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NBA Trade Deadline Tiers · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:05
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to Small Ball with Kenny Beacham.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: We are what a few weeks away from the NBA trade deadline, and that's the only thing I can think about.
0:15
SPEAKER_02: We had a trade the other night with zero players and four first-round picks were exchanged, and I'm like, oh, this is gearing up for something.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: It's just a matter of time.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: Nothing still has happened yet.
0:24
SPEAKER_02: But it had me thinking about the way teams should tackle the 2025 NBA trade that line.
0:31
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think every fan base kind of expects their team to do something.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: So today I put them into tiers.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: I have, if I count them correctly, seven tiers because I always find a way to make it way more complicated than it needs to be.
0:43
SPEAKER_02: Seven tiers where every team is going to be in some different tier.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: And I'm going to, I guess it's not more of a prediction, right?
0:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm not predicting what will happen February 6th, but more what would I like to see this franchise do with me watching at least that team play one basketball?
1:00
SPEAKER_02: No, no, I've been, I've been really, really locked in as of late.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: It's been super fun.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: I've also been locked into some college basketball, bro.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I do.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: And we had this conversation on the other podcast about being an NBA fan versus a basketball fan.
1:12
SPEAKER_02: And I feel like for a long time I just masked myself as an NBA fan because that was the I was building a community of NBA fans.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: I was building a brand around the NBA.
1:21
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, I ain't got time for this.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: I ain't got time for this.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Bro, college, it makes me feel like a kid again, bro.
1:27
SPEAKER_02: It really, really does.
1:28
SPEAKER_02: Because when I was a shorty, I think I watched college basketball way more than I watched the NBA because it was more readily available to me.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: So to get back into it has been super cool to keep up to it.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: I'm listening to podcasts.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
1:40
SPEAKER_02: I'm usually a podcast guy all the time, but it's more NBA centric.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Zach Lowe's podcast being gone, I feel like I got this big void in my heart.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I've replaced that with college basketball podcasts more than NBA pods.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: And you let me know if that's a good thing for the show.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I'm not being influenced as much as I used to be.
1:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, and maybe that is good.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: Maybe that's the reason why I've had some pretty horrendous takes so far this season, but that's why you're here.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: Leave a like, subscribe.
2:04
SPEAKER_02: I want to remind you that my other podcast numbers on the board.
2:06
SPEAKER_02: We're doing a live show, All-Star Weekend.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: It is February the 15th.
2:11
SPEAKER_02: We are 71% sold out.
2:13
SPEAKER_02: Why is that number so specific?
2:15
SPEAKER_02: That's that's what they do.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: That's what the bosses do.
2:17
SPEAKER_02: They give you the exact percentage.
2:18
SPEAKER_02: So uh no tblive.com, no tblive.com if you want to pop in and show up for a live show, which we should have some special guests.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: It's free food with admissions.
2:28
SPEAKER_02: So I guess it's not free because you paid to get in.
2:29
SPEAKER_02: But with admissions, you get food, merch, meet and greet.
2:32
SPEAKER_02: It's it's gonna be a good night.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a good night.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: So be sure to tune in.
2:36
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I had to figure out exactly where I want to start off here.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, I'm gonna start off here.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: These are the four teams where I'm not completely sure what tier I want to put them in.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: The first team is the Miami Heat, right?
2:45
SPEAKER_02: Because we know the Jimmy Butler thing.
2:47
SPEAKER_02: He just got suspended again for missing another flight.
2:49
SPEAKER_02: It feels like he's just not um a fan of away games anymore.
2:53
SPEAKER_02: It's like, hey, we got a flight somewhere.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: Oh, no, no, no.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: He missed the flight on the way home because they were just on the road.
2:58
SPEAKER_02: Either way, we know Jimmy Butler will probably end up getting moved.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: Where to where?
3:03
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
3:03
SPEAKER_02: Of course, the Phoenix Suns has been the number one team on his priority list and what people are speculating.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: But we also just keep getting so many different reports, whether it be from Haynes, whether it be from Shams, whether it be from other aggregators, basically saying that the one trade that we saw the Phoenix Suns pull off of they gave up a 2031 first-round pick for three not so great first-round picks from the Utah Jazz that wasn't closely attached to Jimmy Butler.
3:26
SPEAKER_02: A lot of us felt like that trade was basically the open up, the Jimmy Butler thing.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: The Miami Heat maybe want some picks and now it's about to be this 14, 15, but they're saying no, no, no.
3:35
SPEAKER_02: We got these picks in order to do other things.
3:38
SPEAKER_02: So we feel like Jimmy Butler will get traded.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: But because of that, I don't really know if they fit individually to any of my tier.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: So I got them alone.
3:46
SPEAKER_02: The next team is the Charlotte Hornets.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: The Hornets already made their trade deadline deal.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: That was giving Nick Richards to the Suns for, you know, some a little bit of draft capital on Josh Okie.
3:56
SPEAKER_02: They do have some other interesting pieces that they might be able to sell, but I find it hard to believe that teams will be buying in on Miles Bridges based on his season or buying in on the contract that is Grant Williams because he's out for the rest of the year.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: So they might be done.
4:07
SPEAKER_02: Even like Michic, who you think about, you squint your eyes, say, oh, a good team might want that type of play.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: No, Michic is not very good.
4:15
SPEAKER_02: Full stop.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: He's just not very good.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: And I don't see a team buying in on a point guard that shoots 35% from the field and 30% from three.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: So they're in their own tier, like they already got their job done.
4:26
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think they're gonna do anything else.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: And all the super speculation about LaMelo ball, I think that's completely dead.
4:31
SPEAKER_02: Next we got the Minnesota Timberwolves, where there's some rumors that they could be a team that's in on this Jimmy Butler thing, not for Jimmy, not to bring Jimmy back, but as kind of facilitators with Julius Randle's experiment, experiment not working out, with Jaden McDaniels hitting a hard ceiling on himself as an NBA player, that they might be a team willing to make some deals.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: But, you know, they talked about flexibility when they did the Carl Anthony Towns trade.
4:55
SPEAKER_02: And I think it just set them back so much.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: That's not that's not breaking the news.
4:58
SPEAKER_02: We all have been watching Minnesota Timbows this season and compared into last year.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: But I just find it hard to believe that they're gonna be able to do anything to open up that that window again.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: I think that window is completely shut for a championship team, and now we have to start gearing ourselves up for next year or the year after that, which really does suck for the Minnesota Timbulls.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: So I'm having a hard time placing them into tiers.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: And then this last team is Golden State Wars.
5:22
SPEAKER_02: I made a whole video on my Kenny for Real channel, so I don't want to go 15 minutes again on the same topic, but it does feel weird that they are a team with one of the all-time greats on the roster and they're still struggling to do anything front office-wise to make the team better.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: You could argue, Kenny, there's nobody available right now that changes their outlook.
5:37
SPEAKER_02: And you're probably right, but it just feels weird that we have this team and then the LA Lakers, who we'll talk about in a little bit, have two of the guys that we grew up watching, two of the greatest players of all time in their front offices have decided it's not really worth to buy into their timeline anymore.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: So I don't have anything, I don't have any place to put them.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: They did a smaller trade to Dennis Shooter.
5:58
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't seem like they're gonna do anything else unless they get a Vusevich trade.
6:01
SPEAKER_02: But even that, it's like Boots helps the team, don't get me wrong, but I'm not looking at them like, yep, here they come across the West.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: It's just not gonna happen.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: Those are the four teams I'm having the most trouble with.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, here are the teams that I think completely stand pat.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: I don't expect them to have any noise, even if there are rumors associated with these teams.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: I would be really not disappointed, but surprised is the word if one of these six teams made something major happen.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: The first team is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: There's rumors about them potentially being buyers on Cam Johnson.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: I feel like their cohesion is one of the two best in basketball, other than like the OKC Thunder.
6:37
SPEAKER_02: And it feels weird for me, even if it is making minuscule trades of Dean Wade a part of a deal to go get Cam or so on and so forth, that any deal that they do this deadline is going to be beneficial to the overall team.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: I don't, I just don't want it to happen.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: Full stop.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: I do believe their contender as currently constructed.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: And because I don't see any big time swingers, even though Jimmy Butler's available, I don't see many big time swingers out in the market.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: I'm not really afraid of any team that go get Jimmy.
7:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm not really afraid of any team that can muster up to get a Zach Levine or another one of these max caliber players.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: So we feel cool with kind of staying pat.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: The defense is great, the offense is the best in the league.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: Darius Garland, can I talk about Darius Garland for just 30 seconds here?
7:18
SPEAKER_02: Watching them play against the Houston Rockets, two of the better teams in basketball.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: The Rockets have surprised a lot of people.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: The Rockets go on this um this drought, six and a half minute drought, where they cannot get a bucket, and it's a 17, a 19-0 run from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: We get a um a flagrant foul, I guess, a technical foul.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what you really call it, where Darius Garland goes up for a three.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: Tari Easton undercuts him.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: Boom, Darius Garland.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: You get you get two free throws plus another free throw and ball.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: They're down by two at this point.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: Darius Garland is a 90-something percent free throw shooter.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: The pressure bursts the pipe.
7:54
SPEAKER_02: He misses both.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: And the first time he missed, he looked back at his teammates and he smiled a little bit like I can't believe I just did that.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: Then he missed the other one.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, bro, the likelihood of that happening.
8:05
SPEAKER_02: When you just think about the odds of it all with a 90% free throw shooter missing back to back is just incredible.
8:09
SPEAKER_02: And then I had to remember that just earlier in the game, it did the exact same thing.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: He had three free throws, he missed two.
8:15
SPEAKER_02: So this 90% three-point shooter just had a stinker at the line.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: I think the pressure got to him.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: He does hit one, they get an opportunity to hit a game winner, they miss it, and the Houston Rockets walk out of there with a win.
8:25
SPEAKER_02: And we did our episode where we were trying to not predict NBA awards, but like if the season were to end right now, who has the winner of this award?
8:33
SPEAKER_02: And then we got the clutch player of the year, and we got Jokic.
8:35
SPEAKER_02: Jokic is the clutch player of the year as of right now.
8:37
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I'm putting my, I'm putting Darius Garland in the conversation, man.
8:40
SPEAKER_02: Think about the one game um Donovan Mitchell missed, and Darius Garland gave what 38, 40 points or whatever, and hit the game winner.
8:47
SPEAKER_02: And you're like, yeah, he deserves to do that.
8:49
SPEAKER_02: Even a game, the first game, don't talk about that second game.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: You're a Cavs fan.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: That first game against the OKC Thunder, how he helped close this out with it two minutes to go, one minute to go.
8:57
SPEAKER_02: He deserves to be in the conversation with Clutch Player of the Year.
9:00
SPEAKER_02: I've never seen somebody be in the again, conversations for the most meaningless NBA award.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: And in one day, it just shattered completely.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: You can't even have an argument because of this one moment.
9:12
SPEAKER_02: Come on, DG.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: Either way, um, the other team, these are two teams I don't expect them to make any moves or I don't anticipate it mostly because of the financial constraints of their team.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: That being the Boston Celtics, I guess they could move Jaden Springer, but I don't know if y'all watched Jaden Springer the other night.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he gave them all the energy in the world to help them win that game.
9:32
SPEAKER_02: There was no Kowalin or no James Harden.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: I don't know how we get to overtime there.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: But Jaden Springer had a huge impact there.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: But like that's the only thing you could potentially do, move Jaden Springer for another 11th, 12th man.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: Probably not.
9:44
SPEAKER_02: And then I have the Denver Nuggets.
9:47
SPEAKER_02: And while they do have some tradable contracts and stuff, they don't have any future assets to attach to those tradable contracts.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: So I think the team that we see from the Nuggets right now is probably gonna be the team that stays the same.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: Because if you don't have any seconds, any first to attach to a Dario Schards, to attach to a Zeke Najnaji, I find it hard to believe that other teams across basketball are just gonna want that.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, I also was very surprised to realize that Dario Shards is only 30 years old.
10:11
SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's just something about his last two stops, his last couple years in the NBA, but I felt like he was a lot older than 30 years old.
10:17
SPEAKER_02: Um but those are two teams I don't expect to do anything because of financial slash future, um, future assets.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: The next team, maybe this is a surprise to some people, the 76ers.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: Now, Shamsharanio went on to ESPN and he talked about how the 76ers are gonna have to have this meeting with Joel Embiid and have to have a conversation about his overall health, have a conversation about the future of this this season.
10:41
SPEAKER_02: And it it was some it was surprising, I would say.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, I know a lot of 76er fans that I'm aware of are like, hey, we already conceded, throw the white flag, let's let's keep our pick, or try to keep our pick because it's top six per second protected or go so OKC and white flag to get Cooper flag.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: You feel me?
10:58
SPEAKER_02: Wave the white flag to get Cooper flag.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: But right now they're three games behind these Chicago Bulls, actively on a seven-game skid.
11:05
SPEAKER_02: Insanity.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: But the reason I have them here is because I look at their roster and I think about them.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: Let's say, let's say they do decide, hey, it's not no year.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: Jordan B, you stay at the crib or you can travel with us, whatever you want, but we're not having you suit up.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: Let's let's really go in on you being completely healthy for next season.
11:18
SPEAKER_02: It's you, it's Maxi, it's McCain, it's PG, and that is our four, and we're gonna hopefully keep our own pick.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: Even if they decide to do that, what are they selling?
11:29
SPEAKER_02: What are they buying?
11:30
SPEAKER_02: Like, what if they buy it?
11:30
SPEAKER_02: Like, Drummond, is Drummond gonna have any value?
11:33
SPEAKER_02: I've been watching Drummond the season.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if he's as value, but this year, I know at last year's deadline, a team was offered two second-round picks for him.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: I guess that might stay true, but like, I just don't know if there's really buying or selling for them.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: Even if they decide to raise the white flag, I genuinely do believe they can do that and just lose games with their current roster.
11:50
SPEAKER_02: They don't have to sell off talent that's too good because Lord knows they can't win games regardless right now.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: So it is such a weird season for the 76ers.
11:59
SPEAKER_02: I thought going into this year, this is one of the best constructor rosters around Joy Labede.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: And you could argue that maybe there it is, right?
12:04
SPEAKER_02: They were what, seven and three in the 10 games they played together.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm talking about Maxie and Bede and Paul George.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: They had the big game on Christmas where they went out there and got a win, but they haven't been able to get the big five big fella healthy.
12:17
SPEAKER_02: And um because of that, I mean, he was an MVP for a reason.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: You think about most valuable player, I mean, he is a poster child for that alone.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: This team cannot go, has nowhere to go if he is not suiting up.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: So I'm not against them raising the white flag, but I just don't think they're gonna be able to make any deals, um, which is surprising.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: Because if they did not decide to raise the white flag and they say, hey, Jordan B, this this last, this last little meeting we had, we checked your knee and you your knee looks perfect.
12:46
SPEAKER_02: There's a world that can still be buyers.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: And again, we're talking three games out of the 10th seed.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: Now, they're sealing hypothetically if they did decide that Jordan Bead is completely healthy and they want to continue to go for this season.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: Three games out of the 10th seed and six games out of the nine seed.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: So they would 100% have to do it through the play unless they go super, super hot.
13:03
SPEAKER_02: They got a whole month where they don't lose.
13:06
SPEAKER_02: But even with that, if Jordan beat is healthy, I'm looking at these other teams they had to play on the play.
13:10
SPEAKER_02: And I say that 76 can win those games and end up being one of the teams that make the actual eight.
13:15
SPEAKER_02: Time will tell, Get Will soon, Joel Embiid.
13:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh, the next team I have in this one is the San Antonio Spurs.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: Kenny, the Spurs should maybe be buyers.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: Remember Yama's a year number two.
13:26
SPEAKER_02: He's really good.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of I'm kind of okay with it.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because I'm thinking about the things that they do have to trade, right?
13:32
SPEAKER_02: You have uh Atlanta Hawks, a couple first-round picks.
13:35
SPEAKER_02: You have players that are a salary filler, but I look at these guys and Zach Collins and Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson, those are just three players that are making mid-tier contracts that could be movable for a bigger name down the line.
13:47
SPEAKER_02: All those guys are in the contracts for next season.
13:50
SPEAKER_02: There's no big rush to be, let's let's aggregate these contracts to go by.
13:55
SPEAKER_02: I feel like with the Wimby timeline, it it is a bit weird where you have a generational talent, right?
14:00
SPEAKER_02: Uh, if you think about even just Luka Doncic, I don't even know do you give generational to Luka Doncic?
14:04
SPEAKER_02: Damn it, I do.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: You think about Luka Doncic basically having one year of being bad as a rookie, then the next year they were in the playoffs.
14:10
SPEAKER_02: Wimby doesn't really have that as of right now because the rest of the teams aren't, uh rest of his team is not so very good, and the rest of the rest of the conference is as competitive as ever.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: So there's a world where you continue to do what you're doing, and that would keep you in the lottery.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: Not maybe not ideal, but you keep you in the lottery and give you an opportunity to draft another guy, and then you see what the landscape of the NBA is, and you can potentially go buy the right guy, right?
14:34
SPEAKER_02: You can go use those three contracts I mentioned, plus a future draft picks to say, hey, so-and-so team flamed out of the playoffs.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: Let's call and see if I don't know, um, this guy is available.
14:46
SPEAKER_02: I don't even know what the archetype is for a women team.
14:49
SPEAKER_02: But let's see if this guy is available.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: I don't want them to be buyers right now, just cuz that's basically what I'm what I'm boiling down to.
14:56
SPEAKER_02: I think they still have a chance to make a little bit of noise.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: It's maybe a bit unlikely at two games out.
15:01
SPEAKER_02: And for the since the turn of the calendar year, I guess this might have been a full season thing, their second half numbers are just awful.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: So I'm okay if they completely stayed pat, unless they're buying in on something that's not too expensive and maybe can help them for the now.
15:14
SPEAKER_02: Like um, there were maybe some rumors about Kobe White, my favorite player in the league.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't mind him going onto the Spurs, and it wouldn't cost as much as, you know, all of the future draft capital or all of these young players.
15:25
SPEAKER_02: So I will be okay if they still pat.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: Next league, next, we have the Pelicans.
15:30
SPEAKER_02: Now, the Pelicans as of today are 12 and 32, but they are 7-3 in their last 10 and on a 4K win streak.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: They are not going to be able to make the plan.
15:40
SPEAKER_02: They're 10 and a half games out.
15:42
SPEAKER_02: Can you think about the year 10 and a half games out this late or this early into the season?
15:45
SPEAKER_02: 10 and a half games out.
15:47
SPEAKER_02: There's really no way, even if they continue to play really good basketball, there's no way they're gonna catch up to these other teams.
15:54
SPEAKER_02: And I think about it on the contrary, if they did become sellers, like there was rumored that maybe Zion was available, it's rumored that CJ McCullum is available.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: I feel like you'd be selling pretty low.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Brandon Ingram is obviously a name that's get thrown out there quite a bit.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: That's kind of a given.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: It's been like two years now that he's been on the market.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: But other than the Brandon Ingram thing, I don't understand the Herb Jones might be available conversations.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: CJ McCullough might be available conversations.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: It's not like Jordan Hawkins is taking this huge step.
16:20
SPEAKER_02: It's not like they have another guy behind CJ that we just we absolutely love.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: We got to get off CJ's contract and CJ's productivity because this guy's available.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: No, I don't think that's a likelihood.
16:30
SPEAKER_02: So if they went into the deadline and did nothing, not really surprised.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: All right, let's go to the next tier, which is just two teams.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: This is the hard to do anything tier.
16:47
SPEAKER_02: And these two teams, or at least one of these two teams are rumored to be in every single trade conversation.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: But if I look at their team payroll and I look at their salary sheet and I look at their future assets, it is hard for me to see the Bucks doing it, bro.
17:00
SPEAKER_02: I will just be surprised.
17:02
SPEAKER_02: He's he's been they've been rumored to be in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh, Chris Hayes just had to report after it was rumored that they were interested in Bradley Beal.
17:09
SPEAKER_02: They said no.
17:10
SPEAKER_02: Chris Hayes said no.
17:12
SPEAKER_02: Sources tell him that the Bucs are not interested.
17:15
SPEAKER_02: Bradley Beal is not interested in waving his no-trade clause.
17:18
SPEAKER_02: And I always like Chris Hayes because he says sources say, we know the source you're is really from the player.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: When it comes to Chris Hayes, when he has a scoop, it's coming from the player, sources say.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so I just don't know how they become buyers.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: Um, of course, they would love to get into some of these bigger contracts, these greater players is, you know, they've been turning um the corner just a little bit, and you're seeing Giannis still be great.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: You see Damian Lillard doing ridiculous stuff.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, and Chris Middleton, who felt like an end of his career type of guy at Milwaukee, it seems like basically, based on the Drew Holiday trade from a little while ago, that that's not a that's not really a thing when it's the Milwaukee Bucks unless you are Giannis.
17:57
SPEAKER_02: They're doing everything in their power to build with Giannis.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: If that means that Giannis' best friend has to be moved, so be it.
18:04
SPEAKER_02: He wants to win.
18:05
SPEAKER_02: But it's just hard for me to see them being a part of um as a as a buyer, as a guy like, oh my god, they got this guy.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: Because they just don't have the assets.
18:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, could they be a part of the overarching four to five team deal?
18:19
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, but I don't think they walk out of there with one of the better assets in the big trade.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: So it's just hard for me to put them there.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: The next team, the last team in this tier, hard to do anything tier, is the Atlanta Hawks.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: They got some interesting stuff.
18:32
SPEAKER_02: You know, Larry Ans is getting off his injury or rehabbing his injury, expiring contract, good player when he played, of course, coming off the injury like$11 million.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: I posed this question to the guys maybe a month ago.
18:46
SPEAKER_02: If you are the Atlanta Hawks, would you sell high on DeAndre Hunter given his history, or do you firmly believe that the version of DeAndre Hunter you're getting right now is the version you'll get for the rest of his career?
18:56
SPEAKER_02: Right now, DeAndre Hunter is leading off the bench scoring across basketball.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: His efficiency is incredible.
19:01
SPEAKER_02: His defense has been a huge step up after him having all the tools in the world and giving us flashes of him being a really plus defender.
19:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm starting to see that more and more.
19:09
SPEAKER_02: Maybe that's the Dyson Daniels effect.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: Everybody look good around him because he's so damn dominant there.
19:13
SPEAKER_02: But I question what do they do?
19:17
SPEAKER_02: And it's hard for maybe for them to do anything.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: Click Capella's name has been in the rumors forever.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: He's on an expiry deal.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: 20 something million, 22 million dollars, if I'm not mistaken.
19:26
SPEAKER_02: There's a world where they can aggregate some stuff, but it's like, what is our goal?
19:31
SPEAKER_02: Are we are we are we building with these younger guys?
19:35
SPEAKER_02: Or are we going in right now?
19:36
SPEAKER_02: Because right now they're the seventh seed.
19:37
SPEAKER_02: It hasn't been the most perfect thing since the turn of the calendar year.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, after them having a really good stretch, four and six in their last 10.
19:43
SPEAKER_02: I just don't know exactly where to put them, is basically all I'm saying.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: Let's get to the next one.
19:48
SPEAKER_02: These are the facilitators.
19:49
SPEAKER_02: These guys, I think, whether it be because of their cap flexibility right now, or them having a bunch of um expiring contracts, these are teams that I think could be a part of this overarching five-team deal to just help some teams get what they want.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: The first team is the Toronto Raptors.
20:06
SPEAKER_02: They have been very candid about this.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: There's been multiple reports that Machai is willing to help on the Jimmy Butler deal.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: They have the Bruce Brown expiring.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: They have Kelly O'Lenick, who's, I think, has one more year at the end of this contract.
20:16
SPEAKER_02: I think it's maybe a player option.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: They have Chris Boucher,$10 plus million dollars.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: They could aggregate some stuff and say, hey, we'll take on the bad contract.
20:24
SPEAKER_02: Give me some future salary.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, some future draft capital.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: They can facilitate these deals.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: They they kind of are the most important players in the Jimmy Butler potential deal.
20:33
SPEAKER_02: But I could see the Toronto Raptors being that 100%.
20:36
SPEAKER_02: And then the other team I have in this tier is the Pistons.
20:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm I'm struggling between putting the Pistons in a facilitator and a buy light tier, which we'll get to next, um, because I love what the Pistons are doing.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: I think Kay Cunningham has been phenomenal, but I do believe he's overtaxed.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: I think we've mentioned this on this podcast before that I feel like if they had another ball handler, specifically now that Jay Naive is out for the rest of the regular season, if they had another ball handler and alleviated some of that pressure off Cade, his overall turnover numbers will go down.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: I think he'd be even more effective, which is hard to even explain because he's been so damn good this season.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: That like I kind of would love for them to buy a little bit and help Cade in that aspect.
21:15
SPEAKER_02: But with them having, as of right now,$14 million in cap space, I could see them taking on a bad contract here or there for future draft capital.
21:23
SPEAKER_02: And because the team right now is kind of set in stone as a team that's going to be at the bare minimum playing a team, right?
21:30
SPEAKER_02: So I would I could see them in two different tiers here the facilitators and the buy light tier.
21:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, just go, just even okay, their buy light.
21:39
SPEAKER_02: Let's transition there.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: What would a buy light look like for the Detroit Pistons?
21:42
SPEAKER_02: As I talk about them needing another ball handler on the team, as I look across the teams in cross basketball, right?
21:49
SPEAKER_02: Uh Malcolm Brockton, right?
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Expiring contract,$22 million.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: It will cost you one player.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: In this case, it might be Tim Hardaway Jr., who's also an expiring contract, but you feel pretty good about how.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Having Malcolm Brogdon and Malcolm Brogdon has done a damn good job throughout his career of playing a combo.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: I can play on ball, play off ball.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: How is he performing in Washington right now?
22:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
22:11
SPEAKER_02: Don't ask me.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: Don't ask me.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you can look at a team like the Brooklyn Nets.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: If D'Angelo Russell is available to be traded again, another expiring contract that can come in.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that these two dudes have to start together necessarily.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: But again, have some times that they're on the court together, D Lo, another deal that, like, I understand Pistons fans are saying, hey, we don't want Zach Levine, even though he's a phenomenal player.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: We have Jaden Ivey coming back from his injury next season.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: And what does that do for him?
22:38
SPEAKER_02: Jayden Ivey is back in limbo.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: Last year he was in limbo with Monty Williams.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: We don't want to do that to him again.
22:42
SPEAKER_02: We don't want to make him a super six man.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: He was incredible last year.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: So that's why I kind of like the idea of buying some expiring contracts to help right now with your current playoff push.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: And then we see what Jayden Ivey looks like when he comes back from his injury.
22:55
SPEAKER_02: We have um like a guy like Lonzo Ball.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Lonzo Ball, another expiring contract, and as a guy that has watched Lonzo all season long and watched him last time he was healthy, Lonzo Ball impacts winning basketball.
23:06
SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't care what the shooting splits say.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't care what the scoring numbers say.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: When Lonzo Ball is on the court, matter of fact, I wonder, I wonder if those advanced stats say that.
23:16
SPEAKER_02: When Lonzo Ball is on the court, the team is just better.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: He is a prototypical connector in this game of basketball.
23:24
SPEAKER_02: He is a guy that can play on, he can play off, especially if his jump shot is falling.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: He's not nearly as good of a defender as he was before his injury.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's been three fucking years.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: You feel me?
23:34
SPEAKER_02: He's not nearly as good of a defender then, but he still does have some great instincts where he will dive in on a ball when a player is looking the other way.
23:42
SPEAKER_02: Right now, I mean, he's in the 97 percentile and efficiency differential when he is on the court.
23:48
SPEAKER_02: The offense is seven points per 100 possessions better with Lonzo on the court.
23:52
SPEAKER_02: And the defense is 100 uh or in 100 possessions, seven points better.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: Lonzo ball impacts winning.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: So he could be almost perfect for Kay Cunningham because you don't need him to be, for him to be effective, he doesn't need to be this bing bing bing.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: I could get my shot off like a Zach Levine.
24:10
SPEAKER_02: He like Zach Levine's fit maybe just a bit dicey for that aspect, but he can play make in the full court, play make in the half court, give you positive defense, give you winning plays.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: I don't actually, I'm talking myself into Pistons, Lonzo Ball quite a bit now that I'm saying that.
24:25
SPEAKER_02: Um but I again, it's hard for me to facilitate or to put them in the facilitators or the buy low or the by light.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: Here's some other teams that are in the by light.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: These are teams that I would expect them to be calling around to try to make some improvements on the fifth starter, on the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth man type thing.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: These are not the dudes going out to get the superstar names or the super max contracts, but probably gonna make a small move here or there that's like, oh, that makes us slightly better.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: Number one team, New York Knicks.
24:53
SPEAKER_02: We'll love to see them get some size.
24:55
SPEAKER_02: They uh they just haven't really played Carnot Towns or many other bigs.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, who else do you really have?
25:00
SPEAKER_02: Jericho Simpson, the Precious.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: And they they've done a precious thing just a little bit.
25:03
SPEAKER_02: Uh Mitchell Robinson has put on some extra weight.
25:05
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that's gonna be a good thing or a bad thing.
25:07
SPEAKER_02: But if they just had more size in that locker room at the center position, that would be great.
25:12
SPEAKER_02: So I can expect them to call and try to figure that out.
25:15
SPEAKER_02: Next, we got the Thunder.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: The Thunder were a team that I was teetering between Stamp because their cohesion is just as good as the Cleveland Cavaliers.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: It will feel weird for them to make any big adjustments, but also watch them play on a night-to-night basis.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: And they're they're shooting, their jump shooting can be suspect at times.
25:31
SPEAKER_02: So going out to get a big jumble shooter like Cam Johnson, like we mentioned, could be perfect for them.
25:36
SPEAKER_02: I just don't know how you do that without giving up one of your core guys, and that's why I'm teetering between Stan Pat and by Light.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: Next, Houston Rockets.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: Go get a new backup five.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: No disrespect to Steven Adams, one of my guys.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: I absolutely love Steven Adams, but I'm thinking about the ceiling of this team, and it would be just higher if you had another center that you trust, right?
25:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, and there is there is the one interaction between Imei Udoka and Robert Williams.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: Of course, they he coached Robert um with the with the Celtics, or maybe it was nothing.
26:03
SPEAKER_02: But like I love the idea of his fit there, and they can make that happen pretty damn easily with Jay Sean Tate and some stuff, you know.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think Robert Williams is going to be super expensive.
26:13
SPEAKER_02: You're not uh giving up a first-round pick or anything, right?
26:16
SPEAKER_02: It's maybe a couple seconds to go get Rob.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the big question is can he stay healthy?
26:20
SPEAKER_02: But it's not like you're not giving up anything.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: It's like a flyer on a player that we all know that when he is healthy, he's pretty damn good.
26:27
SPEAKER_02: Next, we got the Clippers.
26:29
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know what type of archetype that they should be going after, but I look at PJ Tucker just being at the crib,$11 million on his contract, just absolute chilling.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: And I look at Terrence Mann, another guy who just signed an extension, so it might be a bit weird.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe, maybe it's not even possible for Terrence Man to be a part of a deal because of his extension.
26:48
SPEAKER_02: Either way, I find it hard to believe that they won't do anything, considering as of right now, they're sitting at the sixth seed after last night's loss.
26:55
SPEAKER_02: And the the Lakers jumped up.
26:57
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to the Lakers five seed.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, it would just feel weird if they did nothing.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: That's all.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: And I feel like them buying light on something, and they, if I'm not mistaken, have a few tradable picks.
27:06
SPEAKER_02: So it makes a little bit of sense for them to go by.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: Next, we got the Sacramento Kings, man.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: They've been playing phenomenal basketball since Doug Christie has come in.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: And last night, I thought the most glaring thing, if you're a Kings fan or you watched last night's game, is that we did not get a lot of Kevin Herter.
27:22
SPEAKER_02: Let me see exactly how many minutes Kevin Herter ended up playing last night.
27:25
SPEAKER_02: It might have been single digits, man.
27:26
SPEAKER_02: I watched that game.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: It was surprised, surprise.
27:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, five minutes.
27:30
SPEAKER_02: He played five minutes.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: Um so Kevin Herter contract, I mean, Trey Lyles can be hit or miss, so I don't know how they feel about that.
27:37
SPEAKER_02: But like, I could see them being a team that's like, hey, we use Kevin Herter as salary filler.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: He's got one more year next year at 17.9.
27:47
SPEAKER_02: So maybe that's going to turn some teams off.
27:49
SPEAKER_02: But he could be a movable contract to help them do something around the edges to make their roster just a little bit better.
27:55
SPEAKER_02: I also have the Dallas Mavericks here.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: The Mavs are in the middle of a nightmare season.
28:01
SPEAKER_02: You think about Luka Dontice being out since Christmas, Kyrie Irvin having a displaced disc in his back.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: And then now we found out Derek Lively is going to be out for a couple months.
28:10
SPEAKER_02: Like the earliest he's coming back is maybe the beginning of the playoffs.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: That's so, so unfortunate.
28:15
SPEAKER_02: That doesn't even count for before the season started.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: Dante Eksum got injured.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: So they've just had a really, really rough stretch here.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: But now that Derek Lively is out, and shout out to Gaffer because he's been holding it down.
28:27
SPEAKER_02: I absolutely hate the Maxi Kleber minutes.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: I just do, but they have no other choice.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: I hate anytime Dwight Powell checks to the court.
28:34
SPEAKER_02: And I understand they just don't really have any other choice.
28:37
SPEAKER_02: So I would expect them to be a buyer, another team that could be calling up Robert Williams.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: Yes, again, they're already dealing with a bunch of injuries.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: But like one of these mid-tier contracts,$10 to$15 million contract centers, Jonas Fowling the Tunis.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: I don't know his fit there, but I'm just thinking about centers that might be available for them because they desperately could use somebody to back up Gaffer.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: That's not a that's not just really bad.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: That's not just a defensive liability.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: That's not like some of these guys are supposed to be shooters and they're not shooters.
29:07
SPEAKER_02: So um going to get a backup center would be great.
29:09
SPEAKER_02: And the last team I have here is the Lakers.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: And I don't even have notes next to the Lakers here.
29:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, they're rumored to not do something big.
29:17
SPEAKER_02: We already talked about the Warriors aspect of them having Steph Curry and the Lakers having Braun Bryan.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: I think it's more excusable.
29:23
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'm tripping, it's more excusable for the Lakers to not buy into LeBron considering he's 40 years old and they've already done that for the last six years.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: Um they might make some moves around the edges, but I don't know a single move around the edge is making me believe in the the Lakers as a contender.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: I don't even know if there's a huge move.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: Hypothetically, for whatever the hell reason, Pat Riley decided that he wants to help the Lakers and he throws Jimmy Butler to the Lakers for just a salary.
29:49
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if Jimmy Butler walks into the Lakers locker room and I look at them as like that's the team to be, bro.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: That's how insane it is right now in Laker Lamb, right?
29:57
SPEAKER_02: And and one thing that was pretty, pretty um eye-opening, when they brought in, when they brought in JJ, in that pressure, they talked about a lot of different stuff.
30:07
SPEAKER_02: They talked about JJ being the long-term plan.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: Never really looked at the Lakers as a team that thought about the long-term plan.
30:16
SPEAKER_02: The entirety of the LeBron James era is like, how what can we do to be better now?
30:22
SPEAKER_02: So when you bring in a first-time head coach and JJ Reddick with zero NBA coaching experience, zero college coaching experience, zero high school coaching experience, um, and you say that you want him to be your Pat Riley, that makes me think they're really gearing up to the what it looks like post-Braun or what it looks like post-AD.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: So not trading 2031 kind of makes sense in that context.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: If you're saying that you want JJ to be here for the future, you think he's a guy that can grow with the organization, you have to give him something to grow with.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: So I got them as a slight buy, but even then, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a stand pat type type of thing.
31:00
SPEAKER_02: They already got the DFS trade.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: But out of respect to them, the reports saying that they might do something around the edges with a try to buy on a Walker Kessler or try to buy on this role player.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: I got him in the bye light.
31:15
SPEAKER_02: A couple more.
31:17
SPEAKER_02: This next tier is the consolidation teams.
31:19
SPEAKER_02: These are the teams that have too many talented players on the roster, or they're gonna have financial restrictions hit them very, very soon, and they have to do everything in their power to make a smaller move, give us, give up two players for one player.
31:31
SPEAKER_02: First team is the Indiana Pacers.
31:33
SPEAKER_02: Miles Turner is a free agent this season, and I just find it hard to believe that if they kept everybody in their locker room today, that the Miles Turner re-signing is realistic.
31:43
SPEAKER_02: And I think that they just have to do a consolidation trait, man.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: They're rocking like an 11-man, win healthy, 11-man real life rotation of good players.
31:51
SPEAKER_02: And I just don't know how realistic it is to be able to have all of those dudes and pay all of those dudes.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: And the next team on this list is the Memphis Grizzlies.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: The Grizzlies also, the Grizzlies might have 13 real NBA players on their roster right now.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: This is gonna sound so damn stupid.
32:06
SPEAKER_02: They're the 3C right now, so I'm I'm feel good about saying this.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: They might have lucked out that so many people are injured.
32:12
SPEAKER_02: If they walked in and they had a perfectly healthy roster, there's no way you could convince Santi Aldama, Jake LaRavia, Brandon Clark, Marcus Smart, GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr., that two of y'all, three of y'all are not in the rotation.
32:30
SPEAKER_02: Right?
32:31
SPEAKER_02: So the fact that they had these injuries means that everybody gets to play here or there.
32:34
SPEAKER_02: Marcus Smart is healthy.
32:35
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he's gonna hoot.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: Damn, he got injured.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: We got Scottie Pippen Jr., we got Jay Huff.
32:39
SPEAKER_02: How many names I just named without naming a like a real starter?
32:42
SPEAKER_02: Like they have to do some type of consolidation trade.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: Some of these dudes that I mentioned, the Loravias and Aldamas of the world, some of these dudes are hitting free agency this offseason.
32:51
SPEAKER_02: And I forget which one it was.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: It might have been Aldama, who's like, I completely understand that the likelihood of me being on this team next year is pretty low.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: I'm a restricting free agent on a team that already has geared their way up with three max players and this and that.
33:04
SPEAKER_02: I understand that I might not be on this roster next season.
33:07
SPEAKER_02: And if that's the case, do you consolidate?
33:11
SPEAKER_02: I mean, maybe Jimmy Butler kind of makes sense to me, but I guess Jimmy Butler, his age is saying, no, don't trade us to Memphis because Memphis don't want to give us that extension that we're looking for.
33:18
SPEAKER_02: I love the idea of Jimmy Butler spinning the rest of the season postseason with uh Memphis.
33:23
SPEAKER_02: It makes sense, it made too much sense.
33:25
SPEAKER_02: Hey, here's three real NBA players, Miami Heat, and a first-round pick or two.
33:29
SPEAKER_02: Let's hoop.
33:30
SPEAKER_02: And Jimmy won't really for that.
33:32
SPEAKER_02: Even though he did tell the world, I would go to all 29 other teams.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: And secretly he's like, not Milwaukee, not this team, not the Grizzlies, not these guys.
33:42
SPEAKER_02: Gotta love it.
33:43
SPEAKER_02: Gotta love it.
33:44
SPEAKER_02: So those are my two consolidation teams.
33:46
SPEAKER_02: We have two more tiers and uh only a small amount of teams in this next year, which is the by heavy tier.
33:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, my first team.
33:55
SPEAKER_02: And maybe I'm wild, but again, this is not a prediction.
33:57
SPEAKER_02: This is me just going on what I would like to see.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: The Orlando Magic.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
34:03
SPEAKER_02: Um The Orlando Magic have not had a positive offensive rating or an above league average offensive rating, a top 10 offensive rating.
34:12
SPEAKER_02: And in almost almost, okay, I won't I won't round up too much.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: In about 14 years, say that again.
34:20
SPEAKER_02: They have not had a top 10 offensive team in about 14 years.
34:26
SPEAKER_02: And as of right now, they're not even close to making that a reality, right?
34:33
SPEAKER_02: And we we give a lot of credit to Jamal Mosley as we should.
34:37
SPEAKER_02: I mean, as I said before, early into the season, there is no coach that was doing more with less.
34:42
SPEAKER_02: Paolo leaves after what five games.
34:45
SPEAKER_02: Franz Wagner plays great.
34:46
SPEAKER_02: He gets an oblique.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: Jalen Suggs goes out.
34:49
SPEAKER_02: Mo Wagner down for the season.
34:50
SPEAKER_02: We can go on and on and on, real good and real rotational players going down.
34:56
SPEAKER_02: But it ain't been great as of recently.
34:59
SPEAKER_02: If you look at their last two weeks, they have the worst offense in basketball.
35:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say that again.
35:07
SPEAKER_02: In the last two weeks, in this stretch where they are one and six, they have the worst offense in basketball that is worse than the Wizards, that is worse than the Nets, that is worse than the Blazers, that is worse than the Jazz.
35:18
SPEAKER_02: These teams are actively going for Cooper Flag.
35:21
SPEAKER_02: And again, everybody ain't been healthy.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: Hell, a lot of people haven't been healthy.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: But it's some scary things.
35:26
SPEAKER_02: You know what's even scarier than having the worst offense in the last two weeks?
35:29
SPEAKER_02: Again, that's a two-week sample size, Kenny.
35:31
SPEAKER_02: Ain't nothing too crazy about a two-week sample size.
35:33
SPEAKER_02: We've had a two-week sample size where the worst team in the league look amazing.
35:36
SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, what's the most obscure stat I can find in a two-week sample size looking at it this way?
35:40
SPEAKER_02: Let me let me see.
35:41
SPEAKER_02: And the last two weeks, the most obscure thing I can say, the Chicago Bulls have the sixth best defense, damn it.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: So a two-week sample size can be scary, but it don't tell a full story of a team.
35:50
SPEAKER_02: How about this one?
35:52
SPEAKER_02: As of right now, as a team, as a team, they're shooting 30% from three.
35:58
SPEAKER_02: You know who's a bad defender?
36:00
SPEAKER_02: I mean, a bad shooter.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: He's a great defender.
36:02
SPEAKER_02: Dyson Daniels.
36:04
SPEAKER_02: Dyson Daniels, love him as a player.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: Do not get me wrong, Dyson.
36:07
SPEAKER_02: This is not a shot at you.
36:08
SPEAKER_02: I'm just using you as an example.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: I'm just using you as an example.
36:11
SPEAKER_02: Dyson Daniels, let me see what his actual three-point shooting is.
36:14
SPEAKER_02: Dyson Daniels' rookie season shot 31% from three.
36:18
SPEAKER_02: His sophomore season, 32% from three.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: This year, 32% from three.
36:24
SPEAKER_02: As a team, they are shooting worse from three than preennial non-shooter Dyson Daniels.
36:34
SPEAKER_02: They are on pace to be the worst three-point shooting team in the modern era.
36:40
SPEAKER_02: They are shooting six percent worse than league average.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: Is this not crazy to y'all?
36:47
SPEAKER_02: Six percent worse than league average is insane.
36:51
SPEAKER_02: So they need to be buyers.
36:53
SPEAKER_02: They need to be biased.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: They need to go get a guy.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: And listen, they have a type.
36:58
SPEAKER_02: They love a big ass rangy wing.
37:01
SPEAKER_02: Whether it be Paolo, whether it be Franz, whether it be Trisha DeSilva, whether it be Jonathan Isaac, whether it be this guy, whether it be Chumo Kiki from back in the always love a big ass rangy wing.
37:13
SPEAKER_02: And that gets them to the point where they were one of the best defenses in the league last season.
37:17
SPEAKER_02: At some point, you gotta throw out a part of our identity to get a guy that can score and score it efficiently.
37:24
SPEAKER_02: And score it in different ways.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: Paolo can score.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: Franz can score.
37:27
SPEAKER_02: Do not get me wrong.
37:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying that they're king.
37:29
SPEAKER_02: But you need a guy that can just straight up score and shoot the ball.
37:34
SPEAKER_02: What does that look like?
37:35
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
37:36
SPEAKER_02: See again, I don't, I'm, I don't have the answers.
37:38
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a real GM.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: Is it is it Anthony Simons?
37:43
SPEAKER_02: Is it the aforementioned CJ McCollum?
37:45
SPEAKER_02: Is it bringing back Big Vooch?
37:47
SPEAKER_02: Because Lord knows Wendell Carter, man.
37:50
SPEAKER_02: Wendell Carter, bro.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: What are your numbers?
37:53
SPEAKER_02: Because I've been watching you.
37:54
SPEAKER_02: I've been watching you pass up open threes now.
37:57
SPEAKER_02: I've been watching teams guard you a certain way, brother.
37:59
SPEAKER_02: What is your actual percentage?
38:01
SPEAKER_02: Oh my 19%?
38:06
SPEAKER_02: He's shooting 17% on non-corner threes.
38:10
SPEAKER_02: He's in the one percentile.
38:13
SPEAKER_02: Ah okay, all right, back back on track, back on track, back on track.
38:16
SPEAKER_02: I say that to say maybe Vusevich is the answer.
38:18
SPEAKER_02: Bring him back.
38:18
SPEAKER_02: Homecoming, baby.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: Homecoming, bring him back.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because golly, they just can use somebody that can score and shoot and do this and do that.
38:27
SPEAKER_02: Especially because some of these dudes are not gonna cost you much.
38:30
SPEAKER_02: Vucevic is actively available right now.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: He's just available, he's been available, he's having a career yet.
38:35
SPEAKER_02: He's available, he's available.
38:37
SPEAKER_02: And he don't step on the toes of nothing.
38:39
SPEAKER_02: You already have the defensive infrastructure for any of the dudes, Simons or Vooch or CJ, you have the defensive infrastructure for it.
38:46
SPEAKER_02: Go get a guy.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: And the next one is the Suns.
38:48
SPEAKER_02: And the only reason I put them here because this is just what they're what they're gonna do.
38:51
SPEAKER_02: This is not this is not a prediction.
38:52
SPEAKER_02: This is the reality of the Phoenix Suns.
38:54
SPEAKER_02: And though, in four years, three years down the line, we could look at it and be like, damn, they made some really, really awful decisions.
39:02
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
39:03
SPEAKER_02: You want to know why I love it?
39:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, everybody is zigging in the NBA.
39:08
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we got to think about the future.
39:09
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we got to think about draft capital.
39:11
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we can't think we gotta think about the second apron and how much money we pay these type of dudes.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: We're not trading for that contract.
39:16
SPEAKER_02: That's too big two years down the line.
39:17
SPEAKER_02: The Suns are like, we do not give a damn.
39:22
SPEAKER_02: We don't care.
39:23
SPEAKER_02: We don't care.
39:23
SPEAKER_02: Future pick.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: This pick is for eight, eighth grader.
39:27
SPEAKER_02: Pass.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: We don't care.
39:29
SPEAKER_02: Even before Matt Ispi was there, James Jones was telling us that he don't care about draft capital.
39:34
SPEAKER_02: So now he got an owner that really don't give a damn.
39:36
SPEAKER_02: So he's like, yup, I'm gonna trade an unprotected 2031 for three 20s.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: Three picks is gonna end up in the 20s.
39:46
SPEAKER_02: Because we just want flexibility.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: I love that they're zagging.
39:50
SPEAKER_02: I don't think it's gonna be successful.
39:51
SPEAKER_02: Don't get me wrong.
39:52
SPEAKER_02: I don't think them they're gonna make a trade to make them a championship team, but I love that we have one team that is anti-analytic.
39:58
SPEAKER_02: Every other GM in basketball then went woke.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: How about that?
40:02
SPEAKER_02: How about I say that?
40:03
SPEAKER_02: Everybody that went woke.
40:04
SPEAKER_02: Do y'all want to see cool basketball or not?
40:08
SPEAKER_02: Now the Suns aren't even playing cool basketball.
40:10
SPEAKER_02: So let me chill.
40:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, but what everybody is zigging, they're zagging.
40:14
SPEAKER_02: And it's probably gonna end terribly.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: But I'm here to watch it.
40:19
SPEAKER_02: You feel me?
40:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm so here to watch it.
40:22
SPEAKER_02: Last tier we have is this is uh sellers tier.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: I don't need to spend too much time on these.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: These are the guys that you are aware of are gonna sell or should sell.
40:30
SPEAKER_02: Chicago Bulls.
40:31
SPEAKER_02: Mentioned them too many times in this podcast.
40:32
SPEAKER_02: This is my favorite team, so I'm gonna talk about it as much as I can.
40:35
SPEAKER_02: The Brooklyn Nets, Cam Johnson.
40:37
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what the hell happened to Nicholas Claxon.
40:38
SPEAKER_02: Maybe some team be interested in him, but Brooklyn Nets.
40:41
SPEAKER_02: The Washington Wizards have Valentino on a really good deal.
40:44
SPEAKER_02: I can see them finding a suitor for that.
40:46
SPEAKER_02: We mentioned Malcolm Brock a little bit earlier.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: I don't think Jordan Poole goes anywhere, but maybe, maybe take calls.
40:51
SPEAKER_02: He's having an amazing season so far.
40:53
SPEAKER_02: Portland Trail Blazers.
40:56
SPEAKER_02: You know what?
40:58
SPEAKER_02: I saw a conversation on Twitter the other day of people arguing um tanking versus non-tanking.
41:04
SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately, in a Twitter argument, or I can't even call it an argument, debate, conversation, a lot of nuance gets left so my point can look better.
41:15
SPEAKER_02: Hell, I'm guilty of that as well.
41:17
SPEAKER_02: Not even in a podcast form.
41:18
SPEAKER_02: A lot of nuance can't get left behind.
41:21
SPEAKER_02: I think about the Portland Trailblazers rebuild and shout out to School Henderson who's been hooping his ass off.
41:27
SPEAKER_02: I told y'all like two episodes ago, don't sell all of the stock.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: I ain't sold all the stock.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: But I think about what they did when they tore it down with the idea of bringing in some real players because we should be able to trade them down the line for more assets.
41:46
SPEAKER_02: We want Robert Williams in this true holiday trade.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: Not because we want Robert Williams, but because he's a good player that if he plays here for a month or two, we can trade him again.
41:55
SPEAKER_02: If he plays here for a year, we can trade him again.
41:58
SPEAKER_02: We'll we'll accept DeAndre Aiden for whatever reason.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: I know you only gave him Nurkits and stuff, but like, and you think that you're gonna be able to play these guys' value up.
42:08
SPEAKER_02: And the reality is none of those guys' value has gone up.
42:11
SPEAKER_02: Even Jeremy Grant, who got his contract like three days before Damian Lillard got traded, none of these guys have been able to play their value up.
42:19
SPEAKER_02: And now it's kind of hindering some of the progression of the younger dudes.
42:22
SPEAKER_02: I would love to see Donovan Clinken play 25 to 30 minutes per game, but he got two other centers on the roster, and one of them is making$35 million.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: So what am I gonna do?
42:30
SPEAKER_02: Tell DeAndre Aiden that he can't hoop no more, go home for the next two years of your contract?
42:34
SPEAKER_02: No, we need him to hoop because maybe we can convince somebody that he's worth trading for.
42:38
SPEAKER_02: Spoiler alert, he's not.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: So it's just it's it's a lot that goes into, and I say all this to say, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer when it comes to is tanking, is tanking the right direction or is it not?
42:50
SPEAKER_02: Because for every bad example of a tank job, I can give you a good example.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: And for every middle tier of going, just just trying to stay competitive for as long as possible, I can give you a conversation of something else.
43:02
SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
43:04
SPEAKER_02: Like, there's people like, man, you should always, you should always just try to win as many games you can and put together the most competent roster.
43:10
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, my favorite team has done that for four years now.
43:14
SPEAKER_02: And we have gone nowhere with that.
43:17
SPEAKER_02: We've seen teams that have rebuilt for seven, eight years.
43:20
SPEAKER_02: Before this current Pistons team, they were in a seven-year rebuild.
43:23
SPEAKER_02: It took a long time.
43:25
SPEAKER_02: It took a four, it took a first overall pick.
43:27
SPEAKER_02: It took three seasons of them being the worst team in basketball.
43:30
SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
43:31
SPEAKER_02: It took them three seasons of being the worst team in basketball for them to, as of today, be two games over 500.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: So there's so many different variables and things that matter in whether you should tank or whether you shouldn't tank that, like even people using OKC as an example of a tank.
43:48
SPEAKER_02: It's like, yeah, 100%, right?
43:50
SPEAKER_02: J Dub, even though that wasn't their own first round pick, Chet, number two overall pick.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh hey, they got they got Shay in a trade.
43:59
SPEAKER_02: Not really.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Really helped the tank job.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: Now that trade kickstarted the tank job, right?
44:05
SPEAKER_02: Them trading Paul George got them Shay and the other stuff.
44:09
SPEAKER_02: But like, Shay is not a product of you tanking to get a first overall pick.
44:14
SPEAKER_02: Shea is the product of a really smart trade.
44:17
SPEAKER_02: Either way, I didn't even know why I got into that.
44:19
SPEAKER_02: And the last team, the only team that I have not mentioned just yet, is Utah Jazz.
44:22
SPEAKER_02: I look at Colin Sexton, I look at Jordan Clarks, who's not having a great season, or John Collins, who isn't having a great season, or Walker Kessler, and say, hey, at least two or the three of the guys that I just mentioned should get moved.
44:34
SPEAKER_02: And if I'm not mistaken, I'm going through all the standings right now.
44:38
SPEAKER_02: I've mentioned all 30 teams.
44:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
44:41
SPEAKER_02: Just want to make sure I ain't leave nobody out.
44:42
SPEAKER_02: Sagram Keynes, we got you.
44:44
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I've left you out before.
44:45
SPEAKER_02: So you let me know in the comment section or hit me up on Twitter what tier you put your favorite team in.
44:50
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm just a guy that watches some basketball.
44:52
SPEAKER_02: You the you watch your favorite team way more than I watch your favorite team.
44:55
SPEAKER_02: So you let me know how you feel about it.
45:05
SPEAKER_02: Now we're gonna do a little bit of Ask KB.
45:09
SPEAKER_02: You can hit us up at Enjoy Smallball on Instagram or hit us up on Twitter with your questions.
45:13
SPEAKER_02: The first one comes from Thunder Talk YouTube.
45:17
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to UTT.
45:19
SPEAKER_02: Should Shay win MVP unanimously like Steph did?
45:23
SPEAKER_02: Um hey, here's a short of it.
45:26
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not.
45:28
SPEAKER_02: Last night or two, for as you listen to this uh two nights ago, Shea Gus Alexander put up his career high 54 points against the Utah Jazz.
45:35
SPEAKER_02: It was a fun time.
45:36
SPEAKER_02: He had like 40 and three quarters, and that's kind of the Shay thing.
45:39
SPEAKER_02: You know, he'll give you 40, 41, 42, 44.
45:41
SPEAKER_02: He had 44 a bunch, and he gave you a 45, but now he's finally cracked 50.
45:48
SPEAKER_02: Even when that said, absolutely not.
45:50
SPEAKER_02: There's no way you can convince me that Shay should be unanimous.
45:54
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you tell me Shay should be the MVP, I'm not, I'm not mad at that whatsoever, but I can't get unanimous.
45:59
SPEAKER_02: With it only being one unanimous MVP in the history of basketball, even though it should be two, shout out to Braun.
46:04
SPEAKER_02: I I don't look at what Shea's doing this year, which is again phenomenal stuff.
46:07
SPEAKER_02: The two-point shooting is better than Shaquille O'Neal's MVP seasons.
46:10
SPEAKER_02: That's insane to me.
46:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm looking at the other teams or the other people across hoops, and I can't say that it should be unanimous.
46:17
SPEAKER_02: If right now, you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, the MVP odds have Shay as a minus 600.
46:24
SPEAKER_02: That is insane.
46:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, that is insane.
46:27
SPEAKER_02: You got Jokic at plus 420 and then Giannis at plus 10,000.
46:32
SPEAKER_02: Even though if the season were to end today, I would also have Shay as my MVP.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: I don't think it's that big of a gap between him and Jokic right now.
46:39
SPEAKER_02: I genuinely don't believe it's that big of a gap.
46:41
SPEAKER_02: So when I think about Unanimous, I would be super surprised if there's not at least one person on the committee or one person with a vote that says, hey, Jokic, by a lot of stats, is having the best individual season ever.
46:53
SPEAKER_02: Full stop.
46:54
SPEAKER_02: And though his team is not nearly successful, they're nine games behind OKC right now, nine full games behind OKC right now.
47:01
SPEAKER_02: I think some people will value what Jokic has done on a night-to-night basis as well.
47:06
SPEAKER_02: So, no, I would say no.
47:07
SPEAKER_02: Shea should not be unanimous, but damn it, I would have him as my MVP as of right now.
47:12
SPEAKER_02: This next one comes from, I can't even pronounce your name, man.
47:16
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know what?
47:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't even want to do you a disservice by mispronouncing it.
47:20
SPEAKER_02: But it says, have you heard about the rumors surrounding a potential Euro NBA league?
47:24
SPEAKER_02: And if so, what do you think fit about this and how would it impact the current basketball landscape?
47:29
SPEAKER_02: So for the people at home that are unfamiliar, Maverick Carter, who is one of the main investorslash friends of LeBron James, is trying to um like crowdfund a bunch of money to start an international basketball league.
47:42
SPEAKER_02: As of right now, that's kind of all we know.
47:44
SPEAKER_02: I guess there are some rumors that if they did end up getting this going, it might, it might be an instant.
47:49
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, uh stupid um American uh school system.
47:56
SPEAKER_02: Instanbul?
47:57
SPEAKER_02: Is that how you pronounce that?
47:59
SPEAKER_02: As of right now, we don't just we don't have a ton of knowledge about what this potential league can be.
48:06
SPEAKER_02: I am always, I mean, always a fan of competition, a fan of keeping companies and businesses on their toes.
48:16
SPEAKER_02: Hell, I love that.
48:17
SPEAKER_02: Shout out to us, we finally got the Enjoy Basketball Network.
48:19
SPEAKER_02: Go listen to tee it up with Pierre Andreessen.
48:22
SPEAKER_02: I love that I can go out and look at other basketball networks or sports networks and be like, okay, I see what they're doing.
48:28
SPEAKER_02: I want to be better than that.
48:29
SPEAKER_02: I think the NBA could use something like that.
48:31
SPEAKER_02: And again, I don't know what this even looks like.
48:33
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what it looks like, but I'm I'm intrigued.
48:36
SPEAKER_02: I think healthy competition is the best kind of competition.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: If Maverick Carter puts together an entire league to rival the NBA by any means, I am down.
48:45
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49:50
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49:53
SPEAKER_00: Hey Kenny, in a recent video you claimed that you could make an argument for Chris Paul being the fourth greatest point guard of all time.
49:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm wondering what your take is on Chris Paul versus Russell Westbrook in all-time rankings.
50:07
SPEAKER_02: Can I preface this by saying, I absolutely love you, Brody?
50:10
SPEAKER_02: I love Brody.
50:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to see him play live courtside Monday night, baby.
50:14
SPEAKER_02: I'm there.
50:15
SPEAKER_02: Last time I went to go watch the Denver Nuggets play, Jokic got ejected.
50:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm here to watch Jokic and Brody.
50:20
SPEAKER_02: But there are very few players in basketball that have been a floor raiser better than Chris Paul throughout his career.
50:31
SPEAKER_02: I don't think Russell Westbrook was as good of a floor raiser than Chris Paul.
50:37
SPEAKER_02: Of course he's got the accolades, he's got the MVP awards, he's got the all-star MVP.
50:40
SPEAKER_02: I understand that.
50:41
SPEAKER_02: When we when I talk about having somebody at that one position that can that can really, you know, no matter who I put around them, be able to make my team significantly better.
50:53
SPEAKER_02: And again, this is I I anytime I do like a one versus one comparison after preface about me saying something one way doesn't mean that the other person lacks this, but this is just one of the things that I value, right?
51:04
SPEAKER_02: I think on both sides of the floor, especially if we're talking about the best version of Chris Paul.
51:08
SPEAKER_02: So we're talking 2007 through 2012, I guess.
51:15
SPEAKER_02: Maybe that maybe that window is a little bit shorter than what it should be.
51:18
SPEAKER_02: There are very few, not even just point guards, very few players in basketball at that time that would raise a floor like Chris Paul.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: I also think that he raised a ceiling like insane as well.
51:28
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, it's hard to talk about ceilings for a player that has zero NBA championships.
51:32
SPEAKER_02: I am well aware of that.
51:34
SPEAKER_02: But when you ask about Russell Westbrook versus Chris Paul, I kind of just like the fluidity that Chris Paul brought on a night-to-night basis to a team.
51:44
SPEAKER_02: He's a jackass of all jackasses.
51:46
SPEAKER_02: A lot of his former teammates don't mess with him, but damn that he makes so many people better.
51:51
SPEAKER_02: He got so many people paid throughout the course of his career by being the ultimate setup man.
51:56
SPEAKER_02: By being, hey, if you are a big body that can set a decent screen, you're gonna get paid if you play with Chris Paul because I'm gonna make them play drop coverage.
52:05
SPEAKER_02: And if they do, I'm going over.
52:06
SPEAKER_02: And if they go over, then I'm lobbing it to you.
52:09
SPEAKER_02: This this could be Tyson, this could be DJ, this could be Clink Capella, this could be on and on and on.
52:16
SPEAKER_02: So again, you're asking the number one Chris Paul fan of all time.
52:20
SPEAKER_02: Like, who's better who do I like more or who do I rank higher, Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook?
52:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna give you uh Chris Paul 100% of the time.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: This is just the reality of it.
52:29
SPEAKER_01: What's up, Kenny?
52:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm a big fan of the podcast and the videos, man.
52:32
SPEAKER_01: Love watching them.
52:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh, my question for the podcast is Adam Silver, there was a headline going on last week that Adam Silver is looking to tweak and readjust teams taking too many three-pointers.
52:45
SPEAKER_01: How would that look?
52:46
SPEAKER_01: Would that look like taking the corner threes away?
52:49
SPEAKER_01: Maybe pushing the three-point line a little bit more further.
52:52
SPEAKER_01: How would that look like?
52:53
SPEAKER_01: And once again, man, I love the videos in the podcast.
52:57
SPEAKER_02: I actually don't think it's realistic.
52:58
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, here we go.
53:01
SPEAKER_02: It's like when a politician promises you something for day one and they don't get it done.
53:05
SPEAKER_02: Right?
53:06
SPEAKER_02: You you're Adam Silver, you hear all the people talking about, oh, too many threes, too many threes.
53:10
SPEAKER_02: You I gotta I gotta address this one way or another.
53:12
SPEAKER_02: So I hey, don't worry about it.
53:14
SPEAKER_02: I got it, okay?
53:15
SPEAKER_02: Damn.
53:15
SPEAKER_02: That's what it felt like to me.
53:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't think there's really an issue, first of all, or a solution to it.
53:20
SPEAKER_02: Like you mentioned two that would be probably at the top of most people's minds, get rid of the corner three-point shot or push the three-point shot better uh back.
53:28
SPEAKER_02: Guess what?
53:29
SPEAKER_02: NBA players shoot long threes too.
53:31
SPEAKER_02: So if you make it a 39 or 29-footer or 30-footer, NBA players are going to adjust.
53:36
SPEAKER_02: It might take a year or two, maybe two years in the lab of the offseason, and the NBA will be just where it was previously.
53:42
SPEAKER_02: I don't think Adam Silver is gonna do anything to touch it, right?
53:45
SPEAKER_02: I think this is just the nature of basketball.
53:48
SPEAKER_02: And I love it.
53:50
SPEAKER_02: But not everybody does, but I just don't see him having a real life solution.
53:53
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the good thing is that if he does somehow find out, hey, this is what we're gonna do, it's not gonna come straight to the league.
54:00
SPEAKER_02: It'll probably go through the G first.
54:02
SPEAKER_02: The G League is gonna be the first person to experiment with it, and then we'll see what happens from there.
54:06
SPEAKER_02: But I do not believe that Adam Silver is gonna automatically in the next couple years be like, yeah, we're gonna get rid of the three-point line or lessen the three-point line effectiveness.
54:17
SPEAKER_02: It just is hard for me to believe.
54:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say I appreciate everybody that watched or listened to this episode of Small Ball with Katie Beachum.
54:24
SPEAKER_02: Again, you let me know in the comment section where should your favorite team be amongst my tiers, or maybe you have your own tier that you want to put your team in.
54:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying my very best to be as completely stupidly locked in, as Jimmy Butler would have said two years ago, and continue to get y'all this great content between here and Kenny for real and numbers on the board.
54:41
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I don't expect it to slow down anytime soon.
54:44
SPEAKER_02: I love y'all.
54:44
SPEAKER_02: See y'all next week.