somebody do something. If you can do something, you can win this award, which is just it's it's really interesting. Yeah, I think Bob Carrington has got a really good chance. He's plus fourteen hundred right now. Unbet MGM. And I think he's going to get the possessions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I think as the year goes on that they're going to continue to hand him a lot of possessions. That's what you need. And he's been pretty efficient so far and is like one of the only guys averaging double digits in this rookie of the year race. So I lean Bub. I'm leaning Bub. And I think some of that is just like somebody's got to score the points on a bad team. And I think Bub's up to the task.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Continuing to talk about the rookies and one of the most fun names to say, Zachary Arisache had a quote that was here on The Athletic that back in France, I was super athletic and now I'm just a regular dude. Which is just it's funny because I mean, that that is certainly true amongst like any rookie coming into the NBA. But I saw research I play in person. He looks really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
He's got really good size athletically. Yes. So he's not like a crazy athlete compared to a lot of these guys. But. I was impressed. I was impressed with him. And he's got a little humility about him here. I think this is like a pretty funny quote. I liked it. I not only liked it because it was like a funny quote, but I think that it shows a little side of his personality.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
And I just I think this guy's got a good chance to make it. And a guy that, you know, I don't know how if he is ever like an all star or anything like that. But I can see this guy playing in the league for a long time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
I think there would probably be more than one offer and probably a lot more than $20 handed over to Steve-O.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah. My stat of the week was this. I was shocked to see this. These are the bottom five teams and opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area. So what teams are shooting at the rim against these particular teams? So not not a lot of surprises here. So coming in at number 26, the Utah Jazz opponents are shooting 73 percent at the rim. Seems pretty good. Makes sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Chicago Bulls, 73.4% at the rim. Also makes sense. Still tracking. The New York Knicks, who are without really a lot of bigs. Okay. Makes sense. I get it. 29th, the Washington Wizards, 75.8% at the rim. Totally get it. Totally get it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rookie Rankings + Pistons Powered?
Yeah. And so now you're thinking, okay, who is the worst team? And I'm going to let you just sit in this for a second because I don't know that you know the answer because I didn't know this answer until I saw it on NBA.com. And I had to refresh the page like 13 times because I just didn't believe it's true. The worst team. Teams are shooting 77% in the restricted area against this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Durant Trade Destinations + West Risers | Slam N Jam
Passwörter allein reichen nicht. Schütze deine Accounts mit reiner SCT Security Produkten. Sicher, offline und ohne Smartphone. Ob TOTP, FIDO2 oder Hardware Authenticator. Wir bieten die perfekte Lösung für deine Zwei-Faktor-Authentisierung. Jetzt Sicherheit auf das nächste Level bringen.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Billy Kennedy is getting up to that mic. He's a performer. Everybody else fumbles over their words. It's a disaster.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking schnubs, we're talking surprise teams and an update on that. And then we're talking to Jay King about the Boston Celtics. But before we get to all that, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Yeah. This is why you have to trade these guys. This is why if you're, if you're going to go into the tank, you have to trade these guys and you have to, you have to go let them be somewhere else. You take, you just cut your losses and you try to get what you can for them. And then you let them go because otherwise it's, it's just devolves into situations like this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
This all sounds so made up. This is unbelievable.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
What a team. Yeah, I have another stat coming at you for my favorite stats of the week. More wins? More whiz. Just get ready. So I wanted to... This is like a great time of the year. You're halfway through the year. I like to pull up lineup data. And so I was looking at the best and worst five-man lineups that have played at least 175 minutes together, which is a lot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
It's like basically the top 50 lineups in minutes played. And so I wanted to give you the top and bottom five of these groups. So... We'll start with the best. We'll start with something good. The Sacramento Kings actually have the fifth best five-man unit with Fox, Herter, DeRozan, Murray, and Sabonis at a plus 9.5.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
The fourth best is the San Antonio Spurs with Chris Paul, Champagny, Steph Castle, Harrison Barnes, and Wimby at a plus 13.6. Then you have the Pacers in third here with Halliburton, Matherin, Nimhard, Siakam, and Turner at a plus 15.8. The Thunder starting lineup is also at a plus 15.8 with SGA, Dort, Case, and Wallace, J-Dub, and Hartenstein. And then the best lineup right now
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
through 40-ish, 45-ish games of the season is the Boston Celtics with Jalen Brown, Tatum, Holiday, Derek White, and Al Horford manning the middle at a plus 20. They're just crushing teams with Al Horford at center. And then the worst. Let's get to these worst teams. The Chicago Bulls are coming in at number five. This is Giddy, Kobe White, Levine, Patrick Williams, and Vooch are a minus 5.1.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
The Houston Rockets, which surprised me, have the fourth worst lineup among lineups that have played a lot of minutes together with Van Vliet, Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks, Amin Thompson, and Shangoon is a minus 5.8. The New Orleans Pelicans, which is not a surprise to see them on here, CJ McCollum, DeJounte Murray, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Yves Misi are a minus 7.5.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And now we get to the real bad ones. Those ones are normal. normal bad, but these are real, real bad. The Portland trailblazers with Simon's to money Camara, who might have the, like the most fun name to say, uh, which you, I think you've, I feel like you have to say both names. He's like a double name, fun name guy to money Camara, uh, Jeremy Grant, Denny Avdia and Deandre Aiden are a minus 17.1.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
But it gets much worse when you get to the Washington Wizards, who with Jordan Poole, Bub Carrington, Bilal Koulibaly, another fun name, Kyle Kuzma, and Sar are a minus 33.5. Yeah. together with one of the most played lineups in the league, minus 33. There's no team that touches that. Congratulations, Wizards. You have cracked the worst lineup in the NBA that actually plays a lot together.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
He's got to go. He's got to go. We've got a week until the trade deadline, which we're doing a trade deadline special here on this YouTube page, by the way, for the Athletic NBA Day. They will be live all day long next Thursday, so be sure to join us, and hopefully we'll get to announce a Kyle Kuzma trade and get him out of there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Isn't that wow? That seems cool and completely unsustainable. We'll see, Andrew. It's not March. January is a real month, okay? So you have to accept it. That's true. That's true. It's not March. Yeah, I would definitely not believe it if this was March.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Yup. Uh, my player is, is another snub because it's a international snub day here recording this on Friday and a guy that we haven't talked about, a guy that I don't think is being talked about enough as a snub is Kyrie Irving, who has had a really nice season. Uh, The Mavericks are the only 25 plus win team right now that don't have an all-star, which is surprising.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And I really think that Kyrie deserved to make this all-star team. He is 24 points, 4.6 rebounds, almost five assists per game, shooting 48, 41, 89 from the field. And he's had to lead this team who has really dealt with a ton of injuries. And he's been one of the only steadying forces for them. I was really surprised he didn't make it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I really thought, I thought you could make a case for him to be a starter even. And the fact that he didn't make it at all, I thought was pretty shocking that he didn't make it. Now, he hasn't made it in a while. I think he was with Brooklyn the last time that he made it. And so, like, I get it. And maybe it's just harder to become an all-star again once you're kind of off that train.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
But we saw James Harden do it, you know, this season. And I think Kyrie was deserving. And a lot of this, I think, is a product of the Western Conference is that the West is just so much harder. Like you mentioned Sabonis. I think he's a very deserving all-star. But, yeah, I think that Kyrie Irving, you know, deserves a little bit more shine and probably deserve to make the all-star team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
That's what I was going to bring up. Under 40% for the field.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Yeah, that Clippers team could really throw a wrench into a lot of teams who are one of the upper echelon teams in the West right now just because they have a lot of experience. And it's going to take almost what feels like a miracle to get them there healthy. But, you know, who knows? My moment of the week is from the Grizzlies-Rockets game on Thursday night.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
With 618 left in the game, the Rockets were up 115-107. The Rockets would go on to score only four more points in this game. Just a brutal... Stretch of shooting from the Rockets. But the moment that got me was at the end of the game. The Rockets are up 119, 118. Van Vliet misses a three with 15 seconds left. And Jalen Wells gets the rebound, has this clear path to get a dunk and take the lead.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And he actually does dunk it. But the official thinks that Taylor Jenkins called a timeout and he stopped the play. But at the replay, you can see that Jenkins clearly did not want a timeout. He was actually motioning his arms and saying, go, go, go. But the official somehow at his back turn to Jenkins thought that he was trying to call a timeout and the official completely stops the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
and this is like one of those moments i really think the officials very rarely actually determine the outcome of any game and i think like this is a moment where it was hanging in the balance where it was like oh my gosh the grizzlies would have taken the lead had they not called this time out that was not you know that was not called jenkins was out of his mind he was raging
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And it was funny, there was a fan behind Jenkins who was almost mimicking what Jenkins was doing, who was like standing up, who's like sitting courtside. It's so funny. But luckily... Jaron Jackson gets fouled on a free throw and then goes in and makes two and the Grizzlies end up winning and they get those points back anyways.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And I also just have to believe that the official, no matter what happened on that play, that whistle was getting blown. You know, Jaron Jackson misses a wide open, you know, two pointer. Somehow there was going to be a foul call. There was going to be a whistle for a makeup call.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
in this in some way, but I'm glad that it ended up going the right direction because it could have been like one of those weird moments where it's like all on the official that this loss happened. And it's a, it's a big game between, you know, the number two and number three teams in the Western conference.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And so, um, you hate to see the officials kind of butt in like that, but, uh, that, that definitely, uh, was corrected there in the final minute. Um, so that I thought that was a, uh, just a crazy moment, uh, something else that's crazy. is that Jake King is coming on this podcast to talk about the Boston Celtics right after this quick break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
It's got to be Jay King, Celtics beat writer at The Athletic. Jay, welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me, boys. It's always good to have Jay King in the house. Jay, the Celtics have not had a four-game winning streak since late November. This slump that started sometime in December has continued for over a month now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Do you feel like this team is any closer to figuring things out and getting back to the team that we saw at the beginning of the season?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
So late game issues have popped up a lot during this recent stretch, including the Rockets game this week. Is there anything specific that you're noticing with late game play? Or do you think that most of this is just variance that will eventually just correct itself?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
No, I don't think much of that. Don't think much of that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Uh, last question. I Jason Tatum, I feel like he's had a really good season. I feel like he's just, he's not having the scoring season he did a couple of years ago, but I feel like he's just doing everything a little bit better. I feel like he's a little bit better passer, a little bit better rebounder, um, a little bit better, just like team player in general.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And like defensively, I've thought he's been pretty good. What, what are your thoughts on, on his season so far?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Yeah, I said last question, but I also just wonder about Jalen Brown shooting and like if that is becoming like a true concern for him or do you think he'll snap out of this?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
You want this so bad. I do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Isn't that insane? That just doesn't seem real.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Just throw out a name. You know, shoots a lot of threes. What if you got it right? You got to go some semi-tall white guy, which is like the theme of this answer so far.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I did. I also just had a lot of time to listen to Jay. I thought about Malik Beasley.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Oh, weird. I heard the other day, and I don't even know if this is true. I heard that Caleb Houston has never dunked. Could you look this up?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
He's got to be the only 6'7 guy. If this is true, I don't know if this is true or not. He's got to be the only 6'7 guy in the league who has never dunked. Isn't that weird?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Okay. Double-digit rebounds in a season. Yes, who was the last Celtic to average double-digit rebounds in a season? Oh, my gosh. This makes me think it's got to be a long time ago then.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I know. I know. Cause my mind goes to one guy, but I don't, I don't know if he played enough. I'm going to go time Lord, but I feel like that's wrong.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I just had another name pop in my head that I will guess if Jay doesn't guess them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Dude, that was my second guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
He slowed down a little bit, I guess, once he got to the Celtics because he used to be a big-time bounder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Wait, how many is it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
How many times did they do that? Every year. I don't know the exact.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And Russ hasn't done it twice? Andrew, you got it wrong. What are you trying to get out of me? I'm just flabbergasted that Russ hasn't done it more than Jokic, I guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
One time? Seriously?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Brutal. From that, let's go to our BetMGM line of the week, Al. Brought to you by BetMGM. And this week, I want to talk about the six main of the year race here, which is... Looks like Peyton Pritchard has this like going away. He's a minus 165 to DeAndre Hunter, who's second, who's a plus 240. And then Amin Thompson's plus 700. Then on down to the winner of last year's Nas Reed plus 1200.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
The half-court offense? I honestly have no clue. This is a pure guess. Andrew, that is incorrect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
All right, Andrew, career dunks for Sam Houser. I don't even know where to begin with this. With a number. To be clear. I'll say, shoot, I don't know, 15 dunks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And Peyton Pritchard has been awesome this year. I think we don't really talk much about it with Jay King later, but his season has been amazing. He's averaging 14 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, three and a half assists per game, shooting 41% on seven and a half attempts per game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
The last time a player with 18 years of experience only played for a couple minutes. Just a couple minutes? That's what I said, Andrew. Just a couple. Just a couple. Okay, the guy immediately popped in my head. I don't think he played 18 seasons. 18 is a lot of seasons. Who's that? Who popped in your head? I'm going to get this so wrong, I think.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I mean, I thought about Blake Griffin, but I don't think he played that long. So I just don't. I think he played more than a couple minutes. I also just think about PJ Brown. But that's probably too far back. All right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Peyton Pritchard, who is probably a guy that people just thought of as probably a third-point guard, has become one of the better players in the league. He's averaging more points per game than Jared Allen, Klay Thompson, Nas Reed, Amin Thompson, Russell Westbrook. I mean, players that are getting a ton of shine this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
This is a very special time that has vacated my brain.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Andrew, zero. This is one of my most embarrassing performances, honestly. I have nothing to blame it on except for my own brain. So, hey, go read Jay King at The Athletic. He's always writing great stuff about the Celtics. And then he has a podcast called Still Potable. You can find it on YouTube. You can also, is it just on Patreon? Is that right, Jay?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
houston rockets houston rockets not bad i was hoping for a team that might have a chance to make some trades it feels like the rockets want to stand pat true through the deadline um so that's a little disappointing to me but the rockets are super fun and they're in they're playing close games all the time or you got the ahmed thompson stuff so looking forward to that hopefully we can get our guy kelly eco on here
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
talking rockets uh it's been it's been honestly they're one of my league pass teams i i don't particularly as a uh okc native i i don't particularly like houston as a team but i do enjoy watching this version of the rockets like they're they're a blast and like unpredictable in a
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And Peyton Pritchard, while he is leading in the six-man-of-the-year vote here, it is interesting. I just don't hear a lot about him. He's had a spectacular season. He's really grown as a player. And a guy that, like... asked out of Boston not that long ago, you know, has really turned things around with his team and has had a great season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
We would have had to watch the Pelicans again. The integrity of the wheel was at stake in this particular moment. Hey, go leave us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
That Wolves one will be a lot of fun. Yeah. That Grizzlies game, which we talked about earlier in the show. Those games have been just a blast. Okay, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. We'll read it on the show, just like this one from... basketball guy, 95 who writes best show out there. Best NBA show out there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I do miss the other shows that were previously on the feed, but having, but have, but having quick episodes every day have been great to keep up with everything. Slam and jam is elite and getting to test my NBA knowledge on trivia is the best. I found myself screaming Pablo Prigioni in my car during most of the most recent episode while Andrew and Sam struggled to think of someone, uh,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Alex does a great job with the questions and deserves an award for some of the madness that he causes. Lastly, hope Andrew's recovery is going well. I had a meniscus repair when I went in for a torn ACL, so I know exactly what you're going through. Best of luck. You'll be back to normal before you know it. Thank you for that review. Yeah, if you didn't know, that's why we had a week off.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
It's because I thought stupidly that we could come back after a week of recovery and I was not ready. So hopefully we'll be back permanently now from Cornelius drip. Awesome sauce. The NBA daily is the show. They post podcast almost every day filled to the brim with facts. Just a heads up. Giannis will get the MVP PS. I'm not from Milwaukee. I'm from New Jersey.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
SGA is going to crash at some point and the Grizzlies will rise to the top. Hopefully you will respond. If not, it's Dame time. Yeah, I guess I guess we'll see. Interesting prediction from Cornelius Drip. Last one comes from Tim Duncan's burner. And he says, Roy Jalen Wells just wants to get that out there that Jalen Wells will be the rookie of the year. I kind of think he should be.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I think that he's going a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
underrated and all this i feel like he's been the most consistent rookie and it feels like people are wanting to give it to somebody else but you know we'll see we'll see uh hey please go ahead and leave us a five-star review we will read it on the show uh get those in uh probably before wednesday so that we'll have it for the show because apple's a little bit slow i hope you guys are doing great enjoy the weekend and the basketball and we will talk to you guys again next week
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
So I just wanted to kind of highlight Peyton Pritchard here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
They cannot start Jabari when he comes back. They just cannot do it. They've got to bring him off the bench. To me, he's the number one prospect on the team to develop. You have these other guys... that are already really good on the team, including Jalen green.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Who's had a nice season, but like almonds, the number one prospect, you have to start him or you got to put Dylan Brooks to the bench or something like you can't like, he's going to vanish from this list in the coming weeks, I would guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Also, I just don't think we thought that the Cavs were going to get multiple All-Stars either. True. And if it was, it was probably not going to be him. We probably thought it was just going to be Mitchell.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
God, this last stretch just killed it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
Yeah, shout out to Zach. It's a beautiful website, and he has these fun little icons for each of the teams. It's just a very, very fun and engaging site, too. So shout out to Zach for making that. Al, it's time to go to our favorites of the week. We're going to start with our quote. This is one that I'm sure you've already heard by now many times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
It's Adam Silver saying, I'm a fan of the four 10-minute quarters. I'm not sure how many others are. And putting aside what it means for records and things like that, I think that the two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits. And I just, I can't stand this thought because if the true thought is,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
is to have a two-hour game, then there are so many other things that you could do to get a two-hour game than to actually just shortening the play time. How many times, and I know this now because I've watched so many NBA games, but how many people are going to their TV and turning it on at seven o'clock
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
You know, when a game, when it says, hey, the game starts at seven o'clock and you sit there for 12 to 13 minutes waiting for the game to start. Like just one, start the games on time. And then two, the amount of reviews are killing the game. I think it's killing the game more than anything because it stops the time. It isn't always helpful. The reviews take too long.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I feel like there should be a way to shorten these reviews if you're still going to have them. So like if you really want the game to be more engaging, How about less timeouts? How about no, no reviews, or at least find some way to shorten the amount of reviews that you have. And then like get yourself to two hours. Cause I think like games run about two hours and 15 minutes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
There are other ways to shave time off than like literally altering the game and altering the stats and altering all this stuff. I mean, you might as well, if you're going to alter the time, just shorten the season. If you're going to do something that's going to alter what the statistics look like, just shorten the season. Don't shorten the games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
And if you want a package that's better for the consumer to take in, stop with all the reviews, start the games on time, and lower the amount of timeouts. Because if that's what you're really aiming for, there are other ways to do this that aren't going to alter the history of the game, which is what he's suggesting. I just think it's silly...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I don't I appreciate the idea that it's like consistent with basketball around the world is played in 10 minute quarters. That's cool. But at this point, like to me, I think you're too far down the road with the 12 minute quarters. I think if the if the goal is to give guys more rest, just shorten the season. If you're going to if you're going to alter the game in some way.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
But honestly, I think there are a lot of things that they could do to make this game more watchable. And I don't think it's about the threes. I don't think it's about any of that. I think it's about reviews, to be honest. And those reviews eat up a ton of time every single game. And to me, that's where you could use some improvement there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Celtics Still Favorites? + SNUBS and Lineups | Slam N Jam
I think that variation in calls is just a part of basketball. It's a part of games. And I think that we need to worry less about getting everything so perfect and worry more about the product.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
You know, but the the Minnesota Timberwolves did the exact same thing last year and they couldn't get the job done. So I look forward to seeing what happens. I think we've got I mean, this is going to be an incredible conference finals matchup. I just think from a star power standpoint, it's going to be great.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Andrew, I'm gonna let you get out of here because I think I hear the Harlem Globetrotters are doing like dribbling drills right next to you or something. It's crazy. Yeah, yeah. Guys, stick around after the break. Our first chance to talk about the conference finals. And I got to ask Zena for some WNBA picks. The conference finals are now set, and it's time for our BetMGM Picks of the Day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
We're going to talk about the conference finals. Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. This matchup, I think, is... Excellent. When you consider just one to one head to head matchups, you got Anthony Edwards, Shea Gildas, Alexander, Jalen Williams, Jaden McDaniels. I mean, what is Rudy Gobert going to be like going up against Chet and Isaiah Hardenstein?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
I think you've got some really fun individual matchups. And obviously the way these teams have come together over the course of the year, obviously the Thunder were this machine that won 68 games. And then right before the season starts, the Timberwolves make this wholesale change to their entire identity. And they sort of find themselves over the course of the season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
And, you know, we call them the most confusing team in the NBA. And it seems like they've sort of figured themselves out as we got into the playoffs. So, Zena, I'm going to start with you. Minnesota OKC, pick a winner and give me how many games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Oh, okay. That's a pretty close series, though, if it goes seven.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
The question of who's going to guard Julius Randle is an interesting one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
OK, all right. So you guys are both OKC and seven. Is that it? Yeah. Okay. Scene seven. I'm saying wolves in six. I think Anthony Edwards is taking, I think he's taking a leap. I think the playmaking, you know, Zena, you talked about seeing him up close. And the thing that I saw was this guy, let the game come to him. That 12 assist game. You go back and watch that. I watched it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
I rewatched that game. Cause I was trying to figure out like, how did he get this 12 assists? Like so easily. And it's just so good game come to him. And that's the next step. And all of these guys that are number one guys are, When they learn to control their own pace and the pace of the game around them, they take these leaps. I don't know. So, yeah, I'm leaning Minnesota.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Also, it's more fun if I'm rooting for them. In the East, guys. We're back in the 90s. Knicks, Pacers, game one at MSG. I'm actually going to be in New York. I'm going to try to sneak to this game because I just, I mean, the idea that Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, and I could all be in Madison Square Garden at the same time. I feel like everyone is a big fan of that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Look, the Knicks, they figured something out in game six for themselves. It was great. Like they put away the Celtics. It was an impressive win, even with the Tatum injury. And we have been really high on the Indiana Pacers and their two-way play, but especially their ability to constantly put pressure on you by scoring the basketball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
I mean, they are a machine, and they just put the ball in the basket. And if you don't, it gets late fast. So, guys, start with you, S. handicap this for me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
We're all going Pacers in six. I just think the depth is a big deal. I worry about the Knicks running out of gas. And again, they just have the Pacers can score. And in the playoffs, that's really what it comes down. Yes, you have to be able to defend, but can you actually score? And the Knicks, every single possession just feels like it's a slog. Like it is so much hard work.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
It is close enough. It is all close enough. This is, again, we're in this great era for, I think, basketball fans. I don't know what's going to happen. Right now, Oklahoma City is the best team. And two out of three of us took them to lose in the in the conference final. So, you know, I do think that these teams are all pretty well matched either way. I think Pacers Knicks is going to be fun.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
This might have been the most fun matchup that we could have gotten out of the East as far as the style of play. These guys are going to come out throwing punches. So that's exciting. Speaking of exciting. Hey, WNBA kicked off. Over the weekend. And I don't know about you guys, but I mean, I do know that obviously Xena has no time off, no off season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Her podcast over at The Athletic about the WNBA and women's basketball. Yes, I know that you're a big Toronto Tempo fan now. Yes, I'm ready. Yeah, that's right. Ready to be a homer for that team. Mm-hmm. Um, I love the WNBA. It's a fun time. Like, I mean, I love basketball and especially women's basketball. So like, it's great time. And I was watching the games over the weekend.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Number one, Friday night, it was really tough. I had a hard time trying to find my Minnesota links on television. So Xena, give me some advice there. Um, but Xena, I would love for you to tell me who's going to win the championship. Uh, but first tell me about no off season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Yeah, it's fun. I don't need to be a wonk. I just like to sit and watch the game. And again, Minnesota Lynx, Nafisha Call, you're the best player in the world.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
All right. Well, that's going to do it for the show folks. Don't forget, go and subscribe to no off season. If you're watching this on YouTube, Hit like, subscribe, do all that stuff. And if you're listening to us, wherever you listen to podcasts, give us a five-star review. For Andrew Select and S. Baraheni, Zena Keita, I'm Dave DeFore, and this has been the NBA Daily.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
It felt like they had like two or three in a row.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
It seemed to me... Like they were much more dedicated to the ball getting to touch the nail, right? No matter who it was, someone was cutting across the middle. And it's a great point that you picked up. And that's how they were getting those passes. It wasn't just breaking the zone by making shots. I mean, we watched this game and we've watched this whole series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
The Nuggets just didn't guard Lou Dort. So it was going to be death by Dort if you didn't figure out a way to break it down. They made a huge difference. I mean, Mark Dagnall made the adjustment from game six to game seven that just won them the series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
I believe I might have been first to this bandwagon.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Andrew, what a performance from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Oh, I think the Nuggets are putting that highlight reel together right now to send to the NBA League officers. I'm sure they are.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
And it's, you know, he is so impressive. You know what we say in basketball circles, get that dog in him. I mean, that's the only way you can do it. I mean, like, it was comical to watch the size difference between the two of them, and it was one-on-one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
And Jokic, they just, I mean, of course they send the help, but it's not often that they guard Jokic one-on-one with a guy who's given up that much size. And it is totally common for guards to get that much leeway against the big inside. I do think that we should take a minute to talk about Aaron Gordon, even though, you know, the Nuggets lost this game. That's a...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
heroic yeah performance from a guy who clearly could like he could barely run absolutely i mean yeah like it looked bad on tv i imagine watching him there and every it looked like every single time he had to stop after doing something he was like grabbing at that leg he still like was able to out rebound the thunder early on i mean basically one of the few guys that it felt like was uh playing up to his abilities in the game at least um you know for for the nuggets
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, we had a Super Bowl on Sunday. Andrew Schleck's here to talk about Game 7 from every single angle. Game seven. The two best words in sports. Zena Kata, Espera Henney, Andrew Schlecht, Dave DeFore, NBA Daily, In the House. Andrew still in the Paycom Center Arena. You can hear the balls in the background if you're just listening.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
You talked about Jalen seeing the ball go in, and that came off the turnovers, right? And maybe that was Gordon being a little slowed because he is kind of that third playmaker. But I do think that this was OKC sticking to the OKC script is what it looked like to me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
I mean, I think that it would have been – we could have all had a nice –
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder roll to Western Conference Finals
neat narrative if okc came out and lost that game we could have all just said you know what we knew it was coming and they turned it around on us i mean you know not to jump in there andrew but i do think that in this game they actually did the light started out too bright and they found themselves but the question i have is like is the monkey off their back now like are they just going to play free moving forward knowing that they've got over this massive hurdle you know
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Absolutely, he was. And by the way, like the numbers do not lie. Westbrook and Jokic are, I believe, a top 15 two man lineup in the entire NBA. So like they are winning their minutes like crazy. They're dominating. You guys mentioned the two man connection.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
I think it's also brought out the best of him defensively because Russ is able to just be this active guy off of the ball, getting out and passing lanes and then pushing in transition defensively. I think the question I have moving forward, especially now that Aaron Gordon is back, it's like how do you deal with the spacing of Gordon, Westbrook?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
You have this kind of combination of guys who, again, on a team that doesn't shoot a lot of threes, you're worrying about the spacing next to a guy like Nikola Jokic. And with that trade deadline coming up soon, you wonder if they maybe try to do something else. But I don't know. I think to your guys' point, the Russ-Jokic pairing, perfect. No notes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
I think I said it last week with Kelly where I was like, if there's one team or one or two teams that I'm kind of curious about in a matchup against OKC, it's the Denver Nuggets. It's the Dallas Mavericks. We'll see what happens with the injuries with Luca and Kyrie on the Mavericks. But for Denver, yes. Yeah, I'm buying in on the best player in the world being there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
I'm buying in on Jamal Murray playing better as the season progresses. Aaron Gordon coming back. I'm buying in on Russell Westbrook. I'm buying in on Christian Brown, who's been playing really, really good basketball this season. Michael Porter Jr. is shooting the lights out. I wonder what they do at the deadline, though. I think that's my main question. It's like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
How are you going to improve this team that is really, really financially strapped? But I am in. I'm in. When you have the never nuggets, I'm down. Let's do it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Yeah, I'm taking OKC too. I think the home court advantage will be a major factor here, especially because OKC's crowd is awesome. I think the fact that they are motivated. I mean, they destroyed the Knicks after losing to the Cavs. So they are going to have this markdown on their calendar, no doubt. So, yeah, I'm going to go OKC.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
I feel like it's crazy to say no-brainer against a team that has only lost five games, but it does feel like a no-brainer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Pistons rolling, too. OK, I actually have a Knicks game as well. It's later in the week on Friday. It is the Julius Randall return game. Minnesota Timberwolves versus the New York Knicks. Timberwolves have kind of been hot and cold is the way to put it this season. They've been one of the worst clutch teams in the league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
And part of that is because of the struggles offensively between Randall and, you know, all the other. We've talked about it on this podcast of how they've been dealing with some spacing issues. So, yeah, the return game between Dante. Remember Dante DiVincenzo?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
That's right. There's a lot there, even for the sicko. Yeah, that's that's a pretty good game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Yeah, it's not a surprise to me that the Pacers kind of play up to competition. We saw them against the Celtics last year. They still play well against the Celtics. And then now against this high-octane offense and the Cavaliers, they know what to take away. And Zena pointed it out. The full-court pressure was a massive part of this game because they were generating turnovers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Cavs are a team that like to make – move the ball, right? They're letting these kind of assists fly and whatnot. And I think a part of what they kind of played into the Cavs scheme is that Indiana was like, hey, you guys are moving the ball. We're going to pressure it. We're going to make you guys make decisions quicker. And that way, forced turnovers, get out and running.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
You had guys like Jairus Walker and whatnot playing well as well. But I'm glad you brought up Nembhard because I think he's the major reason why the Pacers are turning around their season. I mean, if you look at just... when he came back from his injury to now, that's why they've been improving. That's why they're climbing up these Eastern Conference standings.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
I mean, they almost had a chance to be fourth in the East tonight if it weren't for a magic win. This is a team that now has that point of attack defender, to your point, Dave, that can lock up, that can be a secondary ball handler next to Tyrese Halliburton. It's crazy how important this role player really for Indy is to everything that they do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
So I have to bring up just one guy that I think we're missing here. There's one major difference between the Kings now and what the Kings are now. And that is Keon Ellis. He is finally playing. And I think that is the big issue with Mike Brown is he was he was in the doghouse. Like he just wasn't playing a lot under Mike Brown. Now to Doug Christie, he's playing more minutes. He's more engaged.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
He was he made winning play after winning play in their double overtime game against the Miami Heat. One of their lineups right now, they're basically their starting lineup with Keon Ellis in there. is a plus 22.2 net rating in that starting lineup. It's only played 100 minutes together, but he impacts winning. The dude just knows how to play defense. He's incredible in passing lanes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
And so you guys talk about the defensive improvements. You guys talk about the connectivity that they have on the offensive end. All of that is because of this utility knife in Keon Ellis, who is finally playing. And by the way, kudos to Doug Christie for noticing that and recognizing that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Yeah, they have these moments, right? But it feels inconsistent because you see them against the Thunder. And then, by the way, against the Thunder last week where they played competitively, they were in it, the offense was working well, and then they just kind of faltered near the end. That game, the second game against the Thunder, it wasn't the same at all. They got destroyed.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
The three-point shooting, the discrepancy there was massive. And so it feels like they rely so much on
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
on the three-point shot to kind of get their offense rolling uh and for what it's worth I agree that they just carved up the Bucks I mean there wasn't a soul on the Bucks that could guard Jalen Brunson today yeah and I think that's part of it it's like when there is this matchup that works really really well for them they're able to dominate they're able to look like hey maybe the best offense in the league at times but there are certain matchups
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
that make things really hard on them. And OKC, clearly, best defense in the league. That's one of them, right? Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Look, Mitchell Robinson comes back. It makes you rotation eight or nine. And then now you're working with a little bit more grease in terms of rotation players and whatnot. I don't know. I think. I think, you know what, to your point, Dave, I might want to put the Knicks in that tier, but I just want to see them do it against the top, top-level competition. Give me a win against the Cavs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Give me a win against the Celtics, and then I'm there, you know?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
Yeah, no. Yeah, he looks comfortable. And I think like the more he's able to get to his spots, especially because I think one of the underrated things about Paulo's is passing. So in the mid to high post area, that's a source of offense for the Orlando Magic, who I think like they rely on their defense to get them going in games. And, you know, you
The Athletic NBA Daily
Pacers stop Cavs streak | Kings win 7th straight
You know how Jamal Mosley is able to coach this team defensively. But I think offensively, you lean on Paulo as a guy who can create for you from that area. And the shot making also propels them that way. So, I mean, he's just been exactly what you think Paulo would have been. Right. And he got off to a career start to start the season. He's just picking up right where he left off.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
And so it really, it's actually a pretty good matchup for the Thunder there, especially now that they have Hardenstein, who I think is helpful certainly on both ends. But the fact that you can get a screener like him out there that can create space for these guys, I think has opened up so much for them. Not only offensively, but defensively. I mean, people probably forget.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Hartenstein played with Jokic in Denver. Right. And, like, learned a lot from him on both ends. I mean, you look at a lot of the stuff he does offensively, he's nowhere close to Jokic. No one is. But he learned a lot from him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
And so I think that that addition to me was the biggest thing because, and I, and I'm going to flip the conversation back to OKC's defense a little bit, because the way that Hartenstein defended Jokic tonight was like some of the best one-on-one defense. Cause you look and it's all about the spacing that he gives Jokic. Like he, he is giving him proper spacing really the entire game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Like he just knows how to defend him. He knows where to be. You can't defend Jokic one-on-one. Nobody can. But that was probably the best I've seen anybody defend him one-on-one all season. He did phenomenal in the third quarter. I know Jokic was dealing with something with his elbow. But you just watch Hartenstein play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Yeah, I mean, it's a huge difference whenever... Chet was in foul trouble most of this game. And so Mark doesn't like to use fouls as an excuse to sick guys. He would rather the officials foul them out than him foul them out. And so he still let Chet play quite a bit in this one. But I think that having... chat, go to the bench and Hartenstein come in for him is a massive difference.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
I mean, it is a huge difference for them moving forward, but chat was really good. I thought he had a couple of the thing that he's had going really all year since he's been playing is the spin move. And he had a couple of them tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
A little bit of a weight difference there between those two, but similar spins. Yeah, Chet was a big difference maker. I mean, the blocks of Thunder, the thing about the Thunder is that they love to turn teams over. And you don't really do that to Denver. But what the Thunder did this afternoon was they had 14 blocks. And to me, that's almost as good as a turnover. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
You look at the stat sheet, you read turnovers, but really, look at the block shots. That's what got the Thunder in transition. They didn't play in transition much today, but the blocks are what really got them there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Yeah, and some of that was Russell Westbrook back in OKC. They're in a place where Denver, they don't have the depth that they need. They had to go to Jalen Pickett today. They had to give a lot of minutes to Westbrook, who did not have a good game. He would get so frustrated at times. He did get hit in the face by Chet, fell on the ground, stayed on the ground for an entire possession.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
But it's stuff like that where when his teammate came to pick him up, they picked him up pretty easily, and he's jogging down the court. But it's just like, You're right. It's the composure, I think, that was missing from Denver today that OKC seemed to have from the jump. They were down big to start this game, and it was just composure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
They just know they're just going to chip away at it and get back in it. There wasn't a lot of arguing. There wasn't a lot of trying to get a foul called. They're just playing through it. which I think is really important, and especially in a game that is slower like this one. Any chance that you get to run, any chance that you get to run together is incredibly important.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
The Thunder just kind of stuck with it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Oh, man. I think that they do. I think that they probably do, especially with the way that J. Will has been playing lately. His shot has been falling. The fact that you get three threes from him this afternoon was huge for them. And defensively, he's looked better. I mean, he's playing the best defense of his career by far. That's a really big deal for them when they play the double big lineup.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
You're really going to stagger those guys. But once Chet got into foul trouble, you really needed somebody else to go to. I thought he was really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Alex Caruso is a guy that's going to continue to be underrated because he's not... You look at the stat sheet today, there's not a lot there for him, but the guy just contributes at such a high level defensively and is so smart and is always in the right place. I think that he's phenomenal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Aaron Wiggins didn't really put up the scoring numbers that he has recently, but he's become one of the best six men in the league, and then he got... Cason Wallace and Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe. They do have just guys that you trust. And I think that's the thing with Denver that you kind of struggle with watching them today. They're down a man, and then it's like, okay, now we have to...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Pick your poison. Who's it going to be that you're going to give minutes to that you don't completely trust in situations like this? Whereas the Thunder, I mean, they could have played Kenneth Williams more. That's a guy that they trust. They played him three minutes today. It's like they have kind of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to their bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
their defensive intensity meeting like the shot diet that just eventually will click because like they're really good at finding the open man they're really good at trusting each other and they're good at playing fast and so like once that rhythm catch it like hits and sometimes it's in the third sometimes it's in the fourth but and it's just all about that rhythm just hitting and they just start to flow
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
And it's on both ends where like you're so switchy that there's no place to attack. I think that's one thing that Denver really tried to do was like, OK, who can we pick on and how do we pick on them? And a lot of times it was like, OK, we're going to pick on Aaron Wiggins or we're going to try to pick on Shea. And like those guys, you can't really pick on them like you can guys on other teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
And so like once they kind of establish like this, like baseline of defense and they can block shots like they did today or they can turn you over, you know, once they get out in transition, like they're just going to flow. And you even saw it like there was a moment that was actually kind of funny, like Lou Dort.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
he was like trying to end the nuggets where he cocks back and just sends this ball 75 feet in the air in the arena. I was like, that ball made it. We met us. But they get the ball back. They still trusting Lou Dort, even after just like a hilarious, you know, boneheaded moment for him. Hit him in the corner after an offensive rebound. And like, they still trust him to hit the three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
He hits the three. Like, it's just little moments like that where it's not like, They just play. They know how to play together. They trust each other. I don't know that there's any real magic to it except for the fact that this team can go 10 deep with defenders and 10 deep with guys that can shoot it. And whenever that all clicks into place for five minutes, the other team is toast.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
That's just how it's been all season. And what's so scary is that they didn't even shoot well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Yeah, I mean, it's a big one when you're talking about the MVP. I mean, that's the thing that's top of mind for everybody coming into this game. It's Jokic versus Shea. Who's going to have the better game? Really this, like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
strange two-game series that they have you know they play again in oklahoma city tomorrow night and so everybody has been kind of circling these games it's like okay let's see what happens here because a lot of people have shay ahead of yokich and have but like if yokich wins these two games well then it might kind of shape the narrative a little bit more and so yeah that was top of mind shay the last time that he played the nuggets which was in november
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
He had eight turnovers. They struggled against the zone. There was a lot of frustration, I think, from the Thunder that night. And Shea was very good against really everything tonight. I mean, it was funny because...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
It felt like they had kind of solved the Thunder a little bit, but Shea was still getting to these mid-range jumpers that they really liked, and he just wasn't making them, like, over and over again. And there was a couple times, too, where it looked like he got fouled, and they didn't end up giving him the foul, and I think there was a little bit of frustration there, but he just kept going.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
And you could tell he had 37, and he's bringing the ball up the court. The three wasn't there at first. The ball finds him again, and you knew, like, this guy wanted to get 40,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
on abc you know in this game against the guy who he's up against for the mvp it just felt like so obvious i had my buddy brandon sitting next to me on media rose like he's gonna he's going for a three he's gonna get three he wants 40 um and he did it and it was it was just really phenomenal it was really cool the crowd was super into it from the jump you know this place was a packed house uh and so it was just really cool to see shea execute at such a high level
The Athletic NBA Daily
Shai goes for 40 as Thunder drop Nuggets
Yeah, I think it's really interesting because the Thunder would kind of get past that first layer of defense, and they're playing drop coverage with Jokic, and so there's this massive gap where the Thunder really love to operate. Both Jay and J-Dub love to get to that spot, and they love to pull up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
He can do it all himself. And and for what it's worth, he had a really great game. I thought like the manipulation in the mid range area, the playmaking, it was it was looking good, especially in the fourth quarter. There was like a couple of fadeaway jump shots that he had hunting out Darius Garland. That was really good. But it was the Donovan Mitchell show in the fourth quarter. 20 points.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
on friday oh i was just gonna say on friday we had a full game full game slate right started started at 12 o'clock we got games pretty much the entire time i love that that's why i love sunday basketball because it starts at 3 30 and we're we're off till 10 or whatever each time so yeah i just need full day basketball and the nba cup does that for the most part especially once it gets closer to to clutch time it was a good it was a good black friday yeah
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
He had that crazy crossover against Drew Holiday, the little hee hee. You know, the snatch back. That was I think I got out my seat on that one. That was beautiful. But he just took over. And I think for what it's worth, the Cavs, the way that they kind of summoned up the energy to get that win in the fourth quarter, it was more important to them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Luka just came back. That'll be a fun game. Yeah. I have the Magic over the Knicks. This is also Group A of the East. Magic has been playing well. They've been hooping recently. I think that matters for the NBA Cup. I think where you're at as a team, how you're gelling is a big part of it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Franz Wagner is going to go and cook. They're going to get Group A and then also, I believe, get home court advantage in that knockout round. That's amazing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
having lost to the Hawks on Friday than it was to the Celtics. And I think you noticed that in the fourth too, like they just wanted it more.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
They thought SGA and Dylan Brooks were going to get into it. And I'm like, listen, those are the Canadian guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
It's a trebuchet because of the arc.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Well, man, I think initially last year they taught them how to defend like they went from one of the worst defenses last year to a top 10 defense last year. Now they're competing for one of the best defense in the league. I think a lot of that has to do with Fred and Dylan at the point of attack, just being dogs and it having a trickle down effect on the rest of the team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
We've talked about a man Thompson and Tari Eason and like the other guys who are competing. Jalen green is also competing in my opinion on the defensive end. But I more so it starts with those two guys and how they set the tone on defense, by the way,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
The one five pick and roll between Fred and Shang-Goon is like the basis of everything they do offensively tonight, even despite like against OKC's really, really good defensive core. They found a way to make them work, man. And that that's intriguing to me to see that those two just like develop that chemistry more often.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Yeah, so the 40-point triple-double is really interesting. Did you guys know that that is the first time he's had a 40-point triple-double in his career? That's bizarre to me. Yeah, that does feel low. That was surprising because Giannis, obviously, there are a million and one records that he's already broken. Not having a 40-point triple-double in his arsenal was just surprising.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Anyways, that just was a very surprising stat for me. Doc Rivers also mentioned, you know, as they are on this winning streak, he's like, we're learning how to win. We're figuring out what it takes for this specific group to pull out wins. And I think that's important for a team that got off to such a shaky start. I mean, we talked about it for like two weeks. What's wrong with the box.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
They are figuring it out. And I think that's a part of an 82 game season, right? You have these ups and downs being able to control and set the tone and also like take care of business against bad teams, which they have done. It,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
Like, hey, you're not letting me get to the rim. I'm going to settle into this mid range shot anytime I want to.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
It's I I need it in the playoffs. I want it as a playoff series. It's definitely one of the ones where like I've already marked down on my little notebook. But yeah, this game was was great. And I think through three quarters, the conversation that I was having with myself was, wow, this is the Jason Tatum game. Right. It's coming together and he doesn't need Jalen Brown or Derek White.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
It was, it was, it was, he can slot the, the greatest thing about Devin Booker, especially this season is how much he's able to slide up and down. It's kind of like a sliding scale of like the role that he can play for this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Cavs and Rockets Contenders? | All Weekend Team
uh and now with kevin durant back and guys like well bradley beal is still kind of warming up to get back to where he needs to be but with kd back it just kind of completes this team uh and defensively you saw them really really lock up against the warriors right like they they made things really really tough also a gadaro ryan dunn their rookies are stepping in and playing really good defense kevin durant is like manning the middle for them sort of as this you know back line five with his seven feet for seven foot frame then you have booker who's
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
But when Carl Anthony Towns had Jalen Duren or Paul Reed, like he was going to work. This was the game in which Cat kind of woke up and figured out, oh, I can score against Detroit's bigs and I can score kind of easy work against them. Like, how is Detroit going to adjust against the way that Cat played last night?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, that seemed to be the thing that Stewart was able to keep Cat from doing the work early. Like he kept pushing him out and making it hard for him to operate in the mid post or even to have clear looks in transition. Like we saw the catch and shoot threes that Carl Anthony Towns had early in the game. And you're right. I think that that kind of opened things up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
No, literally, it was a roller coaster. You start the game and Memphis comes out punching hard. They're scoring and shooting. And I mean, Scottie Pippen went four for four with his first four threes. It was a barrage in Memphis and they came out punch 40-29. But early in that game, just after seeing Jimmy Butler get hurt, get undercut inadvertently by Ahmed Thompson last night, or two nights ago.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
He ended up with 31 points, 10 of 18 from the floor, four of eight. from three and then also a hundred percent from the free throw line seven for seven. That's a big factor. Detroit fouling and Detroit playing with this physicality. Like that's going to be what my eye is on in the fourth matchup because Detroit
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Out of all the matchups last night, I mean, this was the closest one from tip to buzzer. So going into Game 4, it's going to continue to be physical. It's going to get even more physical. There were techs throwing around. There were some dust-ups, right? Nothing crazy, but some dust-ups.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
So now going into Game 4, what are you expecting in terms of how Detroit is going to be able to handle that physicality and also get a win at Little Caesars Arena? Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Now, before I let you go, I want to mention this. Two things. Number one, the other day we had a live morning shoot around and I asked the guys, Who do you think is kind of like the Little Caesars equivalent of an NBA player? Meaning you can count on him. It's going to be hot and ready. He's going to be pretty consistent wherever you go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
And Andrew Schlecht immediately guessed the Detroit Pistons player that I was thinking of when I asked this question. And I want to ask if you know who I'm talking about, especially after his performance tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Dennis Schroeder was amazing tonight for Detroit, no?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
I mean, I loved the way he played.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah. OK, last thing I have to ask you about is that ending, because I still don't know what happened. The last, you know, Jalen Brunson gets fouled. He goes to the free throw line. He is coached by his dad, essentially, to miss the free throw. And the ball goes up, hits the back of the rim, buzzer goes off, but no one touched it. Then Detroit gets the ball to go out of bounds.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Jalen Duren is assigned the out of bounds role, throws it out of bounds, but then they get the ball back. You got to walk me through that. I'm so confused as to how the game ended.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Then last night, Lou Dort ends up in the same situation in a transition break situation. Scottie Pippen's going up the court. Lou Dort's trying to do one-on-two slips and undercuts John Morant that's going up. John falls hard on his hip. Like, It was crazy he got up, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
On the broadcast, it said that his momentum was being counted for as to how he ended up in the backcourt. Either way, that is a perfect segue into go read Hunter Patterson at The Athletic. Hunter, thanks for joining us and breaking down this game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
I got to switch seats with Dave DeFore because he was at the game while I was at home last night. Dave, you went out to the Clipper Nuggets game, which is probably the fiercest battle so far in the West, but the blowout was kind of unexpected last night. It was actually the most quote-unquote boring game, but it was very exciting to see the very first game at Intuit Dome.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
You went and saw the wall in person. What was it like?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Let's talk about that game because, you know, you talk about embracing the fans. The fans embrace the Clippers. This was a playoff atmosphere. You're always a little concerned about a new arena, what that's going to look like, how the fans are going to acclimate. And also, what's the team going to look like in that atmosphere? But the Clippers looked at home, at ease. James Harden came out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
killing in the first half I mean and then it just continued to thread all the way throughout with Norman Powell kind of taken up where he left off 117 83 Denver could not handle overall what Clippers could do inside and outside break us down like where were the number one holes for the Denver offense and defense
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, James ended up with three threes on the night, five and six from the free throw line, overall 20 points. But as you mentioned, it was just the onslaught. It wasn't just James. It was also Nick Batum that came in and produced. Kawhi Leonard, of course. I'm trying to figure out, to me, the Clippers have this advantage because even in game one,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
everyone thought the Clippers should have had that one, right? And they were able to get a win on the road, but it was like they should have been able to grab that. Now, they're at home. They're looking comfortable. They have all the aspects you need in the size and side in Zubats that was grabbing offensive rebounds like it was his side job, his side hustle. I want to know if I'm looking at
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
the way to keep the Denver Nuggets from getting a win on my home court, how do they shut down the production that was coming out of Nikola Jokic? Because it feels as if he's the only thing that Denver has going for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Okay. Well, the Clippers now are 2-1 in the series. Feeling very comfortable with their vets behind it, kind of pushing things along. Kawhi, James, this is where they've been. This has been their comfort zone for a while. Dave, it is so fun asking you questions and getting your insight. We're going to close this out. Appreciate you guys waking up with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
On behalf of Hunter Patterson, Andrew Schlecht, and Dave DeFore, I'm Xena Keita. We appreciate you guys waking up with us. Oh, before we go, Draymond Green did not win defensive player of the year. Evan Mobley did. Evan Mobley. I just wanted to make sure that you guys knew that. Exactly. I don't know if you knew that, but now you do. All right, guys, we'll head out of here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, I mean, it was such a tough fall. And it's important to note for context where the Grizzlies were at this point when he went down. The team was up 67-40 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter. Ja had contributed 16 minutes, 15 points, five assists. He was the crux of everything they were doing. The pace, the offense, everything was flowing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
And, you know, until the second half, through the second half at least, I mean, the second quarter, Memphis held on to that. And in the third and fourth quarter... The game's flipped. And you can say what you want in terms of, yes, OKC unbelievably adjusted. They woke up. They started playing a lot better on defense. Chet Holmgren went off for 23 points in the second half. Alex Caruso was unreal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
But it was a different game with Jha. How did Jha's exit impact Memphis? And then how did OKC capitalize on it?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
This game was such a... a description of everything that OKC has to offer, from their ability to adjust in real time, in real game situations, their ability to bounce back, be resilient. I mean, they got punched in the face in the first half and came back in the second in a different way. Their chess play, the way that Mark Dinell called that challenge, even, I mean...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
the intelligence of this team in comparison to some of the moves that were made late game. You think about Zach Eadie in that last play with Zach Eadie and Alex Caruso getting a jump ball. And Zach Eadie, who is at least a foot taller than Caruso, going up on the jump ball and extending his full arm. Or was it with Shea? I think it was with Shea against extending his full arm. It was with Dort.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Or was it with Dort? That's what it was. Thank you. Against Dort. They're all the same. They're all the same.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
I'm like going through the rough. But yeah, it was just like, why would you do that? That jump ball is yours. And so there were so many moments like that in which Memphis just fell apart at the end of the game. And say what you want. If John Morant was on the floor, maybe there's less of those mistakes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
But there were still open looks that they got at the end of the game that they missed and they missed opportunities. So now series is 3-0. It feels as if they have already won the series, but they still have one more at home. What is going to be the answer, especially if John Morant doesn't come back?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yes! I'm happy you brought that up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Because that's, I mean, one, OKC consistently has been in these kind of conversations throughout the season of being in the largest, the second largest, the top 10 largest comebacks or leads, you know. And then the Grizzlies end up on the other side end of that spectrum.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
I think it was our teammate, Esper Henney, that broke down some of these stats on X of how many times that OKC has been a part of it. Tied for the second largest comeback in NBA history. They have the largest halftime comeback at that 29 points. And then the Grizzlies, on the other hand, have been part of three of the five largest comebacks, two of which they've lost. This game is included in one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Brutal. 2012, they lost against the Clippers, 27-point loss. And then the one time they did win was against the Wolves in 2022. This feels sad for the Grizzlies for so many reasons. It does, yeah. Shouldn't laugh. Shouldn't laugh. But it does. It's like you're at the end. You're the brunt end of these bad situations. And you keep finding your way into these situations, which is a good thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
You're in the playoffs. And yet the talent isn't enough to surpass some of these situations. You're looking at Tumas Isalo and you're like, you're in a tough position. You're looking at this team. You don't have your star player anymore. This series feels as if it's going to end already. Are you looking to the summer?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, we cover a busy night across the association. The Knicks went up 2-1 after a dueling fight with the Pistons and Hunter Patterson was there at Little Caesars to break it all down. Dave DeFore went to the wall at Intuit Dome. He lived to tell about it and of the Clippers' decided win over the Nuggets. And Andrew Schlecht is here.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, it's going to be a tough battle for them to try and get something going in game four. It's at home. We don't know what's going to happen with John Morant. But right now, the Grizzlies have to get to their locker room and rally around each other because OKC is locked in. The brotherhood is apparent. And I know they're feeling good being up 3-0. Andrew, thanks for joining us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Thanks for breaking it down. We'll keep you guys updated on the NBA Daily on what's going on with the Memphis Grizzlies. All right, guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
He's going to talk about the win that OKC had in Memphis and as well as John Morant going down. Let's start with Andrew. Morning. How are you and how are you dealing after that chaotic game last night against the Grizzlies?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
All right, we got Hunter Patterson here live from Little Caesars Arena where the Knicks stole a game 118-116 on the road. This is the first playoff game since 2019 in Detroit. And man, it seems from the TV that the vibes did not fail. Hunter, you were in there. Could you hear yourself? How are your ears?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, no, I'm happy you actually brought up Tim and Cade because those two were on point, especially Tim Hardaway Jr. He had 19 in that first game, dropped to zero in game two and had a bounce back game last night. But it seemed as if those two plus Paul Reed filling in with Isaiah Stewart that was out with inflammation in his knee, like they did their jobs and then the bench stepped up.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Talk a little bit about the way that the bench kind of helped fill the gaps and made this the duel that it was with New York.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Make History + Knicks and Clippers Go Up
Yeah, I mean, Tobias was scoring in the 20s, consistently being almost more of a focal point offensively. But it seemed as if his task shifted to being more of a defensive stalwart in this third game. Whereas you could see when Carl Anthony Towns was being guarded by him, it was tough for him to score defensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
And they closed with it, too. Right. That was they were leaning on that in the fourth quarter. And the thing about Chet, which is really interesting, Richard Jefferson has mentioned this in both games so far. It's like taking his time when he catches the ball and really like understanding that he's just tall, like he's really tall and really long.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
So he can take his time more like he's afforded the luxury of being able to take being able to take his time to finish in around the basket. There's another level he can get to. You know, we've seen J. Doug take the step to all star. Obviously, Shea become an MVP over the last four or five seasons. Chet is next on the list for becoming an all-star.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
And obviously, once he has a healthy season, putting himself in the conversation for defensive player of the year, that is how good of a player he is. That's how good of a player he can be. And it's just, I think... This you've mentioned this before, but it's sort of the recovery process from him coming back from the injury and being at 100 percent. We still haven't really seen that yet.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
It's slowly getting to that point where he looks like himself again. Right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
This is funny. I was watching. Okay. See the thunder shared a social media video from when SGA first came to Oklahoma and Yeah. And he was talking about how he needed to develop his body. And it kind of hit me how much he's actually developed his body since he was a second year player. Like the process of just shoulders, like becoming stronger in the shoulder area. Incredible to watch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
He said that tonight. Yeah, no, you can tell. And like the work that that man has put into his game, you watch like some of the rookie highlights, even early team Canada stuff. It's like, yeah, it was there. And there's stuff that he was getting to that was incredible. Caitlin Cooper said he plays like a slinky. He really does in the way that he bounces back and forth.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
But to get to the level of proficiency that he's at right now required so many hours in the gym. And so it's incredible that he's relishing in the opportunity of becoming the MVP. I was going to say this story yesterday, but we had a crazy Knicks Pacers game. But from like a Canadian perspective, watching a guy win MVP is sort of the culmination of 20 years of Canada basketball developing, too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Like this is something that has just been massive from our perspective. You think of Steve Nash. I mean, I grew up on watching Steve Nash play basketball. And for him to now be the next Canadian MVP just shows how much the game is growing and how much Canadian talent we have. I mean, look at just this series, the series on the other side. There's a lot of Canadian basketball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
So, yeah, SGA is on the forefront of it. And Lugans Dort. And Lugans Dort. Hey, by the way, shout out to Lugans Dort for the all defense. I know that's a big part of OKC love.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Yeah, everybody, you know, if you think about like great defensive teams that won championships, you know, everybody brings up the 0-4 Pistons. That's usually the team everybody brings up. It's like a bunch of scrappy dudes that won off the back of a great defense. I think we need to change that now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
well and maybe in a couple weeks to the 2025 Thunder okay wait one more question before we head out of here SGA obviously got his teammates rollies what was the best gift you've ever given to someone the best gift that I've that I've ever given to somebody yes yeah I mean rollies have you given a roll no no heck no um hmm I would want it to be for my wife I'm trying to think like what's the best gift I've ever given my wife
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Yeah. I thought Ant had a really good start to this game. Um, getting downhill, being aggressive. I mean, in game one, he only took one shot in the paint. He had four shots in the fourth, fourth quarter, uh, in the first quarter in the paint. So like the aggression was there for him to get downhill, uh, and try to assert himself, but the jumper wasn't falling on the other side.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Well, congratulations to Andrew. Congratulations to Amy. Congratulations to SGA for winning the MVP. Thank you to Andrew Schlecht. Thank you to John Krasinski for joining us earlier. Thank you for listening to the Athletic NBA Daily. We will see you guys tomorrow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
One of nine from three, um, For him, it's balancing how much they're utilizing him off ball, trying to get him going as a guy who can attack closeouts and be a guy who can make plays without the ball in his hands and knocking down those catch and shoot looks. But also like being the guy on ball for them. What do they need from him moving forward in this series?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Yeah, I was listening to the postgame and Nikhil Alexander Walker was talking about the wear and tear of the game and how it's not about just trying to land the knockout punch, but withstanding four quarters. And you look at what OKC can do defensively. One, it's the turnovers. Minnesota has 31 turnovers through the first two games. And then the other thing is the three-point shooting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
And you mentioned some of the struggles on the end. They're 28.8% from three in the first two games. Not good. Not good for a team that's like 37% usually from three. But they've been able to win without the three-point shot in these playoffs. We saw it against the Lakers. We saw it against the Warriors. Is it the turnovers or is it the shots that have to fall for this team?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
I thought the Timberwolves played overall a more sharp game than they did in game one, but it wasn't enough, and they couldn't withstand the second-half surge from OKC. Particularly, I think it was a strugglesome game from Julius Randle, who just couldn't get anything going offensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
I will credit Chris Finch here because he is pushing the right buttons, or at least he's trying to push multiple buttons here in the sense that they've gone small. They've tried to go away from Rudy Gobert. They've tried to go with the Randall and Nas Reed lineups for a little bit. They lean into the whole aspect of like five out offense a lot throughout this series.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
And he's been trying to push different buttons here. I'm wondering also another aspect to that is the zone. They went to zone today. I didn't think it was that effective. I thought OKC did a pretty good job of handling it. What are the other buttons that Chris Finch and the coaching staff have to push moving forward in the series?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
How hard is it for this team to be effective offensively for four quarters when it comes to Randle not being that guy on a night-to-night basis?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Yeah, I hate to say it, and I mentioned this last time when we were talking about Game 1, but it is a make-or-miss league sometimes, and just making the shots that are available to you will make a world of a difference. And possibly going home, playing at home, role players will knock down those shots more often.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Obviously, the bench was a little bit better today for Minnesota, so we'll see what happens. John Krasinski of The Athletic, thank you very much for joining us. Read, John, as always. Appreciate you. When we come back, we'll talk to Andrew Schlecht about the OKC side of things. The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up a win two wins away from the NBA finals. Mr. Schlecht, two wins.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
And there was another big thing that happened today. You know, somewhat regular in Oklahoma City at this point, you know, over the last. 11 seasons, they've had three MVPs, which is wild to consider. But Shea Gildress Alexander was named MVP, officially got his trophy. Actually, it's been SGA week in Oklahoma in general and in Toronto, by the way. Just wanted to mention that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
But how has the experience been this week celebrating SGA and his MVP season? It's been really cool.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
Good morning and welcome to the Athletic NBA Daily. Thunder strikes the Timberwolves. We've got John Krasinski of the Athletics to talk about it. OKC going up to nothing. Let's do it. Good morning, John. OKC picks up a 15 point win. Good morning to you, sir. Nice to see you. Yeah. Two wins away from the finals for OKC down 0-2 for Minnesota. And, you know, I thought they played a better game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
He had an MVP performance too. Like he showed off exactly why he was the most valuable player this season. 38 points, 12 of 21 from the field. Yes, folks, he got to the free throw line, but it was because he was aggressive. We won't get into that conversation again. He was surgical from the mid-range area, just absolutely carved up the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
I was listening to the postgame and the Timberwolves were basically being asked like, hey, how do you stop them in the mid-range? Because they love to get to that area. And they're like, man, it's just hard to stop SGA when he gets to his spots. He is so good. And I thought another aspect of this is the fact that J-Dub and Chet
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
This was the third postseason game for the Thunder this season where all three of them had 20-plus points. Jalen Williams ended up with 26. Chet ended up with 22. What did you see from the other guys, the trio here for OKC?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Thunder Strike Timberwolves + SGA MVP
He kind of like somehow miraculously stole that ball too. He like picked the pocket and wrapped it around and it was incredible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards’ big game + All NBA Defensive Perimeter Teams
At PwC, we build for what's next. So you can get there now. So you can protect what you built. So you can create new value. PwC. So you can. PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards’ big game + All NBA Defensive Perimeter Teams
PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards’ big game + All NBA Defensive Perimeter Teams
At PwC, we don't just deliver ideas. We make them work. With the expertise and tech you need to outthink and outperform. And we work with you, alongside you, from start to finish. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you've built. So you can create new value. We build for what's next. So you can get there now. PwC. So you can.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards’ big game + All NBA Defensive Perimeter Teams
At PwC, we build for what's next. So you can get there now. So you can protect what you built. So you can create new value. PwC. So you can. PwC refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton & Pacers shock Thunder in Game 1
Sprechen wir doch mal über deinen Traumtyp.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton & Pacers shock Thunder in Game 1
Sprechen wir doch mal über deinen Traumtyp.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Haliburton & Pacers shock Thunder in Game 1
Sprechen wir doch mal über deinen Traumtyp.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, I think there is a pretty high level of concern after you list all that out. Because everything else is working. Defensively, I think he's been really good. No question. They're all really good. Yeah, as a passer last night, he's really good. But you need him to make shots. You have to have the second scorer in J-Dub. And he hasn't shown up.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I mean, he's had plenty of really good opportunities. You pause it when he takes the shot. I don't think that you have an issue with the shots that he's getting. It's just like these normal shots that he would make, he's missing. I mean, he missed the Duncan transition down the stretch of that game when there was still a sliver of hope for the Thunder. He missed a wide open dunk.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, he did that twice last night where he is going for the reverse instead of just trying to go hard to the hoop. which is, it was in a couple like wide open, like, hey, you should have this kind of plays or at least get fouled and go to the free throw line, which he has zero free throws last night too. Like he just doesn't really have it going from anywhere.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And the one thing that I wonder about is like, how do they leverage he and Shea together? Because like last night you can look at it and it's like, oh, their playmaking is really good. 16 assists between Shea and Dub. Neither of those guys assisted to each other last night. And so I wonder, how do they leverage those two guys' talent to help each other out?
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Because those guys are good at getting everybody else going, but they haven't quite figured out how to get each other going, which I think is really key to a duo of... Shay and J-Dub figuring things out. I think that they need to have more action where they're playing off one another and getting each other in easier spots. But they've just kind of struggled to do that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so Shay last night said he did feel like there were things they could do to get J-Dub in better spots and to get easier shots. He said, I'm not going to share what that is. But I wonder if we'll see them playing off one another a little bit more than we've seen so far in this series. Throw some split actions in there.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I honestly don't think it is. I think that they've planned for this team to go into next year, no matter what happens, as pretty much the same squad. And the Giannis question is one that I think that you have to talk about. But it really does mess up their cap sheet. I think that one of the goals is to have a very long run with this team.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I'm ready. I don't know if Isaiah Joe's ready, but I'm definitely ready for Game 7. Ready to be in the building. This is what you go through all the tanking for. This is what you go through all the rebuilding process for. This is why you let Poku throw behind the back passes out of bounds to get to this point where you're playing a Game 7. Poku!
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And Giannis would complicate that pretty quickly as to what you could and couldn't do to keep role players. But... I know it's going to be a topic of conversation. I know that it's something that we'll have to talk about if they do lose Game 7. But we saw them in a similar position in 2012 where they lose in the finals. James Harden was very underwhelming.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And I'm not saying that the underwhelming finals led to the trade. I think there are a lot of things that led to the trade. But you trade this up-and-coming guy who's up for extension, and he goes on to be an MVP and rise to really high levels, at least during the regular season and some during the playoffs. I think that there's probably some regret around that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Now, we're not talking about the Thunder trading J-Dub for Kevin Martin and draft picks, but I think that you have to look at that experience that Presti's already had and say, you know what? probably stayed the course with a guy who just made the all-star team, you know, hope that he figures it out.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Um, you have he and Chet, like if you were to like take a guess, like who's going to be the number two option in three years, if these guys are all still together, um, I think that you'd have people in both camps for who's the third option. So I think they're in a good spot. They won 68 games, but what counts is the playoffs. These are the games that count.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so a lot of people are questioning Jalen Williams today, but I think it would be really short-sighted to trade a guy like that because if you say, hey, Jalen Williams is available via trade, you're getting a call from 29 teams asking, okay, how do we get that guy? And so I don't think that that's the kind of player that you trade.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
This is Giannis. It'd have to be Hartenstein. Dort may have to be involved as well. You're trading a lot of good players to get him.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, I can't wait to be in the building. It's going to be absolutely electric. The crowd in game five was unreal. And I think that they have another level to get to. So I'm pumped to be able to be in the building.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Definitely.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
No, and that's why I think Game 7 will hurt either one of these teams so much because you look at the road ahead. and you think Minnesota's really good, but that's not an unbeatable team. And then you get to the finals, and it's one of these three remaining East teams, and you have to be... It's just a gut punch, I think, because there's an opportunity there for a title.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
For the Thunder, it's for their first title, one that's been elusive to them in the past. They've had these great teams and all these great players and all these all-NBA guys, and... I haven't done it yet. And this is probably their best shot. I mean, it's definitely their best shot since 2016. But when you look at the landscape of everything, there's no LeBron waiting in the finals.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
This is their best shot at a title, period. And so I do think that there is a lot of pressure that exists within that. And then for either team, I think it's a lot of disappointment because this is the shot, I think, for both teams. You look at the Nuggets, too.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
like you have to give them so much credit and like what David Adelman has done to like get them to this point to a game seven and what Jokic has done. I mean, it's, it's incredible. And I think it will feel, I think for both teams, I don't think that there's for either one is going to feel worse, but like they're both going to feel just awful knowing the opportunity that's ahead.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, the pressure of even fans watching it, you can feel it. I think there's times where it's like, man, this is incredible. I can't believe we get to watch this game. There's also times where like, this is how I've chosen to spend my time. This is what I've chosen for my life is watching this excruciating basketball game. Yeah, it's... It's going to be incredible.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
It's going to be an electric atmosphere. I think one thing, too, and Aaron Gordon acted like he was okay, but the hamstring thing is definitely going to be something to watch for over the next couple of days when it comes down to the news. If they do an MRI, I assume they'll do an MRI on his hamstring, but that's a huge swing factor because...
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
We talk about the Nuggets' defense and what they've been able to accomplish. Without Aaron Gordon, this whole thing could come apart because he has been so crucial to so many of the things that they can do defensively and then offensively. He's been the most clutch player in the playoffs so far. I just think that's a huge one. He said he's feeling okay, that he'll be ready for Game 7.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
They'll do treatment over the next couple days. If it is a hamstring injury, That's not one that you can just, you know, hop in the game for because like you have to run like that's part of basketball.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, it's not hard to put together an Aaron Gordon highlight reel from this playoff run. It's hard to edit it down.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, I mean, like, honestly, the biggest thing for OKC is just, can guys make threes? Because the Nuggets are similar to the Thunder in that they are like, hey, we're going to make life as hard as possible for Shea and for J-Dub. We're going to zone up. We're going to throw you multiple looks. And we're going to make your role players prove it.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And that's how the Thunder have won some of these games is that you've had Aaron Wiggins games. You've had moments where Alex Caruso has been incredible. Cason Wallace, Lou Dort. But it's like those guys are going to have to make up the margins. And the Thunder did the same thing. And they've been doing the same thing basically this whole series to Nikola Jokic.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
It's like, we're going to throw guys at you. We're going to make sure that when you spin, somebody's there. And I think that... To me, and this is why you're glad it's at home if you're the Thunder, is Aaron Wiggins going to hit that wing three when it swings over to him? Because there were multiple moments last night where the ball swings to Aaron Wiggins. He's 0-4. That's an Aaron Wiggins shot.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
It's on the wing. It's in rhythm. he usually cashes that in. Can he cash those in? To me, that's what this is all about because they've done such a good job of taking away stuff from Shea, from Jalen, and now it's like, okay, how do we get other guys involved in a way where they can make shots? And I think they actually did that last night.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I think the Thunder did a good enough job of executing, but it's just about shot making. And I think that's the whole thing with J-Dub. He's another one where he can wipe all of this away. He can wipe away the 33% from the field in one game. And so to me, I think the Nuggets will continue to take away driving lanes from them. They'll throw two...
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
at guys, you know, right away in the zone, whenever SGA or Dub drive, it's like, can the next play be good enough? You know, and that's what it is for the Thunder. And they've done, I think they've done a good enough job. I think Denver's done a good enough job, honestly, against OKC's defense.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And it's really just all about these role players and like who shows up in these moments because that's what's kind of being created by both squads.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, and the Thunder have tried to keep two bigs on the floor when Jokic is there, too, which has been something that they... I think that they think of that five out with Chet at the five as probably their fastball. It's the lineup that they ran the most in the previous season. I think that they wanted to run it probably a little bit more.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
They actually had it in there at the end of the game just to see if they could shake loose a little bit. But they've gone away from that. And they will use Hartenstein. They'll use J. Will in that lineup as well, who's been pretty good. He's had a surprising stretch down the end of this season and has been pretty good in the playoffs.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, it's a lineup that just requires shot making. It helps spread the floor, but the floor is not spread unless those guys are making shots. I think if you're Denver, you live with Chet taking threes at this point. I mean, the three worst three-point shooters this series have been Shea at 26%, Chet at 25%, and Dubb at 21%.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so I think if those guys are shooting their normal percentages, I think that you feel really comfortable running that. But when they're shooting, basically all shooting sub 26% from three, I think it makes those lineups really difficult to run because I just don't know that you trust the three-point shooters in that lineup to create. And so... I think that's partly why.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
It's like, okay, we're going to lean on our defense. We know that defensively that we can hang with these guys. And if we can get enough shots to fall from everybody else, then I think we're in good shape. And again, if those guys were hitting at a high level from deep, one, I think the series is probably already over. But I think that you can feel more comfortable running five out like that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
They have so many other health defenders, too. Chet's the major one. But we've seen Shea be a great health defender at times. We've seen Jada is obviously a great defender in his own right, but is also a great health defender. Alex Caruso is the ultimate. And then you have his understudy in Case and Wallace, who's incredible. Yeah. They just have so many guys that you trust and can throw at him.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, I think that the Thunder would welcome that. I think that that's the kind of offense that the Thunder would welcome because they've done such a good job. Caruso.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, because I think those are the minutes that you do go small. Like that tactic that we talked about earlier where you do play chat at the five. Because that's really your only opportunity where you think you can feel really comfortable.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, and I think you have to just be really fast and you have to hope the shots go in. And defensively... they are good enough to handle Jamal Murray out there on his own. They are good enough to handle those minutes. They absolutely have to win those minutes. Because I don't think that the Nuggets have a lot of answers. They don't have a lot of answers when Jokic is in.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
They certainly don't have any answers whenever he's not in there. And so, yeah, the Thunder have to take advantage of those moments. That's where they need to play in transition a lot more. It's like... Let this game get fast. You know, I think that those are the moments probably too where the Nuggets can let the game speed up.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so I think the Thunder have to take advantage of the times where it does. This is it.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, no, I mean, I just could not be more excited to be able to go to this game. This is where a legend will be made from this game. And I kind of agree that this is the title in some ways. This will at least be the team that I think is probably favored to get out of the West.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so there's just a huge opportunity for either Jokic to go for another title or for the Thunder to finally break through and to become the team that they have been scratching and clawing for ever since they got to OKC. So I think, yeah, this is where a legend is made.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, tactically, every game has been so different. I think that's what's been fascinating about it. One game, the thing that kills the thunder is the rebounding. The next is the shooting. It's not just one thing. And that's what's so great about it is that you have these two juggernauts just blow for blow. It is... It is like what you would want out of a playoff series.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I've talked to a bunch of people after the games, and this is the kind of basketball you want to watch in the playoffs. These are two teams that have a lot at stake, that have two of the best players. Honestly, I think we'll look back at a series like this 15, 20 years down the line and think about Shea and Jokic. as two of the best players to ever do it.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
And so I think just trying to take in that moment while watching the series, it's pretty cool. And there's a lot to break down here with J-Dub and everything. But when it comes down to it, these are two very good teams that have been coached very well. And I'm excited for Game 7. I don't know what's going to happen. Did you think...
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, they're at 58-46 in that moment. I think they had three steals during that run. Shay had 10 points during that run. I think Chet had nine, and you just thought, OK, this looks like it's it. And then as they unraveled, during that 12-3 run where Dort ends with that corner three, it felt more like the series.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
There have been only really just been one game that's felt like that in game two where the Thunder just dismantled them. But the rest of it has been... I think if you're either the Thunder or the Nuggets, I think there's been a lot of moments where... I think in game five, if you're the Nuggets, you probably feel like, man, we should be up 20 right now.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
For the Thunder, I felt like there were moments where they've been like, yeah, they should be up 20 right now instead. Yeah. Yeah, I thought that was going to be it. I thought that was going to be the run. I thought they were going to get enough distance.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
We've seen enough games like this from the Thunder where they go on these runs and then they're able to just keep the 9-10 point distance and they'll go on another run where they push to 20. It did feel like that's where we were headed.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Yeah, it is. And I mean, Julian Strother's the hero of last night. I mean, I don't think... I don't know who would have predicted that Julian Strother's going to come off the bench and score 15 points, go on his own personal 8-0 run. You know, we talk about moments that define the game. I think that 8-0 run defined the game, too. I think that...
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Every, you know, both these teams need one of those guys to step up. You know, I think last night, if the Thunder hang on, I think it's probably case and Wallace that we're talking about today as the guy that made the difference off the bench. But Julian, this is the Julian Strother game. They needed it. He was so hyped.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I mean, if you're a Denver fan, there's probably nothing more fun than watching him. Like after a make, I talked to his teammates, just like, can you believe this is happening? It's kind of like how it felt after every shot that he made. I thought, you know, obviously he was great. Look,
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
It's got to be game one because it was like all these controllable things for the Thunder. down the stretch of that game. It felt like it was a game that they made a ton of mistakes in, but was absolutely still winnable. I mean, the fact that they fouled up three as quickly as they did was a huge mistake.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
The fact that you're fouling in the backcourt up three, it just felt like rookie mistakes for them in the playoffs, which you just really can't have in round two against a team like Denver. So I think it's absolutely... I think it's absolutely game one. Game three was rough, but it was more like normal basketball rough. Like, yeah, sometimes these things happen.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
Like this happens, if you're playing a seven game series, a game like that's going to happen. Game one felt way more like in the Thunder's hands, controllable. They should have had that one, but they let go of the rope. You know, Chet misses the two free throws. Down the stretch, I know he really beat himself up about it. But yeah, that's the one.
The Zach Lowe Show
Game 7 Baby! OKC-Denver Breakdown With Andrew Schlecht, and a Warriors Postmortem With Logan Murdock
I think a lot of Thunder fans are sitting at home thinking this should be over right now because of game one.