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NBA Preview and predictions for 2023-2024 season · The So-Called Sports Analysts

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  Three two one. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome
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  back to another episode of the so called sports Analysts. Josh, how you
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  doing today? You're doing good? Doing pretty good? Man. We got
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  a special episode coming for y'all. Hey, back to back episodes. You
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  know, we gotta stay on the grind. Gotta stay on the grind.
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  But all right, you guys can follow us on Twitter at Flying Garcia one
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  hundred and at Underscore Alfonso zero three. You guys, whatever y'all listen to,
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  we definitely appreciate it, whether you're listening to it on Spreaker, Spotify,
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  a R Radio, Google Podcast, Amazon Music. But today, the
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  by the time y'all are listening to this, this is the start of the
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  NBA season. It's officially back. So it's gonna be an NBA special podcast
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  today and we're gonna go ahead and get started. So so we haven't talked
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  basketball at all yet. So we're gonna go ahead and list our top ten
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  players, and we're gonna go three at a time. So Josh, go
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  and and list your top three. To start my top three. At number
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  one, we have Nikola Jokics. In eight seasons, he has two MVPs,
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  five All NBA Selections, a Finals MVP, and he's a coming off
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  being an NBA champion. Last sea, then he averaged twenty four and a
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  half points, eleven point eight rebounds, nine point eight assists, one point
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  three stills, and zero point seven blocks. If that doesn't make for the
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  best player in the NBA, then I don't know what does. He's been
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  nothing but mister consistent says he's entered the league has to pride a lot of
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  people being a second round coming from being a second round pick, He's basically
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  the Patrick Mahomes of the NBA. In eight seasons. What they have done
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  is just insane. And number two we have Giannis Antitakumbo. I don't think
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  there's anything we need to explain more, but I will ten seasons, seven
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  time All Star, one time NBA champ, two time MVP, Finals MVP,
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  seven time All NBA, five time All Defensive NBA and a former Defensive
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  Player of the Year. Thirty one point one points last season, eleven point
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  eight rebounds, five point seven assists, point eight steals, and point eight
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  blocks. Giannis brings nothing but consistency. The only knock on him is probably
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  health Let's see if he can stay healthy this season, get his team to
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  another championship ring, and just keep moving forward towards his claim to being a
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  Goat. Well, not necessarily in the goat with Lebron and Jordan, but
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  you know what I'm saying, amongst the goats, number three, number three,
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  we got Luca. Five seasons, four time All Star, four time
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  All NBA, he was Rookie of the Year, and his rookie season last
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  season he everged thirty two point four eight point six rebounds, eight point eight
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  assists, and one point four stills. However, the MAVs go. However,
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  Luca goes, the MAVs go, and he is the most valuable player
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  on that team. He could be in consideration any year for most valuable player
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  in the NBA. And I just think this is gonna be a huge year
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  for him. Going into a sixth season, It's either make or break for
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  this Dallas Mavericks team. Let's see what he can do along with Kyrie Irving.
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  Mm hmmm, Well, to go ahead and go with their first two,
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  I'm gonna just let you know that I agree, but I'm gonna go
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  into a little bit of detail. Yeah, I know, Nikola Jokis being
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  the best player in the league. That's pretty clear and obvious what he did
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  two time MVP just when the finals had a dominant playoff run, one of
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  the most dominant playoff runs yet in a while. He yeah, average thirty
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  points a game, thirteen and a half boards, nine and a half assists.
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  And if anybody that says he doesn't play defense, well, his defense
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  is his offense. That's how dominant he is. And if you put a
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  smaller defender on him to match with his finesse and him being so quick for
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  being so big, he'll bully you. But if you put a bigger defender
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  on him, he'll finess his way around him. He just has no weakness.
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  Even his jump shooting, even though it's the weirdest form I've seen,
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  it still goes in somehow. But yeah, no, Nikola Jokic, he
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  is easily the best player in the NBA, and I'm glad we could agree
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  on that. And Number two, same thing, jannisen Atakompo. Other than
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  his free throw or his free throws and his three point shooting. Other than
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  that, really no weakness. You talk about somebody who plays both sides of
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  the ball. Can't play point guard or just play one through five both sides.
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  If you need him to get a clutchtop on, a point guard,
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  shooting guard, whoever you need, he's there. And he's going to have
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  a big year this year. And I feel like he's gonna be coming out
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  for blood, especially after last year lose to Miami, even though Miami made
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  the finals, still was a disappointing year for the Bucks, even though he
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  said it was what steps to success. I feel like he's gonna have bigger
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  steps to success this year. But where I do disagree with you. Number
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  three, I have the babyface assassin Steph Curry. Steph Curry, in my
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  opinion, he is the greatest point guard of all time. I don't care
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  old heads Steph Curry. What he's done to change the game and just what
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  he's done from the three point lining out, it's just been ridiculous. And
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  over these past few years, he added a little bit of physicality to him
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  as far as being able to get to the rim. And he's always had
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  that touch as far as getting to the rim, but just having that physicality
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  and that's what made him stand out. And they just want I know they
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  didn't win the championship last year, but the year before they did, and
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  especially what he did against sacrament I know after dropped it, dropping fifty points,
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  definitely nowhere close to being washed. So yeah, Steph Curry, it's
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  going to be another scary season for them and the Warriors. They should be
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  looking in for another playoff run. So I know you had Luca number three,
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  but I had Luka Doncic number four. So who do you have as
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  your number four? I have mister Joel Embii, the defending, the reigning
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  MVP of the league in seven seasons. He's an MVP, two time scoring
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  leaders, five time All NBA, three time All NBA defensively, six time
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  All start. Last season, he's come off averaging thirty three points a game,
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  ten rebounds, four point two assists, one still one point seven blocks.
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  That's predomination. The only thing is he can't get it done in the
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  playoffs. I need to see that happened. I need to see him finally.
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  I don't know if it's gonna happen this year with James Harden. I
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  need to see him finally get along with another star player. They seem to
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  leave him in spurts. We need to see him take this jump to being
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  a champion, and Joel Embiid has all the talent in the world, just
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  need to see him put it together. Yeah, and before we get into
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  cuz I know there's different criterias as far as for top ten players, do
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  you take into account as far as postseason success, as far as not necessarily
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  winning the NBA finals, because not every player is going to win the NBA
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  Finals, But as far as if they had a disappointing postseason run, do
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  you take that into account? I do to an extent, But I also
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  taken apart age also, just like we'll get I'll get into my rest of
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  my rakings here in the second and I'll explain why they're right here, yeah,
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  and why I think they could be higher. But I just taken Joel
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  Embiid. You got the reigning MVP, put him at number four, but
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  I just don't think his impact is as significant as a three above him.
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  Yeah, and so so my case for number four, you kind of made
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  it. You had him at number three. Luka Doncic. He's literally a
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  walking triple double and he plays at his own pace, and and it's just
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  he plays so slow. He he just throws off the defenders timing, and
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  if he makes the playoffs, he is going to average thirty ten and ten
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  no matter, no matter when he's shown it. He's shown it time in
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  and time again, and I think he's only going to be getting better.
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  Luka Doncic. It looks like he's going in the camp or well, now
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  that we're in the NBA season, he looks like he is in shape,
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  which is for the first time he has done that. So I don't feel
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  like he's gonna not necessarily struggle, but he's gonna go into the start of
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  the start of the year. I'm going in hot. But all right,
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  for number five, who do you have? The King himself, mister Lebron
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  James comes in for me at number five. In his twentieth NBA season.
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  He's a nineteen time All NBA Player, four time MVP, six time All
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  Defensive, four time Finals MVP, and the number one score in the history
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  of this game. Top ten in every statistical category you could possibly think of.
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  Last year, he came off twenty eight point nine points, eight point
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  three rebounds, and six point eight assists. He is what he is the
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  team of whatever team he is on, he makes everything happen. He distributes
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  the basketball, he rebounds. There's a reason why he's considered the greatest of
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  all time by some and I just think the reason why he's at number four
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  why I agree too. But the reason why he is at number five for
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  me is just age agent injuries. Last year, we saw him get a
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  little bit banged up. I just want to see if he can stay a
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  little bit more healthier this year, see it, see how it works,
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  because he still had a great year last year, still played great in the
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  playoffs, He was the the reason why that Lakers team was moving. Is
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  just can he stay healthy as in his age thirty nine season. Yeah,
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  and so I thought I was, so I'm not gonna reveal my Lebron ranking
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  yet, but I feel like I was trying not to be biased, and
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  I believe Lebron he definitely does have top top five potential. But like you're
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  saying, as far as agent injury, he definitely shows that he has more
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  than enough. And like I was saying, well, Josh Listockin, he
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  is the greatest player of all time. I'm glad we couldn't agree agree on
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  something right there. But yeah, no, my number five player, I
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  have Kevin Durant. The only reason I have him above Lebron is because he
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  is slightly younger and he so, yes, he has had some injuries,
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  but I trust him to stay a little bit more healthier than Lebron. But
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  other than that, he's shown moments to be a top three player in the
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  world. And just nobody can guard a shot that simple, heasy cross that
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  he does. It's just it just can't be stopped in. I think that
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  with Phoenix, especially with all those all those pieces around him, I feel
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  like you really can't key on key in on him this year, So it's
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  gonna be really hard to stop him or play one on one. And if
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  so, if you're gonna be doubling him, he's gonna be uh thirding with
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  twenty eight and ten ten assists the game. And all right, for number
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  six, who do you have the greatest point guard of all time? Stephen
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  Curry comes in at number six for me. Fourteenth NBA season, eight time
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  All NBA, two time MVP Finals MVP, four time NBA champ, twenty
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  nine point four points last year six point one assists, I mean six point
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  one rebounds, six point three to assist. He basically got it done on
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  every facet of the floor last year. He's really good defensively when it comes
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  to guarding the point position. He just he is this Warriors team. He
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  is the Warriors history. It's just a matter of age and injury with him.
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  Just like Lebron, he hasn't really gotten He's gotten banged up the last
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  couple of years. Nothing crazy, but it still impacts a couple of games,
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  like five ten games for him a year. It's just a matter of
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  staying healthy. He is getting older. He is the greatest shooter of all
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  time. But there is a reason why he is number six for me because
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  no matter what happens in his career, he will always be able to shoot
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  better than everybody else on the field. He could if his dribbling game goes
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  away, if he becomes slower, he will still have a spot in this
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  league because he can shoot the football. Shoot the football, shoot the basketball.
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  This is what we get for doing two podcasts in one night. Yeah
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  yeah, no, right, yeah no. Even if he was on the
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  football field, I'm pretty sure he'd be the most accurate anyways. But yeah,
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  no, all the points that you said, that's the reason why I
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  had Steph Curry number three on my ranking, and just I think that age
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  just isn't slowing him down just yet. I feel like he has another year
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  or two as far as being a top three player in the league before not
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  necessarily he goes on a decline, but as far as goes outside of the
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  top five, if that makes sense. But as far as for my number
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  six player, I have the MVP of the league, Joel Embiid, and
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  I know you had him number four, and I was kind of thinking,
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  I was like, Okay, well he's around the four to six range,
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  because the MVP doesn't necessarily mean you're the best player in the league. It
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  just in the NBA, especially in the NBA, it's yeah, yeah,
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  the storyline, your stats, how the team is, the team's success really
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  doesn't matter as much as it does in the NFL. So yeah, like
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  you were saying, as far as for his postseason, I definitely want to
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  see better. And one thing is just injuries. He just continues to get
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  hurt year after year after year. And I trust Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant
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  and Steph Curry to be a little bit more healthy, healthier than Joel Embiid,
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  And that's why I have them ranked above if he would if you would
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  have stayed healthy all last year and even into the postseason, even though he
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  was disappointing, I would have had him higher. But what were you gonna
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  say, josh oh, I was gonna say based off the games played?
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  He's part of the reason, him and Kawhi of why you need why there's
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  a minimum games played now to win awards? Yeah, because he only played
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  sixty six games last year, and the Kurtier now is you have to play
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  sixty five games to be considered for an NBA award. And I know this
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  is going to get a little bit off topic, but how do you feel
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  about that? Do you feel like that's better or do you feel like that's
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  worse. It's completely fair. I think if you're the most vogua player,
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  you're there the whole year. Yeah, all right, well, well it
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  seems like we agree on a bunch of basketball stuff. For that. That's
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  a good thing to hear. But all right, for number seven, who
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  do you have Jason Tatum in the six season. He's a three time All
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  NBA player, thirty points per game last year, eight point eight rebounds,
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  four point six assists. I just think for Jason Tatum, it's a matter
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  of getting over the hump. This two years in a row, he's kind
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  of faded away in the playoffs. He balls all the way up to the
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  point when you need them most. I want to see him really take the
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  step forward of being that goat, of being that assassin on the court when
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  it matters in the clutch. Because he's an all talented player. He's only
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  in the six seasons in the NBA. People, it's just him taking a
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  step forward of getting into the top three range, top five range of NBA
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  players. And I think he can do it this year. Yeah, and
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  once again I guess we're a green. Yeah. I know Jason Tatum as
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  far as he is the only player I can see well, no, well,
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  obviously Luka Doncic, but I feel like Luka Doncic he is more established
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  than Jason Tatum. I feel like Jason Tatum he has the most to gain
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  out of everybody in this top ten right here, and he can jump the
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  most due to him being on a good team and he could possibly win that
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  championship because they have a very good team this year. And as far as
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  on offense and defense, he could guard one through four, and last year
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  against Miami, Yeah, it was after they were down three then they end
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  up going to seven. I know he did get hurt, but I feel
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  or still feel like Miami would have won that game seven because it looked very
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  convincingly. But yeah, I know, Jason Tatum, I feel like it's
• 16:52
  time to step up and enough of those peaks and valleys. I feel like
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  it should just be all peaks this year and yeah, no, no more
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  learning curves. Like you said, it's year six, It's time to go
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  win a championship. This is going to be the best roster you have around
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  you. But all right, number eight, who do you have? Mister
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  easy money sniper? Kevin Durant comes in for me at number eight. Fifteenth
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  NBA season ten, time All NBA, two time Finals, MVP one MVP
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  two time NBA Champ, twenty nine point one points per game, six point
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  seven rebounds, five assists last year, considered by many to be the greatest
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  scorer in the history of this game. Needs to stay healthy. If he
• 17:37
  stays healthy, his teams always do good. They're gonna need him to stay
• 17:41
  healthy because it's the whole new team on the Phoenix Suns basically this year,
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  outside of him and two other returning players, every other player on that roster
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  is a new player. They're gonna need Kevin Durant to be leader. They're
• 17:53
  gonna need Kevin Durant to stay healthy for this team to make deep playoffs,
• 17:57
  to make a deeper playoff playoff run, because they have a lot to prove
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  this year. Yeah, they definitely do have a lot to prove after all
• 18:07
  they did in the offseason after acquiring Bradley Bill and just basically, like you
• 18:12
  said, trading everybody and just getting a new roster entirely, which I know
• 18:18
  you see new teams being made but not exactly like this. But yeah,
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  I know, I just had Kevin Durant a little bit higher because I think
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  just the injury last year, not necessarily that it was an outlier. I
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  just feel like kil especially with the sixty five games, as far as I'm
• 18:40
  not saying he's chasing awards or anything, but I feel like he's gonna at
• 18:44
  least reach that benchmark right there. But as far as for number eight,
• 18:48
  I have mister Damn Dalla talk about somebody who it was really an outlier for
• 18:53
  him to get injured and what he was doing before he got injured. Even
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  though he got injured, he played fifty eight still and I think it wasn't
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  necessarily because he couldn't play through the injury. I think it's just a sat
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  him out and as far as for health reasons, but when he did play,
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  thirty two point two points per game, five rebounds, seven assists,
• 19:15
  forty five percent from the field, thirty six percent from three. Not one
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  of his best years from three, but still up there. Damian Lillard,
• 19:25
  he can make a whole offense by himself. Now he has, like we're
• 19:30
  saying, the second best player around him, so he's gonna have even better
• 19:33
  looks, which is crazy to say you're really not going to be able to
• 19:40
  double team him. If so, good luck Guardian Giannis. And even at
• 19:44
  that you have Chris Middleton. But even if you say defensively he is,
• 19:49
  he's at least a willing defender, So it's not necessarily that he's just being
• 19:55
  exposed out there compared to somebody like Trey Young or somebody like that to the
• 20:00
  extent, but yeah, I know, and Damian Little he can whenever he
• 20:04
  is on fire, He's he can go zero to one hundred better. Than
• 20:08
  any other player in the league, and that includes Steph Curry and Klay Thompson
• 20:15
  or any of these other marksman's in the league. But as far as for
• 20:19
  number nine, who do you have? This is where we could start disagreeing
• 20:22
  a little bit. I have a player that I think took a big step
• 20:30
  last year, and he has a young roster this year. On his team,
• 20:33
  I'm gonna say Shay Gilders Alexander is number nine for me. We keep
• 20:38
  agreeing. He is in his fifth season. He's made one All NBA team
• 20:47
  and that was last year. But last year he comes off thirty one point
• 20:51
  four point eight rebounds and five point five assists. Shay Gilders Alexander is going
• 20:56
  to have a really good roster around him this year. It's a matter of
• 21:00
  what they can do if they can get to the playoffs, what they can
• 21:02
  do in the playoffs, and how he responds. I think this could be
• 21:04
  in a running for him to maybe be in the MVP conversation this year.
• 21:07
  He has great players around him. We'll get into maybe their roster here later,
• 21:12
  but I just want to see him take that next step. He's already
• 21:17
  taken big steps forward, but I just want to see him as a leader
• 21:19
  lead a team to the playoffs. Yeah, well, I thought we were
• 21:26
  going to start disagreeing, but I guess we're not gonna disagree. He got
• 21:30
  first Team All NBA for a reason. And another thing that was now looked
• 21:36
  at is he had one point six stills per game, so he is one
• 21:40
  of the better. He is one of the better. I'm not saying he
• 21:42
  is like a Drew Holiday, but he's a good on ball defender. Him
• 21:48
  and de john Say Murray matchup would go pretty crazy when they would play each
• 21:51
  other. Yeah, definitely, but yeah, no, he just he made
• 21:56
  this team look a lot better than what they actually were. And now you're
• 22:00
  gonna have chet holmgrim back and j Dubb, who was in the running late
• 22:04
  for Rookie of the Year. I know Paulo kind of ran away with it,
• 22:07
  but as far as being second in Rookie Rookie of the Year, so
• 22:12
  he has better players around him, They're only going to progress, so he's
• 22:17
  only gonna look better. So I could see him probably not having over thirty
• 22:21
  points per game this year, but maybe like a twenty seven to twenty eight
• 22:25
  points per game and ten assists just for him or just for the players around
• 22:30
  him being that good. And I know a bunch of people they'll probably argue,
• 22:34
  well, it's a good player. It's a good player with great stats
• 22:38
  on a bad team, so he gets so many touches. But no,
• 22:41
  that's not necessarily the case. He was one of the most efficient players in
• 22:47
  the league. Hit on dame then, you know, so it's like it
• 22:52
  does just nitpicking. Oh as far as what do you mean, how like
• 22:59
  how you said people like say he is a good player on a bad team,
• 23:02
  Like, are we just gonna say this in Narra different game because he's
• 23:04
  a great player, so you know, so just that's just nitpicking. Yeah,
• 23:10
  exactly. And that's what I never understand. If you're if you're that
• 23:15
  good, you even if you're a good NBA player, you're not gonna be
• 23:18
  averaging over thirty points a game and almost ten assist a game. That's something
• 23:22
  that is not normal. And he's gonna prove this year that he is an
• 23:27
  offensive engine and you could rely on him to be the number one player on
• 23:33
  a championship team. But all right, as far as for number ten,
• 23:37
  this could be different players right here. I know we agreed a lot,
• 23:40
  but let's see if we agree on this one. Who's your number ten player?
• 23:44
  Number ten for me is Damian Lillard. Damian Lillard is coming into his
• 23:48
  eleven season, nine time all NBA thirty two point two points last year before
• 23:52
  the injury, four point eight rebounds, seven point three assist. That is
• 23:56
  insane numbers from an always consistent mister lible Damian Lillard. This is the first
• 24:02
  time in his career. This is gonna be the best team he's ever played
• 24:04
  with in his NBA career. Jannis Middleton, the list can go on and
• 24:08
  on, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, however you want to look at it.
• 24:11
  He has everything at his disposal. He doesn't have to be the number
• 24:15
  one guy. He can give the ball to Middleton, he can give the
• 24:18
  ball to Giannis. He can take a break, he can be a spot
• 24:21
  up shooter, he can be a catch and shoot. This is gonna be
• 24:22
  the most dangerous Damian Lillard we have ever seen. Sure, he's had good
• 24:26
  teams with LaMarcus Dodgers, with c J. McCullum, but this is the
• 24:29
  best team he's ever played with. And I think we're gonna see it this
• 24:32
  year. Mm hmm. Yeah. And good luck for any team that's really
• 24:37
  trying to guard him, even though Boston they're a really good defensive team.
• 24:41
  Now, what you're gonna have Giannis on Christaps Porzingis, I don't think that's
• 24:45
  gonna work. But yeah, I know as far as from my number ten
• 24:49
  player, like I said, I have Lebron James and a number ten and
• 24:56
  yes, I'm a big time Lebron James, I still think, Okay,
• 25:03
  here's the best way I could put it Lebron James if it wasn't for so
• 25:08
  after what he did last year in the postseason, after being where he should
• 25:12
  have had surgery on his foot, he dropped forty points or he dropped what
• 25:17
  was it, I think, like thirty three points in the first half in
• 25:18
  Game four against the Nuggets, something like that, And so he definitely has
• 25:26
  everything there. It's just as far as how healthy he's gonna be. I
• 25:30
  think, like I said Kevin Durant, he's showed player or showed signs of
• 25:36
  being a top player in the league. I think Lebron James he showed signs
• 25:40
  of being a top three player consistently in the league. And he's just the
• 25:45
  Swiss Army Knife. He could do anything, play one through four. He
• 25:48
  was even playing the five last year a little bit when Ad was hurt,
• 25:52
  So I think it's not necessarily as far as I guess, I'm kind of
• 25:59
  I wasn't trying to be biased here because I am a big time lebron James
• 26:03
  found like I said, so he could have easily been in the top three
• 26:07
  in my opinion, but I just put him at number ten just for a
• 26:11
  safe, safe net. But as far as for honorable mentions, I had
• 26:18
  Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, and Jimmy Butler. Did you have any honorable
• 26:22
  mentions there or between number ten? I just had Devin Booker. Devin Booker
• 26:30
  is a He's probably the second third best shoot, fourth best shooter in the
• 26:38
  league. He twenty seven points. It's just for him. Same thing the
• 26:42
  Stuns team is staying healthy. And as much as I hate him, Kawhi
• 26:47
  Leonard, I'm a Spurs Shandon, So as much as I hate Kawhi Leonard,
• 26:49
  Kawhi Leonard went healthy as a top ten NBA player. It's just a
• 26:53
  matter of staying healthy and he has yet to do that. Yep, like
• 26:59
  you said. But all right, Uh, since we discussed our top ten
• 27:02
  players, where we mostly agreed. It's surprisingly I don't think that we're going
• 27:04
  to agree on I think, yeah, yeah, that's true. But all
• 27:11
  right, let's go ahead and get into award predictions. So, Josh,
• 27:15
  who do you have as your MVP? I have mister Nikola the Joker Jokic
• 27:22
  because he's just the best player in the NBA. I think he went to
• 27:27
  his third MVP this year. I think he leads the Nuggets back to the
• 27:32
  number one seed, which we'll get into later, and I think he averages
• 27:36
  a triple double and wins MVP. Man, it's just so crazy how Russell
• 27:44
  Westbrook. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but he's basically normalized a triple
• 27:48
  double. It's it's just so crazy to me. M M. I think
• 27:55
  Jokic was point to away from a triple double last year for the Cyst,
• 28:00
  wasn't I think? Yeah? No, he had eleven point eight rebounds.
• 28:03
  He needed he had nine point eight assists. Oh assists, Oh yeah,
• 28:07
  taking assists, I'm thinking assists, Yeah yeah, he had need a point
• 28:11
  two assists. He needed one more assist in like one two more assists in
• 28:14
  one random game and he would have had it. Geez, that's crazy.
• 28:18
  But as far as for my MVP prediction, like I was mentioned a little
• 28:23
  bit later or earlier, I have Jason Tatum winning the MVP. I just
• 28:29
  think it's time. It's time for him. Like we were saying, year
• 28:33
  six best roster. Now you have Drew Holliday there to handle the ball.
• 28:37
  He's experienced, he's a vet. So now Jason Tatum, he could just
• 28:40
  focus in on scoring the ball at will. I wouldn't be surprised if he
• 28:45
  averages over thirty points a game easily. And he has a narrative with him,
• 28:49
  he has or he is a part of the Celtics, one of the
• 28:52
  biggest brands in the league. So I think it's just time for Jason Tatum
• 28:56
  to do it. Just time for him to win MVP. And all right,
• 29:00
  let's go ahead and get into the next tow Ward Defensive Player of the
• 29:06
  Year, Josh, who do you have in this one? This was a
• 29:08
  tough one for me because I really don't know if he should have won it
• 29:11
  last year, but I'm gonna do Jaron Jackson Junior. Two years in a
• 29:15
  row. It seems like a trend. Players just went it back to back
• 29:18
  in the NBA so I'm gonna go with the same pick, Jaron Jackson Junior.
• 29:22
  And plus this year, no Steven Adams, He's gonna have pretty much
• 29:26
  a new roster in the starting lineup. He's gonna have to carry a bigger
• 29:30
  load. I actually do expect a big jump from Jaron Jackson Junior offensively and
• 29:33
  defensively because of these situations. And so I have Darren Jaren Jaron Jackson Junior
• 29:41
  winning defensive Player of the year. Yeah, I know, I could see
• 29:45
  that happening in and his only concern as far as him winning defensive Player of
• 29:51
  the Year is just him not staying in foul trouble. I don't know how
• 29:53
  many times he end the falling out of a game. It was ridiculous,
• 29:57
  especially in the playoffs. Can I give an honorable mention real quick? Yeah?
• 30:02
  Yea, yeah, go ahead, I'm gonna do it's I think it's
• 30:06
  South Arnold is Evan Mobley. I think Evan Mobley has a good chance that
• 30:10
  winning defensive player of the year. Last year he had him and Jared Allen
• 30:15
  really locked down that Cavs front court, and it's gonna be a It's gonna
• 30:19
  be a pretty good down down low no one really scores on them that much,
• 30:25
  and I just expect a big jump from Evan Mobley. Yeah no,
• 30:29
  I definitely wouldn't be a surprise if he wanted either. And yeah, no,
• 30:33
  what was it when him and Jared Allen were We're starting, they had
• 30:37
  the best defensive raiding in the league. Something like that, right, yep.
• 30:41
  Jared Allen's no scrub himself when it comes to defense. Oh yeah,
• 30:45
  definitely, But all right for my Defense Player of the Year, it's kind
• 30:49
  of a well, not kind of risky. It is risky. I think
• 30:55
  that he's finally gonna crack over sixty five games. It's Anthony Davis. Anthony
• 31:00
  Davis when when he did play, he was the the best defensive player on
• 31:07
  the planet. And I know the last thing we saw was him against NICOLEA.
• 31:11
  Jokic and he was getting cooked. But that's Nicola Jokic. He's gonna
• 31:15
  cook anybody you put in front of him. And I think it just shows
• 31:21
  how great of a defensive player he was. Whenever it was in the Golden
• 31:25
  State Series, which was a second round, he was just stopping the entire
• 31:32
  entire Warriors offense. Guarding Steph Curry sometimes Guarden Andrew Wiggins picking up Klay Thompson.
• 31:38
  It's just ridiculous. He's literally the definition of as far as garden one
• 31:44
  through five and the only concern. Yeah, he's literally a defensive anchor and
• 31:49
  got that intimidator batch like two k. But but yeah, no, I
• 31:56
  think he's just finally gonna stay healthy this year. He had some It was
• 32:00
  positive last year on the way he ended off. Obviously it wasn't the way
• 32:04
  they wanted it to end, but it was good on what he ended off
• 32:07
  on, and I think he's going to just carry on from it this year.
• 32:12
  But all right, let's go ahead and get into the next award.
• 32:15
  Well, I'm pretty sure everybody knows this. You've even said this in the
• 32:21
  Football podcast. But as far as for Rookie of the Year, I know
• 32:25
  you're a Spurs fan, so I don't even know why I'm asking you this
• 32:29
  question, But who do you think is gonna win Rookie of the Year.
• 32:31
  The greatest prospect in team sports history Victor wimpen Y'allmovern's Rookie of the Year.
• 32:37
  I was talking to Alfons before the podcast. I had him Defensive Player of
• 32:42
  the Year, but I just didn't want to look like a Bias fan.
• 32:44
  So I have him here at the Rookie of the Year. I think what
• 32:47
  we've seen from him so far is just an anchor. He can guard every
• 32:52
  position, every position on the court if he watched them in preseason. So
• 32:55
  far, guard Stephen Curry, guard and your Wiggan. He's guarded chet home
• 33:01
  grim down low. He helped hit Home Grinch zero points scored on him and
• 33:07
  seeing flex on chet Holmgrin the other Yeah he did. He's just he's just
• 33:13
  that guy man. He he He's so far averaging what like four blocks per
• 33:17
  game since entering Summer League and preseason. I just think it's gonna be I
• 33:22
  just think the offensive game is gonna be a little bit of work to leading
• 33:25
  into. I say, he goes eighteen eleven and maybe four assists and three
• 33:32
  blocks. And if you're getting that from your rookie, I just I just
• 33:37
  am scared for what's gonna happen in his second year. Yeah. No,
• 33:42
  Wimby, he's the easy one right here. Even even though che Homegrin he's
• 33:47
  gonna be technically considered a rookie or a Scoot Henderson. Yeah, no,
• 33:52
  Wimby, He's gonna run away with this just I wouldn't be surprised, honestly,
• 33:57
  if the way he's looked in the summer league and preseason, I wouldn't
• 34:01
  be surprised if he had five six blocks a game. So I'm not even
• 34:06
  mad at you for putting him as defensive or potential defensive player of the Year.
• 34:10
  It's just Scoot's honorable mention for me too. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
• 34:15
  Scoot. He's he's like a I want to say, kind of like
• 34:21
  an Anthony Edwards mold except here, go ahead, here he reminds me of
• 34:25
  like Russ and like Rust in a way Russell Westbrook mm hmm, yeah,
• 34:32
  no, I could see that. But all right, let's go ahead and
• 34:36
  get onto the next award, because that one was pretty much a no brainer.
• 34:39
  Most Improved Player of the Year. I think we have the same one
• 34:43
  right here. But who do you have? Mikel Bridges mckel Bridges. What
• 34:50
  we saw from him from the Suns. When he was on the Suns was
• 34:54
  he scored seventeen point two points per game, But as soon as he got
• 34:59
  traded and became I'm the main guy in Brooklyn, he jumped up to twenty
• 35:01
  six point one points per game. I think we're gonna see that on a
• 35:06
  night in and night out basis with him being the star on the Brooklyn Nets,
• 35:09
  I think he's going to turn into a star before our eyes. And
• 35:13
  what better place, what better place to do it than in Brooklyn with that
• 35:17
  team. Mcklebridge's most improved player of the year for me, Yeah, and
• 35:22
  I have exactly the same and nobody gives credit for mckel bridges as far as
• 35:29
  so after k D and Kyrie they got traded, uh they were the second
• 35:32
  or third seed in the league, and he, uh yeah kept him as
• 35:37
  a five seed, right, yeah he did. Yep, yeah, yeah,
• 35:42
  he kept him as a five seed. And now he he's going to
• 35:45
  have the full keys to the offense because you didn't bring in somebody who's going
• 35:49
  to take over that role. So he's given a chance to be the number
• 35:52
  one player on that team in which is a good team. And well,
• 35:58
  we're not going to talk about it right now, but as far as potentially
• 36:00
  making the playoffs, they should be there. And I wouldn't be surprised if
• 36:06
  he's averaging over twenty three twenty four points a game and maybe even having more
• 36:12
  assists since I think the ball is gonna be in his hands a lot more
• 36:15
  more now since he's just that guy. But all right, as far as
• 36:19
  for six Man of the year, who do you have in this one?
• 36:22
  Okay? I have Cam Thomas also on the Brooklyn Nets winning I'm not bad
• 36:30
  winning six men of the year. When that trade happened with Kyrie Irving getting
• 36:35
  shipped ROP and Kevin Durant getting shipped ROP bringing mckil bridges in, Cam Thomas
• 36:39
  was scoring like thirty points a night, forty like he had that one stretch
• 36:44
  when he went like what like thirty twenty eight, thirty two to twenty like
• 36:47
  he was going insane. I think we see that dwindle down a little bit
• 36:52
  this year, But don't be surprised if he averages twenty one points per game
• 36:54
  off the bench. Man, If he averages twenty one points a game off
• 37:00
  the bench, then he's easily gonna run away with it. But and I'll
• 37:02
  get my honorable mention, I'm sorry, my honorable mention will Chris Paul.
• 37:07
  I would stay Chris Paul. If he can accept a role off the bench
• 37:12
  for this Golden State Warriors team, this team will become lethal, and he
• 37:17
  will win six manu of the Year quite easily. Yeah, I can see
• 37:22
  that happening. Both of those are I can see that happening. But I
• 37:25
  just think somebody who's been in the running for a while. I think he's
• 37:30
  finally gonna win it. Emmanuel quickly. He's just been mister reliable. Whenever
• 37:35
  he needs to come into the starting lineup, he will, but usually being
• 37:37
  on that six man role. It looked like he was missing, missed against
• 37:43
  the Miami Heat in the second round when he didn't play those last few games.
• 37:46
  But yeah, I know, he's just a spark off the bench and
• 37:52
  just he could get things done, plays offense and defense, a hustle player,
• 37:57
  and he could explode that time for for a crazy amount of points.
• 38:00
  And he had that one stretch I believe it was in late February early March
• 38:07
  where he had like I think it was like like five or six twenty plus
• 38:13
  plus point games. So he definitely has that sparkability, probably not to the
• 38:17
  Cam Thomas or what Cam Thomas can do, but I feel like he could
• 38:22
  do that more consistently, and I think he just finally wins it after being
• 38:25
  in it for a couple of years. But all right. As far as
• 38:30
  for Coach of the Year, who do you have in this one? I
• 38:35
  know this one's a little bit tougher because there's there's a bunch of new coaches
• 38:39
  and it's kind of more of a record as far as a record of stat
• 38:46
  for a while. Okay, I'm gonna change mind right now. I have
• 38:52
  to do it. I'm gonna give it. They might not finish with the
• 38:55
  best record, they might not, but give me Greg Popovich getting the Coach
• 39:02
  of the Year award. This will be his greatest work of art in the
• 39:07
  history that of his historic all time Hall of Fame career. I think he
• 39:15
  gets his team to the playoffs, and I think not. I think they
• 39:19
  have a hard sket the hard way to get there. But I think what
• 39:22
  this league will see is what he has done with this group, and they
• 39:24
  will and also with the same with the thunderhead coach. Mark. You say
• 39:29
  his last name better? How do you say his last name? Oh,
• 39:31
  Mark Dagnault, Mark Bagnote, same thing with him. They both kind of
• 39:37
  in the same boat. Bagnoe. I can't say his last name, bro,
• 39:38
  I'm sorry. So he's kind of in the same boat as pop They
• 39:44
  both have really young teams, both kind of in the same build. The
• 39:46
  only one is they have Shy who's already established. So I think it's between
• 39:52
  those different Coach of the Year For me, well, that first one definitely
• 39:57
  wasn't biased right there, but hey, gotta be biased when you can.
• 40:01
  So you're gonna have two players win or two Spurs win win some awards.
• 40:06
  I can't hate him again, Pop, He's one of the best coaches in
• 40:08
  the league. But I just feel like it's gonna have to go to this
• 40:13
  first year coach, even though he has a stack roster around him, it's
• 40:16
  gonna be his first year. Adrian Griffin just shout out to him for finally
• 40:21
  getting a head coaching job after fifteen years of being an assistant. He finally
• 40:25
  has a chance, and I believe that the Bucks are gonna have the best
• 40:30
  record in the league, especially with getting Damian Lillard. There's gonna be expectations,
• 40:36
  and even though you're gonna have all that talent, you're a rookie head
• 40:39
  coach and you still have to coach. So yeah, I just think he
• 40:43
  gets it done and he's gonna prove that he's one of the best coaches in
• 40:46
  the league. Already. So all right, now that we discussed awards,
• 40:54
  we're gonna talk about as far as predictions, as far as one through ten.
• 40:59
  Seas we're going to ten because as far as the play in tournament,
• 41:04
  So which conference did you want to start in? First? Eastern or Western
• 41:07
  Conference? Josh, we can do the West, all right? West?
• 41:12
  All right, I guess I'll go ahead and kick it off. So the
• 41:15
  one seed, I have the Denver Nuggets again just being dominant as usual.
• 41:21
  Nikolioki is gonna have another great season. Number two, I have the Phoenix
• 41:25
  Suns. Like we talked about as far as them staying healthy, I think
• 41:30
  that they're gonna be healthy this year and they're gonna just take care of business.
• 41:38
  And number three, I have the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that
• 41:44
  after the trade deadline was one of the best teams in the league and as
• 41:46
  far as their defense was great. So I think the Lakers are gonna just
• 41:52
  improve on what they did from last year and be the three seed. Number
• 41:55
  four, I have the Sacramento Kings. Kings their offense was just amazing last
• 42:01
  year, put up a bunch of points, and I think with Mike Brown
• 42:05
  there another year and just building the culture. They're going to be a four
• 42:08
  seed and just I just take a little step back, but it's not going
• 42:15
  to really be that much. Number five, I have the Memphis Grizzlies.
• 42:20
  I know they don't have John Morant for seventeen games, and they got rid
• 42:23
  of Tyas Jones, who's one of the or one or was one of the
• 42:28
  best backups in the league. But you got Marcus Smart, you got Derek
• 42:30
  Rose, you got solid point guards that should fill in the void. And
• 42:36
  when John Morant does come back, he is explosive and electric. So I
• 42:40
  think that they'll be the five seed. They won't be the top seed in
• 42:44
  the league, but they'll still be in the pack and just miss the play
• 42:47
  in. Number six out of the Dallas Mavericks, like you mentioned as far
• 42:52
  as with Luka Doncic, as far as he makes his whole offense run than
• 42:58
  him being another year with or after the trade deadline being with Kyrie Irving,
• 43:04
  he's finally gonna jail with him, and they're gonna be the sixth seed.
• 43:07
  Number seven seed. I have the Warriors. I just can't count the Warriors
• 43:12
  out yet. Just championship pedigree, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr. That's all
• 43:15
  I gotta say. The eighth seed, I have the Los Angeles Clippers.
• 43:21
  Only reason they're the eighth seed is because as far as health, I just
• 43:24
  can't see Kawhi Leonard and Paul George staying healthy throughout the entire season. And
• 43:30
  Russell Westbrook, I don't know if he's the answer for them when they're not
• 43:35
  healthy. Number nine, I have the Oklahoma City thunder Shake, Gyilgas Alexander.
• 43:42
  He's gonna do what he did last year, set better web or better
• 43:45
  talent around him and just improving. I know they're gonna be in the same
• 43:50
  seed and as they were last year, but it's gonna be a better season.
• 43:53
  And number ten, I have the Pelicans. I just think Zion he
• 43:58
  has to stay healthy. One seed, there's going to be an outlier season
• 44:00
  where he stays healthy, and I just think if it's going to be any
• 44:05
  season, and has to be this season. So, Josh, who do
• 44:07
  you have in the Western Conference? At number one? I have the Denver
• 44:12
  Nuggets, Nicola jokicch They have Jamal Murray, they have Michael Porter Jr.
• 44:16
  They have Aaron Gordon, they have Contavious Caldwell, Pope The only thing is
• 44:21
  they did lose a couple of key pieces. They lost Bruce Brown, Jeff
• 44:24
  Green, and Thomas Bryant. But I expect Christian Brown to step up pretty
• 44:30
  big off the step up off the bench, and Reggie Jackson to do pretty
• 44:35
  good as well. We'll just see what the rest of these new additions can
• 44:37
  do. But as for as far as that, they are still my number
• 44:40
  one seed, or they are the number one seed in my opinion. Number
• 44:45
  two the Phoenix Suns. They still have the They have a core right now
• 44:50
  of Bradley Bill, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant. The only matter of
• 44:52
  being its health. Bradley Bill and Kevin Durant have not been healthy over the
• 44:55
  last two years. But outside of that, this whole team is brand new.
• 45:00
  I was hesitant to put them at number two because I don't know what
• 45:04
  kind of chemistry they're gonna have together, But we'll just see how how it
• 45:08
  works out. Their bench looks like all the Spurs leftovers, but that's that's
• 45:14
  whatever to me. But so so we'll see. We'll see what happens with
• 45:21
  that. Number three. I have the Los Angeles Lakers. They still have
• 45:23
  lebron James They still have Anthony Davis. The only matter with them to his
• 45:27
  health and staying on the court. But I do think this is I they
• 45:30
  said it last year, I'm gonna say it this year. This may be
• 45:34
  one of the better rosters that they've had. But last year didn't work out
• 45:37
  quite that well. So they have d Lo, they have Austin Reeves,
• 45:43
  they had gane Belt even they just signed him, no, right or yeah,
• 45:47
  they just signed him for a crazy extension. Yeah, because he texted
• 45:52
  me about it. They just signed him. So they expect big things from
• 45:54
  him, obviously. But now they added Jackson Hayes, Torren Prince, gave
• 46:00
  Vincent and Christian Wood. I think gave Vincent maybe a really good piece off
• 46:02
  this bench. He's a sharp shooter, he's good at defense. So I
• 46:07
  think that's gonna be a pretty good audition. As far as my number four,
• 46:10
  I have the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry, Klak Thompson, Draymond
• 46:15
  Green, Andrew Wiggins continue to be the core that makes this team run.
• 46:19
  This may be their last run together. There's herring reports of Klay Thompson being
• 46:22
  his last year with the Warriors. Draymond Green, we'll see what happens.
• 46:27
  They've been saying that for a couple of years now. They just they they
• 46:30
  lost Dante Devintinzo and they traded away Jordan Poole. That's pretty big points.
• 46:36
  But they also added Chris Paul. Chris Paul is considered by many to be
• 46:40
  one of the top point guards of all time. And we'll just see how
• 46:44
  he mix it into this offense, which I which I think will lead them
• 46:46
  to the number four spot in the Western Conference at number five barring injury,
• 46:52
  I have the Los Angeles Clippers. It's the time for PG and Keap Kawylanerd
• 46:59
  to get it together. They've been here for years now, they have yet
• 47:02
  to get pass or even I only think they've even made it to the conference
• 47:06
  finals. They might have made it one time, but they still have not
• 47:07
  made it NBA finals. They are two of the best players at the position
• 47:13
  in history, but yet they they cannot put it together here in La Nope.
• 47:19
  And then I'd like the addition. I like Russell Westbrook. I think
• 47:22
  Russell Westbrook gets a lot of hate for no reason. Every team he is
• 47:24
  on gets better. I think he'll be a good addition. He'll be able
• 47:29
  to take the ball out of Kawhi and pg's hands. He'll be able to
• 47:30
  distribute. He's been nothing but a good teammate. So we'll just see how
• 47:37
  how this moves forward. Barring health, that's the main that's the main thing.
• 47:42
  At number six, Sacramento Kings. I have the Sacramento teams are coming
• 47:46
  off a really big year v for their MVP. Other teams. I have
• 47:50
  the Aaron Fox, but also demonte Sebonis. I think it's up to these
• 47:52
  two. They are both the MVPs of this team. Wherever it happens with
• 47:57
  them and this team runs the SA bonus. I want to see a step
• 48:00
  up and more efficiency with points, more efficiency with rebounds. Daron Fox,
• 48:06
  I just want to see leadership. I want to see him lead this team
• 48:09
  to where they need to be. He is the core piece of this team.
• 48:15
  A number okay, So this is where it gets hard in the Western
• 48:17
  Conference. The Western Conference is such a stack a stack a stack conference.
• 48:23
  It's gonna be hard to win fifty games for anybody, even the Nuggets in
• 48:27
  this In this conference, oh man, I feel like I'm gonna leave somebody
• 48:31
  off and someone really mad. I have the Timberwolves at number seven. I
• 48:37
  think it's I think Anthony Edwards steps into a conversation of being one of the
• 48:43
  best in the NBA this year. I think I think Edward's gonna lead this
• 48:45
  team. The Rudy Gobert trade isn't looking very good so far. It didn't
• 48:50
  look very good last year. But let's see if he can step up and
• 48:52
  go back to being that defensive, that defensive anchor that he was in Utah.
• 49:00
  Kat Cat is one of the best sinners that we've seen. Well now
• 49:05
  he plays the four, but he's one of the best that we've seen since
• 49:08
  entering the NBA. It's just a matter of if he can be consistent on
• 49:12
  a consistent when it matters most. But he's not the main guys Anthony Edwards
• 49:17
  team now. As far as their bench, their bench is pretty much the
• 49:23
  same thing on the lost Torn Prince and Austin Rivers. So I just want
• 49:28
  to take that next step. I think seven may be a little too high.
• 49:30
  All the all these people about a name is all interchangeable. It's not
• 49:34
  a set list for me. It's just who I think is gonna finish around
• 49:36
  this area. So don't get too mad at me about Yeah, we'll see
• 49:43
  then So at number eight the Oklahoma City Thunder. Like we said earlier,
• 49:47
  Sky Gilds, Alexander is going to take this next step into being a top
• 49:51
  player in the NBA. He already is, but the top ten players where
• 49:53
  he's going to take the step. The additions that they had this year that
• 49:57
  I think matter the most is chet home grown hit home Green brings a lot
• 50:00
  of everything. He brings offense, he brings rebounding. We'll just see how
• 50:06
  he works into this offense. They still have Josh Giddy, who I think
• 50:08
  can do it all. He's a really good player that can distribute, rebound,
• 50:13
  score, play defense. I think we'll see a big step from him
• 50:17
  here. Next I have the Memphis Grizzlies at the number nine spot or well,
• 50:22
  they's all unchainable, but I have him next. The Memphis Grizzlies.
• 50:24
  I have them so low because I get they still pretty efficient without John Morant,
• 50:31
  but I think the loss of Steven Adams is really big, even especially
• 50:35
  coming off the bench. Even if if he were to come out with that's
• 50:37
  a that's a defensive anchor when you need him. He's a he's a he's
• 50:42
  a he has that leadership role on the court so and they did lose Dylan
• 50:46
  Brooks. They don't have John Morant for fifty two games, and they las
• 50:51
  Steven Adams the whole year for injury, and a really big thing that As
• 50:53
  a locker room presence, I think for them it is Tias Jones. Tias
• 50:58
  Jones has been there for a long time. He was then when John Morant
• 51:00
  was out, and I think that's a big loss. I know they added
• 51:04
  Derrick Roseen Marcus Smart, but I think at this point in their careers they're
• 51:08
  not really big scores. And Marcus Smart is is really a defensive stifles as
• 51:15
  compared. He can get it done on offense, but not as consistently on
• 51:19
  defense. So we'll just see if they if their points total is able to
• 51:22
  keep up with the rest of the Western Conference. That's my whole take on
• 51:25
  them here at number ten. More just defensively, or not defensively, offensively
• 51:31
  more than defensively. Huh Yeah, that that's going to be their struggle as
• 51:36
  offense. I don't think that's a bad thing to say about them. I
• 51:40
  think that's like kind of pretty like on paper you look at it, number
• 51:45
  ten. I left off my spurs. I know it sucks, but I'm
• 51:49
  surprised. Yeah, I have them att Elevin, but I think the ten
• 51:52
  spot to tie for me because I cannot pick between the The Pelicans are will
• 51:59
  be a lot higher, but the Pelicans for me, if as far as
• 52:04
  finishing in the top ten is based off injury and injury alone, if the
• 52:07
  Zion Williamson Brannan Ingram can stay healthy, then they compete to be a top
• 52:12
  three team in the West, and I truly believe that. But if they
• 52:15
  cannot stay healthy, then they will be right at the bottom like they were
• 52:17
  last year. And then at this area, I also have the Dallas Mavericks.
• 52:23
  The Dallas Mavericks have Luca, they have Kyrie. It's just a matter
• 52:27
  of putting it together. I hate the Mavericks. And right outside I have
• 52:30
  the San Antonio Spurs, and I don't want to get into too much detail.
• 52:34
  I can go on and on about them, but wimby the sales so
• 52:37
  hand, it's a new era for the Spurs. I think they can squeak
• 52:38
  into the top ten and I think make the play in. I'm not going
• 52:43
  to go as far as say and making the playoffs, but I think they
• 52:45
  can get the ten spot. That's more than that. That gave you all
• 52:46
  twelve teams, But it's just so stacked in the Western Conference. It's just
• 52:51
  hard to pick just pin and so yeah, that's my top ten in the
• 52:54
  Western Conference. Wow. I'm just surprised that you have the Dallas Maverick out
• 53:00
  you you have Luka Goncic as the fourth best player in the league and missing
• 53:07
  the playoffs entire Yeah. I know that's true, But you don't think another
• 53:10
  year with Kyrie it's gonna make a difference. Ah. The thing is with
• 53:15
  Kyrie, have we been seen something else from Kyrie that proves that he's able
• 53:20
  to I get that it's probably a new time for him, but we we've
• 53:23
  seen him be with Stars and we and it just hasn't worked out. And
• 53:28
  then I don't know, man, it's just like this West. I'm not
• 53:30
  saying that they're finishing down here. I said that all these teams are interchangeable.
• 53:35
  It's just like, yeah, it's just there. It's just I just
• 53:39
  want to see people outside of Luca make plays. M Yeah, No,
• 53:45
  I get that. That's always been the biggest thing for them. Yeah,
• 53:47
  because Luca and Kyrie can get it done. It's just a matter of like
• 53:51
  when it's they're gonna be who's the defensive who's the defensive anchor on this team,
• 53:55
  who's gonna be the third scorer, who's gonna really step up? That's
• 53:59
  just what I want to look for. Yeah, No, I understand that.
• 54:04
  I just think that Luca and Kyrie they'll just find a way to move
• 54:07
  their magic. But yeah, and I think they're all interchangeable. So it's
• 54:12
  just like like from the Timberwolves down to the Spurs that I had, it's
• 54:15
  all like they're not a set order. Is just who I think is gonna
• 54:19
  be. It's all tough. Yeah, this West is whoever wins fifty games,
• 54:22
  you're lucky. Yeah, I think it's gonna be. I can't think
• 54:29
  of that one year where no team won over fifty games, So I can't
• 54:32
  think of that certain year. But it's gonna be something like that. But
• 54:37
  compared to the Eastern Conferences little easiest, Yeah, it's a little bit easier
• 54:42
  and weaker. All Right, We'll just name our top three because I feel
• 54:47
  like the top three that's where it's kind of like the top tier of the
• 54:52
  Eastern Conference teams. I'll list my top three. Then you could list your
• 54:55
  top three from there. So number one, I said this earlier as far
• 55:00
  as with my coach of the Year Adrian Griffin. I think the Bucks are
• 55:05
  going to be the one seed. I wouldn't be surprised if they win anywhere
• 55:07
  from sixty to sixty five games. Again, I think that Damian Lillard acquisition
• 55:13
  it is perfect. Then number two, I have the Boston Celtics. After
• 55:17
  getting Drew Holliday, you used to have Jalen Brown, you got christophs Porzingis.
• 55:22
  I know Robert Williams. That is a big loss right there, but
• 55:27
  you have even more perimeter defense. They just have too much talent to not
• 55:31
  finish a top three seed in the Eastern Conference, which is weaker. So
• 55:37
  I don't think they'll have I don't think they'll have sixty plus wins, but
• 55:43
  they'll be up there in the high fifties. In the third seed, I
• 55:45
  have the Cleveland Cavaliers. I believe that they take another step. I just
• 55:51
  think that Darius Scarland, Donovan Mitchell, then Evan Mobley, Evan Mobley and
• 55:58
  then Jared Allen they're going to all improve. I just think this team they're
• 56:02
  on the come up. I'm not necessarily saying they're gonna make a finals run,
• 56:07
  but they're gonna definitely be better than last year and definitely be a better
• 56:12
  regular season team and stay a little bit more healthy. So who are your
• 56:15
  top three teams? Okay, So for my number one seed, I have
• 56:21
  the Boston Celtics. I'm not saying they're gonna make it to the NBA Championship
• 56:23
  because I don't think they will, but I think they will finish with the
• 56:25
  number one record overall. Yeah. Uh, Drew Holliday is a great acquisition.
• 56:31
  It really helps his team out. Christophs. Persinga's matter of health,
• 56:35
  again, as for most players, is if he can stay healthy. He's
• 56:38
  a He's was called the unicorn for a reason for the longest time. Person
• 56:44
  God, We'll see if he can stay healthy. That's gonna be a big
• 56:46
  acquisition. But as far as their losses, I think it hurts them.
• 56:50
  MICHAELM. Broggen, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams. These
• 56:53
  are core pieces that they've had for years that are gone. Now. I
• 56:55
  think it's a matter of finding new pieces at the end of this bench who
• 56:59
  can step up. But I still think they will finish with the first overall
• 57:01
  with the first with the first seed in the East. Second, I have
• 57:06
  the Bucks. Dame Dalla came over. It was about to take over.
• 57:09
  Chris Middleton, hopefully he's healthy. Malik Beasley Jonna sent to Cano Brook Lopez.
• 57:15
  They added a couple few pieces. They added the other Lopez and Robin
• 57:19
  Lopez, ty Ty Washington, Junior, Cameron Payne. But they didn't lose
• 57:24
  too much. Grayson Allen is replaceable, Javon Carter replaceable, Gordon's Roger didn't
• 57:30
  really play that much, and Joe Ingles was there for a little bit,
• 57:35
  didn't do too much. He's a great player. But they they didn't really
• 57:38
  lose too much. I think they'll still finish strong in the second. I'm
• 57:43
  gonna say my three and four because it's interchangeable based off situationship situationship situation,
• 57:50
  because you have the Caps at three, but I have them at four.
• 57:52
  The only reason I have them at four is because the seventy six ers I
• 57:55
  have at three. This is barring whether James Harden comes back or not.
• 58:00
  I think they will switch around the other way if James Harden doesn't come back.
• 58:04
  So I have seventy six ers at three. They still have Joel Embiid,
• 58:07
  they still have PJ. Chucker, Tobias Harris, Tyres Maxy. They
• 58:10
  added Kelly you Bridge junior, Pat Patrick Beverly and Danny Green, which are
• 58:15
  three solid veterans who brings scoring, bring defense, especially in Danny Green and
• 58:22
  Pat Beverley. Defense is key With both of those guys. I think they
• 58:24
  added some good depth to this team. They still have to they used to
• 58:29
  have high Paul Reid and it's I think it's gonna be a really good season
• 58:32
  for the Sixers even without James Harden. He's a really big piece. I
• 58:36
  get it. But if he is there their number three, if he's not
• 58:38
  their number four, I have the Cavs at number four. I like you
• 58:44
  said, they take a big jump. Darius Garland showed flashes last year being
• 58:46
  a great distributor. If he can get his point total a little bit up.
• 58:51
  As far as the rest, they have Evan Mobley and Jerry Allen.
• 58:54
  As we talked about earlier, Donovan Mitchell, I want to see a little
• 58:59
  bit more efficiency score. There were some games where he was taking like twenty
• 59:01
  five shots and only made nine or ten. You know, I just want
• 59:05
  to see a more Effich and Steve smarter shots, and then they added Max
• 59:08
  Drews, which is really good for them. He had a really good season
• 59:12
  with the Miami Heat. And they ejected Imani Bates, who is a really
• 59:15
  good scorer, and I think that's going to help them coming off the bench
• 59:19
  along with Karis lover asaaka Coro, and it's going to be a pretty good
• 59:23
  team in all. So those are my top four right now. Are we
• 59:28
  going to continue with the rest with your side, I just want to agree
• 59:32
  with you as far as that's the reason why I have the six or four.
• 59:37
  As far as James Harden, and it also depends on the package that
• 59:39
  they get. I know there's been rumors as far as Terrence Man and a
• 59:44
  couple first round picks. I don't want, Yeah, no, I don't.
• 59:49
  I don't think that would be a good move for him going to the
• 59:51
  Clippers. And obviously that could change the Clippers as far as how high they
• 59:55
  are on both of our projected seedings. But as far as for right now,
• 1:00:00
  James Harden is a sixer, so I just have them number four.
• 1:00:05
  I don't think that he won't play any games, but like you said,
• 1:00:08
  this team they still have a bunch of talent, and yeah, I know
• 1:00:14
  I don't talk about it from the cast, but as far as them getting
• 1:00:16
  Max Trews, that is a good piece right there because last year Isaaca Coro
• 1:00:22
  being that that wing defender, that three, the small forward, it was
• 1:00:29
  hit or miss every single time. And I feel like Max Trews he could
• 1:00:31
  bring reliability there and somebody who's been in big moments before. He can hit
• 1:00:37
  down or not clutch shots. So yeah, let's go ahead and continue with
• 1:00:44
  five through eight. I'll go ahead and let you get this startup. And
• 1:00:47
  Okay, this area right here for me is also interchangeable. It just depends
• 1:00:52
  on Yeah, like this five through eight area is interchangeable for me. So
• 1:00:57
  at number five, I have the Miami Heat right now. They had some
• 1:01:01
  key additions and Thomas Bryant. I like their rookie acquisition in high May Jack
• 1:01:07
  Kiss junior, really good three point shooter coming out of college. And they
• 1:01:09
  added Josh Richardson. He was on the Spurs, went to the Pelicans,
• 1:01:15
  but he's been in the Heats before, he's been in the system, he's
• 1:01:16
  played with Spostra. This is where he started his career. I think this
• 1:01:20
  is a good coming home moment for him. It fills up some losses that
• 1:01:22
  they had. They didn't lose a lot. They lost Victor Oladipo, who
• 1:01:24
  basically wasn't there injured every single year, but they lost Max Stews, they
• 1:01:29
  lost gave Vincent. Those are really key pieces coming off the bench, sometimes
• 1:01:32
  put into starter roles when needed. They're good shooters, good defenders. That
• 1:01:37
  those are two big losses. So that's why I have them here at five
• 1:01:40
  below the caves. They still have Kyle Lowry. I think Tyler Harrow moves
• 1:01:45
  up into the starting role with those losses instead of coming off the bench in
• 1:01:47
  that sixth men role. I think this is where Cayleb Martin comes into play,
• 1:01:52
  having a bigger role coming off the bench. Josh Richardson I think will
• 1:01:54
  be the three, and they have Jimmy Butler. I think they're gonna have
• 1:01:58
  a really small line up. Jimmy Butler may play the four and then Bam
• 1:02:01
  Abadio at the center spot. It's gonna be a small lineup. We'll see
• 1:02:06
  how this plays out. I think they lost quite a bit, but they
• 1:02:08
  still have Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, and Kayleb Martin. So We'll just
• 1:02:13
  see how they play out. As far as number six, I have right,
• 1:02:16
  number six, Right, we're doing six, Okay, number six I
• 1:02:21
  have the the New York Knicks. They didn't lose too much. Obi Top
• 1:02:25
  and Derrick Rose replaceable players, but they added a really good piece who I
• 1:02:29
  think the Warriors may miss is Dante Devinchinzo. I think he's gonna be Yeah.
• 1:02:34
  I think he's gonna be a great player coming off the bench for this
• 1:02:37
  team. It's gonna be a good transition between Jalen Brunston to him and handling
• 1:02:40
  the offense a little bit, even though they have Emanuel Quickly, I think
• 1:02:44
  it will help take some weight off his shoulders. With that second team we
• 1:02:47
  got Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, R. J. Barrett, I think
• 1:02:51
  takes a little step forward, a little bit more scoring, a little bit
• 1:02:52
  more efficiency with a three point shot. Julius Randall will continue doing what he's
• 1:02:57
  been doing the past couple of years. And then Mitch Robinson, if he
• 1:03:00
  can stay healthy, will be a solid five for this team. This is
• 1:03:02
  a good team. Josh Hart coming off the bench, Emmanuel Cookie and don
• 1:03:07
  Te Divinchinzo is gonna be pretty scary with that second unit. That's why I
• 1:03:10
  have them at number six, and as far as number seven, I have
• 1:03:17
  the Brooklyn Nets. We talked about mckilbridge as being the most improved player earlier,
• 1:03:22
  and I think this whole team will be improved. They lost Joe Harris,
• 1:03:25
  they lost Patty Mills, they lost Seth Curry. Really savvy veterans,
• 1:03:30
  really big veterans that they had, But this is a new team, moving
• 1:03:34
  forward, new direction. They added Dennismith junior, Lonnie Walker. I think
• 1:03:37
  those are going to be pretty good acquisitions coming off the bench, especially with
• 1:03:40
  explosiveness and up tempo pace. It's gonna match Cam Thomas pretty well because I
• 1:03:47
  think he's gonna be the vocal, the focal point of the off the bench
• 1:03:51
  group, and him and Dorian Finney Smith, I think it's gonna add to
• 1:03:54
  that. So they're going to be a really high powered offense, like seven
• 1:03:58
  not seven seconds or less kind of that's gonna be in that kind of direction
• 1:04:01
  coming off the bench. Point guard, ah Man point guard. I have
• 1:04:08
  Spencer Dinwiddie, I have mcclellbridge is starting of course, Cam Johnson and Nick
• 1:04:12
  Claxon. I think Nick Claxon steps forward in a really big way defensively.
• 1:04:15
  I think he's going to be an anchor for this team. And as far
• 1:04:18
  as Ben Simmons, I just want to see how he works into this team.
• 1:04:21
  I don't yeah, he's I think yeah. I think he's gonna play
• 1:04:26
  a really big role on this team's success. He can be the point guard.
• 1:04:29
  If he can go back to being early Philadelphia sendis sister's Ben Simmons,
• 1:04:33
  this team's going to be really scary because he was one of the most efficients
• 1:04:36
  down low. He was a strong defender of the Ben Simmons gets a lot
• 1:04:40
  of hate. I just think this is going to be a new error for
• 1:04:43
  him. And then that's my that's my five through seven right now, and
• 1:04:47
  I wonder if we have any different So I want to hear your five through
• 1:04:50
  seven. Well, all right, my five seed, my five and six.
• 1:04:55
  It is the exact same, like we were saying. As far as
• 1:04:58
  the Miami Heat, the Heat called, I don't expect them to be the
• 1:05:00
  eighth seed, even though they lost some pieces, Like you said, the
• 1:05:05
  acquisition of Haimi Hawkis Junior, that is a very good piece. I feel
• 1:05:11
  like Jimmy Butler, he had his best regular season last year. I know
• 1:05:15
  it doesn't It didn't look as good. I think it was only twenty three
• 1:05:18
  to twenty four points a game. He's a playoff player, and I think
• 1:05:23
  that he and this team is finally gonna recognize they can't just turn it on
• 1:05:27
  in the postseason because even though they made the NBA Finals, it's a bunch
• 1:05:30
  of uphill climbing. So I feel like they won't wait till the last part
• 1:05:34
  of the season to turn it on. I feel like they'll be more consistent.
• 1:05:39
  And you have one of the best coaches, if not the best coach
• 1:05:43
  in the league in Eric spol Spolstra they made it that far. Oh you
• 1:05:47
  don't agree with that right there? No, not the best coach, but
• 1:05:51
  I'll give you second. Oh okay, oh all pop of it, all
• 1:05:56
  pop of it. I forgot. I forgot, Well, all right,
• 1:06:00
  ours second coach in the league. Well but all right, yeah, I
• 1:06:04
  know the sixth seed. I have the New York Knicks. Like you're saying,
• 1:06:12
  just a Knicks, they're just a team that just a hard nosed t
• 1:06:15
  team under Tom Thibodeaux. Uh uh, They're gonna have Jalen Brunson Julius Roundel.
• 1:06:21
  They're gonna be playing forty plus minutes a night from Game one, but
• 1:06:26
  that's what Tom Thibodeau style is, and I just feel like they're gonna be
• 1:06:30
  a team that they're They're not gonna get anywhere far. Jalen Brunson, he
• 1:06:35
  is a nice player, but I feel like he is a number two on
• 1:06:39
  the championship team. I don't think he's a number one even on even on
• 1:06:44
  the Eastern Conference Finals team. I don't think he can be that number one
• 1:06:48
  player right there. But as far as for number seven instead of the Nets,
• 1:06:53
  I have the Atlanta Hawks. I just sing Trey Young and Desjontay Murray
• 1:06:59
  another year together. I think that it's gonna be it's gonna be a little
• 1:07:05
  bit of the same because they were the seventh seed last year. I know
• 1:07:09
  they were the plan and they were the they were the eighth seed and they
• 1:07:13
  end up making it to the seventh seed. So I think it's just gonna
• 1:07:16
  be a little bit of the same. Too much talent. You have Trey
• 1:07:19
  Young, de Jontey Murray, you have DeAndre Hunter, so Clint Capella.
• 1:07:27
  You have a good team. So I feel like they're gonna be underachieving.
• 1:07:30
  Seven seed is underachieving, but I just feel like that's what they are at
• 1:07:34
  this point. And for the eighth seed, I'm gonna go ahead and say
• 1:07:36
  it. You already brought them up. I have the nets and yeah,
• 1:07:41
  no, Ben Simmons, Ben Simmons, he is an X factor right here,
• 1:07:45
  and he doesn't even have to be as far as Philadelphia seventy six ers.
• 1:07:48
  Ben Simmons, even if he's just half of that or even seventy five
• 1:07:53
  percent of that's gonna really yeah, that's very scary. And then next thing,
• 1:07:59
  you know, it opens it up a lot more for mikel Bridges and
• 1:08:02
  he really can thrive as a number one option because if you have him as
• 1:08:06
  a point guard, he's going to be getting open shot or open looks for
• 1:08:11
  mckel Bridges. So yeah, and Nicholas Claxton last year against the seventy six
• 1:08:15
  ers, he actually did pretty good against Joel Embiid and gave him two fits.
• 1:08:19
  Yeah, so he's gonna only improve from there. And they got a
• 1:08:24
  young team and they really have nothing to lose. Even if they sniffed nowhere
• 1:08:28
  near the playoffs, nobody would really be upset or have tough expectations for them.
• 1:08:33
  So yeah, they they're just gonna be going to play basketball. And
• 1:08:38
  you had the I eight, right, Yeah, I have the nets at
• 1:08:41
  eight okay. And so as far as for nine to ten, nine,
• 1:08:47
  I'm just sad mentioning this team, the Chicago Bulls. Uh, Chicago Bulls.
• 1:08:53
  Honestly, I don't know. So I'm a Bulls fan. I don't
• 1:08:56
  know what we're doing at this point. I don't know. We're too good
• 1:08:59
  to be a lottery team, a top lottery team, but too bad to
• 1:09:02
  actually be a contending team or actually win a series. But we still have
• 1:09:06
  Zach Levine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams. He continues to progress every year.
• 1:09:13
  I'm not saying he is a great player, all star player, but
• 1:09:16
  he is a good player. You have Kobe Whant, you have Nikola Vusovich
• 1:09:19
  who you re sign, so you have plenty of talent there to just make
• 1:09:25
  the play play in. And Zach Levine. He may get traded this year,
• 1:09:30
  There's been plenty of rumors these past two years. But I'm as far
• 1:09:34
  as if he doesn't get traded, I think that they will make the playoffs.
• 1:09:40
  And as far as for the ten seed. I have the Detroit Pistons.
• 1:09:44
  I think Kate Cunningham he takes that next step this year and potentially makes
• 1:09:48
  the All Star Game. So before Kate Cunningham got hurt, I don't have
• 1:09:53
  his stats with me, but he had or he was having a really good
• 1:09:58
  season. And I like the draft. They got Jaden Ivory and they got
• 1:10:01
  a star Thompson. So that's a nice that's a nice piece right there.
• 1:10:06
  So I just feel like they'll just take that next step and kind of bring
• 1:10:11
  Detroit basketball back. So I mentioned my eight through ten. What is your
• 1:10:15
  eight through ten? I think this is where we start disagreeing a little bit.
• 1:10:19
  Uh just that well, actually at number eight, I actually have the
• 1:10:25
  Indiana Pacers. I have Tyree's Hallie Burton taking a really big step forward,
• 1:10:30
  Benedigt Martin Matherin as a rookie was really good. Sixteen points per game as
• 1:10:35
  a rookie is is pretty good. They had a good acquisition and Bruce Brown.
• 1:10:40
  Bruce Brown really came on pretty strong with the Nuggets there. I think
• 1:10:43
  he's gonna be a good, a good, a good key for this team.
• 1:10:48
  They added Obi Toppin. Obi Toppin really never lived up to potential in
• 1:10:54
  New York. I don't think he'll live up to potential here, but he's
• 1:10:57
  still a good depth piece for this team. Especially she has a big body.
• 1:11:01
  But then as talking about big body, we're talking about Miles Turner.
• 1:11:04
  Miles Turner's score. Miles Turner is a defender. I think he's in the
• 1:11:09
  running. He could be one of the most improved players in the NBA.
• 1:11:13
  I know he's been in the league for a little bit already, but he's
• 1:11:15
  a really big piece of this team. He's a really and so. And
• 1:11:19
  then I have TJ. And then they have TJ McConnell coming off the bench,
• 1:11:23
  Buddy Hill. Still I think he's still a trade target. They I
• 1:11:26
  like the acquisition. I like the draft pick of Jarris Walker, really good
• 1:11:29
  athlete out of Houston. So yeah, I just I still think all these
• 1:11:32
  just like these last three and my last three, they're all interchangeable. So
• 1:11:36
  I have the Pacers finishing in that bottom three of the top ten. With
• 1:11:41
  my next ones, I actually have the Toronto Raptors. I have the MVP
• 1:11:48
  being Scotty Barnes. Scotty Burrown Barnes is gonna come on for the radar pretty
• 1:11:51
  strong. If he's not a name now, he's going to be a name
• 1:11:55
  after this season. I think, Yo, and then they have a good
• 1:12:01
  they have Dennis Schroeder. Dennis Schroeder is gonna be a really good acquisition.
• 1:12:06
  He's gonna go back to being the starting point guard for a team. I
• 1:12:09
  think this year og And in a movie is gonna be a really good player.
• 1:12:14
  He's a really good player. Take a Pascal Siakam. We've seen him
• 1:12:16
  be an All Star. I just I don't think he's gonna be the number
• 1:12:19
  one option anymore. I think that's gonna go to Scottie Barnes yaka Pertle Spurs
• 1:12:24
  legend defensive anchor. He really gets the job done in the paint. It's
• 1:12:29
  hard to score on him. I think that's gonna be a big piece for
• 1:12:30
  this Toronto Raptors, especially going against in the East with these big name,
• 1:12:34
  big players that they have. But the bench is pretty deep. Malachi Flynn,
• 1:12:40
  Gary Trent Junior has always missed a reliable off the bench seventeen points last
• 1:12:44
  year, but they did lose Fred van Fleet. I think they're gonna have
• 1:12:46
  to find a way to fill that role. And I think they're gonna try
• 1:12:48
  it with Dennis Schroeder starting off. They lost Will Barton. They added Grady
• 1:12:54
  Dick, who I think is gonna be a really good rookie. He's a
• 1:12:56
  really good shooter, and I just I think that's gonna be a good,
• 1:12:59
  a good, a good piece for them coming off the bench this year.
• 1:13:02
  Maybe he might work his way up to being a starter. And then they
• 1:13:05
  added Garrett Temple also, and then for my number ten spot, it's interchangeable
• 1:13:11
  between the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks. The Atlanta Hawks for me,
• 1:13:20
  Trey Young Johntay Murray are really good players. Jontay Murray being from the Spurs,
• 1:13:26
  Trey Young being a really good shooter. It's just this team just doesn't
• 1:13:31
  scream to me like, oh we're gonna I don't know. They start bogged
• 1:13:35
  on. They Bruno Fernando they added him, or no they have him,
• 1:13:40
  they have They resigned Oneka Gonku, and they added Patty Mills. It's just
• 1:13:45
  outside of this nine man rotation, I really don't know what's after that.
• 1:13:51
  And Trey Young and Johntay Murray, I think de Jontay Murray is the MVP
• 1:13:56
  of this team. Trey Young is one is really a one dimensional player offense
• 1:14:02
  only de Jonte brings brings defense, offense, passing, rebounding. He does
• 1:14:10
  it all. So I think this is going to be a really weird time
• 1:14:14
  as much. Also with the Bulls as compared to the Bulls, they're both
• 1:14:17
  in the same boat. I just think they're in a weird spot right now
• 1:14:20
  because they're not They're not. I don't think they're able to They're They're able
• 1:14:25
  to compete with the best, but they could also end up being the worst.
• 1:14:27
  You know what I'm saying. I know what you're saying. Yeah,
• 1:14:30
  So with the Bulls, I think the Bulls have a chance to either be
• 1:14:33
  in the top or at the bottom because they have Demarti Rosen, they still
• 1:14:39
  have Zach Levine, they have Vucevic, who I think should be a Spur.
• 1:14:42
  But we have Zach Collins now you know so, but we have Nico,
• 1:14:45
  they have Nikola Vuovich. I We're still waiting for Kobe White to take
• 1:14:48
  that step forward, but he hasn't. It's just Pat. Pat Williams continues
• 1:14:54
  to get better. Continue. I think he still gets better this year.
• 1:14:57
  So what to see what ends up with his Bulls team. I think those
• 1:14:59
  are those are my guys that are gonna be fighting for that tenth spot.
• 1:15:04
  Yeah no, And I'm not gonna lie to you. I completely forgot about
• 1:15:06
  the pacers. Yeah, no, I could see them. I could see
• 1:15:12
  them being anywhere from seven to ten. It's just I guess you could say
• 1:15:15
  I had a little bit of bias. They're putting the bulls there. I
• 1:15:17
  just no, I don't think I'm at the bulls. The bulls could be
• 1:15:20
  sick. They just yeah, that's true, but I don't. I don't
• 1:15:25
  know. They're just too too much up and down. But I really have
• 1:15:30
  no arguments to yours. I feel like the Western Conference it's so much harder
• 1:15:35
  the judge in the Eastern Conference. You could kind of tell. With the
• 1:15:39
  Eastern Conference you could so deep. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. Like
• 1:15:44
  in the Western Conference, from one to seven, it could really be any
• 1:15:48
  way any way around. You could see teams one through seven, Oh,
• 1:15:51
  they could be the one seed, or you can see some teams like thirteen,
• 1:15:58
  thirteen through eight, and you could see, well, oh, I
• 1:16:00
  could see them finishing at the bottom, or oh, I could see them
• 1:16:02
  finishing as one of the top playing teams. Yeah, so oh, I
• 1:16:06
  know some good team is going to get a really high draftic. Yeah,
• 1:16:12
  yeah, it's true. And compared to the Eastern Conference, it's like one
• 1:16:16
  through four. Everybody already knows. It's just in your order of the Buck,
• 1:16:19
  Celtics, Calves, Sixers, just whoever you like a little bit more,
• 1:16:25
  and then like after like the five seed and down, it kind of
• 1:16:28
  really falls apart and it's not as strong. But I would say this,
• 1:16:32
  I'd say the top four in the Eastern Conference is stronger than the top four
• 1:16:40
  in the Western Conference. Would you agree with that? Lakers, Nuggets,
• 1:16:46
  Warriors and Celtics, Bugs, Sixers, Calves, I'd say yes if the
• 1:16:53
  sixer No, I say, I agree with you. I think they do
• 1:16:56
  have a stronger four. It's just because the I want to see what they
• 1:17:00
  are the Warriors. The Warriors are just a matter of like are they the
• 1:17:04
  same Warriors? You know, the Celtics, Celtics, only the Celtics and
• 1:17:10
  Bucks solidified teams sixers with Harden or what they bring in before Harden. I
• 1:17:15
  think it's really going to determine that spot. And the Cabs are just a
• 1:17:18
  good team all around. Yeah, No, I feel like whatever, I
• 1:17:24
  don't feel maybe they do get a superstar for James Harden, But I feel
• 1:17:28
  like that could shake up the whole Eastern Conference right there. It could if
• 1:17:32
  they get a superstar player. I don't have any of mine, but that
• 1:17:35
  could end up shaking up on the Timberwolves. That would be interesting. But
• 1:17:44
  who would they get Anthony Edwards or No, No, they would Anthony Edwards.
• 1:17:47
  Uhh No, they couldn't. No, I don't know, kat nah
• 1:17:53
  no, they they They wouldn't make that trade. They wouldn't make that trade.
• 1:17:58
  I don't know. I don't know what he wants him. Yeah.
• 1:18:00
  No, there's not really a clear team that like, oh, we're James
• 1:18:04
  Harden away from winning a championship. The Nuggets don't want them. I guarantee
• 1:18:09
  you. The Suns don't have the money for him. The Lakers don't.
• 1:18:13
  The Lakers would have already had him if they wanted him. The Warriors just
• 1:18:18
  got Chris Paul, Clippers just got have Russell Westbrook. Are they gonna put
• 1:18:21
  Russell Westbrook and James Harden on the same team? I don't think that would
• 1:18:27
  work. Part two. You and Houston, you saw those as a sailing
• 1:18:30
  to that. Yep. Maybe, and then maybe the Pelicans yeah, but
• 1:18:35
  then yeah, I can see that. But every fact is there's no like
• 1:18:42
  true fit for James Harden. I can see the Pelicans only because who's their
• 1:18:47
  point guard right now? Starting point guard right now? Am I am?
• 1:18:50
  I going? Let me go? Look, and I do know I don't
• 1:18:55
  think there's no clear starting point guard for them. I mean, look,
• 1:19:00
  I'm not a cure. Well, you have CJ. McCollum, but you
• 1:19:05
  could possibly move him to the two or you can yeah, but all right,
• 1:19:10
  but then they have Herb Jones, who's really good at defense on already
• 1:19:15
  starting he guards the best the best player on the other side of the on
• 1:19:18
  the other team. James Harden doesn't do that. They have brandon Ingram,
• 1:19:23
  they have Zion, they have Jones Valencias. He doesn't fit in with the
• 1:19:26
  first groups. You know, like I think more CJ. McCollum is a
• 1:19:33
  trade package. Oh that's true. I think I can see that. I
• 1:19:36
  think that would be good. Yeah, I think because you still get a
• 1:19:42
  score and could still have yeah and a passer, and you can move Tyrese
• 1:19:46
  Maxey to the bench, or you could still have him on the bench.
• 1:19:51
  As did we just come up with the Sleepers team to get James Harden,
• 1:19:56
  I guess we just did. But man, maybe, But all right,
• 1:20:04
  before we go ahead and go who do you have at your finals prediction?
• 1:20:09
  Let's go ahead and get that out the way so we could look back and
• 1:20:12
  see how horribly wrong we were. Nuggets versus Bucks. Nuggets go back to
• 1:20:17
  back. Wow, Nuggets go back to back. Uh. I guess this
• 1:20:24
  is just me having my Lebron bias right here. Lakers versus Bucks, and
• 1:20:29
  Lakers win in seven, and Lebron he captures number five S five just so
• 1:20:38
  you can master him. Duncan Yep, Well no, he's never mind.
• 1:20:45
  They both beat each other. But no, Lebron James, He's still a
• 1:20:46
  goat. But any last words before hey, hey, hey, hey hey,
• 1:20:53
  We're not gonna talk about that. I'm just excited for this NBA season
• 1:20:58
  coming up. I'm not gonna lie as one of the first. It's one
• 1:21:00
  of the ones that I've been mostly excited for in a couple of years.
• 1:21:02
  I don't know. It's because the Spurs finally have a squad that that I
• 1:21:09
  believe in this year, ever since Kawhi ruined our future. But now we
• 1:21:14
  got Wimby, So I think this is the most excited I've been for NBA
• 1:21:16
  season in a little bit, and not just for the Spurs, but just
• 1:21:20
  for us, like the NBA and the whole Like, there's a lot of
• 1:21:24
  good teams that I want to see play out and see what they can do.
• 1:21:28
  Yeah. No, I agree with you, and I completely forgot to
• 1:21:30
  mention. So I guess we're gonna just do a little bit of a prediction
• 1:21:34
  here. So Opening Night is Tuesday, which is today when you guys are
• 1:21:39
  getting this. It's Lakers versus Nuggets, s Nugget Nuggets. It's their ceremony
• 1:21:44
  or championship ceremony. Do you think Nuggets they win this game or Lakers win?
• 1:21:50
  I think Lakers win this one. Yeah no, give me the Lakers
• 1:21:55
  to win this. And then Suns versus Warriors. Who do you have in
• 1:21:59
  this one? Right here in Gold State? Warriors? Give me this?
• 1:22:04
  You for real? I think the Warriors death is too much for the Suns.
• 1:22:11
  I just think that the Suns they're gonna come out just guns blazing.
• 1:22:15
  I'm not gonna say that it's gonna be like that the entire season, but
• 1:22:17
  they're gonna just come out the gate guns blazing. Oh yeah, I forgot
• 1:22:25
  Chris Paul, he is going up against the Suns. Yeah, you're right,
• 1:22:28
  but maybe hey, but maybe we could use that for our pick ems.
• 1:22:32
  Maybe we could do basketball pick ems. Well let's see what people say.
• 1:22:36
  But all right, that's gonna go ahead and conclude Episode number eighteen.
• 1:22:44
  We appreciate you guys tuning in to another great episode once again. You guys
• 1:22:48
  could listen to us on Spreaker, Spotify, our Heart Radio, Google Podcasts,
• 1:22:54
  and Amazon Music. You guys can follow us on Twitter at Flying Garcia
• 1:22:58
  one hundred or at un Score Alfonso zero three. But all right, we'll
• 1:23:03
  see you guys soon and you guys take care