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I Ranked the 2024 NBA Draft Class · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: We are less than five days away from the start of the NBA season, and I cannot wait.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beachum.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: On today's show, we got to talk about the new Kawhi Leonard news.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: Lonzo Ball is back to playing ball.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: Come on, man.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: And then we brought in our friend Keandre Ashley to talk about the 2024 NBA draft class and so much more.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: Stay tuned.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm going to start off this episode by talking from the heart.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because uh Lonzo Ball is back playing basketball.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I try to figure out like, would I care as much if I wasn't a Bulls fan?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Probably not.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: But Lonzo Ball had gone 1,000 plus days without playing NBA level basketball.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: That is insane to say aloud.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: I have a two and a half-year-old daughter.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: She was not in this world just yet when the last time Lonzo Ball played basketball for the Bulls.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: And for him to come back in his preseason game was so electric.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was telling my wife, there's a 0% chance he looks good.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: This is a zero.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like we are here for the cool story to say that Lonzo Ball came back.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: He's back playing basketball, but I wholeheartedly did not expect him to do anything on the court.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: It was about the moment.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the Bulls did a pretty good job of making sure they got a lot of moments that would have been able to live, even if he had a poor shooting night or he got torched offensively or whatever, whatever.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Lonzo Ball, first game in a thousand plus days, 15 minutes, 10 points, a steal, a block, a rebound.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: He actually looked pretty good, man.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Now, of course, he wasn't moving as good as he did last time he played for the Bulls.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: He has an entirely new knee.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: A procedure that has never been done and been done successfully for a professional athlete to come back to play their sport.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: He is a one-of-one type of patient and he's done it.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: And it's such a cool moment because obviously we we recognize that in order to get to this level, um, the these athletes have to put in so, so much time that they have to live, they have to sleep, they have to eat basketball.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: And Lonzo did that.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: And he got to the point he was a second overall pick.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: And we basically watched Lonzo ball grow up, right?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um ball in the family to him playing and having crazy highlights of Chino Hills, being one of the most dominant high school teams of all time to get into the league.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like I felt so happy for him to see him check into that game.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: Again, not expecting him to hit a shot, to him to make a steal.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: Not only did he steal the ball, he dove out of bounds to keep it in play.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: When you have that type of knee injury where you have an entirely different knee, they were talking about on the broadcast that they had a cadaver that donated the knee cartilage.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: That would scare the hell out of me, first of all.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it didn't for Lonzo.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: He came back of the court, he was moving, he was jumping, he was doing all this stuff, and I'm so very excited.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know exactly what his season looks like or his career looks like from here on out, but that moment was great.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: It completely, completely overshadowed um Julius Randle's first game with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: It was all about Lonzo Ball, and that was great.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: And to see the basketball community at large kind of come together and be like, hey, Lonzo, we're happy to have you back is pretty special.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: So shout out to Lonzo Ball.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to the Bulls.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: Sneakily playing at a really, really fast pace right now.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: I'm saying that was the that was my one thing.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Be bad, but be fast.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what they that's what they're doing.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um but a little before we decided to come on and film this show, we got some break and breaking news from Shams Sharania.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is expected to be sidelined for an indefinite period of time to start the NBA season as he rehabilitates the inflammation in his right knee.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_03: This is not a surprise.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a surprise whatsoever.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he was sent home from the Olympics and they said he just wasn't ready to play basketball.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: And as much as he tried to downplay the media day, how he wants to play all 82, so on and so forth, there is a there is a reason they didn't send Kawhi Leonard home because he's a bad basketball player.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: He's one of the best in the world, because he just wasn't ready and he won't be ready for the NBA season.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: And this may not, on surface level, seem like anything that's too ridiculous.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: But if this report was for almost anybody else, I wouldn't be tripping.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: But it's Kawhi Leonard.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: And Kawhi Leonard, of course, has a history of being pretty shush-shush when it comes to his own injury history.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: There have been plenty of reports of Kawhi Leonard having an injury, and we thinking it's, or at least early on, thinking it won't take him very long to rehabilitate or to come back and it ends up holding them out for an entire season.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm I'm scared.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'm frustrated.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like I just mentioned with Alonzo Ball, these players live, eat, sleep basketball.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm frustrated for Kawhi.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm frustrated for Clippers fans and everything, but this is just gearing up to be potentially a season from hell.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: They don't own their own first round pick.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: Damn.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: The OKC Thunder own their first round pick.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: And the OKC Thunder have Shagus Alexander, Jay Dub, Shay Holmgren, Alice Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, who was also injured.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: We'll talk about that, I guess, a little bit.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: And you're trying to tell me that because Kawhi Leonard won't be ready to start the season, hell, who knows when he'll be ready, they're gonna swap picks with the Clippers and potentially get another top 10 pick?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's insanity, bro.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: It is really, really insanity.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: And listen, I don't think the Clippers have made a ton of bad decisions.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_03: I know that may sound crazy because this whole run with Kawhi Leonard on the team and Paul George being on the team has only resulted in one conference finals appearance.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: But if you ask every single general manager at the time, if you have an opportunity to go get Kawhi Leonard, who was coming off an NBA championship run, where it was one of the most dominant individual playoff runs of all time, him coming off of that season and he said, Hey, I want to come to your team.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: I want to bring my homie who was top three in MVP the last season.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Every single general manager in basketball is saying yes to that deal.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're saying that you wouldn't, that's revisionist history.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: You are lying to yourself because Kawhi Leonard was about that.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: And Paul George was about that.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't think they made a mistake there.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think the lone mistake that they made, and this happens a few months back, was giving Kawhi Leonard the extension.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like I understand, he's he is one of the few people that gave the Clippers a chance.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: He's he made the Clippers relevant again.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, shout out to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: We were a few years removed from that, the Lob City days.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: And they were looking for relevancy.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: Now, they did have the series against um against the Warriors, where they were down by 30 points in the fourth quarter came back.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: That was a pretty special year with Shea Gibbs Alexander's rookie and so on and so forth.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: But the Clippers, say what you want about these last couple years of being um a playoff team and losing the first round and only having a couple playoff appearances where they got out of the first round.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: We always had to consider the Clippers, regardless.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Even Kawhi Leonard coming off ACL tier when he when he when it happened in Utah or it happened in LA against Utah.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: We had to consider the Clippers being healthy and them being a contender, so on and so forth.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't think they made a mistake by bringing these guys in.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: The mistake was extending Kawhi, knowing his history, and not really being under pressure to do so.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: Kawhi Leonard was not an upcoming free agent.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: He was not hitting a 2024 free agency class.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: Even if he was, what team out there had the money to go get him, other than I guess the 76ers, and who also got Paul George?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: But like the market, it wasn't it wasn't really there for him.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: Same thing with their guy, James Harden.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: Them giving him$30 plus million dollars a year is mind-blowing to me.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: They've made a couple bad decisions in this last six months or so.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I'm frustrated, I'm just completely, completely frustrated.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: I know Sam Presty's rubbing his rubbing his hands together like Bird, man, man.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: He cannot wait to see exactly what that pick turns into.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Because in my mind, when anything I see Kawhi Leonard is sidelined, I'm expecting a month minimum.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Hell, this could be a weak thing.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: I just highly, highly doubt it's a weak thing.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: And even if Kawhi Leonard was healthy, this team just doesn't have enough to be really successful anyway.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: And they just, of all the teams in basketball, I may have made this point before.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they might be in the worst place of all of them as far as the long term.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: Because Kawhi, let's hypothetically, you're Steve Baumer, you're the people in charge of it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_03: You say, hey, the Kawhi Leonard thing hasn't really worked out.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna call the other 29 gender managers of basketball.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, Kawhi Leonard is available.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_03: How many of them are picking up the phone and really entertaining anything?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, sure, some teams might take some shots, but you ain't about to get three first-round picks.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: You're not getting a Mikhail Bridges package, you're not getting a Kevin Durant package or so on or something.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: This he's he's damaged goods, and it's insane because again, two NBA playoff runs where he was spectacular.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: Damaged goods.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: James Harden,$30 plus million dollars for the next couple years.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody wants that.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: So their whole way of breaking it down and doing this is just non-existent.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: And they don't own the rights to their own pick for five years.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like they have a couple swaps in there with OKC, but OKC, as you know, is gonna be a team that's winning 50 plus games for the next five years.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: So they're in a terrible, terrible spot.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'm taking like the possibility of the Washington Wizards taking Cooper Flag or Ace Bailey.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm taking a possibility of the Brooklyn Nets.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the Brooklyn Nets have a wheel, a real road to success again.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: This year, be awful.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Go get a top three overall pick, whoever it may be.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: Next year, uh$75 million in cap space.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: Go get it, go get a guy.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Do what the Houston Rockets did, and boom, we're back to at least, okay.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: We're never gonna be the team of New York.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: Even with Kevin Durant and Carrie Irving on the team, you weren't the team of New York.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: But we can still turn ourselves to a competent NBA team like that, even if we only have our own first-round pick one of the next four years, whatever the number is.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: Clippers are in the best spot.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: New arena, though.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: New arena cleans up everything.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: What I wanted to do early in this episode, though, was to come in here and say whether I'm buying or selling on random things happening in the preseason.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: I've been locked in the preseason.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's kind of sad in a way.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because I told my wife the 22nd is when um basketball starts at six o'clock, seven o'clock, and I'm kind of non-existent until midnight or further beyond that.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I kind of moved that timeline for another week or two and earlier.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, oh, okay.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_03: Ben Simmons, Ben Simmons versus Cal Kuzma preseason, I can convince myself that's worth worth watching.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: So I did.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I asked people at home to give me stuff, and I'll tell you if I'm buying or selling these things going on the preseason.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: Because while you should be taking preseason with a grain of salt, there are things that I think should transition over.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: The first one comes from Autistic Bucks fan, Bucks rookie AJ Johnson getting playing time and actually being a rotational piece.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: Are you buying or selling?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: AJ Johnson.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, a rookie in this class that when he was drafted, a lot of people like, oh, that's somewhat of a reach.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: We have him in the 50s, we have him in the 60s.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, oh, he wasn't even on some big board.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: They took him in the first round.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he was playing overseas for the same team.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Lamelo ball played for, um, and he was averaging like three points per game.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: He wasn't getting a lot of burn.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_03: But he obviously has something.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've seen him now in summer league, I've seen him in a few preseason games.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_03: But him contributing to this team, I'm gonna say sale as a rookie, because you gotta think about what the aspirations are for the Milwaukee Bucks, right?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_03: Unless you see a major injury, which I guess they're already dealing with one with Chris Middleton, unless you see a major injury, there's just, I don't think there's a lot of opportunity for him for Doc Rivers to say, hey, 18, 19-year-old kid, go run our offense for us.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm looking at their depth chart, and they brought in Delon Wright this offseason.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: Good basketball player.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: They're hoping for a Pat Connitton resurgence, shoot some threes, hit some threes.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_03: Torian Prince is a real rotational player.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: What surprised me though is like um Ajax, Andre Jackson Jr., who was drafted um from UConn a few years back.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I saw him as a pretty interesting prospect as a defensive-oriented guy, a Matisse Steible type of dude.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Is the offense ever gonna come?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Probably not, but hell, he could defend his ass off.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, in the preseason, AJ Johnson's getting a lot of minutes over him.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: In the Bulls game from a few nights ago, Ajax played six total minutes, and those total minutes were at the end of the fourth quarter, while AJ Johnson got burned in the first quarter.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I think he's already higher on the depth chart as some guys like Marjon Bochamp, who was also drafted a few years back, and Ajax.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: But I still find it hard to believe that the veteran coach of Doc Rivers, with this team trying to win a championship, will go to the young guy.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: Now, they are the youngest team of basketball, right?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean the oldest team of basketball.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe they're looking for some of that young juice to come in and dunk the ball and do some crazy highlights because he's good for that.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: But I just I just really don't see it.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: The next one, Bob Cat EJ says, Do you buy or sell the Cavs getting better by only changing their head coach?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna buy this.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: Now, there are a few teams of basketball that are going through this exact thing.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: We have pretty much the exact same roster, and what we did was change the coach.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, the LA Lakers out west is another primary sample of this where they brought back pretty much everybody, drafted Dalton Connect, drafted Brianny James, they said we're running it back.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, this one I'm more confident in than the Lakers one, and I like the Lakers one too.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to JJ Reddick.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: But the one thing that was missing when I was watching the Cavs is that their offense wasn't uh as creative as some of the other teams in basketball.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: And JB Bickersaf is a defensive minded coach, and we all recognize that the Cavs have been a really good defensive team over the last couple seasons.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: Kenny Atkinson kind of has his balance of the things where he's running certain stuff that is really intriguing and I think can put Evan Mobley and Darius Garland back in a positive light.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna just go, I'm gonna go with yes here because I am a firm believer in being patient with the Cleveland Cavaliers, specifically if Donovan Mitchell was okay with it.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, his timeline is the timeline in my opinion.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's just rare you're gonna get a player of that caliber and he's one of the whatever best players in the world.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: But if he's signing on there and said, hey, I'm completely okay with this, I would rather them chill for a season, see what they have in Kenny Atkins, and see if you can get that jump from Evan Mobley, see if you can get Darius Garland back in the right light before we do the thing that a lot of people want them to do is trade Jared Allen.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: Can't do that now.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_03: He's just signed an extension, can't do that to February.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: Trade Darius Garland.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the numbers will support that the Cavs were better when it was just Donovan Mitchell on the court, but I also think that was a product of JB Bickerstaff not putting these guys in the perfect situation to succeed.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: Now, if it happens for another year, we can have these conversations.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: We transition to a new coach, we got a whole new system, and Darius Garland is still not being the version of him that we want him to be.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: He's still not getting put in the position to be successful, then let's have those conversations.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: But there's no real reason when you have a team this young, in my opinion, to really blow things up and try to sell here or buy here.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Because let's be real, Eastern Conference is really, really tough right now.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if trading Darius Garland is gonna get you anything to be a contender right now.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if trading Jared Allen is gonna get you anything to be a contender right now.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: So let's chill, be okay with being the fourth seed.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, maybe surprise some people being a three seed, but recognize that like the Celtics kind of got this on lock right now.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, every giant falls eventually, but they kind of got this on lock.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: And maybe we'll wait out the Celtics because they won't be this same team for two more years.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's literally impossible for them to be the same team for two years.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe we'll wait them out and we'll be the next team.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: Because in two years, uh Paul George will be what, 37 years old, Joel B to be 32 years old.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's a competitor.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: The uh the New York Knicks are already hella expensive when you talk about adding OJ and Nobi's contract and what you have to extend Mikhail Bridges for, and you have Carnthony Towns, the seventh most expensive player in basketball.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Some of these teams won't look exactly the same in a few years.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: And our course, 26 years old, 23 years old, 24 years old, and 27.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: If we can hold put and just get gradually better while our opponents get worse, I'm here for that.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: Next one comes from a guy that will be appearing on the show one day.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: Spoiler alert, our boy Three Comb.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: Shea gives Alexanders increased three-point volume and efficiency.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: Are you buying or selling?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: I am buying it, baby.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: There are a few things for the OKC when I watched last season that I thought need to be better.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: A, get Josh Giddy off the goddamn court.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: They did that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: They did that.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I just watched Josh Giddy miss four layups in a basketball game last night.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: Four of them.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: He's off their team.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: They got a real play in return.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so that's done.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: Go get more rebounded.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Isaiah Hard's not out with an injury.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: We'll be sidelined for at least a month, unfortunate.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_03: But he's a guy that will come in and help them get some of those rebounds that they missed in the Dallas Mavericks series that led to open three-pointers.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: Cool.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And the last one, they just didn't get the volume and three-pointers up that their opponents did.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: And they were one of the three best three-point shooting teams of basketball when it comes to efficiency.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: They just needed more volume.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: You see that already in preseason, where J Dub is attempting, what, like nine threes a game in preseason.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: Shea is not only attempting threes, they're like pull-up threes.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: And Shay is in this his own group of things.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's like three or four players in basketball that are um in this same group.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: That when they shoot threes, it looks like it's hurting.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: DeMar DeRozan is there too.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: We are we are I am so accustomed to seeing these two dudes take long mid-ranges or get to the basket that when they do shoot threes, it's like, ew.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it went in.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, cool, cool, cool.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: But ew, that's what Shay's in right now.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: And he had a couple pull-up threes the other night against um, I forget which opponent it was, but like I'm buying not just Shay, but the team having that as a point of emphasis because, well, that's a point of emphasis for everybody right now.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Phoenix.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: Phoenix Suns, we talked about it last episode.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Coach Bootenholz has been very apparent about what his goal is.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Billy Donovan in Chicago said, hey, we're gonna be a three-point shooter team.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: I know they're not in the same level as these other teams, but regardless, Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets said, hey, we're gonna shoot more threes this season.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: All of these teams that were lower towards the bottom of the league when it comes to three-point attempts seem like they're trying to get higher on that list.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_03: Even like the Clippers who are gonna miss Kawhi Leonard again.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they're trying to create more three-pointers.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know what the pick and roll is gonna be between Harton and Zubac, but it's like, can we create more threes for these other guys?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: And um that's the way basketball is.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: And this is something I'm workshopping, so don't take it um as face value.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm still working on this, and I we probably has to give it like two more years before this becomes a real opinion.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_03: But there are a few super influential teams in the history of basketball, and I'm only gonna go through my lifetime.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure there are teams in the 90s that were super influential and so on and so forth.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: The first one that comes to mind is uh seven seconds or less than Tony offense, where they made it a normal thing for teams to run this small ball four thing as Sean Marion and so on and so forth.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna get a lot of threes up, we're gonna play fast.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: That was pretty much an anomaly at that time.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: I actually went back to watch some games from this um from this era, and the spacing still bothers me to this day.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_03: But as a kid, I didn't think anything of it.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: So they're one of the more influential teams.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: Another more influential team is also a Dan Tony team.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_03: It's the Maury Ball threes and layups.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: This also is where teams start to transition to take in more threes, uh, prioritizing not just any threes, but corner threes, where guys like PJ Tucker get a real NBA career because he's dynamite from there and he also defends very well, recognizing that the corners are shorter than every other point of the court.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: Then you have the Warriors, their motion offense, their death lineups.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: People were trying to replicate that so much that the Atlanta Hawks tried to literally one-to-one replicate that.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: Think about it.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: Think of this.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: This is a real thing.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: Their Steph Curry was Trey Young.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he did get some Steph Curry comps once upon a time, only because he can shoot the three-point ball and he's a smaller dude.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because that's uh good playmakers.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: That's like the only thing that really their Klay Thompson was supposed to be Kevin Herter.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember when Kevin Herter got drafted with Omari Spelman?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: And Omari Spelman was supposed to be their Draymond Green.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like they had the recipe so great in with the Warriors that other teams were trying to replicate it to a T.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, then I think that the 2023-2024 Celtics are they could potentially be there.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Again, something we're workshopping.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: We we have to give it a few more years to see what the opposing teams across basketball decide to do.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: But I think the teams are gonna try to mold their teams around what the Warriors did.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, the Celtics did last season.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: So keep that in mind.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: Keep bookmark this into the middle, I'm sorry, the end of 2024.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: And then once we start in the 2026-2027 season, we'll see how right or wrong I was about this one.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, a few more before we get into our guests.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Ryan Barthart said, Are you buying or selling the Warriors being a very good basketball team?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm I'm kind of, I think I'm kind of buying it.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Let me explain.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: In my mind, the Western Conference are in like four to five real tiers.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the bottom two tiers we don't really give a damn about.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: But like tier number one is OKC, Dallas, and Denver.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: Those are the three teams in the Western Conference that I think could come out and win the damn thing.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: Then we got tier number two of Minnesota, Phoenix, and Memphis.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: All of these guys have the potential to do that, but I feel like I gotta see more.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta see what Julius Randle looks like for a full season or a couple months.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta see if the bud ball is real.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: I have to see what Memphis looks like when they're completely healthy.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then in tier number three, we have the Warriors, the Lakers, the Kings, the Rockets, and Pelicans.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: And of those five teams, I think I trust the Warriors the most to get to a tier two team.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: And part of that, and I made a tweet about this, and I still don't really know.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: I have to like go into a real film study, but part of me is like the season starts in four days.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: Do I want to be, you know, doing film studies on preseason basketball?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: That it feels like the Warriors' offense from this preseason has evolved.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: And obviously it's very similar sets and everything, but I feel like they've gone to a whole nother level because there was a once upon a time and where there were a group of NBA players that legitimately could not play for the Warriors.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: Everything was too complex.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: The D'Angelo Russell's, the Kelly Ubrees of the World, good basketball players, but could not survive in the Warriors system because it was so much of I don't know, what was it more reader react or whatever?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_03: They just, those guys just could not hang.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I think their next evolution is having it so that these younger dudes can come into their team and be successful players without us having to bat an eye on whether or not he can play for this team.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I like that roster a lot, and I'm liking what I'm seeing in preseason.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: Again, maybe not should be taken at face value, but I'm like, what am I seeing?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: What am I seeing different?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: What is the evolved version of this team?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: And then I remembered this offseason, they did bring in Terry Stotz.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: And Terry Stotz doesn't get the credit that he deserves for what he did with Portland offensively.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like, of course, Portland has what, one conference finals run in the Damian Lillard era, which again is hella impressive.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but but still, like that team with Dame and CJ, they had a really well-constructed offense.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm watching Damian Lillard stuff, um, or remembering Damian Lillard stuff, where like um it's like a uh who is it?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: Was it like Ennis Cancer is at the at the elbow, at the elbow.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: Dame left wing, CJ McCullum top of the key.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: And we're watching CJ McCollum cut off of an Ennis Cancer for a back screen.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like I literally watched the Warriors do that the other night with Jonathan Kaminga.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, oh, like that is that's real.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: Terry Stotz has come in and changed some things, and they also are sorry, they're also trying to get up more three pointers.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: The team that made three pointers, okay.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'll just say we want to shoot more of them.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: What the hell?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: Now they do have their own question marks of like who's gonna start, right?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like we saw Wiggins start the other night because.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because Pods was out for the preseason game.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, okay, can Wiggins, can Draymond and Kaminga coexist as a two through four?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_03: If you're because Draymond said he doesn't want to play the five full time.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: So now you got a lineup of really one plus three-point shooter.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: We don't love that.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like pods has to start there, right?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: So it's like, okay, does that mean Kaminga comes off the bench?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Does that mean Wiggins coming off the bench?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: We don't really know.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: But these are good options to have.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: I think that D'Anthony Melton, for what it's worth, I can't believe he's still only 26 years old, is a good basketball player.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: And he's had his back problems, and that's what's held him out for the majority of last season.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Positive three-point shooter.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: Buddy healed.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not buying into the Buddy Heel stuff again.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: I've done it for three years in a row.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_03: But um, for what it's worth, also one of the greatest shooters of all time.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: How much is he impact winning basketball?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: No, numbers say he doesn't somehow.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um but they have the people around Steph Curry, in my opinion, to alleviate some of the pressure um and also fit the new system.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm I'm kind of buying into them more than I'm buying in some of these other teams.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: It was between them and the Lakers, who we talked about last episode, but again, it's the Lakers, right?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um before last one before we get out of here, it comes from Joey.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: Joey says the Heat playing at a fast pace, and he said finally, unfortunately, Joey, I'm gonna heavy sell this one.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: Through the uh Jimmy Butler era, they have been bottom three in pace every single year.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't I knew they were a slow team.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't think they were that slow of a team.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: What I will buy is the five out offense of the Miami Heat.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're running five out offense.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: I they didn't do it much last season because Beyonbayo wasn't a threat there, but now he's attempting three, three pointers a game, and they're legitimately running five out offences.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing that I made it a note um in their last game versus the San Antonio Spurs is not only this five out offense, because there is varying degrees of success when it comes to five out, because when you ingrain it in your mind so much, you feel like that's the only way you can really play.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: So sometimes it was like nothing has happened, it's five seconds left.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: Here we're a step back, three-pointer.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: No, no movement, no nothing.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: But the cool thing about it is eventually they start to really open up, and then like they were doing some some um some weak side screens and stuff, and then Nikola Iovich would have Chris Paul on his back.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: And Nikola Yovich said coming into the season he wanted to punish defenders more or uh teams more for switching defenders.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: He punished Chris Paul, and I'm like, okay, all right, Jovic, he said he put on like what 30 pounds a month?
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm excited to see what that looks like.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: So why I don't believe they're gonna be a fast-paced team, I do believe they're gonna run some five out offense, and their offense would be something that we consider at least okay because throughout the Jimmy Butler era, they've had like uh offenses and great defenses.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think their offense could be pretty okay.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, Terry Rogier and Tyler Hero haven't played a ton together.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm interested in what it looks like.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: I've been okay with this so far through preseason.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: So that's that's the last one.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm buying I'm selling them being fast paced.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: I'm buying the five outness.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Now, you let me know in the comment section what you're buying or selling with the preseason.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: Next thing we got is our boy Keandre Ashley, also known as Hoop Intellect, is coming onto the show.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: He is an NBA draft expert, a guy that I've been watching for some time uh because I need some help when it comes to the incoming draft class.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: So we talk about all of the incoming rookies that you should care about.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: Let's get into it.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: Now I want to welcome in a very special guest, Keandre Ashley, also known as Hoop Intellect, over on YouTube.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: Brother, I brought you here to talk some NBA draft prospects.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: How you doing today?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing pretty good.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate you for having me on the show for sure.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: You were my number one choice, man.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: Even before I met you, I was watching your stuff on YouTube, didn't even know.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: And then we ran into each other at Summer League a few years back, and then I had to get a face for the name.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, really enjoy your work.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: And there was no person I wanted to talk about the 2024 draft with more than you.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: So uh appreciate it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: You are actually the first small ball with Kenny Beecham guest, man.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Hey man, I'm I'm definitely honored.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've been watching your stuff for a minute now, you know, since like high school.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: So it's definitely uh an honor to be one of the first guests, well, the first guests on you know small ball.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: Ain't no problem, man.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: So let me explain to the people at home what's going on.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: We got the NBA draft lottery.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: We decided that it would be cool to kind of grade these prospects based on their fit with their team.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: It could be short term, it could be long term, it could be really whatever.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: It just gives me a way to kind of lock into the 2024 draft.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, for the people at home that aren't aware, I am not really a draft guy.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: I usually start to learn about the draft prospects like two to three weeks before the draft, uh, because we usually do like this big draft show.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: And again, hoop into Lex's uh videos is uh really carry the brother, really carry the brother, man.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: So um appreciate that again.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_03: So let's start off with first overall pick.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: Zachary Richesse.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_03: Still don't even know if I'm pronouncing the brother's name right, man.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but how how are we feeling about him?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: He probably is, when it comes to first overall picks to history, probably has the least amount of pressure of any first overall pick like ever.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like legitimately, I was going through it.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, well, even like Anthony Bennett had pressure as a rookie, even you know, Markel Foltz had pressure, even if it didn't turn into anything, Richard Say is just kind of existed, man.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think that is a really weird combination of things just from there not being a consensus number one and him, you know, playing uh, you know, in pro A over in France last year and just not having a lot of people familiar with what he brings to the table.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I think this Atlanta situation is uh a pretty good one for him and his skill set.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, if I had to give it a a grade in terms of a tier or anything, I would give it probably a B.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think just for his for what he brings to the table, you've got a guy like a Trey Young who can set him up and um allow him to you know play his game as a play finisher, that 3 and D type of guy, and and really just not have to feel pressured to do anything spectacular or go create or be somebody that he's not.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: He's kind of just you know ready-made to come in and fill a role.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: And from what we've seen in preseason, the couple games that he's played, I wouldn't be surprised if he even you know ends up starting in a couple months.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, it jumped out to me when I watched him.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, was there in summer league, obviously.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: And it was weird for him and the uh number two overall pick, Alex Sarr, to see each other and in summer league and nobody cared.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: It was like, where's Bronny?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_03: Where's Bronny?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but no, I I gave it an A, mostly because I feel like these wings, when they come into the league, not many have an elite-level ball handler/slash playmaker like Trey Young.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, again, it's now that we add that there's almost zero pressure on him.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: This is like the perfect scenario.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I was thinking about all the other teams drafted around him.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like if he would have been in Washington, I feel like that would have potentially be a nightmare because he would have probably been asked to create for himself a little bit more than what he's capable of right now.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: I I think this is a cool fit.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: Man, I listen, I'm a guy that because we've been without basketball for so long, I've been into preseason as if it is the NBA finals.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm a fan.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: I can't lie to you.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_03: I'm a fan.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_03: I know that when he was playing overseas, he basically had like one a half of a season of shooting well.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like everything else is like 28%, 29%.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_03: But he had a really good stretch of shooter, and I was kind of expecting that shooting to be like his main thing, but he was putting the ball on the floor.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: It seemed like he was at the right place, right time defensively.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, okay, I I under I understand it, especially if Alex Sarr was saying that he didn't want to be there anyway.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_03: So this is kind of the guy for the job.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: So I I gave it an A, man.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I definitely don't disagree.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: I was in there between B and A.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think that, you know, you made a good point in terms of like him going to Washington and probably having a little bit more to do in terms of creation that would be um at least bring a little bit more pressure if he was to you know have some growing pains in that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I like it a lot for him in Atlanta, and I'm really excited to see what he does.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the governor, this is a few weeks back before preseason started.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: He was saying there is a world where they they started a lineup of everybody under 25 years old.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: Now, that's probably dead now because Klinkapella's just better than Ayuka Kongwell at this point in their careers.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_03: But like that really interests me to see like a Trey Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Risha Say, and then Anyekka Kongw.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_03: I'm a dude that's convinced myself about the Atlanta Hawks the last two seasons.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: I told myself I want to go fall for it again, but then I'm like, damn, Trey Young is really, really good, bro.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_03: And Jalen Johnson just looks like he's getting better and better with time.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I might be talking myself back into the Hawks for the third year in a row, bro.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know how.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how I get here.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like that's kind of been the same theme with a lot of those East teams who aren't necessarily good, but when you watch them, they've got a lot of pieces.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you go to Detroit, you see what they're doing and looking a lot like a real basketball team this year.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: You've got Charlotte, Lamello, and Brandon Miller and all those guys.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel you on that for sure.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_03: Let's move over to the second overall pick, Alex Saarr.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I gave I gave it a C.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like it's not gonna be an easy job, man.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's not like for a guy that seems to be touted mostly on the defensive side of the ball, like that's where he's gonna hang his hat.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_03: When you have a team this young and this, let's be real bad, like they're gonna be really, really bad this season.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be hard to really see the defensive impact from a player if he's the one that's defending and everybody else really isn't.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: And also, I think it goes to the same thing about the Trey Young thing.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_03: He doesn't really have a creator for him.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I know we're probably trusting Jordan Poole this season to be the full-time one.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: We've watched that job at least a little bit, and I'm not really impressed with it too much.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: Not saying that Alex Sara can't be great, obviously, but as far as the fit right now, I'm I'm not loving it.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I gave this one uh a low B, so B minus basically right next to a C.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: And the only thing that I would say on that is I do like the um addition of Jonas Valentunas and having him as a guy who can play alongside him in the front court, allow them to you know play different lineups at the four of the five.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: They've kind of experimented with that in this preseason and the way that he shot the ball from three, I think has been, you know, really positive for his ability to play four offensively.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: But like you said, uh Jordan Poole being your main uh playmaker for a guy who's finishing plays isn't necessarily the type of context that's gonna, you know, be perfect for him.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: Now, Malcolm Brogdon, if he's able to come back and you know play for this team, he could be a nice plus for that.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I do agree for somebody who does you know impact the game first and foremost on the defensive end, and you've got guys, again, you know, Jordan Poole, not the not the best defender, and you know, everybody else uh is uh a little sporadic besides Bilau, that could be a little bit more difficult.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: Now, you mentioning Val makes sense to me.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, because I guess it was one of the reasons why he was really interested in Atlanta.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_03: They were probably gonna try to run him at the five full time.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of forgot about Val being there, and I think that you convinced me to probably up my grade just a little bit because they are putting him in the position he's the most comfortable with.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: And there are a lot of times we see rookies get into situations where they have to be the one to adapt.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: And it makes sense, right?
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: You're the 19-year-old.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_03: Why should we cater to you?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: But when it's a team that's even though they've been bad for a long time, they're pretty early in their rebuild.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: So to see if we got the second overall pick, let's put him in the position where he feels the most comfortable and see what happens then.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: And honestly, he might transition to a five-year, two-year, three of his career anyway.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: But for him to come in and be able to play alone, South Val, I I'll upper, I'll up it.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: I like it.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: You convince me, you convince me.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh let's go to Reek Shepherd, man.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: Reek Shepherd, he's um I saw somebody say, and man, I wish I would have taken notes when I heard it, because it was on the podcast and I listened to a lot of MBA podcasts, that he is the closest prospect we've had to Steph Curry since Steph Curry.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, I I see I see the shooting numbers, right?
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_03: The shoot numbers, shooting 50% from this, 50% from that, so on and so forth.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: But we talk about Wardale Stephan Curry, the second, the the junior.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me, is he is that person tripping or is that real?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I can kind of see where they're coming from in terms of play style, a little bit, in terms of just like the volume of shots and where they're coming from on the floor and just kind of his overall feel for the game.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that's an underrated part of what Steph brings to the table, but that is such a lofty, I stay away from that because that's the arguably the first or second best point guard of all time, and arguably the greatest shooter to ever, you know, touch a basketball.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: And that's gonna continue to be the case for probably a really long time.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of difficult uh or you know, to put on somebody, but I I still like Reed, and I think that even within this context with Jalen Green and Fred Van Fleet ahead of him, uh, I like the fit and what he's able to do, especially in that second unit.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I would give this a B.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um in long term, I actually think this is probably, you know, has the potential to be even higher than that.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: I just think, you know, a guy like him who can can play on and off the ball, shoots it at a really high clip, uh, makes plays defensively in the way that he does, and just has a knack for being productive in every single second that he's out there is gonna be a positive asset for this team.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's somebody who um you look at those lineup data uh uh in the middle of the year and it kind of you know points in his favor.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I I like this opportunity to play, you know, around Shingoon and some of these other athletes to insulate him uh defensively too.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we got the same gray here.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_03: I watched some check into the game against the Pelicans a few nights back, a few nights back, and he didn't look like a rookie to me in that six-minute stent.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, eventually down the line, I think he turned the ball over a few different times and so on and so forth.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm like, man, that he he does not look like a rookie.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_03: And he was basically the most excited thing about uh Summer League this year, too.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: And they just have they have a lot going on over there, but I think it's all positive.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like sometimes you can have so much talent that you're trying to figure out what is what.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think that they're kind of well, Fred Evley's contract being up relatively soon and having Amin and having Reed Shepard kind of getting better throughout their careers.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_03: I think it could be an easy transition period between the Fred era to like whatever the next era could be, would it, would it be in Reed and Amin Thompson?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_03: I I gave it the same gray, man.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited to see like how much PT he will get as a rookie because some people are just so damn good that they just make their way into the rotation.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like he's gonna be one of those dudes for sure.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was pretty much my justification because, you know, in in some other situations, you could see a player like that kind of fall into the background.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, maybe they go in the direction where um, you know, a man is able to take on some more ball handling duties and then they kind of fall into the background.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that he's just too good, that he's just not gonna be able to be denied and you know, mess around.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody gets injured, he might, you know, run with one of those spots.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: Moving on to Stefan Castle, fourth overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he was my favorite draft prospect.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: I have this thing about defensive guards.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of the times I'm completely wrong.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: Chris Dunn swinging a miss.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like, but I cannot get away from this archetype of player.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: Now, obviously, he did a lot more um as far as like being the starting point guard or guard on a championship level team over in UConn and everything.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and now him being able to learn under the point guard.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know how many situations are better.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_03: And then you got the alien on the back end.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I also don't know how much he'll play his rookie season, but long term, this is like as perfect of a fit as possible for him.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I went with I was really in between uh B and A for this one, just because it's like he's just gonna have being able to play with Wimby for any young player in these next couple drafts or you know, even previously, is like it would be my priority.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think you saw some of that posturing with uh Rob Dillingham of All Prospects kind of trying to put himself in that position to play with him.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: But you've got a transcendent guy like Wimby.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: Again, you you play with a guy like Chris Paul, and also I think historically what he does defensively um matches a lot of of what San Antonio has liked in their guards and really just uh the versatility, the size.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: You've got guys like DeJounte Murray, Derek White, I think um kind of match a lot of what he brings.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you got all those pieces and factors together, and I think that he's just gonna be able to come in and connect in year one, and then eventually uh we'll see how much he's able to do as a ball handler and distributor and kind of kind of go from there.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_03: Let's move on to Ron Holler, fifth overall pick, Detroit Pistons.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: This one was probably the toughest one for me because on surface level, I gave it a D.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: And that's mostly because last year they also drafted a non-shooting, hella athletic wing.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I kind of just don't know.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: Like Kay Cunningham has had no spacing throughout the entirety of his career that I don't really know.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I they got one of the best shooting coaches in the league over there now, so maybe that changes some stuff.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_03: But I just don't know where he fits in this.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but also, like, this is a team that doesn't have anything that you can really attach yourself to other than Kay Cunningham.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like, we're still trying to figure out is Jalen Duran the center of the future?
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_03: Is Jaden Ivey a good fit alongside Cade?
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Thompson feels pretty safe when he gets healthy and everything.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_03: But I just don't know how many lineups you're gonna be able to run all of the cool young players.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm counting Ron Holland as a cool young player, but him and Asar Thompson on the court together could be I don't I don't really know what to expect from that.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I gave it a C.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think the only thing that bumped it up for me was Fred Vinson uh coming along, the shooting coach from New Orleans, you know, did a number on Lonzo Ball once upon a time, um, and Herb Jones as well.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, like you said, just contextually having a guy like Asar already there, hopefully he's able to return as soon as possible.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that makes the lineups really difficult, especially when you've got a guy like Tobias Harris in there now.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: You've got Juan Techio who looks good.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Tim Hardaway Jr.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: has at least a reputation, Malik Beasley um as shooting and space in the floor.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it could be pretty difficult for him early on uh to really find a spot in the rotation.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, I love the energy uh defensive ability he brings.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: You've kind of seen that at times in the preseason, kind of getting into scuffles and loose balls and stuff like that.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's a C.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: Next one.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_03: Oh man, I always butcher it.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh to Sean Salon, I apologize if I got it wrong again.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna be honest with you, he was a complete blind spot to me.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: When he we were doing the draft coverage um on with ESPN, which is a blessing, and he got drafted.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I looked at my co-host like, don't ask me nothing.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm I'm completely unfamiliar with his game.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_03: Now I've seen him play a few different times now, whether it'd be in summer league and then preseason and everything.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_03: But before it was it was weird to have a prospect drafted this high for me and be like, oh snap, I got nothing on this guy.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so how are we feeling about him uh with the Charlotte Hornets?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's definitely still a project, uh, but I think that this situation is pretty good for somebody like him who um, you know, is a is a rangy forward, uh, is able to score and transition, kind of make some plays in all different parts of the floor, and has a ton of confidence.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: You've already seen that in preseason, he'll pull it from 30 feet.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I really like to see that uh translating early on.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: And you got guys like Lamello and Brendan Miller who are gonna do the heavy lifting.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: He's kind of just a guy that I think that is gonna fit into the back end of their rotation and kind of just be able to figure things out on the fly uh for this team.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I I like it quite a bit for him.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it was a little bit high to take him at six, but you know, for him personally, the the situation is pretty good.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_03: The Hornets did like this like uh hard knocks type of documentary.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_03: It was like 15 minutes or so, and they were so in love with the kid after one workout that it made me be like, okay, maybe there's something there.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like you mentioned, obviously a pro a project and everything, but I'm curious to see what that looks like because people are speculating that maybe LaMelo ball gets traded the season.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not buying into it just yet.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna say if they have their 1A, 1B, because I I think that Brandon Miller is the real deal.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they're just looking for like the one that blossoms, just jump off the page, success, and it could be him.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_03: Then I'm looking at that young core, like, okay, okay, LaMelo ankles now, you know, taped up every game, and Mark Williams could get healthy.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm kind of digging the hornets at least a little bit this year.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: We'll we'll see if that backfires.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: Uh moving on, seventh overall pick, Donovan Klingum.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_03: Now, he was also one of the guys from the draft for me.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_03: I think I may have just watched too much UConn, you know, and that I fell in love with both of the UConn prospects.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_03: But with my favorite team, having the 11th overall pick, I'm like fingers crossed, I don't really want Vucevic on the team.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go get a big center that, you know, does this, does that.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_03: And he goes to Portland, who already have DeAndre Aiden on the max contract.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: And in preseason, uh DeAndre Aiden's look pretty good.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then they also have Robert Williams.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: The history of Robert Williams means he's probably not playing this season anyway.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: But he gets drafted behind two other centers.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I hate it for him just because that means that he probably just won't get enough burn compared to some of the other people drafted around him.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_03: But but how do you see it?
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would give this one a B, uh C B somewhere in that in that sort of situation, just because factoring in long term, because I think that you know what he brings to the table, especially differing from Ayton as more of a defensive anchor and you know, you know, uh having that as one of the places he makes the biggest impact.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's something that uh this Portland team could really use in the long term.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, you know, having a guy like Ayton there already in place kind of makes it difficult.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I think just being able to adjust to the conditioning, um, you know, getting acclimated to the NBA game and spacing and stuff, that could be beneficial for him.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: So um not necessarily the clearest road for you know your seventh pick to like come in and immediately start, but I think it could still be a good context.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think he's different than like Zach Edy, who we'll get to in a second here, because he didn't play, I mean, he played a lot, obviously, but like Zach Edy was on the court all game, every game, and and Donovan Klingen didn't have that luxury.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: Part of that's because they were blowing everybody out, you know.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_03: But also, uh, yeah, I didn't really think about him playing behind DeAndre Aiden as like a you know a way for him to adjust to the new the new speed and everything.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_03: He was shooting some threes in the preseason game.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: I watched him a couple nights ago, and I'm like, okay.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_03: Well, let me be honest.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody in the goddamn league right now is shooting threes.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: Every person that was traditionally known as not the guy is doing it.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_03: Bam out of bio, three or three-pointed tips a game is blowing my mind.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm happy for it.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: I'm super happy for it, but it's blowing my mind.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Zach Edy has attempted some threes, and they said that he was a knockdown shooter in um in the workouts and everything, but didn't expect him to come into the league taking some three pointers.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's the way basketball is going, and I'm not mad at it, but I don't know.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_03: There used to be players like best attribute, and now everybody can do it.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, damn, how do I get mad?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: Now I actually got to defend.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't used to defending.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_03: I was just a shooter.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_03: And now everybody's a shooter.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: For whatever.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_02: I would I would be surprised if he's really knocking down threes until like maybe like year three.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: He's like a 60% free throw shooter in college, too.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it could, it could happen eventually.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that that free throw percentage thing usually translates pretty, pretty well.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_03: Moving on to the next one.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's favorite prospect on NBA Twitter, Rob Dillonham, man.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: Surprised a lot of people.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: Originally, this pick was the San Antonio Spurs, and we like, no, no, they just got Stephon Castle and Rob Dillingham.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: What the hell is going on?
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: But they trade the pick away from for a 2031, I think is the year, um, for the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is uh, I think a pretty good trade for the San Antonio Spurs, kind of betting against the Wolves, being able to stay competent, knowing their history.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_03: But he goes to a contending team.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_03: Now, that's a lot different than pretty much everybody that's been drafted so far.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_03: This team is going out there with Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, now Julius Randle, and so on, trying to win a championship.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: And they they thought at least that he would be a guy that would contribute very early on.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: Now, since then, they've traded for Dante DiVincenzo, so that probably changes his role quite a bit.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: And even yesterday, um, when they played against the Chicago Bulls, he didn't check in until late in the fourth quarter.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm not completely sure if he'll start into the rotation.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but but how are we feeling about his fit with Minnesota?
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so initially I was a little bit higher on the fit until the Dante trade.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it looked like he was gonna have the perfect opportunity to come in immediately and be their backup point guard, kind of mix in uh with those other playmakers that they already have.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_02: But um I gave this a B.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: I still like the context of having a Rudy Gobert on the backside and Jaden McDaniels and uh Anthony Edwards in terms of like just being able to hide him defensively and also like just give him confidence to do what he does best.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I think Minnesota could also use uh the type of juice that he could you know bring uh offensively.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: But again, at the same time, with you know, the with Dante coming in, you've got Josh Minot emerging.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it looks like he might be that that tenth guy in their rotation.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, just a little bit lower on it than I was, you know, earlier on.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I lost that bet.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: I because I knew that once they were making this trade that one of the younger dudes was gonna have to step up.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_03: I put my eggs in the Leonard Miller basket, not him.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: Josh Minot looks really, really good in preseason so far.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm assuming it's gonna be him too.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um I also gave it the same exact grade.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think also learning from old man Mike Conley is gonna be pretty cool for his career long term.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_03: And they already had some juice when Nas Reed went in six man of the year, but getting something like that from the guard position is pretty important as well.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't deny or I can't um look past the defensive infrastructure of the Minnesota Tim Wolves that even though he's coming in as this wiry small guard, that I feel like they'll be able to hold him up when he does finally get playing time.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh moving on to the ninth overall pick, Zach Edy, one of the more questionable draft picks, at least in the time, and since then he shut all of that up.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I remember seeing a poll before the draft where Zach Edy on your big board, and they got most people saying in the 40s, where he goes ninth overall to Memphis.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't I don't think there's a better individual fit when it comes to rookies in the entire draft.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_03: The Minnesota Timbulls, uh, I'm sorry, the uh Memphis Grizzlies were a team.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_03: Last time they were really successful, there was a high offensive rebounded team.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_03: Don't really make mistakes, they're gonna cause a lot of um turnovers, so on and so forth.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_03: Zach Edy comes in as what third in all division back division one basketball when offensive rebounder rate.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_03: He basically comes in and does everything Steve Steven Adams was doing, but now he can also just be give me the ball, and I'm bigger than you.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_03: The way he made Miles Turner look like a seven-year-old the other night was crazy.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_03: And then I watched him play against Vucevic a couple nights before that, and he had a couple post hooks that were like 12 feet away from the basket.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like it was nothing.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_03: And again, I seen him in at Purdue.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_03: You always question some of these really great college basketball players that are slowly footed and so on and so forth.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_03: Could they translate?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_03: I now have zero doubts in my mind that he'll translate to at least be a starter level level center in this uh in this league one day.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_03: Or I guess now.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he's doing it now, I guess.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I also had this as a you know S tier.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_02: This is um uh a perfect fit.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've got a a core of teammates that has been good for 50 wins in the West when they're healthy.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_02: John Morant, Desmond Bain, Jaron Jackson, you have the the infrastructure to really just allow him to come in, set big screens, you know, uh be a huge rim deterrent just at his size and a drop big in the pick and roll.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think that it it really is perfect.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think the one thing I am still just a little bit curious to see how he looks in terms of uh defending those you know big-time pull-up shooters in the pick and roll.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: Can he get enough to the level?
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like what does that look like?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: And also just moving around if they have him against the pop threat.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_02: You saw that a little bit against Miles Turner a few times.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_02: But other than that, like like you said, you know, his production at the college level was ridiculous.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_02: Two-time nasmith player of the year, um, almost single-handedly, you know, led them to a to a national championship last year.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think that he's he's gonna have a lot of success and probably be the front runner for rookie of the year because he has the time.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna have the the people around him to allow him to produce at a high level.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_02: And with without like the the polos and the the wimbies in this class, like I think what he does is gonna probably end up being the most valuable.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, my um my wife is uh not a basketball fan.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_03: She'll watch it with me, she'll watch a Bulls game here or there.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um when he got drafted, she said that she wanted a Grizzlies jersey.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, what the hell is going on?
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_03: My wife went to Purdue, but she did online schooling.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_03: So in my mind, she didn't go to Purdue.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_03: She just did some classes, you know?
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so she's like, I need to get me a Zach Edy jersey.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, we can get you that, but you gotta get it in a 4X because that's the only way to really represent the size of Zach Edy.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_03: So uh we'll be looking out for that in the Beacham household, a Zach Edy jersey.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_03: 10th overall pick, Cody Williams to Utah.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I first heard the name Cody Williams.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_03: We did a live show opening night in Denver, and um one of the guys that came to the live show, he was like, yo, I'm a um, I don't know if he said a trainer or like a help, something up on Colorado's basketball team.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, Man, if you want to take the drive 45 minutes, I could get you to the practice facility.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_03: And in any other circumstance, I'm like, absolutely, let's do it.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: Also open a night for the ring ceremony for Denver.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_03: So we like, we want to see the ring ceremony.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_03: But that was the first time I heard the name Cody Williams, and he said, You gotta see Cody Williams.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, uh, you know, uh, Colorado don't be really producing NBA players like that.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see what that looked like.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, here they are, they produced a few in this draft class alone.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_03: I still don't know what to believe about Cody Williams.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, Utah is kind of like this blank slate in a way when it comes to their team construction.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_03: They're so early on that like he's not really compete.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_03: He's competing with a lot of people, but not as though he's competing with somebody that's established.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's pretty cool.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, Larry Marking, but Larry Marking basically plays three through five at this point in his career.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_03: Who the hell knows?
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like Taylor Hendricks, who I really liked last season, and that's kind of Walker Kessler, but he might be on the move.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_03: So he's gonna have opportunity, and I think that's probably the best for him.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I was kind of struggling where to put for this grade because, like, like you said, they are so early on.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_02: There's just like a uh a wealth of opportunity for him to eventually come in in the rotation and and contribute.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_02: And based off of preseason, it looks like he will be in that rotation to start the year.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, just like in terms of what he brings to the table, he's kind of um you know a jack of all trades right now, but like a master of none.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was part of the reason there were some people who had uh more hesitation on him.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think that he does a lot of things well, he doesn't make too many mistakes.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the shot looks good, so I think he's he's gonna be able to contribute.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would probably just lean B and just you know put it as that.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_03: Cool.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_03: Let's move on to the best pick in the entire draft of number 11, Mattis Wuzeles.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: He's coming home, man.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_03: He's coming home.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you, man, Chicago just has a thing with drafting like Chicago or Illinois born players.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I am extremely biased, obviously, here.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um we have four wings on the entire roster.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_03: He's gonna get a lot of opportunity.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_03: Like there were some rumors early on that he might spend some time in the G.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_03: And then after the very first practice, Billy Donovan was like, no, he's gonna be in our rotation.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, that's that's beautiful.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, bad basketball team, a lot of opportunity, being at home, but my biases.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_03: I'm putting it at an A, man.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_03: I'm putting it at an A.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_03: This is a perfect fit for the kid, and I need him to be way better than probably what he will end up being.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like it a lot.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: I would probably go, you know, B plus uh somewhere in that in that sort of range.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, for him it's gonna really come down to the shot where the shot is at, both short and long term.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think you see some of that in the preseason too.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_02: But like I like to seeing his growth in terms of attacking a rim and you know, handling contact, you know, finishing with with dunks, um, and then also what he brings to the table as a help side defender.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I like this situation for him.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's a lot going on.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_02: At least he's not a backcourt player on the Bulls.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_02: That seems like a uh a chore to be right now.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, I like what it is.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he's gonna get his fair share of um time on this podcast.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_03: So we don't have to spend too much on him because we'll be talking about him a lot this year.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna skip 12 and 13 because Nikola Topic is gonna be out for the season and Devin Carter won't be starting the year.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_03: They saying maybe all-star break, maybe the entire year.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_03: I don't really know.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_03: I really like Devin Carter.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think he's gonna fit well there when he eventually gets there.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_03: Then it gives us to Bub Carrington, the very last pick of the lottery, um, also going to the Wizards via the Trailblazers because they traded.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, going to Yeah, yeah, the Wizards from the Trailblazers.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Denny Abdia going over in the in exchange.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I don't know what to think about Bub Carrington.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_03: I thought he was pretty cool because he had like the long-sleeve shirt that he hooped in in college, and then the very first summer league game, he had no long-sleeve shirt.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, that was the reason I was rooting for you.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it's it's gone, it's gone.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_03: But uh he's also gonna get a lot of opportunity, right?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_03: With with their guard Corby and Malcolm Brock, then who's have we mentioned already hurt, and then Jordan Poole.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think Bub is gonna be in the rotation very early on, and they're gonna let him play through his mistakes, which I really, really like.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think this is perfect for for a guy like him just coming into a situation and and being able to make those mistakes and also um be able to showcase what he can do as a shot creator.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's like you know, his his number one skill, and you know, be able to develop on the fly as a playmaker, and also play, you know, at least for the time being, with the Kyle Kuzma, Valentunis, um, a couple guys who he can at least make plays with and and um you know play off of.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I like this for him, especially a guy who was super underrated coming into the the college season last year and kind of worked his way up, even through the draft process uh to become a lottery pick.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they said um somebody called him Baby Shea just because he gets to his spots in the mid-range and shoot.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, let's slow down a little bit.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_03: Let's slow down a little bit.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_03: Shea isn't in a whole nother tier of player.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um this is where things get really fun.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_03: We've gone through the lottery, but obviously every NBA draft is more than just a lottery.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_03: You're always gonna get people drafted outside of it, maybe some second rounders that blossom.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna pick the first one.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and this is probably everybody knows this dude because the way he's been balling out.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's Ryan Dunn of the Phoenix Suns.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, guided at a complete A.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I thought that when he was drafted, that they'd have to experiment with him being like a small ball five, use him in a dunker spot for him to not be an absolute zero offensively.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_03: But if he's hitting pull-up three pointers all of a sudden, I mean, I don't, I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't trust that that's who he is.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I'm I'm optimistic that he could be that one day.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_03: But as a true rookie, it's gonna be a little bit difficult.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_03: But him as a defensive prospect was already insane.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_03: You saw how he ripped the ball right out of Kay Cunningham's hands, and he's just been a tear defensively.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_03: And now you're telling me he can hit six threes in the game on national TV.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_03: I'm in love with it.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I thought that the the Suns did a perfect job in the draft.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, a team that has to build around the margins given where they are uh in terms of the cap.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_02: You get a guy like Ryan Dunn, who was probably one of the easiest guys to scout last year because it was like he's one of the best defenders uh that I've evaluated the last several years.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's just like, can he shoot it enough or be in like the perfect situation, like a Denver or something where like he's just you know running off of cuts and everything like that?
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I the way that he shot the ball has been ridiculous.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean there's been like a little bit of uh revisionist history from some people acting like like, oh, I thought y'all said he couldn't shoot.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_02: No, like he couldn't, you know.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um made 12 threes in 65 career games and you know, airballed a handful of those, which I think is just a credit to him more than anything.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like he put in the work and is able to do this ahead of schedule.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I would agree with that.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_02: That was one of mine too, you know, just clear A.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: And for a team that has Royce O'Neill who's like 6'5 as their best wing defender, uh, it's perfect.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, give me another one of the ones that you got.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I will go with I'll go with Dalton Connect with the Lakers.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's a couple guys in this kind of same general range for me, but like I like what Connect brings to the table in terms of his skill set as a shooter, somebody who JJ Reddick has already taken a liking to in terms of weaponizing him uh on movement and the success that he had uh at the college level on sideline and baseline out of bounds.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think that he could be a uh uh you know weapon for him in that way.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I also think you know this team just needs guys who can can make a play, shoot the three, and um, you know, get out the way in in some ways.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_02: Now, my only my only concern with him is just like how he's looked defensively.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_02: He hasn't been great in a preseason, and the shot is you know still a work in progress for him.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_02: But like, well, not necessarily work in progress, but he hasn't been hitting uh at the rate that we know he can uh so far.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: But like I think he he he makes a lot of sense for what the Lakers do.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_03: So right now we're two for two, because I also had Don connect.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_03: Let's see if we go three for three to wrap this up.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_03: I doubt it.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_03: I have this obsession with highly touted high school players, even if their college slash overseas, whatever it may be, um didn't work out.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I have Isaiah Collier, um, who's drafted to the Utah Jazz.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_03: And again, another situation where like Keontae George is their point guard.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_03: It seems like they're gearing him up to be the point guard of their future.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_03: They do have Colin Sexton who's coming off a really, really good year.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_03: But other than that, there is a wide open spot for somebody to play some real minutes.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_03: Uh well, Jordan Clarkson's on the team, but like to play long-term minutes for them.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I I think that a lot of the times, if we go back throughout history of like the ESP and top 100 um guys, a lot of those dudes, whether they have a successful college career or whatever, end up turning into real NBA players.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I don't think he's gonna be the the superstar that one day people or back in the day people thought he might be, but being a contributing factor while being the 29th overall pick is something that I'm I'm buying into.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was a big fan of his in last year's draft, just his ability to get to the paint, make plays.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_02: It was as good as almost anybody in the in the entire class.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_02: So this Utah situation looks like you know it's gonna be uh, you know, looking for somebody with his skill set and is able to make plays and be unselfish, especially with some of the guards' skill sets that they have now.
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I like it too.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_02: That was not one of my picks, though.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um on the third one.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: I would I would go with Osa Igadoro, um, another Phoenix Sun.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because I just think that his skill set also, just being able to defend multiple positions, operate as a a playmaking hub.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_02: He did that a ton at Marquette.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um he's got that little you know five to ten foot flip shot, like a like a Brandon Clark-esque um that he's you know really effective at.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, in this this context of the Phoenix Suns, um if Plumley is down or he maybe he beats him out at the uh you know at some point in the year, he's gonna be able to make a contribution.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, especially in that front court that isn't like the the best in the league, you know, with Nurkic there.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think I wouldn't be surprised if he takes minutes from Plumley um throughout the course of the season.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like again, my my whole opinion about him is these few preseason games, but the passing is there.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think that's exactly what they kind of want from that center position.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_03: Nurkic also pretty solid passer for a big man.
• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I wouldn't be surprised if he takes some minutes away, man.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um wow, that that's that's it for the draft, man.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_03: I know people are gonna be mad that we didn't get to their their rookie, but the rookie got to show us something.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_03: So go out there and hoop and we'll get back to talking to him.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_03: Keandre, I appreciate you stopping by.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_03: Uh let the people know where they can find you.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can find me on YouTube, Hoopin' Elect.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, actually have some stuff coming on the rookies uh really here soon.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then you you know, follow me on on Twitter, Instagram, those types of things.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I appreciate you having me on the show for sure.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, anytime, anytime.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_03: The Rick Idiot race hasn't officially started, but you can go ahead and get your bets in.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_03: If you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, here are the odds.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_03: Zach Edy right now is the favorite at plus 290.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_03: Then we have the first overall pick Zachary Rich to say, plus 700.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_03: That has to be the lowest odds for a first overall pick ever.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_03: I I can't prove that, but that's what it feels like.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_03: Personally, the moment Modus Buzales was drafted, I got in.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was plus 1200 then, it's plus 1200 now.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_03: He's playing at home.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think that he has an opportunity to steal this, mostly based on opportunity.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you got other guys here as well.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, if you really want to get crazy at the bottom, plus 50,000.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_03: Who do y'all think I'm about to say?
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_03: Plus 50,000, the 55th overall pick, Bronny James.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_03: Bottom of the list.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if we've ever had a 55th overall pick with betting odds, but hell, it's there.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_03: Tell you right now, don't do it.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna tell you right now, don't do it.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of other options that are a lot better.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_03: Even if you want to go to a guy like Ryan Dunn, which we mentioned during the show, better odds at plus 5,000.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of rookies have a chance.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_03: It is completely, completely wide open.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_03: FanDuel Sportsbook, go ahead and get your bets in.
• 1:02:08
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• 1:03:19
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• 1:03:21
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• 1:03:21
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• 1:03:26
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• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_03: Let's welcome man Producer Greg to come back to do the five out segment.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_03: How are we doing today, Greg?
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm great.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Keandre was fantastic.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking the whole time he looks like so familiar, and I think I got it.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's a cross between Jackson Hayes and Ryan Hollins.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_03: You see it?
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_03: I I can see it.
• 1:03:55
  SPEAKER_03: The Jackson Hayes when clicked immediately.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_03: The Ryan Holland.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not mad at that.
• 1:03:59
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not mad at that.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_03: I wonder how yeah, exactly.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder how they felt about that.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all right.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I think there's gonna be a shot clock on the screen, five minutes.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I just set the timer for myself.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get it.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it's one, maybe two things.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_01: We'll start with the first thing.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I think this season there's been some players that have either been forgotten about or they need to have redemption or narrative changing seasons.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, these players aren't exactly all in the same category, and I know you hate ranking.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just say I want you to discuss the following players for the upcoming season and in in terms of both their ability to contributing to winning and uh putting up numbers uh in addition to kind of getting their careers back on track.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got Lonzo, Ben Simmons, Jordan Poole, Lamello, and Russ, who again isn't in exactly in the same category, but I think still fits here.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm not mad at him being there.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I think I would put Lamello one because I think that he just has the most opportunity.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_03: And last time we saw him be healthy, he was an all-star, right?
• 1:05:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I was two years ago, but he was an all-star.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_03: And though the roster around him is not perfect, I do believe there's some stuff over there that he can really get people back in his favor because you know, you know how it works.
• 1:05:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh what have you done lately for me type of league?
• 1:05:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and he hasn't done anything lately.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you can argue he hasn't done anything at all because the team is always below 500, but I I trust Lamello's ability to bring his name back to the favor of the other young guards across basketball.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_03: Then I would say, so who so it was Lonzo?
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Beyonce, Lonzo's probably dead last.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_03: I love Lonzo.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_03: I don't expect him to do much for this.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I'm just I'm just rooting for him, maybe, but I see him as as second there.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_03: I just I don't the Bulls aren't really playing for anything.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_03: Top 10 protect the pick.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um I just want to see him continue to be on the court.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_03: He's gonna be on a minutes restriction for at least half of the season, 15 minutes.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_03: I just feel like it's hard to really impact the game positively that much and a that much of a um uh constraint to your minutes.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_03: And He won't play back to back, so it's it's a little rough for me.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think he's more of a like year two type of guy, year two removed from the big injuries, and then we can start talking about him.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_01: Fine.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I'm not giving up on him.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_01: I also think he's just such a winning player, um, especially when you compare him to uh the Jordan Pools and Ben Simmons's of the world.
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it sounds like you have you have them ahead of him for this season.
• 1:06:20
  SPEAKER_03: I I do for this seat for this season alone.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, shout out to our Vox friend, uh Alonzo Ball, you know.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to the guy.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um Damn, yeah, I forgot.
• 1:06:29
  SPEAKER_03: You did say Jordan Poole and Ben Simmons, didn't you?
• 1:06:31
  SPEAKER_03: Oh man.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um and Russ.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_03: And Russ.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_03: I would I would probably put Russ too.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I feel like this he's gonna be in a position where he's not gonna be asked to do anything that he cannot do.
• 1:06:42
  SPEAKER_03: This is a team with a ton of structure over there.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_03: I do believe Mike Malone is gonna like, if he's not doing what you need Russell Westbrook to do, I feel like there's been some coaches that weren't really comfortable with saying that Russ, you're on the bench.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_03: He's gonna be on that bench.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_03: So if he does end up being awful for a four-minute stretch, we will not see him back into that game.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_03: I'd probably put him number two.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_03: These last two guys, uh, you know, it's uh I know we're a five-minute shot clock.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm gonna say um I'm I'm I'm gonna put Ben at three, Jordan Poole at four.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_03: How about that?
• 1:07:12
  SPEAKER_03: How about that?
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, because I saw one Ben Simmons preseason game where he looked like he cared about basketball, and I'm back.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's it.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_03: I'm back.
• 1:07:21
  SPEAKER_01: Not me.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh all right, we do have a minute 30 something left.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna do one more, one, one more thing.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_01: So on the Spurs here, and I think there might be a fan question about the Spurs as well.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if you had to put, let's say, one year's salary or say one year from one year's earning from this podcast on a bet, how many teams could you confidently say will finish ahead of the Spurs in the West?
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so a year's salary is a lot, man.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I gotta lock in.
• 1:07:49
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna say OKC, Denver, Minnesota, uh, Dallas, Phoenix.
• 1:07:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um a year, like that's a lot.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's I mean a year.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't know if I can put Phoenix there, and I don't know if I could put Dallas there.
• 1:08:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like if it wouldn't it, it wouldn't, it wouldn't completely and utterly shock me if San Antonio finished above Dallas or Phoenix.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think part of that is because I think I don't think Chris Paul has a ton left.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like a lot of what I'm expecting from Chris Chris Paul is like mentorship more than on court stuff.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like, obviously he's gonna get he's gonna get win me the ball.
• 1:08:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's something that nobody did last season other than uh the Jones brother.
• 1:08:35
  SPEAKER_03: But I don't nah, that that would like if that happened, I feel like something really Luca, God forbid, Taurus AC it.
• 1:08:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's the only way.
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_03: If they had if they have relatives like the same injury luck throughout the season, I'm saying it's a one in 100 chance that that would happen.
• 1:08:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um to be fair, I I think I'll put them as as a play-in team, if not out of the playoffs.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm just saying, if you had to put so much money on it, there's only maybe four or five teams that I could confidently say we'll finish ahead of them.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna say Memphis as well.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_03: At least six.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_03: Now we're gonna do Ask KB.
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_03: All you need to do is go over to our Instagram, enjoy small ball, and and submit a message, man.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_03: It could be a voice matches, it could be text, whatever.
• 1:09:27
  SPEAKER_03: Submit a question.
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_03: Let's see what we got.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Kenny, if they were to make a season two of Starting Five on Netflix, which players would you like to see featured?
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_03: I love this question.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_03: I love this question because this is something I was just talking about.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I would I would love to so I feel like you have to have a pillar.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_03: You have to have a braun, you have to have one of the greatest players.
• 1:09:49
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to see a Steph Curry win.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_03: Is it's a perfect time for Steph Curry because, again, the breaking up of the Splash Brothers.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see what this first season, well, not first season without him, because he didn't play for like two years, but like post Clay Thompson Splash Bros would love to see him in it.
• 1:10:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I think he might get ragged on for being a boring dude.
• 1:10:07
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's an interesting guy.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_03: So get to see what his day-to-day life is as one of the best players in the world.
• 1:10:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I also feel like you have to get at least a few players to have a chance to win a championship.
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like having Jason Tatum for what it's worth was pretty damn cool to see what it's like to win a championship.
• 1:10:23
  SPEAKER_03: So with this with the Celtics potentially going back to back, I don't know how it would be to go Jalen Brown, you know, to say, like, hey, here's the Celtics, but from another perspective, right?
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_03: Because they're so different in personalities, it would be kind of cool to see that.
• 1:10:38
  SPEAKER_03: Or let's go to Canadian Rail Baby.
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go get Shea Gibbs Alexander.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_03: Let's get one of the two favorites to win a championship in there.
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then I'm also a fan of like, okay, season one, we got all all-stars.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_03: We got all-star superstar caliber players.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go get like a rook.
• 1:10:53
  SPEAKER_03: Now, this class don't have no crazy rookies that's like, oh my God, it's Zion, it's Wimby from the previous years.
• 1:10:58
  SPEAKER_03: But like Rob Dillingham is a personality and he's attached to Anthony Edwards, who's like a fan favorite from the entire series this season.
• 1:11:06
  SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't be mad at that.
• 1:11:07
  SPEAKER_03: But if you said no rookies, I understand because his rookie class is kind of bunched when it comes to something like that.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think I it was a very eye-opening to see DeMontis Abonis in the light.
• 1:11:17
  SPEAKER_03: So a player of that caliber that like we recognize this player is great at basketball, but we don't know much about him as the person.
• 1:11:23
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know who that is, but I would go, it's a it's a starting fight, right?
• 1:11:27
  SPEAKER_03: So let's go Jalen Brown, hoping that Jason Tatum don't get pissed because we took him off the show.
• 1:11:32
  SPEAKER_03: Shea Gives Alexander.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna go Rob Dillaham to get a rookie in there.
• 1:11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go, uh I feel like you also gotta get a team that's a dumpster fire, right?
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_03: You got you gotta get a team that might have a bunch of turmoil.
• 1:11:45
  SPEAKER_03: You need it's it's reality TV.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_03: We need some fire.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't get that in season number one.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_03: They picked some good candidates.
• 1:11:51
  SPEAKER_03: So let's go get somebody from like a like John Morant would be great.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_03: Not for the dumpster fire thing, but just because he's a talker, back against the wall, yada, yada, yada.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_03: So one other guy from the dumpster fire team.
• 1:12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go fan favorite, Jordan Poole, man.
• 1:12:09
  SPEAKER_03: Jordan, Jordan Poole.
• 1:12:11
  SPEAKER_03: Let's see what Washington's really, really like.
• 1:12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Man, his episodes are gonna be like, it's gonna get through like two episodes before they're eliminated from the playoffs, and he'll never be seen again.
• 1:12:20
  SPEAKER_03: Let's add Jordan Poole now.
• 1:12:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm here for Jordan Poole.
• 1:12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Thank y'all so much for watching this episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beachman.
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Shout out to our boy Keandre for stepping onto the show.
• 1:12:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like I mentioned, we will be having a ton of guests throughout this season.
• 1:12:36
  SPEAKER_03: So if there's somebody you're interested to see us have on the show, let me know.
• 1:12:40
  SPEAKER_03: I can use my connects.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_03: Don't say like Braun.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_03: Don't be crazy.
• 1:12:44
  SPEAKER_03: But like I can use my connects to potentially get them on to talk about their level of expertise.
• 1:12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Keandre, again, draft guy.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_03: If you want me to go get Cone, because he's an OKC fan, we can go get Cone, baby.
• 1:12:53
  SPEAKER_03: Let me know in the comment section.
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_03: Appreciate everybody showing the support, and I'll see y'all next week.
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_03: Peace.