Jaren Jackson scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Memphis Grizzlies over Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time in ten days. Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni discuss the Wolves lineup issues with Donte DiVincenzo out indefinitely, the Julius Randle problem, and the Pistons success in 2025. Then, the Athletic’s Jay King joins the show from the Bay Area to discuss the woeful Warriors, Boston’s status in the Eastern Conference, and what’s next for the Celtics.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni & Jay KingExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson MoodySubmit your questions to The Athletic NBA Daily mailbag: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5939460/2024/11/25/nba-podcast-mailbag-athletic-daily/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Wolves vs. Grizzlies game?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for January 21st, 2025. Coming up, the Wolves lose another close game to the Grizzlies, and I think they need to make a change. We've got Jay King live after the Boston Celtics play the Warriors on the road, and we take a look at the Pistons, who are looking great in 2025. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Morning. Nice little holiday weekend.
I'm feeling refreshed. Had all this extra time off. We had a lot of really good basketball over the weekend, and that doesn't even include the unrivaled stuff from Friday and Saturday.
Did you have a chance to watch any of it? Yeah, a little bit, to be honest with you. I spent some time off, you know, enjoying myself. But yes, I saw the highlights. It looked cool. Very interestingly that they got starting up. So, hey, why not? Some off-season hoops for the W? Why not? Yeah, it's fun.
I mean, it's not like what we're used to when we think about basketball, but it is interesting. It's fast-paced. We'll see if three-on-three full court is something that's going to stick around. They'll probably tweak this a little bit, but the first weekend, I thought, You know, it was cool. And again, it was something new and different with basketball. So, yeah, not new and different.
The Wolves lost again in a pretty similar way to the Grizzlies for the second time in a week. 108-106, just another close game. And look, as right now, I don't think there's any question that the Wolves are not winning. the team that we expected them to be at this stage of the season. The Grizzlies are just a better basketball team right now.
But this game in particular, it showed that they did not have Dante DiVincenzo. He's going to be out. We got that news right before the game. He's going to be out. Definitely with the left.
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Chapter 2: What are the Wolves' lineup issues?
big toe injury and um he's going around looking for outside options and opinions I guess which does not sound great I'm assuming he's gonna miss a bunch of time and that stinks because they you know they just made the big lineup change and you know his shooting was such a needed addition to the starting lineup I don't know what the plan is going forward without DiVincenzo
yeah i mean look there's no question that this sucks for the wolves because again the three-point shooting was massive in that starting lineup it felt like that starting lineup change was almost inevitable putting mike conley on the bench because he he just hadn't aged well uh and was really really progressing this season so incorporating dante into that starting lineup hopefully would have sparked a change for this wolf season which has not gone the way we expected it to but
Chapter 3: How does Dante DiVincenzo's injury affect the Wolves?
Yeah, this injury is a massive blow. Sort of glass half full approach to this thing, though, is that Rob Dillingham, their rookie, is going to officially get more minutes, will likely be in the rotation. And they need him to be a hit, right? Unequivocally, they need him to be a hit. And so I thought he was great tonight.
Had like 15 points in 15 minutes, punched in, was an effective score, played off of the guys well, had that spark in that fourth quarter that really ignited them as well. I don't know.
I think giving more opportunities to the young guys in a season that's not going the way you'd expect it to is probably a good use of resources because it's like, hey, if we're not going back to the Western Conference finals, why not try to develop the guy we expect to be the long term backcourt partner for Ant? You know what I mean? Yeah.
Find out how close he is to being an actual Mike Conley replacement, which is really what they're hoping for with him. I'll tell you the other person that needs more minutes and needs more opportunities. And it's funny to say this because we say his name all the time. Nas Reed had 29 off the bench. I mean, this is another game where, you know, you just see these guys playing with Nas.
Chapter 4: What is the Julius Randle problem for the Wolves?
He's five of 10 from three, right? He's getting up 10. Gets up 10 threes in the game. This is what they need. They need another volume three-point shooter. And every single time I see him out there with the starters in place of Julius Randle, not only is he doing stuff, he's more active on defense, but he just fits much better.
It's time, right? It's time. And I know the other side of this equation is the Julius Randall problem. And I think this was the game that, you know, the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will, when it comes to Julius Randall, who looked really lethargic out there, had five points in 33 minutes, was a minus nine and a two point loss was just not. a guy that you could rely upon.
And on the other side, coming off the bench, you have Nas Reed, who again, like you mentioned, bringing energy, shot making, brought them back into the game in the first quarter, hit huge shots in that fourth quarter to ignite them. And he fits so much better in that starting lineup, especially when McDaniels, non-shooter go bear non-shooter.
And so when you have Randall incorporated with those guys, the slower decision-making is not working. And so I think it's not only a time for a lineup change. I think with the deadline coming up in the next couple of weeks, they should find a new home for Julius Randall who has a player option next season, who, I mean, that's a, that's a tough contract to move.
Let's be real because that's, that's the issue there when it comes to trying to trade Randall at his low point. But I don't know. It just feels like this might be an addition via subtraction type of thing for them where they could actually become better if they were to move off of Randall and get anything in return that could maybe fill out their rotation.
I just I don't know this game and the Warriors game where he walked off the court, didn't talk to the media. That all adds up, right? The vibes are off on top of the on-court fit not working. So it's time for a change, man. I've held out for this long, but I have to say it now. It's time for a change.
When the argument that a guy remain a starter is that he wouldn't be happy coming off the bench, I feel like, you know, again, it messes with my basketball sensibilities to just think, You've got a better player who's a better fit who you can't start because of a personality conflict. I think I'm with you. I think that clearly is the way this was going to go.
I wonder if one of these tanking teams, you know, like the Wizards or take him on, you know, the Nets or somebody might be willing to take him. And, you know, you have to play the guy. But if everyone around us is so bad, it's not like Julius Randall is going to be some sort of a rising tide for the Washington Wizards. Right. Like, you know, winning many games.
What about like, and I don't know exactly the numbers here contract-wise and how it would work, but like Malcolm Brogdon, Jonas Valanciunas, right? There you go. Those guys would fit into the Wolves rotation. You get a backup big, you get, you know, some ball handling responsibilities in Brogdon. I just, something like that, right? For the Wizards, you bought that out.
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Chapter 5: How are the Pistons performing in 2025?
That they're kind of like putty in the sense that they could be molded in any way they want to. It just depends on their own court context and how they're supposed to be, you know, developed, quote unquote.
You know, it's not something we think about with non shooters all that often. But I would say that these guys both have really good feel of the game. Yeah, totally. If that makes – and we normally think about that with a guy who kind of does everything and really like shooters. You put the ball in the basket a lot. You say you have a good feel for a game.
But these guys, they just pick their spots as cutters. I mean, Amin Thompson is putting on a master class as far as a wing working the baseline and the corner as a non-shooter. Yeah. If this guy ever sticks shots.
I mean, he's – Both defensive stoppers too, right? Like both of these guys lock into – It's funny you talk about the feel because people usually talk about feel like you mentioned, like the feel of the offensive process and shooting. But they have everything else. And I think that's why they succeed feel wise. It's like they understand the game at a really, really high level.
Chapter 6: What are Cade Cunningham's recent performances?
Yeah. A little bit of news came out over the weekend. We got our first entrant into this year's dunk contest. Stephen Castle from the San Antonio Spurs, which, by the way, he's he's caught a few. bodies this year oh yeah yeah you know that guy can get up but my question for you s Does anybody care about the dunk contest?
I mean, you know, we've had this argument for years where people are like, oh, they should just get professional dunkers, which I'm against. But if the stars don't want to do it, I mean, and I've now been doing this for long enough that I've had this conversation with, I don't know, 12 or 15 people. Yeah. If the stars don't want to do it, is it a thing that people are going to care about?
Yeah, I think I think the stars are too afraid to get embarrassed. You know, like there is a legitimate argument for that. You could think about like Jalen Brown's dunk contest and what happened with the left hand thing and how for what it's worth, it worked out for him.
But I just feel like there's there's this level of anxiety of like you don't want to commit to something and completely botch it. And if you're not that elite, high level talent, they try to go for those younger guys to be in the dunk contest. That's why you see Steph Castle.
both of them yeah because they would be incredible uh and that get the thompson twins to play music yeah all the thompson twins are in the dunk contest very nice yeah i'm with you well and the thing is i like that stefan castle's in it i mean look yeah young players especially this is a good opportunity but man i just i don't understand why like Why couldn't we get Ja versus Zion at any point?
Or Ant, right? Yeah. I mean, LeBron. Hey, LeBron. Why not be in this year's dunk contest? As 40-year-old LeBron, that would be incredible. Yeah. I mean, you're telling me he doesn't have a couple 50s in his bag? Oh, he definitely does. Yeah. So I just would like to see, you know, maybe some of the guys who are higher stakeholders in the NBA maybe take part in some of the fun stuff for fans.
Yeah.
Guys...
I will say, though, I think the three-point contest has taken over as the main event. It's been like that for a while, and I don't know. You need someone. You need a star, to your point, to revitalize that dunk contest.
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Chapter 7: How do the Thompson twins compare on the court?
What is the, I guess, vibe of the team in the locker room after this win, knowing they've, I mean, they just dominated?
I think the last month, it's just 8-8, but it's been just inconsistency. And because last year was so smooth, this is the first time this group with Porzingis, with Drew Holiday, has experienced any type of rut. And so it's just different. And to see that group struggle, to see the starting lineup be as bad as it has been over the last month,
Um, to see them like just be outscored or close to it with Chris Ashpor Zingas on the court, which is very strange. Like just been a weird month. The, the end of game stuff against Atlanta, even the game they won against the Pelicans. I date. They threw a ball out of bounds like just for no reason. They had a five second violation. They they've missed clutch free throw.
It's like everything has gone wrong. So do you think they like been a very weird stretch? But but today obviously was just a pretty complete win there. Their defense was there in the first half when the offense wasn't quite rolling. And then once the offense kind of came around, they ran away with it.
I was just going to ask, do you think they like the fact that they're in this rut? You know, I feel like Joe Missoula, the way that he talks, it's like, Hey, we, this is the, this is what we asked for.
Fully on board with the Missoula propaganda. It's just, I mean, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm sure Joe loves it. Yeah. I'm sure there's a part of him that's like, you know what? We can really benefit from this and, and we can benefit from things being hard. We can benefit from, um, Going through like they've talked a lot lately about how the NBA has adjusted to them and how teams are guarding them differently.
And and especially with Porzingis back, I think the coverages against them have been different. They've been shifting and they're sort of trying to figure all of that out. So maybe they come out of this better. But I think the the bigger point is like. Like, they're probably just a little. like, low energy right now. They won a championship.
And as Steve Kerr pointed out today, not only did they win a championship, most of the guys on this team spent seven or eight years building toward that championship. Right, yeah. And so you put so much time, so much energy into winning that, and then you've got to come back, and it's like, where is the motivation, you know? Do it again.
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Chapter 8: Does anyone care about the dunk contest this year?
I think pretty much any team, if you go through a cold shooting stretch, will have real difficulties. So it's interesting because if their three-point percentages were just normal during this streak, how different would it be? How many more games would they have won? And so you can point to shot luck, but also at the same time, it's like,
I think the process going into those looks hasn't been quite the same as it was earlier this season. The thing that Joe Missoula has pointed out a couple of times is like, they're not, they're also not getting up as many threes as it did earlier this season. It was like 50, they were averaging 52 threes attempted per game for a while, which is insane.
And over the last month or so, it's been down to about 45. So I think he would be okay with them getting up more. And I think it's, it's, part of the clunkier process that they've had that they haven't gotten those up and also bringing poor Zingas back. Obviously, he's going to take more twos. He's going to take more post-ups.
So it's been a process for them figuring it out the last month or so, especially with that starting lineup. the struggles they had with that group for a while was really startling.
Well, they, they bounced back tonight, obviously that starting group, uh, but overall, like still hovering at nearly like a zero on the net rating side. And you have them with Horford. They're like a plus 20 so far this season. Uh, Is that a defensive slippage?
Because I feel like over the last month or so trying to incorporate Porzingis, you obviously have to play a specific style of defense with KP out there. Is it more the defense and maybe even defending the three versus getting the shots up on the offensive end? Yeah. Yeah. What do you think it is?
Yeah, I think that's a big part of it. Obviously, like when Porzingis was out. The first two months of the season, they were actually one of the best teams at preventing three point attempts by the other team. Right. And so that was the style that they use.
Whereas last year with Porzingis, they sort of played like the Bucks did with with Brooke Lopez and Giannis under Budenholzer, where they were like, you can fire away. We'll leave your best shooters. We'll protect the rim. We'll kind of have our defense start from the inside and then work out.
um and with porzingis back they've kind of gone back to that previous style where they're allowing a lot more three-point attempts and right now teams have been gassing them the last month teams have been gassing them from behind the arc i think to some extent like every team is shot like the cavaliers against it was something like when porzingis i looked at this a couple games ago uh so it's probably not exactly the case anymore especially after what the warriors just did but for for a 10-game stretch
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