Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Ranking The Top 10 NBA Teams Before The Season Starts

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Ranking The Top 10 NBA Teams Before The Season Starts · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beachum.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: Can you believe it?
0:09
SPEAKER_01: We are just one sleep away from the start of the NBA season.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: An offseason full of nothing has come to an end.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: And we can finally say that the defended champion OKC Thunder are playing game number one very, very soon.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: I could not be more hyped.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Can you hear it in my voice?
0:25
SPEAKER_01: Can you see it in my face?
0:27
SPEAKER_01: I've been waiting for this.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: I thought this is the perfect time for us to get into some power rankings, day zero power rankings, to kind of look back on, you know, halfway through the season, a quarter of the way, three-quarters of the way through the season, and say, hmm, I was really high on this team, and they ended up disappointing.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: I was pretty low on this team, and they're so much better.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: We also today have to get into some of the trends that we've seen from last season.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to say whether or not I think that the double big lineup that you saw comeback net last season is here to stay.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: And of course, at the end, we got our favorite segment, Ask KB, where I answer your questions.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: Are we ready to get into this power ranking?
1:05
SPEAKER_01: So we I kind of looked at it is like, hey, these are the 10 teams that I believe the most in.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: These are the lineups that I think that are going to win a bunch of games.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Some of them are going to be teams that I think can win the championship this season.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to start at number 10, of course, because you have to wait for number one.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Number 10 team in a league, I got is the Atlanta Hawks.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: This is a team before the offseason started.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't even come close to putting them in the top 10.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: But they had an amazing offseason.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: Nikki Alexander Walker on the team, Chris Dasperzingis on the team, Jalen Johnson being back from his injury.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: And oh, the former first overall pick, Zachary Reesha, I say, looked really good in offseason play this year.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And then the preseason, I'm not here to overreact, but I got a lot to say about him later in the episode.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: So this is a year really, really depending on Trey Young, on Quentin Snyder, on the health of these guys, because Jalen Johnson was on the road to a most improved player.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: And then his teammate Dyson Daniels ended up winning it because Jalen Johnson went down with an injury.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: Um Chris Esperzingis.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: Big offseason acquisition.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: We love Chris Stapps.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: He shot over 40% from three as a 7-3 big fella.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: But we all know that Chris Asperzingis has dealt with injuries throughout the entirety of his career.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: So it's a really a bet on injury luck and Trey Young, who, for the first time I can say the team built around him makes a lot of sense.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: Even though he had a conference finals run just a few years ago, that felt like catching lightning in the bottle.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: This team is currently constructed.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: If they were in the conference finals, I could not say it was lightning in the bottle.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: They got defense, they got size, they got one of the true initiators in all of basketball, and they have a really, really high ceiling.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: Number nine on my list is the Golden State Warriors.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm completely prepared to be incorrect about the Golden State Warriors, but if you watch Smallball, you watch any of the other shows I've been a part of over this offseason, I've continuously said there's something about this team that is missing optically for me.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: Even though they were so very good after they acquired Jimmy Butler last year, there's still something missing.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: So out of respect of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, who almost won DPOY, Jimmy Butler, who was a few years away from being one of the best playoff risers ever, I'm giving them their respect, but it really hurt me to put him at number nine.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Some of the teams that were at like 11 and 12, I kind of believe in a little bit more, but I just want to give them their respect.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: But I'm so prepared to be wrong here.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, the more I think about what is the thing that's missing, it's probably just the fact that they are just the oldest team in ball.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: You know, not literally, because there's a team one spot ahead of them that has the higher average age.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: But talking about the guys that matter the most between Steph Curry, Draymond, Jimmy Butler, and old man Al Hofford, I just don't know if I trust them to be able to have that core play an entire 82 game season and then also be able to win the 16 games necessary to win a championship.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: And you think about the younger players on the roster, there's a lot of intrigue there.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: Like Brandon Pozimski, we found out that he was dealing with a bunch of headaches, migraines, and dizziness last season.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: So imagine trying to shoot a basketball, you couldn't you couldn't figure out which rim is the right rim.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm expecting to bounce back there, but like, do I believe the ceiling of Brandon Pozimski is really high?
4:07
SPEAKER_01: The one of the biggest offseason things was about John Tikaminga.
4:10
SPEAKER_01: He's finally back on the team.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: But are they gonna incorporate him to try to sell him later?
4:15
SPEAKER_01: Or is he gonna get DMPs like he did at the beginning of last playoff series?
4:19
SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: Too many questions, but out of respect to Steph Curry, I got him on the list.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: Number eight on my list is that oldest team in the league, the LA Clippers.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: And I kind of want to put them higher, but you know, again, that age really matters.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna talk about this a little bit later.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: There are a few teams that, you know, it's not just about having youth, it's about being ready for that physicality when it comes to the postseason and everything.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: And I can't imagine that team with Kawhi, with James, with Chris Paul, with Bradley Beal, with Brooke Lopez can really sustain.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: But like I think they're gonna be a regular season machine.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: James Harden does not miss postseasons.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: At least he hasn't in his career so far.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: And Kawhi Leonard is coming into the season completely healthy for the first time, and I don't know when.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: And not only is he healthy, he's on the same path as some of the other guys that we've deemed injury prone going to the season, where it looked like he dropped a lot of weight.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's time, right?
5:10
SPEAKER_01: You're not that he was ever overweight, but like as you continue to have breakdowns of your body and your body being in the best shape imaginable, it's probably a good thing for the 82 game season.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: And I think Kawhi Linn is coming to the season looking like that.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: I do believe they had one of the best offseasons, though, you know, and in the right time when it happened when they traded away Norman Powell, who's coming off a season, were like, is he gonna be an all-star this year, averaging about 20 something points per game?
5:32
SPEAKER_01: They trading away for John Collins.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, that's a weird move.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: And then I look across the association seeing a lot of these guys who are not all-star level guys, but near all-star level guys getting a ton of money.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: And I think about the Clippers wanting to stay flexible.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: It's like John Collins was a 40% three-point shooter last season.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: That's that's pretty impressive.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: He has a versatility to potentially be a four-man or five-man, depending on the lineup.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to watch him in the regular season alongside with James Harden as one of the best lob throwers in the history of this sport, and John Collins has been waiting for a point guard that will really put that on the money for him.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: And I gotta admit, maybe just a little bit biased because my goal, Chris Paul, is on that team.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm so biased towards Chris Paul, in fact, that we just did an episode on numbers on the board.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: If you knew about the Enjoy Basketball hour, don't worry, you're gonna get to know the numbers on the board cast.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, we put together the award predictions for this upcoming season.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: Chris Paul is about to be 40 years old, y'all.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
6:28
SPEAKER_01: I had that man as my sixth man of the year.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm biased towards CP3, but I truly do believe that he can do some things to, you know, impact winning ball.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: Playing 82 games last season is a thing in itself.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, he obviously is not the player that he was just a couple years ago.
6:41
SPEAKER_01: He made all NBA, but him being the second to third guard off the bench, what a win.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a lot of stuff going on in Clipper Nation, but if we just talking about the basketball, there's some pretty intriguing stuff, and I cannot wait to see it happen.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Number seven on my list is the Minnesota Timberwolves.
7:01
SPEAKER_01: Maybe feel a little bit low for a team coming off to NBA conference finals appearances, not just conference finals appearances, conference finals appearance in the better of the two leagues.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, like many teams out there, there's a lot of question marks, right?
7:14
SPEAKER_01: I think that we could be ready for a Rudy Gobert regression after what we saw.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: If you look past the first round of the postseason when he put up that 2020 game against the Lakers, I wasn't really oppressed with Rudy Gobert, and they're saying a lot because, again, me as Kenny Beatsman has been a big Rudy Gobert guy.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't really impressed with the overall defense.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: The only off numbers are gonna say, like, oh, he was amazing there, but just optically, I wasn't a huge fan, and then obviously his offensive game has never really evolved.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: You know, Mike Connolly, I think he's still gonna be steady enough to be a rotation player, but that point guard position is a lot to be desired.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Rob Dillenham is your time to step up.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: But you watch Rob Dillonham on the court, and he had a really good game in the preseason again.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to super overreact to it because it wasn't even against an NBA team, by the way.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: It was against one of the foreign teams that come over during preseason, but he looked really good in those.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: But in the other games, when he's playing alongside real NBA competition, he is just the smallest guy on the court.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: And it's just so much of a disadvantage being the smallest guy on the court, especially if you think about postseason, where you're gonna see a team like the Clippers who's gonna hunt you with James Harden or the Lakers who are gonna hunt you with with Luka Doncic.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: I just don't know if I trust Rob Dillon to be ready this season.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: And they really do need point guard play.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: Unless Anthony Evers is ready to take that jump.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: Boy, if Anthony Evers is ready to take that play, make a jump, I I think this need to be higher, higher than number seven.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Number six, the Orlando Magic.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm all in on the on the Orlando Magic.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: I tried to put them behind his list, but I I had to temper the expectation just a little bit because Jalen Sucks is gonna miss the beginning of the season.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: And I don't even know if there's a true timetable for him, and that's really scary.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: But Wendell Carter's ready for a bounce back, Franz Wagner's jump shot looks better.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: Desmond Bain is running off screens and running, pick, and roll as the ball handler.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: And preseason, they the number one offense in the league.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Preseason.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: And it's a team that hasn't been top 20 in almost 20 years.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm so high because I don't believe that their offense jumping up, and trust me, I don't believe he's gonna be number one in the regular season, but just better in the regular season.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they do that and sacrifice the defensive side of the ball.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, Wendell is ready.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: As a guy, am I showing all my biases?
9:17
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I've talked about one of my guys for every one of the teams you mentioned so far.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: I watched a lot of Wendell Carter in the first couple years of his career.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: He was a bull.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: And I always thought he had a lot in the tank.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: I never thought he had the all-star potential, and I still don't necessarily believe that, but he is so steady and such a good switchable defender, which is what you need from the five man for a team like this, that I can't sing praises higher.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: Like the one thing that scares me a little bit is Jamal Mosley has been kind of a cut and dry offensive coach so far as the head coach, and I'm a little bit afraid of that.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: But the talent is the talent, and the talent is ready.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: Even Jace Richardson, the first round pick they had this year, he looks ready.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Before we get into the top five, we got to take a step back.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: Just take a step back and let's hear a word from the sponsor.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: Now it's time to get into the top five of my day zero NBA power rankings, starting off with number five, the Houston Rockets.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Fred and Vliet went down with an injury a few weeks ago, and I came on to small ball, really pessimistic about this team.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: It's a team that I thought had an outside shot to win a championship of year number one.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: To when Fred and Vliet went down, I gave it zero.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: I said it was over.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: It's wraps.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: This is now bridge year.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they go out there and choir somebody during the NBA regular season around February, where they may take a step back and just let Fred and Vlee get healthy and just use as a year for progression from guys like Tari, from guys like Amen and Shingon and all these other great young players that they have.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: And then Reese Shepard popped onto the scene, like, no, I think I'm ready.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: Now I don't expect Reese Shepard to do the things Frevin Vlee was doing, because one thing Freddie was was so consistent and so steady, steady Freddie is the nickname for a reason that even when you saw him in a postseason versus the Golden State Warriors, he was one of the few people that was like, give me the ball and just let me let me work.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that Reese Shepard is ready for that.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: But some of the off-the-bounce three-point shooting that I saw from Reese Shepard makes me optimistic because this team is desperately gonna need three-point shooting.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: Between Jalen Green being gone, Dylan Brooks being gone, Fred Van Vliet being gone.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: That was three of their top four three-point shooters last year.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: They're all out the door with either injury or via trade.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: And what did they replace with Kevin Art, who can shoot threes, but Kevin Arrant don't like to shoot threes.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: Let's be honest.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: We watched Kevin for 18 seasons and he just don't shoot him as much as he probably should.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: He's more like a get me in my spot and I'm gonna make it work.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: But you do need to see that ball go in the basket behind the arc a little bit more.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not expecting this guy, Reese Shepard, to come in and average five to six three pointers a game, but they were really down in the tank.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: You think about their potential starting lineup, there wasn't a lot of plus three-point shooters outside of Kevin Durant when he decides that he wants to shoot them.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: But now Reese Shepard's gonna step in that opens the game up so much more for him and the uh the team that me saying if they had a 0% chance, guess what, y'all?
12:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm giving them percentage.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: What percentage?
12:07
SPEAKER_01: Ah 3-4% chance.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: 3-4% chance.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty high.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: 3-4% chance means that you get some injury luck.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, you be on the right side of the bracket, and just like that, we're in the NBA Finals.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: The door is not completely shut.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Number four on my list is the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that started off last season, what, 15-0 before they lost a game to the Boston Celtics.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: You know, they were my favorite going into the playoffs for the Eastern Conference.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: And for the fourth year in a row, either they dealt with injuries or just didn't end up panning out.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: They haven't even made the conference finals.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: And I talked about this a little bit.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm a little bit afraid of them in the sense that, you know, we have all pintered them in as the number one seed.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: We've all penciled them into having another season where they win 57, 58 plus games.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: And I question whether or not what we saw on the second half of the season is more the indication of what they are as a team versus the first half.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: Again, starting off 15-0 is insane.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the best starts to an NBA season we've ever seen.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: But we got to that second half of the year, they played more on the pace of a 49 to 50-win team opposed to a 50 or a 64-win team.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: You know, a 50-win season is still amazing.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong, but I'm just taking it back a little bit.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm tempering the expectations.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: I do believe in Donovan Mitchell being one of the premier uh floor raisers in all of basketball.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: He's been able to show that since his rookie season, remember him coming in as a guy for the Utah Jazz and be like, oh, we lost Gordon Hayward, no big deal.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take us to the postseason.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And he eventually had a season where he was a number one seed over there in Utah.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm really buying into, of course, Evan Mobley, who's done nothing but get better and better and better throughout the course of his NBA career.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: And some of the comments from the coaching staff, some of the comments from leadership for the Cleveland Cavaliers make me believe that we're going to get even more of Evan Mobley.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that grind my gears the most about last season or last playoff run is that even though they were dealing with a ton of injuries in the postseason, like from Darius Garland's toe and yada yada yada, we still only had a max out of Evan Mobley shooting 13 shots.
14:08
SPEAKER_01: He had multiple games in the postseason.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: We had 13 shots, he never went over that.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: He is too talented of a player to only attempt 13 shots in the postseason, specifically if you're missing another all-star player like Darius Garland.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: It feels as such, uh, that um Kenny Atkinson is going to put that ball in his hands a little bit more.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: We saw him evolve to the point where last year when he did get a ball off of a rebound.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: He was pushing it in space and making plays and you know, short row passing.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: He evolved pretty much across all scales last season, and I'm expecting a lot of that to hit the next level.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: So like, Kenny, how could they be number four?
14:45
SPEAKER_01: That means you must have the New York Knicks higher than them.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: Now, this there is a lot of pressure on one guy that has yet to show us he can stay healthy for an entire season.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: That guy's Mitchell Robinson.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: I am a firm believer in the Carl Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson front court being as good.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: How do I want to say?
15:07
SPEAKER_01: Because I I don't want to disrespect my boy, who's a four-time DPOI.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: I feel like it could be as good or better than the front court of Carl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert just a few years ago.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: Not saying that Mitchell Robinson is the same defensive player as Rudy Gobert because you know you got trophies in Rudy Gobert's house, and Mitchell Robinson don't really got that.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: But when I think about the surrounding pieces with that, with Mikhail Bridges and OG Annobi, and again Josh Hart probably playing some minutes, minutes along Santa, probably not a ton because that's just not a ton of space in there.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: I think I trust that front court a little bit more.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: And maybe I'm buying too much into Mitchell Robinson or what he did in the limited amount of time we've seen him in the postseasons in his career from three years ago or four years ago when they played against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round that got us the legendary quote from Jared Allen saying the lights were too bright.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: That was because Mitchell Robinson was just a dog on the offensive class.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Even last season, when we did see it be Carl Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson playing together in the postseason at a net rating of an 8.33.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: I love that, especially because Carnthony Towns can be a competitive defensive player.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: Is that the best way I can describe a competitive defensive player?
16:24
SPEAKER_01: This is the highest I've ever been able to put the New York Knicks in my entire life watching the sport of basketball, by the way.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: My entire life.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: And I hope they don't let me down.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: But when Mike Brown coming in, I truly do believe that it will take some of the pressure off of Jalen Brunson and have the team be ready a little bit more come postseason.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: They may not win as many games as last year because Tom Thibodeau has always been a guy that's, you know, squeezed the last juice out of lemons, right?
16:51
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna get every single win he can out of his lineups.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: And maybe Mike Brown doesn't do that, but they might be more prepared for the postseason.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: And Cartage Towns has been used a little bit more like Sabonis.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: We'll see what that's about.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Sabonis is a way better passer.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh Carn Then Towns can throw his no-looks and all.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: Number two on the list is the Denver Nuggets.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: This team has been good throughout the entirety of the Jokic era, even when they won 48 games and Jokic is playing alongside uh Campazo as his starting point guard.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: But now they got re-ups.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: Brucey Brown is back.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Tim Hardaway Jr., a flamethrower.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: One night he might hit zero.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: Next night he might hit five to ten threes.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: Cam Johnson is there, and I've already been intrigued with some of the lineups they've been able to throw out there.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh they run in the double big.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: I got a lot to say about the double big.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: They're running double big in the preseason where it's Big Val and Yoke.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: They have the luxury of having the best player on the planet.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: And now they finally, just finally have the team that they've been asking for, just having depth.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: Jokic has been an on-off darling for the entirety of his MVP caliber seasons.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of that is not just because of Jokic being an elite level player, but because his backups were like Zeke Najee and an old DeAndre Jordan.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
18:03
SPEAKER_01: I was just scrolling through TikTok before we shot up.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: DeAndre Jordan is practicing his golf swing.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: He's done.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: He's out of the league.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: And now they got Big Valley on the backside.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: I like that a lot more.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: They've only hit 55 wins once in the Jokic era.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: I feel like they hit that again with ease, with relative health.
18:21
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Gordon is one of the dudes I cannot wait to watch this season because he is all in on the defensive side of the ball and they kind of need somebody that will fly around and just cause havoc.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: That's going to be Eric Gordon or Aaron Gordon.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: The number one team is defended champion, OKC Thunder.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: Anyone that's doing power rankings right now, if they don't have OKC's number one, you better check their credentials, damn it.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: Because OKC is so ready to do what they did last season, plus some.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: This team won 60 plus games when Chet Holmgren, a guy that I think is going to be a DPOY candidate for the entirety of his career as long as he's healthy, he played 40-ish games.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: The guy that was brought in to back him up also missed a ton of time.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: They went on win streaks were 6'5 Jalen Williams, J Dub, not big Jalen's, J Dub was the starting five man.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game where their starting five had the tallest guy be 6'6.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: They are so ready.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: We are living in the parody era, seven straight years, seven straight new champions.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: I think that ends this year.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: There is no longer parody because OKC is just ready to dominate.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: Usually a team coming off a championship, you think about them just having championship roles.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: We did it, what else is there to play for?
19:35
SPEAKER_01: You don't get that vibe at all from this team.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: They can run 11 deep and just destroy any team on any given night.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: And not to mention a name I have not said just yet.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: Shea Giuse Alexander just came off of MVP.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: And based on everything I just heard from him in starting five, the series I just watched, he's so ready to do it again.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: I don't think parody is a thing anymore, y'all.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: Okay C's there.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: Before we talk about the double big revolution, I do want to say thank you to our sponsor over at DraftKings.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: DraftKings pick six is where you can pick more or less on different player stats for the upcoming games.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: Just pick two to six different players until you pick set and decide more or less.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: Then you sit back, you watch the game, you decide you figure out if you made the right decisions or not.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Now, with the season starting tomorrow, I thought it'd be a good time for me to look at their NBA seasons for my pick six.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Like you can go on a nightly basis, hey, this team's playing the assist team.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: I like more or less on points.
20:35
SPEAKER_01: Or from my perspective, at least right now, as we're in day zero, I want to look at this season as a whole.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I got in my picks at you let me know what you think.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: Giannis, more than 30.9 points per game.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: I think that this is as easy as it gets.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: Last year he averaged 30.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: The year before that, he had averaged 30.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: And the year before Dame got there, he averaged 30 wants some change.
20:59
SPEAKER_01: Dame is no longer there.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: This team, if they want to do anything, if they want to hit their over-under of 42 and a half wins, they need Giannis to not just be him, but to be the supernova version of him.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And we know that Giannis is one of the most unstoppable forces in all of basketball.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: You think about number two options across basketball, the drop-off between Giannis and his number two is the biggest drop-off, probably, in all of basketball for a superstar.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: So they're desperately needing Giannis to just be him.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And I see him as one of the three best players in the world.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: And just a few years ago, we were saying he is number one.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's got worse at all.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: I think his situation may have got worse throughout the course of the last couple seasons, but he's going to be as dominant as he's ever been.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: At least that's what I think.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: I also went more on Nicole Yoke.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: See, we got some MVP caliber players here, but I got it at 12 and a half rebounds per game.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: Or 12.4 to be exact.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: He was more on this last season, and they they lost Michael Porter Jr.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: And Michael Porter Jr.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: is sneakily one of the best uh rebounding wings, if you call him that in all the basketball.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Gordon wasn't a great rebounder last season.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: Christian Brown, he's a sneaky rebounder, but like they're really gonna need a Jokic to rebound when he is on the court.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: And I think he's gonna be able to do it.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: You know, he is a stat sheet stuffer, 12 boards a game, 12.4 boards a game.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: Give me the more on that one.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Next, we talked about a little bit earlier about how his team is trusting him a little bit more.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Evan Mobley at 20 exactly points per game, that's a more for me.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: I made the prediction that I think he's probably gonna average more points per game than Darius Garland this year.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: As Darius Garland may, you know, come into the season just a little bit hobbled uh coming off the injury and they may just already be in the swing of things with Evan Mobley and I think he's gonna take more shots.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Like it seems like everybody is really in on Evan Mobley.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I am too 20 feels feels safe.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean the guys are always telling me that I'm the biggest Evan Mobley believer in the world but like the man just came off of DPOY and before that he was all defense.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Like he can score too.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: He can score as well.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: The last one I have in my pick set is Anthony Edwards more than what you think I'm going to think I'm going points.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm going assists it's at 4.7 he averaged nearly this last season and as I mentioned earlier we were talking about the power rankings they're going to need him to be a better playmaker.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: He went into or he lost the series in the conference finals last year and he told the world that I'm gonna be working so hard this offseason, but y'all not gonna know what I'm working on.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: I have a sneaky suspicion that the thing that he was working on the most is attacking double teams, attacking uh different screen navigations when the teams are guarding him.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: They were blitzing.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: They were dropping they were doing a little bit of everything OKC was last time we saw him play.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think he was necessarily prepared for that.
23:46
SPEAKER_01: And as he continues to get better I call him the NBA Taskmaster I think that he can just replicate whatever somebody's doing with the right amount of time he said he was watching a little bit of Luka Doncic the way he is attacking pick and roll coverage.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: I truly do believe in Anthony Edwards that's my four to start the season I'll go over it again.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: Giannis more on 30.9 points per game Jokic more on 20 or 12.4 rebounds per game Anthony Edwards more on 7.9 assists and Evan Mobley more on 20 points per game as you can probably see I'm an NBA optimist this is the Enjoy basketball hour.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't really go less on a lot of things and this four pick set I feel really good about.
24:29
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24:35
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24:40
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24:46
SPEAKER_01: Pick six is available in most states including Texas, California and Missouri so don't be afraid to get in on the action ride the upside with PIC6 so last season we saw the return of the double big lineup from Shen Goon and Steven Adams having a ridiculous 32.5 net rating in 162 minutes last year in the regular season to them showing that that was not a fluke in the postseason versus the Warriors where they posted a 17.414 net rating which is I don't think y'all are recognizing how insane those numbers are to the NBA champion OKC Thunder running Isaiah Hartenstein to Chen Homer together and posting a 12.48 net rating in the regular season and a plus five net rating in the postseason.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: But the list goes on and on Mitchell Robinson and Cardian Towns something we mentioned earlier 8.33 the number one seed Cleveland Cavaliers last season ran a double big lineup of Evan Mobley and Jared Allen it is all the rage right now.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: And also we got other teams that have not done it in the regular season just yet but are talking about or showcasing it in the preseason like the different Nuggets like I mentioned earlier Jonas Vallich and Jokic.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they have the defense to run that more than a few times a game but you know it's something that Addleman has talked about and ran it in preseason to the Atlanta Hawks running in the Yeka Kong and Chris Dasperzing's lineup.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: And Twitter was going ridiculously crazy when they saw Victor Wimanyama call for a screen from Luke Courtnet the biggest pick and roll ever ran in NBA history.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: So it's all the rates and I count it I counted it being 10 10 of the 30 teams either have done a double big lineup last season or have talked about running double big this season.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: And a few of the questions I got asked a bunch when when talking about double big lineups is hey can we see the benefits of double big lineups being nullified if one third of the league is also running it.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: Because let's be honest the double big lineup is the thing that it impacts the most is the offensive rebound.
26:53
SPEAKER_01: Steven Adams, Shen Gun, they rebounded almost half of their misses together.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: That is an insane number right um Jared Allen Evan Mobley less on the offensive rebound but more on the defensive versatility.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: Those are the two things that you see peak when it comes to the double big lineup.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Teams are completely getting rid of your ability to get to the basket because we got 6'11 Evan Mobley seven foot even Jared Allen some places some places he's listed 6'9 some places he's listed seven foot I've never seen a single person other than Kevin Oran have that difference in their basketball reference in their NBA.com regardless we are preventing you from getting to the basket but if a third of the league is doing it will it still be effective are the teams that aren't capable of running double big lineups at a disadvantage they're Leno Magic.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: A team that I just talked about pretty heavily a few few segments ago their lineup at the tallest is going to be 610.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: Now granted it's 6'10 Wendell is 6'10 Palo with 6'10 Franz so they got multiple 6'10 guys but they can't necessarily run a double seven foot lineup because they don't employ a seven foot outside of Gogabatazi I don't even think he's listed at seven foot are they behind the eight ball I don't know is the shock factor the biggest plus these are the questions I'm getting asked and trust me I'm gonna give you my opinion on is the shock factor the biggest plus halfway through the season is when they really start running the Steven Adams Shingon thing.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: Like I mentioned how many how many total minutes 162 minutes is not a huge sample size.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: So was it really just a shock factor?
28:26
SPEAKER_01: And can it be schemed against if you properly prepare?
28:29
SPEAKER_01: All right let's tackle this I think the thing that makes the double big lineup great is that in my opinion it is extremely I mean extremely situational.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: The only team that I truly do trust to run the double big lineup and it be successful for an 82 game season a team that just did it for an 82 game season that is the Cleveland Cavaliers right um and even that saw it drop when it came to the postseason where when they were on the court together they had a negative net rating for like the first time and then they played better when it was one or the other.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: It is a very situational thing.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: I think that the teams that are talking about double big lineups shouldn't be looking out and saying that hey this is something that we're gonna run all the time.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Even the New York Knicks who I raved about having Mitchell Robinson and Carthane Towns I don't expect them to play more than 10 to 12 minutes together total the first quarter step and maybe the close out the game the beginning of the second half like I don't expect them to really run it a ton unless they necessarily need to we also have to talk about how much shooting matters in these double big lineups.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Some of the teams that are trying to throw out the double big I don't think it's going to be necessarily successful because A, they don't have a legendary offensive rebounder like Steven Adams or they don't have a Carnity Towns.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: They don't have an Evan Mobley who continues to get better as a three-point shooter.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: They don't have an Kole Jokic who led the NBA as far as centers go in three-point percentage.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: There's certain things that you need in a double big lineup.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: And lastly you need to have one of those big fellas be switchable be somebody that can be a point of attack defender in spurts right I think that what the Houston Rockets did was such an anomaly right when you think about Steven Adams and Shingo, neither of those guys you necessarily trust on the on the perimeter right on a switch you don't really trust those um neither of them are great three-point shooters but they were able to get away with it on the offensive side of the ball.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: All these other teams that are trying to do it need one of those big fellas to be skilled.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: They need one of those big fellas to be a plus shooter because even the defender champion OKC Thunder I mentioned their net rating when it came to the regular season being um uh 17 is that is that the right number I'm sorry a 12.48 in a regular season and a drop down to five now five net rating you take that 100% of the time hell there are some teams out there that don't have a single two man lineup with a plus five net rating so you win is a win.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: But Kenny why did it drop so much from the postseason to the regular season the answer was the shooting.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: They shot 26% from three when that double big lineup existed together in the postseason.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: Some of that is bad luck.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: Also some of that was Chet Holmgrin just really struggling as a jump shooter.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: And if you are going against a double big lineup and one of the big is supposed to keep you on as a shooter and he's not able to keep you honest as a shooter you just don't care.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: We give Chet Holmgrunt all of those shots as of right now and he missed them right so will it be nullified because one third of the league is trying to do it I think that it may be just slightly slightly overblown and we won't get to see we're not gonna see lineups where both teams are starting with two plus seven footers right the Houston Rockets again are an anomaly they're not they don't see we shouldn't even talk about them at all in this conversation because they might run lineups with three guys 6'10 and above four guys 6'10 and above um but you need that and I'm gonna talk about the scheming of it all because a team like the Houston Rockets a team like the Memphis Grizzlies who ran double big with Jaron Jackson Jr.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: Zach ED um one thing that they were at the bottom of league of or um at least at parts of the season when they start running these double bigs was fast break points giving up because the biggest plus is the offensive rebound.
32:05
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna send both of these dudes to the glass and oh if we don't get that bored it's off to the race for the opposing team.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: There has their pros and it has its cons that you have to figure out as a coach if that's something you want to play around with.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: And I just I can't wait to see what teams end up doing.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Another big trend that I'm expecting to see for the season is the increase in physicality for the 82 game not just for the 16 game road come postseason.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: One thing that stood out from the two teams that we just saw playing the finals from the Pacers to the OKC Thunder is how physical both of those teams were on their journey to get to that finals.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: They were so physical that half of the fans in the Western conference hate the OKC Thunder because of the the defense they played how handsy Lou Dorr, how handy Alice Caruso, how handsy um we we can go on and on Casey Wallace, how they were when it came to that postseason.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: But the thing that maybe shouldn't be a surprise to people is that was the way they played defense all regular season long.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: While your favorite team had to try to figure out how to ramp up the intensity they just played like that.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: And because of that the refs were just ready to knob a little whistles.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: This is just OKC that's what they do.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: The same thing happened in the one series where the Orlando Magic played against the Boston Celtics the Boston Celtics obviously became victorious in that win but they walked away from that series with crutches, ankles taped up they got beat up because that Orlando Magic team has showed the physicality all regular season long.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: And it is hard to have that level of physicality for the entire regular season but I think if your team is going to try to win a championship they need to be that physical from day one.
33:44
SPEAKER_01: That's not something that you should be able to flip the switch on.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: So if I go back to my power rankings OKC again already has it.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to see if Denver can do it right Denver was like the 20th rank offense or defense in all of basketball last season I think they should be better this year under Addleman and having more pieces to the puzzle I wonder if they have that level of defensive intensity I'm giving the benefit of the doubt because they have Jokics but like the Knicks were able to do that all last season the Cleveland Cavaliers struggled with that and it may be one of the reasons why they have not been able to get out of the second round.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: The Houston Rockets did that they lost in the first round OKC but the physicality was really up there.
34:21
SPEAKER_01: Orlando Magic able to do that the Minnesota Timbus able to do that.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: So the teams that I believe are going to be good enough to potentially win a championship or go on a deep playoff run either already have it or we're just giving them benefit of the doubt like a Denver Nuggets.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Can't wait to see can't wait to see those are the teams in the the players that I love the most Alex Caruso I might as well have a Alex Caruso fat head in my room.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm almost 30 but I might as well have it because he's one of my favorite players in ball because he is that physical on the defensive side of the ball and he had like two 20 point games in the NBA finals.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: That is nuts.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: When we come back we're gonna get to my favorite segment Ask KB where I answer your questions.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm gonna welcome on today's producer Christian Ojakjian did I say it right please tell me I said it right you nailed it.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: Oh look at me look at me all right this is a segment that we put together every single week ask KB where I answer your questions.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: Hit us up on Instagram on Twitter.
35:21
SPEAKER_01: What do we got today Christian?
35:23
SPEAKER_00: First ask K B.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: It's from Clinton Pippert if I'm saying your name correctly Clinton and he says trying to get back to being an NBA fan and not just following my Blazers favorite websites when looking at players stats lineups so I can dive into the rest of the league?
35:39
SPEAKER_00: He asks easy question.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna start off by saying find some writers and creators that you love in every single market.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: There's so much uh so many people that are writing about the sport of basketball that are really talented that will break down the game further than me or you ever could.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: So I would just find a way to to like I don't know go to different blog sites about other teams and figure that out.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: That's that's my number one thing.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: The sites that I use some of these are free sites some of these are paid sites and honestly I can tell you which is which so my apologies right up front.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: The number one source is NBA.com even if you don't have league pass or a full subscription NBA.com still lets you get the stats and you can still watch highlights and you can still watch individual possessions for free 999 NBA.com is unbeatable.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: Now the rest of these again some of these are paid some of these are not you got to do your own Googles and figure it out.
36:27
SPEAKER_01: Cleaning the glass is something I've used for like a decade plus now.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: It gives you lineups it gives you ranking of NBA teams offensive and defensive rating with getting garbage timeout which is huge for me because I don't care what you were doing when you were down 30, right?
36:41
SPEAKER_01: It also gives you just a bunch of advanced stats that really matter at least to me when it comes to pace and so on and so forth.
36:47
SPEAKER_01: Crafted NBA is one of the most fun sites that I use where they create their own models for random NBA stats that you will not see anywhere else and it puts a different perspective on a few different players.
36:57
SPEAKER_01: Like a guy like Ben Simmons ranked very highly on crafted NBA when it comes to playmaking even though he didn't even play last season right and they have the formula that you can follow and be like oh yeah Ben Simmons still is a plus playmaker.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: Next we got is b ball index now I know for sure B Ball Index is not a free site but like it is something that breaks down literally everything.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: I I I can't even express that like if there is one that I'm like is worth the money that you pay it's ball index.
37:20
SPEAKER_01: Next is a newer one called uh databallers databallers gives you lineups it gives you on offs it gives you everything you could possibly need.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: NBA visuals is another new one I think that's like$5 a month.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: And then Dunks and threes is another great one.
37:34
SPEAKER_01: Those are all of the ones because I'm assuming they can't get their hands on Synergy.
37:38
SPEAKER_01: Synergy is number one and that's king but if you can't get your hand I think I just gave you seven to eight different great options our next ask KB is an audio submission from at the Landon Rhart.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: And here is Landon who do you see being the face of the league in the next five years easy straight to the point I think this is is Victor Wemyama.
38:05
SPEAKER_01: Not only is he good enough and talented enough to be the face of the league and potentially be like best player in the world if we're talking like five years that's what you asked in like five years.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: But it seems like he would be ready for it too right when you think about how his posts on Instagram the media that he does it seems like he's a guy that would take that crown and wear it nicely international game right Wimby's one of those guys if you if you want to go deeper on that list even though Anthony Edwards has told us multiple times he doesn't want to be face of the league sometimes a play is going to be the play the personality is a personality and it's hard for you if you're Adam Silver or the people that are putting together these clips for Instagram from NBA.com to not include Anthony Edwards because he is an absolute character.
38:44
SPEAKER_01: Like just the other day we saw the Matilda clip he he met Matilda and that was like the best day of his life that is something that like if it if if it was anybody else across basketball I wouldn't have been interested watch that clip is like yeah Anthony Edwards see he's got to be the guy.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: So those are my top two guys and I I don't know much about this upcoming draft class.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: Hell I don't even know much about Cooper Flag who's an NBA player right now.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: But I feel like whether it be Cooper or there'd be AJ whether it be the boozer kid or Drew Peterson I don't know Christian help me out is that his name Drew Peterson Darren Darren Pete see there we go.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: Drew Peterson is an NBA player from Illinois NBA champion Boston Celtic one of those guys might be I just don't know but as far as active players in the league I'm going Anthony Everest Wimbenyama and I'll sprinkle a little on uh Cooper Flag just in case from at ballnoer FS hashtag ask KB what player from last year's draft class has the best chance at becoming an all-star?
39:39
SPEAKER_01: Ballner you tell me it's in your name you don't just get the name I know twitter slash X is a place where you pick your name to be a ball knower somebody has to give you that one.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: But I got I got a list guys Christian please tell me if I'm being biased but I think out of everybody in the 2024 class the guy that has the highest ceiling and the the most likely to be an all-star one day because to be honest with you it's not a lot of options if you look back through that class I think Modis is on that list.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: I think he's not not just on the I think he's number one on the list because he already is a gazelle in the full court he's getting better as a passer he's getting better as a dribbler if the three-point shot falls I just don't know who else in the draft class is going to be better than him.
40:19
SPEAKER_01: I think he's already a plus defender in year number two and he wants to be coached to be an all-defensive player.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: He's got the mindset he's got the right team colors on for me to put him on his list.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: He's got to be number one Christian thoughts totally fair I think if there's a redraft he's easily a top three pick and then you know with a team that plays so fast at the Bulls you just paid a playmaker like Giddy like the opportunity for him to really emerge is he's right there for the taking my number two guy is Zachary Reachase.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the the least talked about first overall pick in NBA history but let me give you the reasons why I think he has that kind of ceiling.
40:53
SPEAKER_01: He already is in a phenomenal cutter not just compared to rookies he's already a phenomenal cutter just point blank period.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: He already is a guy that I trust his jump shooter even if he didn't shoot in necessarily great his rookie season.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: But now we're starting to see some of the other stuff get involved from overseas playing then the preseason play putting the ball on the on the floor and creating for himself that way um uh scoring off as a roll man they didn't run a ton of pick and rolls with him as a ball handler which makes sense he's got Jalen Johnson and Trey Young on his team I don't know if those opportunities are going to necessarily come but I I I believe in him I believe in him to one day be an all-star now I think he has like top 10 ceiling in the league no but if he was an all-star four years down the line some of y'all might be surprised I would not be one of those people my next guy is an unconventional one because he's not gonna be a guy that may average 20 to 25 points per game.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: But defense wins championships and defense should be rewarded for all-star appearances again shout out to Rudy Gobert the guy that I think has the highest ceiling as a big fella on the back end is Donovan Klingham.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: We just watched him as a rookie hold down defense.
41:57
SPEAKER_01: He was like a plus 14 when he was on the court and most of that was on the defensive side of the the ball which is literally on pace or on the same uh level as Rudy Gobert last year.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Obviously limited minutes he's struggling with his conditioning yada yada yada he says he's ready this year.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: And if there's anybody that was going to make it off the defense and I mean he's good enough to average 15 points per game one day in his career, right?
42:16
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that's too out of the round possibility.
42:18
SPEAKER_01: He was already one of the premier shot blockers in his limited amount of minutes.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: And if the Portland Trailblaz ever end up being good and that's I don't know if that's really the thing that's gonna happen, I can see him being one of their all-stars.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: Christian what do you think?
42:30
SPEAKER_00: Rudy averaged up to 16 points a game in his best years in Utah and I like what Klingon can give you as like a passer that that Rudy didn't.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: So if he's that good defensively already and he progressed a bit offensively I I can totally see it.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the season he was firing off from three is that is he gonna be able to hit a three point shot I don't know yet but like why not let it fly um next guy I have is Jared McCain very small sample size from him but in the eight games that he started he averaged 24 points per game like just straight up open and was that a sanity run is that really him we don't really know but I'm just gonna trust it I I like seeing guys that were top of their draft or top of their uh um high school class come into the league a lot of those guys still pan out to be real NBA players.
43:10
SPEAKER_01: I think he's got a really high ceiling he honestly speaking he probably has a higher ceiling than anybody I've mentioned so far but the limited sample size is the reason why he's number four um you you a Jerry McCain guy I mean it's pretty undeniable what he did you know when he had the chance I think he would have run away with rookie of the year if he didn't get hurt.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: And also like you know he gets a lot of crap for the TikToks and stuff like that.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: I just feel like mentally he's just like he's just super mentally healthy and like confident and he's just someone that like I just kind of am banking on like the the floor is so high because of the shooting but I mean what he was showing off the bounce and creating in that sample size I was really impressed.
43:46
SPEAKER_01: Last guy I have on my list is the rookie year Stefan Castle I don't I don't know I I love Steph Castle that's one of my guys I really do um love him.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: I think there's a log gym there and I think Dylan Harper's real I think Or Fox is real.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: So if there's anybody that might get pushed out, it might be him.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: So maybe he ends up being an all-star other places.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm not completely sure, but like the defense is undeniable.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, somebody off-the-bounce stuff is really cool, and he's just one Rick Idiot.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's probably a safe bet.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
44:15
SPEAKER_00: So because I think Harper's so good, and I think people are kind of sleeping on what Fox is gonna be able to do in San Antonio, and because obviously Wemby, like, well, let me ask you this actually.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna answer your question with a question.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: Do you think the fact that he was picked fourth overall is like skewing this conversation a bit?
44:30
SPEAKER_00: Because if they found Stefan Castle like in the late first round or something, because I don't know, I I know he had the ball a lot last year and he scores, but like he is, in my opinion, just a very high-level role player, essentially like a glue guy who can give you.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying he can't progress more offensively, but like he's a guy I'd love to have, and I don't want the fact that he was just picked fourth makes it seem like there's more of a log jam than it is.
44:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think it's totally fine for him to be behind a Harper and a Fox and be your third best guard.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: But I think that's fair.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if we put a redraft and somehow he was pushed to the 2025 draft, he ain't going number four in that draft.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's probably going seven, maybe eight.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, so he does have that like fourth overall pick thing.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: You gotta play him, you gotta, you know, yada yada yada, and we're hiring him because of that.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know, that's my dude.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: He beat me in a trivia game once, so I got respect for him.
45:22
SPEAKER_01: We talked about the 10 teams that I'm highest on going into the season.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: What about some of those bottom feeder teams?
45:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm be honest with you.
45:30
SPEAKER_01: I am a guy that has a lot of sympathy.
45:32
SPEAKER_01: No, no, sympathy is the wrong word.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: Love, love.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: It's more love than sympathy, I'm sorry, for those teams that are in the gutter.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: My team is one of those teams, you know, so I can't act like I'm above in my fan.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: I mean, really, I'm nothing right now.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: But there's always a lot of charm to every NBA team.
45:47
SPEAKER_01: So I kind of want to talk about some of the charm for the really bad teams this season.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: Starting off with the Utah Jazz, uh, I think they're gonna be more important than you think, not because of the players that's on the core.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: I guess one of the players.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: I think Larry Markenden is gonna get traded this season.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: And I think he is one of probably one of the highest um stature guys in the league when it comes to this upcoming trade deadline.
46:08
SPEAKER_01: It is a really high price tag for Larry Markenden, who, if you want to compete for a championship, he's probably like the third most important player in your team, but he's paid like he should be number one and number two.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: So you have to try to figure out which teams are willing and able to pay that.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: And I keep pushing Detroit.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a perfect fit with Kay Cunningham and some of the other young talent on the team, as long as you don't give up Asar Thompson, which you would be crazy to throw a Sark Thompson in that trade.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: But I think they're gonna get talked about a lot because of that.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: I think Ace Bailey's gonna come in and be an interesting guy, at least for the first couple months of the season.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: We're like, the Utah Jazz won too many games last season and then failed down on the lottery.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: And they were blessed to still walk away with almost a consensus top three talent in the draft, right?
46:49
SPEAKER_01: So that's a win.
46:50
SPEAKER_01: It's just a matter of like the other things around them, right?
46:52
SPEAKER_01: Is Ace Bailey even gonna be good enough to be the best player or second best player when the Utah Jazz are good again?
46:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: But they also got to figure out like is Keyshawn George a like a real player for us, Bryce Sensorball, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, 10th overall pick in last year's draft.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: Where is he?
47:07
SPEAKER_01: We don't really know.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: So I have a lot of intrigue trying to figure out who's next on the totem pole when it comes to that young class with the Utah Jazz.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: Next, the Washington Wizards.
47:16
SPEAKER_01: I I think other than them having CJ McCullum and Chris Middleton, it's like the youngest team in basketball.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: They got so much young talent that it's kind of scary.
47:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you expect to play all of these zoos?
47:27
SPEAKER_01: Cam Whitmore is like really in preseason getting in that chair, making it so that I'm gonna be a 25-minute per game guy.
47:33
SPEAKER_01: And if he's a 25-minute per game guy, what that means for I don't know, Ricky Trey Johnson?
47:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh or what does that mean with um, I don't know, Keisha George?
47:43
SPEAKER_01: Christian, I know you're listening.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's a lot of young players there, and you really pray that one of the guys on the team is good enough one day to be the best player.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: And when I look at this roster, I don't think they have that just yet.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: I do think it's another transitional year, right?
47:57
SPEAKER_01: So maybe they end up with AJ or they end up with uh the Brown kid or the Boozer kid or the Wilson kid.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at the mock draft right now.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I know these guys off the top of my head.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: Um and those guys end up being number one.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: And boom, Alex R.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: He's the best number three option in basketball.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: Boom, Bub Carrington, the best six-man in hoops.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
48:14
SPEAKER_01: But I just I find it hard to believe that one of the guys currently on their team is gonna be the guy that's taking them to the promised land.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: But that's what this season is gonna be about.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Charlotte Hornets, I bought a lot of stock in the Charlotte Hornets last season and they ended up tanking.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: The market completely tanked, Lamelo got injured, Brandon Miller got injured, and I'm sitting there watching uh Musa Diabate, who I like.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: I like Musa Diabate, play way more than he probably should have last year, right?
48:39
SPEAKER_01: I think this could be a transitional year again, but I wouldn't be surprised if they like a sneaky 11 seed one game away from being in the play-in.
48:46
SPEAKER_01: Could they do it last day of the season?
48:48
SPEAKER_01: It's all about relative health.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: I think they're gonna be a fun team to watch, regardless.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: Like when we talk about league pass rankings, Lamelo Ball has to be high on that list as an individual player.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: Brandon Miller should be high on their list as an individual player.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: And now with Charles Lee being there and hopefully having a healthy season, you can see what his system actually looks like.
49:04
SPEAKER_01: Because I don't think a lot of us really know what uh Mr.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: Lee has up his sleeve because he was playing with backups for the majority of his season, right?
49:12
SPEAKER_01: So, like, yeah, this set that I'm running might work when Lamelo come back, but right now, uh, Misich, go run this pick and roll with Musa Diabate.
49:20
SPEAKER_01: It's a tough tough thing that Hornets fans have had to watch last season.
49:24
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, the Brooklyn Nets, who walked into the 2025 draft with five first-round picks and used them all.
49:31
SPEAKER_01: Jaeger Damon looked pretty good in the preseason.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: Interesting stuff.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: Drake Powell looked like he's an NBA player, interesting stuff.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: The rest of them, Nolan Trieri got a couple off-the-bounce buckets, I thought was interesting.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: So the intrigue there is like out of all of the point guards they drafted, because basically all of them are point guards, who will you play?
49:49
SPEAKER_01: How will you play them?
49:50
SPEAKER_01: And oh, Michael Porter Jr.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: just my average 20 this year.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
49:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry to uh again, these Chicago Bulls, you didn't make it today's episode uh talking about it.
49:59
SPEAKER_01: The New Orleans Pelicans.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm not I'm saying y'all a uh a tier above that.
50:04
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be it for uh this episode, the first episode or episode zero of the 2025-2026 NBA season.
50:12
SPEAKER_01: Absolute blast.
50:13
SPEAKER_01: You can hit me up on Instagram, on Twitter, or anywhere and let me know what you agree to disagree with.
50:18
SPEAKER_01: This has been Kenny Beacham.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: I'll see y'all next week.