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My Official NBA Award Selections · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_03: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
0:08
SPEAKER_03: And I truly do mean welcome back.
0:10
SPEAKER_03: You know, after the season or during the season, we've been doing a really good job of making sure y'all get one episode a week.
0:15
SPEAKER_03: When I tell you I had one of the craziest travel weeks of my life last week, and that was the reason why you did not get an episode.
0:22
SPEAKER_03: I have been, I guess I took my first flight when I was 21 years old.
0:25
SPEAKER_03: So a little bit later than a lot of people.
0:27
SPEAKER_03: And I would say I've had the most amount of luck when it comes to travel, where I rarely get delays.
0:33
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, I've taken off in one place and landed another place successfully.
0:37
SPEAKER_03: You know, I we we do get the turbulence occasionally, but for the most part, I've been having really good luck with travel.
0:43
SPEAKER_03: And then I was just in New York slash some other places for a work meeting.
0:47
SPEAKER_03: And it was supposed to be a 24-hour trip, not even a 24-hour trip, more like a 15-hour trip.
0:53
SPEAKER_03: And our flight kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed.
0:56
SPEAKER_03: Then eventually they let us board.
0:58
SPEAKER_03: We taxed to the runway.
1:00
SPEAKER_03: And then we sit on the runway for three hours waiting to take off.
1:04
SPEAKER_03: And not only did we not take off, we taxied our ass right back to the terminal, got off, and the flight was completely canceled.
1:10
SPEAKER_03: So I was stuck in New York City for an extra day.
1:12
SPEAKER_03: And as they rescheduled me, they rescheduled these flights.
1:16
SPEAKER_03: It was two days later.
1:18
SPEAKER_03: And not only was it just two days later, it had two layovers.
1:21
SPEAKER_03: We're talking about New York to Chicago.
1:22
SPEAKER_03: That flight is usually about an hour and a half, two hours.
1:25
SPEAKER_03: They wanted me to fly to Virginia, then fly to Minnesota, and they go from Minnesota to home.
1:28
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, no, I can't do that.
1:29
SPEAKER_03: First of all, I like New York.
1:31
SPEAKER_03: I don't love New York.
1:32
SPEAKER_03: When I want to get out, I want to get out.
1:33
SPEAKER_03: So I rented the car and I drove the 14 hours from New York City to Chicago just to get home.
1:40
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I'm the whole time I'm talking to producer Greg, like, yeah, we might have an episode.
1:44
SPEAKER_03: We should have an episode.
1:45
SPEAKER_03: By the time I got home in Chicago, there was nothing I wanted to do more than sit my ass down for 24 hours.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: Um, well, not in a literal sense.
1:52
SPEAKER_03: I was standing for most of that because I sat down for 14 hours.
1:54
SPEAKER_03: So I'm just, here we are.
1:57
SPEAKER_03: We're here, and we're here to talk basketball now after one week of not being able to do that.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: And with us having just what, two days left of the NBA regular season as you're watching and listening to this, it is time for us to get into the award season, man.
2:11
SPEAKER_03: One thing I I've prided myself on this season is not having overlapping content.
2:16
SPEAKER_03: As you know, I host this podcast and I host another podcast with the homies, and I've really tried my hardest to make sure that those shows don't feel the same or don't hit the same topics.
2:25
SPEAKER_03: I'm being candid with you right now.
2:27
SPEAKER_03: I'm doing my own award show here.
2:29
SPEAKER_03: And then this weekend, we're doing an award show collectively.
2:32
SPEAKER_03: So the opinions and the takes and the awards that you hear on today's episode, you will hear me uh regurgitate similar things in a couple of days.
2:40
SPEAKER_03: But I'm just being transparent with you.
2:41
SPEAKER_03: Now, the appeal of that other show is that it's not just my opinion, it's three other people's opinions that watch a ton of basketball.
2:47
SPEAKER_03: So um, this is what this is about.
2:50
SPEAKER_03: This part of the year is always super fun for me, or usually super fun for me, until this year, where we got down to me starting to do this research.
2:58
SPEAKER_03: And I've been messing around with my award ballot for like two weeks now.
3:00
SPEAKER_03: I mean, last week's episode was supposed to be this episode where I wasn't making my official picks, but I was telling you my thought process behind it.
3:07
SPEAKER_03: Um I still don't feel amazing about the majority of these things.
3:12
SPEAKER_03: I think that's probably a good thing, right?
3:14
SPEAKER_03: That means that we have Riola races like the MVP race is a tough one for me.
3:19
SPEAKER_03: The most improved player race is a tough one for me.
3:21
SPEAKER_03: This might be the toughest DPOY year ever.
3:25
SPEAKER_03: Ever.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: All defensive teams, all NBA teams, it just was impossible.
3:30
SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna give my opinions.
3:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I don't hold any vote, as you know.
3:36
SPEAKER_03: I'm just a guy with hours and hours and hours of watching the NBA this season.
3:40
SPEAKER_03: So you can disagree.
3:41
SPEAKER_03: Let me know in the comment section.
3:42
SPEAKER_03: Everything is free-flowing, and you maybe can convince me to change one of my opinions by Saturday's episode with the guy.
3:49
SPEAKER_03: So the one that we're gonna start off with is obviously the biggest one, the most valuable player award.
3:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, everybody, of course, has narrowed it down to the last two candidates, Nicole Jokic and Shea Gills Alexander.
3:59
SPEAKER_03: The rest of the ballot, I'll tell you right now, from five up to three, I have Donovan Mitchell at five.
4:03
SPEAKER_03: I think there's something to be said about the team being as good as they are.
4:06
SPEAKER_03: I had the conversation with the with the guys not too long ago whether Donovan Mitchell was actually the best player on the roster was it Evan Mobley.
4:12
SPEAKER_03: But regardless, I feel like with them being as dominant as they have been this season, Donovan Mitchell's play has taken um the fifth spot for my MVP ballot.
4:22
SPEAKER_03: And eventually, as we get to it, my all-NBA first team, because there's no positions there, that my top five in MVP is going to be my all-NBA first team.
4:29
SPEAKER_03: And I compared it to people like um, I did think about the old heads.
4:33
SPEAKER_03: I did think about a Curry, I did think about a Braun.
4:35
SPEAKER_03: I think did think about like Anthony Etwitz as his fifth spot.
4:38
SPEAKER_03: But if you go throughout my history of these awards, I do lean pretty heavily on winning.
4:45
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'm not normally a traditionalist when it comes to stuff, but when it comes to awards, I just find my like if there is, if I'm splitting hairs between two candidates, the numbers look the same or very similar, the the on-court, off-court impact, the all the advanced stats look similar.
4:59
SPEAKER_03: I'm usually gonna lean more to the player that is winning the most.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: And then that's the case for Donovan Mitchell as number five.
5:05
SPEAKER_03: Number four is gonna be Jason Tatum.
5:07
SPEAKER_03: He just kind of pigeonhole as a fourth best player, the fourth on MVP ballots for like seven years in a row, it feels like.
5:13
SPEAKER_03: But he is my number four.
5:14
SPEAKER_03: My number three is gonna be Yonsa Tetacumpo, and then we get to my two and my one.
5:19
SPEAKER_03: I did an episode of Young Man in the Three about a month or so ago when Cam Johnson was in town.
5:24
SPEAKER_03: We did it with Shamsharani, it was great.
5:26
SPEAKER_03: And we were talking about MVP.
5:28
SPEAKER_03: And this lets you know that I have flip-flopped like a sandal throughout the course of the season because I think that anybody that's trying to convince you that it's overwhelmingly one way or the other is just lying to you.
5:39
SPEAKER_03: Both of these dudes have a real legitimate case.
5:42
SPEAKER_03: And I thought about this case for weeks and months at a time, right?
5:46
SPEAKER_03: And when I was on that show, at that moment of time, I basically said that if the season were to end in that moment, I had Nikola Jokic as my MVP.
5:55
SPEAKER_03: But I would be kind of crazy to say that that's where I would be at the end of the season.
5:59
SPEAKER_03: Of course, there's obviously a chance as Nikola Jokic continue to do crazy stuff.
6:03
SPEAKER_03: I mean, since then he had a 60-point triple double, he had a 37-point triple double, he's he's done amazing stuff.
6:09
SPEAKER_03: But I I brought um an analogy into it.
6:12
SPEAKER_03: Like, you don't you don't become a winner of a fight without a knockout, first of all, in like the third round.
6:18
SPEAKER_03: We still had a full month of an NBA season to go, and with it being so close, anything can really happen.
6:23
SPEAKER_03: I say that all to say I've changed my my MVP vote.
6:27
SPEAKER_03: My MVP for the 2024-2025 season is Shea Gilgis Alexander.
6:32
SPEAKER_03: The raw stats are the raw stats, 32.7 points per game, five rebounds, six and a half assists, 55% from the field, 37% from three, 90% from the free throw line.
6:42
SPEAKER_03: Shea has had one of the most dominant guard seasons in the history of basketball.
6:49
SPEAKER_03: Not only has he had one of the most dominant guard seasons in the history of basketball, he has been on a team that is on pace to become one of the greatest regular season teams of all time.
7:00
SPEAKER_03: As of right now, they're 66 and 14 and with what, two games left?
7:05
SPEAKER_03: Two games left, and they have an opportunity to finish this game with nearly seven or season with nearly 70 wins.
7:09
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if they'll get there just because, I mean, Shea just rested last game.
7:12
SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't be surprised if Jay Dub rests the next.
7:14
SPEAKER_03: And they don't they have nothing to play for at this time.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: But they have been the most dominant team in the regular season.
7:20
SPEAKER_03: Relative to their opponents, the rest of the league, they have the best defensive rating in the history of basketball.
7:26
SPEAKER_03: Now, that's not all a Shea thing.
7:28
SPEAKER_03: That's a team orchestration theme, that's a um a dort, that's a dub, that's a Caruso, that's an iHeart, that is a Chad Homer.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: There are so many players contributing to this.
7:37
SPEAKER_03: But I do sometimes, when it is this close, and I promise you, it is really, really close.
7:42
SPEAKER_03: When I talk about the traditional idea of best player, best team, that's where I kind of fall into if the difference between the best player, best team, and best player in the world stats are not that demo uh uh dissimilar.
7:55
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, Nicole Yoke is gonna have the counting stats.
7:57
SPEAKER_03: He's nearly, is he averaging a triple double?
7:59
SPEAKER_03: He's nearly averaging a triple double.
8:01
SPEAKER_03: He has some of the most insane uh stat lines throughout the year.
8:04
SPEAKER_03: He's averaging 29.
8:05
SPEAKER_03: I'll round up for you, big fella.
8:06
SPEAKER_03: He's averaging 30, 13, and 10 this season.
8:09
SPEAKER_03: It's hard to compete with that on a counting stats basis.
8:13
SPEAKER_03: But I think the impact that Shay has had this season has been otherworldly as well, right?
8:18
SPEAKER_03: Um, one thing I was listening to, or somebody said I was listening to myself, but somebody sent me a clip from I think it was Kevin O'Connor's podcast, and I think it was Tom Habistrow that he had on the show.
8:28
SPEAKER_03: And one of the things he said is so far this season, Shea Gills Alexander is plus 911 on the season.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: And we're talking about raw plus minus, which tells some things, but don't tell a lot of things, right?
8:40
SPEAKER_03: But I'm just I'm just looking at this stat as at face value.
8:43
SPEAKER_03: Plus 911.
8:46
SPEAKER_03: The second place in the entire league is 370 points behind him.
8:53
SPEAKER_03: So his plus-minus is almost 400 points better than the number two guy.
8:59
SPEAKER_03: Jokic is number three, by the way.
9:00
SPEAKER_03: He's obviously doing some crazy stuff, but it's not like Shea was about to be, if it wasn't for him, them losing the last two games, um, and them him resting this game and probably resting the rest of the season.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: He could have potentially been one of three players with a raw plus-minus of plus a thousand.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: The other two guys doing that was Kevin Durant when he was on the Warriors and Steph Curry, who we who was on the Warriors.
9:23
SPEAKER_03: That is how ridiculous it has been for Shea.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: And we talk about these raw numbers of 32, 6.5, 5.
9:31
SPEAKER_03: He hasn't played in 16 fourth quarters this season.
9:35
SPEAKER_03: 32, 6-5 with missing 10 to 12 minutes of work 16 times this year.
9:43
SPEAKER_03: It's been pure dominance, leads the leagues and drives per game by a wide, wide margin.
9:48
SPEAKER_03: We're talking about getting to the line or creating tough opportunities and finishing tough opportunities.
9:53
SPEAKER_03: No player in the world right now that is better than Shea Gilgis Alexander.
9:57
SPEAKER_03: And you think about him being a plus defender, now he does have the luxury of being a plus defender on a team full of plus defenders, right?
10:05
SPEAKER_03: So you can mask it in a way where there are times where Shea is able to just gamble on a day-to-day basis or a possession by possession basis, and it doesn't matter because, again, he's got Dort, he's got Dub, he's got IHeart, he's got Chet, he's got Caruso, he's got Wicked.
10:21
SPEAKER_03: Like there are a lot of plus defenders over there.
10:23
SPEAKER_03: So him being out there, being able to play the passing lane to get steals and do that, that's not a detriment to the team because he's got so much on the back end, but he does end up doing that.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, in this MVP MVP case for me, there is nothing negative I can say about the opposition in this, and in opposition being Nicole Jokic.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: Again, two historic seasons happening simultaneously.
10:44
SPEAKER_03: And if you told me that Jokic was your MVP, I can't argue against it, right?
10:49
SPEAKER_03: Um, I think the last ESPN straw poll had Shea win it pretty handily.
10:53
SPEAKER_03: I I that's actually kind of surprising to me.
10:56
SPEAKER_03: Because though Shay is my winner right now and it's gonna be my window winner come Saturday, most likely, it's not like a big difference.
11:05
SPEAKER_03: It's not like the first time Nikole Jokic won MVP, or the second time, or even the third time won MVP, where I felt pretty, pretty good about it.
11:12
SPEAKER_03: And it was like he was leagues ahead of number two.
11:15
SPEAKER_03: Shay's not leagues ahead of number two, in my opinion, because number two is Nicole Jokic.
11:19
SPEAKER_03: So, MVP, man, it it really was one of them tough, tough years.
11:24
SPEAKER_03: And I guess it's good for the league, right?
11:25
SPEAKER_03: It's good for the league to have this.
11:27
SPEAKER_03: I think it does become very uh, and maybe I should just stay off social media, which has been one of my New Year's resolutions, but damn it, I fail, I'm failing at this.
11:34
SPEAKER_03: Um, how toxic it is on a night-to-night basis with between these two fan bases or the two uh the guys that think Shea is the MVP versus the guys that think Jokic is an MVP.
11:44
SPEAKER_03: Um because they're doing something that I did when I was growing up, which is missing out on the greatness of the other guy because I'm so much on this side.
11:52
SPEAKER_03: I'm rocking this Bull's uh hoodie, man.
11:55
SPEAKER_03: And when the Bulls were doing their thing, you and I was what 14, 15 years old, I wasn't appreciating the greatness that was Braun in that time, right?
12:04
SPEAKER_03: Because I was so Derrick Rose, I was so Chicago Bulls.
12:07
SPEAKER_03: And you know, social media wasn't what it is right now, so it wasn't like I was on Twitter talking trash about Braun, but I had plenty of lunchroom conversations and arguments about the Bulls versus the Cavs or LeBron James versus Derrick Rose, losing those fights on court in at the lunch table.
12:23
SPEAKER_03: But damn it, you can tell me anything.
12:25
SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that's what's happening right now.
12:26
SPEAKER_03: But because your team Shay, you're not looking at the greatness that is Nikole Jokic, or if you're team Jokic, you're looking at Shay with this, with this different opinion from reality.
12:35
SPEAKER_03: So it's probably too late in the season to tell you that.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: But damn it, appreciate both of these players, man.
12:40
SPEAKER_03: They're both doing ridiculous, ridiculous stuff.
12:42
SPEAKER_03: Okay, enough of the MVP.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: Um, shout out to Giannis Tatum and Mitchell for rounding out that rookie of the year.
12:49
SPEAKER_03: Uh, another one that was a little bit tougher, right?
12:51
SPEAKER_03: I think I tweeted about a month ago that Zachary Richasset is making up ground that he might end up taking my personal ballot.
12:56
SPEAKER_03: Again, my ballot doesn't mean anything, but might end up taking my personal rookie of the year case.
13:01
SPEAKER_03: It still goes to Stephon Castle.
13:03
SPEAKER_03: I think Stefan Castle has been pretty damn good this season.
13:06
SPEAKER_03: Like the volume and efficiency numbers are obviously not going to be great because I mean that he's being overtasked with doing some things on a night-to-night basis, specifically since Victor Wimyyama were down with his injury, and specifically since De'Aaron Fox were down with his injury.
13:18
SPEAKER_03: So, like there are times where you look at a box score and it says five for 18, 5 for 19.
13:23
SPEAKER_03: And I truly don't think that tells a full story.
13:25
SPEAKER_03: And it's not as though there's somebody else in this rookie class that's doing it hella efficiency, hella efficient while also having that volume.
13:32
SPEAKER_03: So I do have Stefan Castle as my number one.
13:34
SPEAKER_03: When you have a draft class like this, where it's no obvious number one guy, we don't have a Wimby, we don't have a Palo, we don't have a so-on and so forth who ran away with the rookie of the year award.
13:45
SPEAKER_03: I do believe that sometimes it can come down to raw numbers.
13:48
SPEAKER_03: And I think that might be the case this season.
13:50
SPEAKER_03: My number two guy is Zachary Richasset, who has been so good over the last couple months.
13:55
SPEAKER_03: But one of the major um demerits to Richet's case is that there are times or there have been times this season where the Atlanta Hawks just opted not to play him down the stretch.
14:06
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's part of being a rookie, right?
14:09
SPEAKER_03: Amadas Buzales, who we'll talk about later when we get to all rookie teams, he's been him and Billy Dodova has been pretty candid about that and his progression as an NBA player.
14:17
SPEAKER_03: I don't want you to just give me free minutes because I'm the guy that they drafted this season.
14:22
SPEAKER_03: I want to work for and I want to earn those minutes and I want to be on the court when it matters the most if coach believes that that is the time for me.
14:28
SPEAKER_03: And there have been times this year where Reeshay has not been on the court for those moments.
14:32
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I guess you could kind of say similar things for Stefan Castle, specifically earlier in the season.
14:36
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, if I'm I'm pulling hairs and trying to figure out the different differentiating factors between the two, that's one of the things for Reeshay.
14:44
SPEAKER_03: And my third part, I still haven't figured out the third one, okay?
14:47
SPEAKER_03: It's between Alex Sarr and Jalen Wells.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: Get well soon, Jalen Wells.
14:50
SPEAKER_03: I saw he posted on Instagram that he's doing okay.
14:52
SPEAKER_03: I think he just got a broken hand or wrist or something.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: So he'll probably miss the postseason.
14:57
SPEAKER_03: But they've had opposing years when it comes to the efficiency numbers this year, where Jalen Wells started off guns blazing.
15:04
SPEAKER_03: He's coming out, he's starting for the playoff Memphis Grizzlies.
15:08
SPEAKER_03: He's shooting 38 to 30 uh 40% from the uh three-point line for the first couple months of the season.
15:12
SPEAKER_03: But recently he's been down to like 37% from the field, 30% from three over the last two months.
15:18
SPEAKER_03: While the opposite happened for Alex Sarr, where he started off really, really poorly in his efficiency.
15:22
SPEAKER_03: And over the last couple weeks, in the last month or so, from like March 1st, it's like 40% from the field, which is not amazing for a seven-foot center, but he has been a lot better throughout the last couple months versus the first couple.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: So I don't really know where to go.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: Maybe I just give it to I don't know.
15:39
SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say Alex Saur because of the defense, but Jalen Wales has been really good defensively.
15:44
SPEAKER_03: We think about what he did to Steph Curry that one game in this early inner season where nobody remembers.
15:48
SPEAKER_03: So let's say I'm gonna give it to Saur right now.
15:50
SPEAKER_03: Maybe that's one of the ones that changes by Saturday as I dive back into it.
15:54
SPEAKER_03: Most approved player.
15:56
SPEAKER_03: Impossible.
15:58
SPEAKER_03: Impossible.
15:59
SPEAKER_03: You got people advocating.
16:00
SPEAKER_03: You you got, I think it was Kyle Anderson advocating for Tyler Hero, which we don't agree with.
16:06
SPEAKER_03: Tyler Hero sold that game last night versus the Bulls.
16:09
SPEAKER_03: Um, you got for a long time Kay Cunningham was the betting favorite.
16:12
SPEAKER_03: I think that has shifted now to Dyson Daniels out of nowhere.
16:15
SPEAKER_03: Like Kay Cunningham at one point is like minus 400, and now it's like Dyson Daniels minus 700.
16:19
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if what the hell happened if somebody in the media gave a big push for Dyson Daniels, but the odds have been shifting all over the place on multiple awards.
16:27
SPEAKER_03: But again, my ballot means absolutely nothing.
16:30
SPEAKER_03: So here is my most improved candid uh candidates.
16:33
SPEAKER_03: Because I mentioned this before.
16:35
SPEAKER_03: I absolutely hate it when it is a like a really good player, just gets better, like really it gets better.
16:42
SPEAKER_03: Like Tyler Hero doesn't fit the case for most approved player for me.
16:45
SPEAKER_03: Kay Cunningham does not fit the place for most approved player.
16:48
SPEAKER_03: John Moran didn't do it back in the day.
16:49
SPEAKER_03: Like that I hate that type of most improved player candidacy.
16:52
SPEAKER_03: So those guys are just not on my ballot.
16:54
SPEAKER_03: If K wins it, I'm not about to be uh riding in the streets, but like that's just not what my ballot would look like.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: I like the guys that you know can go from a solid starter to really good or go from a role player to a solid starter or something along those lines.
17:07
SPEAKER_03: So my ballot, my winner from most improved player is Zubach.
17:15
SPEAKER_03: Is Zubach.
17:17
SPEAKER_03: Coming into the season, I like Zubach.
17:19
SPEAKER_03: But I think that this season he went from he's a good starting center to wait a minute.
17:23
SPEAKER_03: This guy is one of the most impactful starting centers in basketball, without necessarily having the super raw stats like a Jokic and the bead, or you know what I'm saying?
17:32
SPEAKER_03: The averages are 17 points, 17 and a half points per game, 12 and a half rebounds, about three assists per.
17:38
SPEAKER_03: And that is up from last year, where he was about 11 and a half points per game, nine rebounds, and he is well way more trusted on a night tonight basis, and his workload is a lot higher on a night tonight basis.
17:48
SPEAKER_03: We did a fake award show on the last episode of Numbers on the Board, and I gave him the award of best drop coverage big right now.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: I said something.
17:55
SPEAKER_03: Because Rudigo Bear is still in the league, y'all.
17:58
SPEAKER_03: Zubots has become one of the best defensive anchors in all of basketball while simultaneously being one of the most efficient big men in the league.
18:05
SPEAKER_03: And I just didn't see that on the docket for him.
18:08
SPEAKER_03: Hell, it's a lot of things that happened in Clipperland that I didn't end up seeing.
18:11
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and and he's been, I think, the biggest jump when it comes to improvement, man.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: Well, before the season started, I probably, if I was doing ranking centers off the top of my mind, he probably would have been like 20th through 22nd.
18:22
SPEAKER_03: And now he has a legitimate case for a top 10 center in basketball.
18:26
SPEAKER_03: I think that's saying something, bro.
18:27
SPEAKER_03: That is a real improvement.
18:28
SPEAKER_03: My number two guy on my list is Dyson Daniels, from him to go from a random role player with the Pelicans, who I had always loved was the defensive side of the ball.
18:36
SPEAKER_03: But for him to blossom into a guy that's making an all-defensive team this year to lead in the league in steals and deflections by a wide margin, being on pace, or he was at one point on pace to break all of those numbers across the history of basketball.
18:50
SPEAKER_03: And then the offense has started to get better and better through the course of his career.
18:54
SPEAKER_03: So he's the betting favorite, he's my number two on my ballot.
18:56
SPEAKER_03: And my number three, I was telling the guys my ballot, just kind of like not my podcast home, it was like another group of guys.
19:03
SPEAKER_03: Like, here's what I'm thinking, and you let me know in my bugging on so-on and so.
19:07
SPEAKER_03: My number three guy was Ty Jerome.
19:09
SPEAKER_03: And one of the guys told me that Ty Jerome can't win an award because he doesn't meet the minimum amount of minutes played.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, wait a minute, what the hell are you talking about?
19:15
SPEAKER_03: And if you go to Ty Jerome, he's averaging less than 20 minutes per game.
19:20
SPEAKER_03: It's 19.8.
19:22
SPEAKER_03: And you need to average 20 to be eligible for certain awards.
19:27
SPEAKER_03: So I got him here as my third, knowing damn well he won't even be on the ballot unless he plays all 82 games for the last uh couple minutes.
19:34
SPEAKER_03: He plays all 82.
19:36
SPEAKER_03: Wait, what am I trying to say?
19:37
SPEAKER_03: All 48 minutes in the last two games of the season.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: He's not gonna get to that 20.
19:41
SPEAKER_03: So I do have a person after him, and that would be Austin Reeves.
19:44
SPEAKER_03: Shout out to Austin Reese.
19:45
SPEAKER_03: I mean, liked him last year.
19:48
SPEAKER_03: Did not think that he would be a guy averaging 20 plus points per game on a team that had Luca and LeBron James.
19:55
SPEAKER_03: I mean, on any given possession.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: You you think about how ridiculously talented LeBron James is or Luka Doncic is.
20:08
SPEAKER_03: In your mind, you would think that as long as one of those guys are on the court, they would be the initiator.
20:12
SPEAKER_03: They are some of the best supercomputers in all of basketball, right?
20:16
SPEAKER_03: Now Austin Reeves, it's like every third possession, it's like that's this this one's for me.
20:20
SPEAKER_03: Whether it be JJ calling my number or me calling my own number, this one is for me.
20:24
SPEAKER_03: And I said it before, specifically for those top two guys, LeBron and Luka Doncic, Austin Reeves is the perfect number three.
20:31
SPEAKER_03: And he might be the perfect number three regardless of that situation, but like just looking at what he's done this season, he's 20 points per game, and that is up from his 15.9 last season.
20:41
SPEAKER_03: That's like that's just ridiculous considering who who's on the team.
20:46
SPEAKER_03: He's got 30-point games, he's got 40 point games, and some of those with those two guys on the court.
20:51
SPEAKER_03: Like, I got nothing but respect for Austin Reeves.
20:54
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
20:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, before we get into the rest of our award ballad, we gotta talk about the fact that the Denver Nuggets did something uh pretty huge a couple days ago, and they fired Coach Michael Malone and fired uh Alvin Booth, who was, I don't know if his official title was basketball ops or general manager, regardless.
21:12
SPEAKER_03: They kind of cleaned house and we did see some shifts in the market.
21:16
SPEAKER_03: If you go to FanDuel Sportsbook before Mike Malone got fired, the Denver Nuggets were plus 2,500 to win the championship, which I felt pretty good about.
21:24
SPEAKER_03: Like, I do believe that if you have the best player in the world, you have a chance, even if it is a minuscule chance.
21:29
SPEAKER_03: Well, since they fired Mike Malone, those odds drop to 3,100 and then it got back up to 3,000.
21:34
SPEAKER_03: So it's like at 3,000 currently, they just got their win against the Sacramento Kings, which was pretty intriguing win because um, for the one of the few times this season, Russell Westford played less than 20 minutes and Jalen Pickett played a ton, he had a ton of big shots.
21:46
SPEAKER_03: What the hell?
21:47
SPEAKER_03: And we'll see if that's realistic for him to do something like that on a night to night basis post Mike Malone.
21:53
SPEAKER_03: But you did see it shift.
21:55
SPEAKER_03: And you think about teams, you know, firing their coaching coaching, it makes sense.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Because there sometimes it's that honeymoon phase, but long-term and interim coach is usually not going to be the guy to take you to the promised land.
22:06
SPEAKER_03: And on FanDuel, it's plus 3,000.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: Maybe you're intrigued by that one game versus the Sacramento Kings.
22:12
SPEAKER_03: You're like, hold on, maybe 3,000 is too low.
22:14
SPEAKER_03: And you want to go ahead and throw a little phones on it.
22:17
SPEAKER_03: I don't really know.
22:17
SPEAKER_03: But that's for FanDuel Sportsbook.
22:19
SPEAKER_03: Just seeing those shifts is always pretty interesting.
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23:26
SPEAKER_03: One thing that shifted a ton over the last two months is the DPOY odds.
23:31
SPEAKER_03: Think about it.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Victor Wimanyama was like a minus 1,000.
23:34
SPEAKER_03: There was no world where he didn't end up winning that award.
23:36
SPEAKER_03: He had run away with, and damn it, he might be running away with it for the next 20 years.
23:40
SPEAKER_03: And then we found out that he had a blood clot and he won't hit the 65 game requirement.
23:45
SPEAKER_03: Like, uh oh, what does that do to the market?
23:48
SPEAKER_03: What it did was obviously Victor Wimyama fell off the board and we saw Jaron Jackson Jr.
23:52
SPEAKER_03: become the favorite.
23:53
SPEAKER_03: Not by a ton.
23:54
SPEAKER_03: The difference between him and Evan Mobley at that time was like plus 240 versus plus 250.
23:59
SPEAKER_03: Cool.
24:00
SPEAKER_03: I mean, at that time, those felt like the two and three guys on my ballot.
24:04
SPEAKER_03: And then Draymond Green went on his media run.
24:07
SPEAKER_03: We had the one game versus the Bucks, where Giannis was like 0 of 7 versus him.
24:12
SPEAKER_03: And he said in this post-gave interview, I deserve to win defensive player of the year.
24:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm going to send this tape to everybody so they can see that I am still one of the best defensive players of basketball.
24:21
SPEAKER_03: And nobody's arguing that Draymond Green isn't the one of the best defensive players of basketball.
24:25
SPEAKER_03: That's who he has been.
24:27
SPEAKER_03: And when he started his media push, he went from a guy that wasn't even on boards, which was plus 3,500, to the overwhelming favorite to win it all.
24:35
SPEAKER_03: And I'm somewhat conflicted with it, right?
24:37
SPEAKER_03: Because without a doubt, the eye tests, the advanced stats, a lot of things support Draymond Green for being at least in the conversations for this award.
24:45
SPEAKER_03: But one thing I do believe is I think that the first half of the season wasn't nearly as strong as the second half.
24:50
SPEAKER_03: And I try to think about these wards collectively, right?
24:54
SPEAKER_03: If you think about our rookie of the year stuff I was mentioning, how Jalen Wells is great at the start, while Alex Charr was great at the finish.
25:00
SPEAKER_03: Like it's like putting together a complete season is really tough.
25:02
SPEAKER_03: And I do believe at the start of this year, we weren't getting that DPOI level of Draymond Green.
25:08
SPEAKER_03: So I'm heavily conflicted because he's obviously good enough to make an all-defensive team.
25:12
SPEAKER_03: He's obviously good enough to win the award, but damn it, should I let the microphone be the reason why?
25:18
SPEAKER_03: So here's how I land it.
25:20
SPEAKER_03: I have Evan Mobley as my defensive player the year this year.
25:23
SPEAKER_03: I think Evan Mobley has been incredible.
25:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, sometimes, you know, if you go advanced stat for advanced stat, Draymond Green is winning against all of the competition.
25:31
SPEAKER_03: But sometimes it's not just that.
25:33
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it's not just that.
25:34
SPEAKER_03: And I do believe that Evan Mobley has been the most complete defender from start to finish so far this season.
25:41
SPEAKER_03: We're talking the 82 game sample size.
25:43
SPEAKER_03: Um I do have Draymond Green as my number two, though.
25:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, if Draymond Green does end up winning, I'm not, you know, complaining or anything because again, he's a warranted type of guy.
25:51
SPEAKER_03: But I do have him number two, and maybe that's me going against the microphone.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
25:55
SPEAKER_03: Is my own personal bias he's playing a part?
25:58
SPEAKER_03: Maybe it's my ballot and it doesn't mean anything.
26:00
SPEAKER_03: And my third guy is Amin Thompson.
26:05
SPEAKER_03: Every tier, if you look out throughout my history when it comes to these awards, I always try to give one perimeter player in the top three, just because obviously the defense, um, the the easiest shot in basketball is the layup.
26:16
SPEAKER_03: So I do like guys that protect the basket.
26:18
SPEAKER_03: That's why I've always been a big Rudy Gobert guy.
26:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, I love Draymond Green's versatility to be able to play five full time since the Jimmy Butler trade.
26:25
SPEAKER_03: I do love that he is one of the best um, you know, defensive coordinators, on court defensive coordinators in all the basketball.
26:32
SPEAKER_03: He does all of that stuff.
26:34
SPEAKER_03: But I do believe that occasionally these guard players, these wing defenders get underappreciated.
26:39
SPEAKER_03: And I've watched Amin Thompson at the year of 20, his 21-year-old year, completely take great players out of games.
26:48
SPEAKER_03: The Houston Rockets being as good of a defense as they are.
26:52
SPEAKER_03: I'm not giving it all to him because you do have players like um Dylan Brooks, and even though he's undersized and over get overpowered quite a bit, Fraven Vleed, I still look at as a good connecting defensive player, but Amin Thompson is that clue.
27:06
SPEAKER_03: He is the guy that keeps it all together, man.
27:08
SPEAKER_03: He is all over the place.
27:09
SPEAKER_03: He's flying around, he's making stops, he's in the passing lanes, he's doing um all of the stuff I want a guy to do on the team.
27:18
SPEAKER_03: And it was tough between him and Dyson Daniels, obviously, but I ended up giving the nod to Ahmed Thompson as my number three.
27:25
SPEAKER_03: And award that nobody cares about, um, six men of the year.
27:29
SPEAKER_03: I'm not even gonna spend time talking about it.
27:30
SPEAKER_03: Here's my ballot.
27:31
SPEAKER_03: It's Pritchard one, it's Malik Beasley two, it's DeAndre Hunter three.
27:35
SPEAKER_03: Y'all ready?
27:36
SPEAKER_03: Y'all done?
27:36
SPEAKER_03: Okay, we're done with that one.
27:37
SPEAKER_03: Oh, another award nobody cares about.
27:39
SPEAKER_03: So much so that I only got two names on it.
27:40
SPEAKER_03: Clutts player of the year.
27:42
SPEAKER_03: It's Jalen Bronson, then it's Nicole Jokic.
27:44
SPEAKER_03: Or maybe it's Nicole Jokic, then it's Jalen Bronson, because Jalen Brunson missed the time.
27:47
SPEAKER_03: And he doesn't hit the 65 game requirement just yet, but they only have a couple games left.
27:51
SPEAKER_03: I think he's at 63.
27:52
SPEAKER_03: So as long as he plays 20 minutes in these last two games of the season, he'll qualify.
27:57
SPEAKER_03: All right, cool.
27:58
SPEAKER_03: Coach of the year was tough.
28:00
SPEAKER_03: Because I think you you just immediately think, well, Kenny Atkinson, right?
28:03
SPEAKER_03: Kenny Atkinson, um, they went from a team that was a what, four C last season to running away with the Eastern Conference.
28:09
SPEAKER_03: And for the majority of the season, I did feel that way.
28:12
SPEAKER_03: But I did end up giving it to JB Bickerstaff to come into a team that had lost 27, 28 straight games, that had 14 total wins, and turn them around enough where not only are they a good team.
28:24
SPEAKER_03: Let me let me look where they're there, they have a chance right now.
28:28
SPEAKER_03: Uh oh, no, I'm sorry, they don't have a chance.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: They're going to be the fifth seed, more than likely, fifth seed, sixth seed.
28:33
SPEAKER_03: So avoiding the play in completely, tripling, over-tripling the amount of wins that they had in the previous season, you just don't see that type of jump in the NBA almost ever.
28:42
SPEAKER_03: So I have to give credit to JB Bickerstaff.
28:44
SPEAKER_03: He's helped turn a team that was in the gutter, the absolute gutter, and turn them around to where they have one of the best coaches in basketball, where they have one of the best identities in basketball in just one singular season.
28:56
SPEAKER_03: It was no bridge year.
28:57
SPEAKER_03: There was no bridge year to try to build out who we are.
28:59
SPEAKER_03: No, he came in, he set the foundation, he got the players around him, and they went out there and they won the games.
29:04
SPEAKER_03: And nobody wants to see the pistons because you never know if you're gonna leave with a black eye or not.
29:08
SPEAKER_03: That's good culture.
29:09
SPEAKER_03: You know what I'm saying?
29:10
SPEAKER_03: But I do have uh uh Kenny Axson, number two, and I have Taron Lou uh number three, because for him to be able to coach this team, and James Harden deserves a lot of love here as well, and I really struggled, and he did not make an all-NBA team.
29:22
SPEAKER_03: Spoiler alert.
29:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, for him to have, you know, Kawhi Leonard not for the majority of the season, and for them to be as of right now sitting at a four seat as I record this episode, that's a lot into coaching, man.
29:33
SPEAKER_03: For them to be as good as they are defensively, that's a lot of the coaching staff.
29:37
SPEAKER_03: And Tyran Lou's coaching, um, obviously they're gonna give a lot of credit to the other people on the bench, whether it be a Van Gundy or so on and so forth, defensive coordinator.
29:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, Terran Lou deserves that credit.
29:48
SPEAKER_03: So I do have him here as my three.
29:50
SPEAKER_03: Okay, let's take a step back.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: Before we get into all NBA teams, all defensive teams, and all rookie teams, I'm gonna bring in Greg for let's let's just change the pace of the shows a little bit.
30:01
SPEAKER_03: Bring in Greg for a five out.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: All right, Kenny.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: So in the West, there's so many potential great first round series matchups.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Personally, I can't think of one that wouldn't be fascinating for a variety of reasons.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: But for you, are there any potential matchups in the first round that would either bore you or you're just not interested in seeing?
30:22
SPEAKER_03: Ooh, um, no, man.
30:24
SPEAKER_03: I swear to you, as long as we get the seven, eight seeds as is, right?
30:28
SPEAKER_03: So as long as the Mavericks don't go on a two-game streak in the play-in or um the Kings, then I think no matter what the orchestration is, we can find storylines or we're gonna find people that are gonna be on both sides of like making predictions, right?
30:44
SPEAKER_03: Even with the OKC Thunder, who's been super, super dominant this season, if they see your Warriors, they're gonna be a lot of people that pick the Warriors.
30:50
SPEAKER_03: Or even if they see the Timberwolves, right?
30:52
SPEAKER_03: They're gonna be looking at what the Timberwolves did last year, there's gonna be a lot of people picking the Wolves and that.
30:56
SPEAKER_03: So I think that on this west side of the bracket, there's not any combination that would bore me.
31:01
SPEAKER_03: I think the if I had to give you like a definite answer, it's like if the Clippers went against the Grizzlies, because I feel pretty good about the Clippers winning that series, right?
31:10
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it might not go that way, but I think it would be the most boring combination that is possible here.
31:15
SPEAKER_03: And the odds of that are pretty, pretty low considering the Clippers are at five and the Grizzlies are at six.
31:20
SPEAKER_03: But that's the only thing I can think about, man.
31:23
SPEAKER_03: We're we're in for one of them ones.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: But I mean, I don't know, man.
31:26
SPEAKER_03: I've had these roller coasters of opinions with the Clippers.
31:30
SPEAKER_03: I remember earlier a few months ago, you were asking of the Lakers, of the Clippers, and I think you might have put the Warriors in their pre-trade line, of the older teams, which one do you have the most trust in?
31:39
SPEAKER_03: And I think I said the Clippers in that time.
31:41
SPEAKER_03: And then they went on like a six-game losing streak, and I'm like, nah, this Clippers team ain't it.
31:45
SPEAKER_03: And now I'm back to like this Clippers team could like if it breaks perfectly.
31:50
SPEAKER_03: There's a war where they're a conference finalist, man.
31:52
SPEAKER_03: I truly do believe that they have that level of upside.
31:55
SPEAKER_03: If Kawhi is gonna play the way he is, you got Zoo playing the way he is, you don't even need James Harden to be all NBA version of himself.
32:01
SPEAKER_03: Give him a few different games, and that's gonna be enough with their defensive infrastructure and the coaching to win a couple playoff series if it works out.
32:09
SPEAKER_03: So I'm back.
32:10
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm back on top of the Clippers Mountain, man.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, two things.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: One, I think I did have a fourth team in that question.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: I think it was the Suns, which uh did not age well.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: But no, I think I think it's a good point with the Clippers.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: I think they they have it's funny, they have a very real shot to your point of possibly getting to the conference finals.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: But I think as opposed to the Lakers, the Thunder, the Warriors, maybe even the like the Timberwolves, um, and even the Nuggets, I don't think anybody really thinks the Clippers have a real shot of winning it all.
32:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: Even though they have a real shot of getting to the conference finals, whereas the Warriors, the Lakers, the Nuggets could lose first round.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: But like people could see a world where they get it to the finals and make something happen.
32:55
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think yeah, it goes back to the conversation of um Celia and Floors, right?
32:59
SPEAKER_03: Where yeah, those teams that you mentioned, if we saw the Lakers in the championship, I don't think anybody would be surprised.
33:05
SPEAKER_03: It would be a great story, right?
33:06
SPEAKER_03: Considering how big of a change they made, but like there's a real possibility there.
33:09
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, OKC is there, um, your Warriors, even after what Harrison Barnes did to them.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: Like there, there's a chance or a higher chance of those teams going on the finals run versus the Clippers.
33:20
SPEAKER_03: But also, I think the Clippers' floor might be higher than some of those teams at the same time.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: 100%.
33:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, there's a lot of variance in in Warriors land, it seems like, um, for depending on who the matchup is, right?
33:31
SPEAKER_03: Like some teams y'all match up perfectly against, and some teams like the the Nuggets is a tough series for y'all, regardless of who's on the roster, who's coaching it.
33:40
SPEAKER_03: I don't know who I would take in that series.
33:42
SPEAKER_03: Like, that's that's a really fascinating potential first round.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: This is a bit of a separate discussion, but do you think the NBA has always been this matchup dependent?
33:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel like this year specifically, like if you look at the Western matchup, the Western um playoff series, it's not really about like who's better and who's worse.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: It's just like who matches up better.
34:05
SPEAKER_03: I think this is the second year that I felt that way.
34:07
SPEAKER_03: I think last year was very matchup dependent as well.
34:10
SPEAKER_03: And I said that, and people thought that was a shot at the Dallas Mavericks when it really wasn't.
34:14
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, it broke perfectly for you to do, and you still have to do it, right?
34:18
SPEAKER_03: But they matched up so well against that young OKC team, and they had a great scheme to beat them, considering that the Thunder gave up a lot of corner threes, and hey, I'm Luka Dontich, I generate the most corner threes in basketball, and PJ Washington happened to be on the burner in that season.
34:31
SPEAKER_03: But before last year, or maybe it maybe goes back to like three to four years, if I'm I'm just gonna be a lenient with it.
34:37
SPEAKER_03: Um there were like we knew that the Wars were going to the finals.
34:41
SPEAKER_03: We knew the Cavs were going to the finals.
34:42
SPEAKER_03: It didn't it didn't matter what the matchups really were.
34:44
SPEAKER_03: And then you could try to convince yourself, oh, the Rockets, and the Rockets almost did it, right?
34:48
SPEAKER_03: The Rockets almost took y'all out, but the matchups never mattered.
34:52
SPEAKER_03: I knew whether it be the Pacers, whether it be the Bulls, whether it'd be the Bucs, LeBron and five.
34:56
SPEAKER_03: You know, like that's the way it was.
34:58
SPEAKER_03: And during the Kevin Durant era, it felt the same way about the Warriors.
35:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, but the matchups are gonna matter a ton.
35:05
SPEAKER_03: And I wonder how much we see on this last day of the season teams try to finagle the matchups, right?
35:11
SPEAKER_03: Um, the way the NBA is trying to prevent that from happening is we have two tip-off times.
35:15
SPEAKER_03: It's like 12 central and it's two central.
35:18
SPEAKER_03: And you don't have time to make a game plan because the opponent that you're trying to get away from is also playing.
35:23
SPEAKER_03: So you don't know how that game is gonna go.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: But I was talking to the to the guys, it's like every bench has 13 assistant coaches.
35:29
SPEAKER_03: Somebody's gonna have an iPad watching every game, and it's gonna be very apparent if somebody pulls a Dark Areyakovic and you see like Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray not play a fourth quarter of a meaningful game because they're trying to play the system.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: I also believe in basketball karma, and I think that it's it's not good to try to pick a matchup and lose a game.
35:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, but to what we were just saying, you know, I was just thinking that um the way it used to be talking about matchups and if the league's always been matchup dependent, I think that the best teams used to finish in the top three to four in each conference.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: And now it like you could make an argument that's still the case.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: But like the Warriors, the Lakers, some of these older teams that have these legends that theoretically could could go on these runs.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: For the last few years, they haven't really cared too much about where they fall in the playoffs seating as long as they get out of the play-in.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: And that's to me is probably a newer thing in the NBA.
36:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, this is this would be another year where some of the top teams in the league are the younger teams, right?
36:29
SPEAKER_03: Uh the teams with the best injury luck and the legs to survive an 82-game season.
36:34
SPEAKER_03: Where um, yeah, like the Boston Celts.
36:36
SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't even consider the Boston Celts a young team, but they have young talent at the top with Jalen Brown and Jason.
36:40
SPEAKER_03: And Jalen Brown, I mean Jason Tatum plays every fucking game imaginable, even when he hurt his ankle and they weren't playing for anything.
36:45
SPEAKER_03: It's like, I'll be back in two games.
36:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then you had OKC the previous year.
36:49
SPEAKER_03: Um, you had the Minnesota Timberwolves, who weren't necessarily a young team when it comes to average age, but like their star player and Anthony Edwards being at that time 23 years old.
36:58
SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, I mean, these younger teams, and now we got the Rockets and we got the Thunder as our young teams this year holding it down at the top of the seating.
37:06
SPEAKER_03: Um it's not like those other teams are taking nights off necessarily, but I do believe that the 82-game season becomes a drag for a 35-year-old, 40-year-old superstar.
37:17
SPEAKER_03: While Alprin Shengun, Amin Thompson, those guys could just run all day, day all day they want, because they got the legs for.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this this might this year might be the year of the referendum on the question of experience.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Because I think up to this point, we kind of think, yeah, like who cares where these teams finish, as long as they're in the playoffs, and if they're playing like, you know, if the Warriors, the Lakers meet up with the Rockets, like a lot of people will pick the older teams because of quote unquote experience.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: But if that proves to not be enough and young legs beat the old legs, that conversation might be kind of over.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
37:49
SPEAKER_03: Historically, it has been experience, but I do believe that if it's going to be any year where the experience is not like the first thing you think about, it's gonna be this year with the Thunder being the best team at basketball.
38:01
SPEAKER_03: Um, again, there are a lot of people that still don't believe them just because of their super young.
38:04
SPEAKER_03: But a 66 regular season win team and whether they have one loss against the Eastern Conference all season long, like that team has been as dominant as any team.
38:14
SPEAKER_03: Um and and I actually I don't think it'll change too much.
38:18
SPEAKER_03: Hypothetically, if the OKC Thunder go on to win a championship with their average age being 25, 24, whatever it may be, I don't think we're about to start looking at every single team as like young and exciting and good as a championship team.
38:28
SPEAKER_03: I just think this team just might be different and might be the anomaly, might be the outlier in that whole conversation because they have potentially the MVP of the league and a guy that projects to maybe win a DPOY next uh one season, another all-star, a great coach, and 17 dudes that can fill any void on the team.
38:45
SPEAKER_03: Like it just might, they just might be the anomaly young team that could win it all.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: I agree with that.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: I think it's actually the reverse where the confidence in these older teams will start to wane uh if they can't get it done against some of the more experienced, some of the more inexperienced younger teams.
39:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I could definitely see that.
39:02
SPEAKER_03: Um it's not on looking at it, it's not a ton of super old teams.
39:08
SPEAKER_03: It's kind of just like the Warriors top three is pretty old, but the rest of the roster is pretty young.
39:13
SPEAKER_03: The Lakers have LeBron, but the rest of their rockers relatively young, with Luca being 26, Austin Reese being 25, Rui being 25.
39:20
SPEAKER_03: Like they're more like middle of the pack in age, I guess is probably the best way to say it.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I guess with the Clippers too, to me, I view old teams as well.
39:27
SPEAKER_03: The Clippers are old team.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: To me, I view it as the their old guy or old players have to be great for them to win.
39:35
SPEAKER_03: That's fair.
39:36
SPEAKER_03: That's fair.
39:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, with Harden being 30s, Kawhi being 30s, you need both of them.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: That's fair.
39:45
SPEAKER_03: They're always gonna have a few young guys, average age guys sprinkled in.
39:48
SPEAKER_03: So that's that's probably the best way to look at it.
39:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I agree with that.
39:58
SPEAKER_03: Shout out to producer Greg with a great five out.
40:02
SPEAKER_03: Let's get into all NBA teams.
40:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, this, as you can imagine, with me being an overthinker, was really difficult.
40:08
SPEAKER_03: I already talked to you about my first team.
40:09
SPEAKER_03: It is Shea, it is Jokic, it is Tatum, it is Giannis, and it is Mitchell in no particular order.
40:14
SPEAKER_03: I think those five guys have been the best five in the league considering the circumstances.
40:19
SPEAKER_03: So shout out to them.
40:20
SPEAKER_03: Then we get to the second team, and that's where we got some real conversations happening.
40:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, like I mentioned, my last first team guy being Donovan Mitchell, uh, means that a guy like Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Steph Curry, those guys get pushed to the second team.
40:32
SPEAKER_03: And they have to be second team because I thought about them being first team, right?
40:35
SPEAKER_03: Shout out to our old guys and Braun.
40:37
SPEAKER_03: And again, I just don't know what part of my personal biases are playing when I think about Braun's season or I think about Curry season.
40:46
SPEAKER_03: And it may be because I just what they're doing is so much more impressive considering their older age.
40:52
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if that's fair with all NBA, but you cannot deny the fact that these guys deserve to be on one of the three teams, whether they be first team, second team, or third team, and they both landed on my second team.
41:02
SPEAKER_03: So Anthony Ewards, LeBron James, Steph Curry, shout out to Ant-Man, my boy Derek.
41:06
SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you, go look, go listen to the numbers on the board podcast.
41:09
SPEAKER_03: In our fake awards show, we were giving out awards where we all came up with different names, and he called Anthony Edwards, he gave him the Loki award.
41:17
SPEAKER_03: Not low-key, but Loki.
41:19
SPEAKER_03: If you play Marvel Rivals, you know that that ultimate is him taking your ability and using your abilities.
41:25
SPEAKER_03: Because Anthony Edwards took Steph Curry's shooting or Damian Lillard's shooting point.
41:30
SPEAKER_03: He he took the way Luka Dante's plays on the double team.
41:32
SPEAKER_03: He just watching other superstars do things across basketball.
41:36
SPEAKER_03: He said, I can do that.
41:37
SPEAKER_03: And he's been doing it.
41:38
SPEAKER_03: It's been incredible.
41:39
SPEAKER_03: And um, I think it'll be more of a story if they didn't start off and have a random game where they let the Bucks score on a 30 to 4 run, whatever the hell it was in the game.
41:48
SPEAKER_03: Um, that's beside the point.
41:49
SPEAKER_03: I do still got a lot of love for Anthony Edwards and his uh progression this season.
41:53
SPEAKER_03: This last guy, or these last two guys, I was iffy about.
41:57
SPEAKER_03: You're like trying to figure out if they deserve second team or third team.
41:59
SPEAKER_03: But here's how I ended up.
42:01
SPEAKER_03: I ended up putting Brunson on the second team.
42:03
SPEAKER_03: Again, Brunson has not officially hit the 65 game marks.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: So I would hope that he ends up playing these last two games so that he can end up making it, but I could also see a world where the team doesn't care.
42:14
SPEAKER_03: They have their 30, uh, their three seed wrapped up.
42:18
SPEAKER_03: And it's like, do we want to risk him having another injury just for him to make an all-LMB appearance?
42:24
SPEAKER_03: So I could see it either way, but I do have him on our second team.
42:26
SPEAKER_03: And I think it's kind of forgotten about because he missed so much time, how ridiculous of a season Jalen Brunson is having it, having 26 points per game, three rebounds, seven and a half assists, 49% from the field, 38% from three.
42:38
SPEAKER_03: He in one of the best close in basketball.
42:41
SPEAKER_03: Clutch player of the year.
42:42
SPEAKER_03: I think I gave it to him, right?
42:43
SPEAKER_03: Clutch player of the year as well.
42:44
SPEAKER_03: So like it kind of gets lost because he missed like 20 or so games after his big ankle injury, but I have to show the utmost amount of respect.
42:51
SPEAKER_03: Then I have Evan Mobling.
42:52
SPEAKER_03: Again, with him winning defensive player of the year and him having that great jump on the offensive side of the ball.
42:58
SPEAKER_03: I mentioned earlier having a conversation on whether or not he's actually the best, most impactful player on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
43:04
SPEAKER_03: And some nights I truly, truly do believe that obviously he won't have the offensive upside of a Donovan Mitchell or a Darius Garland, but I think that overall on both sides of the floor, you can feel how ridiculously important he is on a night-to-night basis.
43:16
SPEAKER_03: So he ends up making the last spot of my second team.
43:19
SPEAKER_03: Now, I fought about him with a couple guys, ended up being on my third team, like a Kay Cunningham.
43:24
SPEAKER_03: I truly did think about putting Kay Cunningham third second team versus third team, but he will end up fouling in a third spot.
43:30
SPEAKER_03: I had Jaron Jackson Jr.
43:31
SPEAKER_03: on my second team for the majority of the season just for Evan Mobley to take that last spot as well.
43:36
SPEAKER_03: Uh I got Carnthony Towns here.
43:38
SPEAKER_03: Shout out to Carneth Towns, another guy that was playing so great basketball to get it kind of gets lost.
43:43
SPEAKER_03: Not because he personally got injured, but because when the Jalen Brunson injury happened, people kind of just forgot about what uh Carnthany Towns was doing because it was a rough part of the season for them.
43:53
SPEAKER_03: Collectively, Carnegie Towns has been ridiculously great this year.
43:57
SPEAKER_03: Then we get to these last two spots.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: My second to last All-NBA spot is Tarry Talliburton.
44:03
SPEAKER_03: I understand that he started off the season really, really slow, not looking like the normal version of himself, but as of the last 60 games or so, he has been as impactful of a point guard as almost anybody in basketball.
44:16
SPEAKER_03: And that is saying a lot.
44:17
SPEAKER_03: His efficiency numbers are back up.
44:19
SPEAKER_03: He um is still one of the best passers in all of basketball.
44:22
SPEAKER_03: He's basically like 20 and 10 over the last 60 games.
44:25
SPEAKER_03: And the Pacers, you know, since January 1st, has been one of the best teams in basketball.
44:29
SPEAKER_03: So I can't help but to put my guy Tyrese Halliburn on the all-NBA team.
44:32
SPEAKER_03: One of those cases where you make all NBA without making an all-star appearance.
44:35
SPEAKER_03: But like, you know, it is what it is.
44:37
SPEAKER_03: And his last spot, I've been fighting.
44:40
SPEAKER_03: I've been fighting.
44:41
SPEAKER_03: I'll tell you why I landed on, but here are the people I was trying to decide between.
44:45
SPEAKER_03: I was trying to decide between Al Brench and Goon for Rockets representation, obviously.
44:51
SPEAKER_03: I was trying to decide between James Harden because even though his efficiency numbers don't look as good as this year as some of his previous seasons, them being as good as they are, he held that ship and he's the old Jason Tatum.
45:03
SPEAKER_03: We're like, you're just not, he's gonna play every single game.
45:06
SPEAKER_03: Even when he got injured.
45:08
SPEAKER_03: Was that against Lou Dort?
45:09
SPEAKER_03: I feel like every injury is against Lou Dort.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: Was that against Lou Dort where they say he was walking around like a pirate?
45:14
SPEAKER_03: Don't matter, he played next game.
45:15
SPEAKER_03: Like I have to show some level of respect for these old heads that are holding things down.
45:20
SPEAKER_03: So it's between him, it was between um, who did I just mention again?
45:25
SPEAKER_03: It was between Alfred Shangoon, it's between him, and it was between J Dub.
45:28
SPEAKER_03: And I guess Kevin Durant, but fucking 11 seed.
45:31
SPEAKER_03: I'm not giving an 11th seed all the day.
45:32
SPEAKER_03: So I'll go, I'll go those three.
45:34
SPEAKER_03: And ultimately I end up going with Dub.
45:36
SPEAKER_03: I went J Dub on my third team.
45:38
SPEAKER_03: It wasn't the easiest decision, but I think that when you consider how dominant this team has been, it makes sense for them to have two All NBA performers.
45:46
SPEAKER_03: And it's not like he's unwarranted.
45:47
SPEAKER_03: So I kind of just went, again, going to my traditionalist mindset of being on the best team and being that impactful on the best team.
45:54
SPEAKER_03: And I think one of the things that get lost in the shuffle is his defensive impact, which I guess we'll get into in a second here, but he's one of the best help defenders in all of basketball.
46:04
SPEAKER_03: And that that is something that may get lost in watching them play.
46:08
SPEAKER_03: So that is my all-NBA teams.
46:10
SPEAKER_03: Apologizing to um some really good players that ultimately didn't end up making it.
46:14
SPEAKER_03: Um, again, the Hardens and the Durants and the Shingoons.
46:19
SPEAKER_03: All defensive.
46:21
SPEAKER_03: You know what I think is very weird?
46:23
SPEAKER_03: The fact that all defensive only has two teams.
46:25
SPEAKER_03: Until 1989, all NBA was only two teams.
46:29
SPEAKER_03: And then they said, hey, we're expanding the league.
46:31
SPEAKER_03: Hey, there's a lot of talent in this league.
46:33
SPEAKER_03: So how about we give it a third all-NBA team?
46:35
SPEAKER_03: And for whatever reason, they just don't care about defense enough to give us an all-NBA defensive third team.
46:40
SPEAKER_03: So damn it, this is my podcast and an unofficial ballot.
46:42
SPEAKER_03: So I have three all-defensive teams because there's so much great defense across basketball.
46:47
SPEAKER_03: Anybody tell you otherwise is lying or not watching the games.
46:50
SPEAKER_03: Here's my first team.
46:51
SPEAKER_03: As you can imagine, um, Evan Mobley, Draymond Green, Amy Thompson, those are my top three in defensive player of the year.
46:56
SPEAKER_03: And these last two spots, I gave two Dyson Daniels and Jaron Jackson Jr.
47:00
SPEAKER_03: It was tough to leave Lou Dort off of that first team, but I did ultimately go with the Steels Machine, the Great Barrier Thief, and then Jaron Jackson Jr., who almost ended up third on my official ballot, but I opted again to go with a perimeter guy.
47:12
SPEAKER_03: Second team is going to be Dort, who could just also eliminate somebody from a game completely.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: He is built like a linebacker.
47:19
SPEAKER_03: Damn it, sometimes I feel like he is playing football, but he's such a great defensive player.
47:23
SPEAKER_03: And I can't look past that.
47:24
SPEAKER_03: And he probably deserves to be on first team, but he ended up on second team for me.
47:28
SPEAKER_03: Um, I guess there's room for change.
47:31
SPEAKER_03: Then we have Rudy Gobert.
47:33
SPEAKER_03: I think Rudy Gobert's defensive season has got lost this year.
47:36
SPEAKER_03: I think it's got lost this season, but he hasn't been as great start to finish as he did last, oh, he was last year, or any of his other years of being the DPOI.
47:45
SPEAKER_03: But you can't convince me that he doesn't deserve to be on this team because I would just say you're not really watching the Minnesota Timbows.
47:51
SPEAKER_03: He is still so um intrical, integral.
47:54
SPEAKER_03: It's important for what the Minnesota Timbows are doing on the defensive side of the ball.
47:58
SPEAKER_03: Um, right now they're still the fifth best defense in hoops.
48:01
SPEAKER_03: And of course, a lot of people get credit for that, but there's nobody that deserves more credit than the anchor.
48:06
SPEAKER_03: And I'm traditionally gonna go anchor when it comes to these things.
48:09
SPEAKER_03: Then I do have Big Zoo.
48:11
SPEAKER_03: Um, best drop coverage big in basketball this season.
48:13
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if he's gonna retain that title next season, but the Clippers, also one of the greatest defensive teams in the league, being at number four or number three, depending on what day you check.
48:22
SPEAKER_03: They have a lot of people that are on this side of the ball and amazing at it.
48:26
SPEAKER_03: But again, the anchor, the anchor, the anchor, preventing layups, preventing, you know, just offensive players from being able to get into their bag.
48:34
SPEAKER_03: That's what these anchors end up doing.
48:36
SPEAKER_03: Then I have um OG Ananobi, who started to advocate for himself a little bit.
48:40
SPEAKER_03: I kind of like the fact that some dudes are advocating, everybody but Dream McGreen.
48:43
SPEAKER_03: I'm kidding, Trey.
48:44
SPEAKER_03: But uh OG did advocate for himself.
48:46
SPEAKER_03: I think he also is a guy that could be first team, but it's not enough spots.
48:50
SPEAKER_03: You know, the Knicks collectively are not very good defensively, but OG is the guy.
48:55
SPEAKER_03: If there's anybody on their team, it is OG Ananobi.
48:58
SPEAKER_03: He will completely take players out of a game.
48:59
SPEAKER_03: He completely has stretches on the defensive side of the ball where your team can't score because of OG.
49:05
SPEAKER_03: Like a 5v1.
49:06
SPEAKER_03: He he's that impactful defensive player.
49:08
SPEAKER_03: So I think that maybe I gave the nod to some of these other guys because of the team thing, but it's not a team award, whatever.
49:14
SPEAKER_03: Then I do have dub.
49:15
SPEAKER_03: I do have dub rounding out um my all-defensive second team.
49:19
SPEAKER_03: As I mentioned, one of the best help defensive players in all the hoops from a perimeter position.
49:23
SPEAKER_03: Um, and like the advanced defensive stats absolutely love J Dub.
49:27
SPEAKER_03: And it makes sense.
49:28
SPEAKER_03: He he is that good of a player.
49:29
SPEAKER_03: So that's my second team.
49:31
SPEAKER_03: Here's my third team.
49:33
SPEAKER_03: We have Tumani Kamaro, who for a lot of the season, you know, I was going on the other pod and saying, like, yeah, Tumani's gonna make like a first team out defense.
49:39
SPEAKER_03: He fell to third, man.
49:40
SPEAKER_03: As after more research and and more film study, he ended up falling to my number three uh third team.
49:46
SPEAKER_03: Bamma de Bayo, also still one of the better um defensive bigs in all the basketball.
49:50
SPEAKER_03: It's just nobody's watching the Miami Heat anymore since the Jimmy trade, and I guess before the Jimmy trade.
49:55
SPEAKER_03: Then I have um Derek White.
49:58
SPEAKER_03: Derek White always gonna be in those conversations.
50:00
SPEAKER_03: Chris Dunn would be higher on my list, but again, one of the guys told me Chris Dunn didn't meet the requirement, but Chris Dunn is after 23.8 minutes per game.
50:07
SPEAKER_03: So how does he not meet the requirement?
50:08
SPEAKER_03: I'm just gonna take his word at face value because this is somebody that's in the league, like not just one of my dudes from high school.
50:14
SPEAKER_03: It was somebody that's in the league that's like, no, Dunn doesn't fit the requirement.
50:17
SPEAKER_03: Damn it, this team is fictional anyway, so he's gonna meet the requirements here.
50:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then my last guy on my third team on defensive of Andrew Nimhard.
50:25
SPEAKER_03: I absolutely have a soft spot for Nimhard on the defensive side of the ball, picking players up 94 feet, um, having the assignment of the opposer team's best guard on a night-to-night basis and doing some pretty damn good stuff there as well.
50:37
SPEAKER_03: So uh that's the all-defensive team.
50:39
SPEAKER_03: 15 guys, 15 elite level defensive players.
50:41
SPEAKER_03: You let me know what you agree or disagree with.
50:43
SPEAKER_03: And then lastly, before we get out of here, um oh, I do have Ask AB too.
50:48
SPEAKER_03: It's my own Ricky teams.
50:49
SPEAKER_03: I'm just gonna read these.
50:50
SPEAKER_03: No, no, no explanation needed.
50:52
SPEAKER_03: None of this stuff matters.
50:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, Stefan Castle, Zachary Rich, Sar Wales, Modus Buzelis.
50:58
SPEAKER_03: Yes, damn it, I did end up going with the Bulls player and number uh on the first team.
51:02
SPEAKER_03: Khalel Ware, Zach Edy, Bub Carrington, Kal Philipowski, who I've watched like seven minutes total of, but his stats look pretty good.
51:08
SPEAKER_03: And uh Keyshawn George round out the second team.
51:11
SPEAKER_03: My apologies to Justin Edwards, basically.
51:14
SPEAKER_03: That's my ballot.
51:16
SPEAKER_03: The meaningless YouTuber content creator ballot.
51:20
SPEAKER_03: It's a lot.
51:21
SPEAKER_03: Um hopefully I gave good rationalization behind my award winners, and maybe you can convince me otherwise in the comment section or hit me up on Twitter or Instagram, wherever you may see fit.
51:31
SPEAKER_03: Uh, let's get into Ask KB with some of the questions from the audience.
51:36
SPEAKER_03: This first one comes from DC Wizards, which is super funny when you when you hear what this question is.
51:41
SPEAKER_03: What team do you think Cooper Flag fits best on?
51:44
SPEAKER_03: Wizards fan asking me about Cooper Flag.
51:47
SPEAKER_03: He's ready for the lottery, maybe.
51:48
SPEAKER_03: What are we, a month away?
51:50
SPEAKER_03: A little less than a month away from the lottery.
51:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, I do like, I'm not just pandering to you because you asked this question, DC Wizards.
51:58
SPEAKER_03: I do like Cooper Flag's fit on the Wizards.
52:01
SPEAKER_03: We think about what that potential defense can look like when it matters.
52:05
SPEAKER_03: Ham, Sar, um, George, who I'm really excited about as a defensive player, Balau Kulabali.
52:10
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if that offensive upside is there for them as of right now, if they ended up a Cooper Flag, but I really, really do like if we're just talking about the fit.
52:19
SPEAKER_03: Really like the fit.
52:20
SPEAKER_03: Um, I like the fit of him in Chicago, as you can imagine.
52:25
SPEAKER_03: But my number one team objectively is gonna be um the Wizards.
52:28
SPEAKER_03: You know, some of these other teams, like I keep hearing people say like that they don't want to see him in Charlotte, which I guess I kind of understand.
52:34
SPEAKER_03: Charlotte has been awful over the last couple of years, but like I'm giving new management, new, new ownership, uh a pass and say like him and Charlotte wouldn't be that bad.
52:44
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, they could use some culture shifting, yeah, they could use this or that, but like him, LaMelo, if he ends up being on the team next season, and like Brandon Miller is a phenomenal top three to really be building around, and maybe Mark Williams if they decide that they want to keep him.
52:58
SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah, I also like the idea of him playing in Brooklyn, mostly because Brooklyn uh jerseys look really nice.
53:05
SPEAKER_03: Next one comes from my guy.
53:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm just gonna say my guy, you've been on the show before.
53:11
SPEAKER_03: Uh Bathesh28.
53:13
SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry if I mispronounced that.
53:14
SPEAKER_03: Which team can you see making the biggest roster changes if they get an early playoff exit?
53:21
SPEAKER_03: I think the easiest team to talk about in this um would of course be the Denver Nuggets, mostly because they made the adjustment of firing their GM slash basketball ops guy.
53:31
SPEAKER_03: And they, I guess, obviously didn't love the way he had built this team.
53:35
SPEAKER_03: And the problem with that is they're so it's so hard to figure out a Nuggets trade considering the contracts of Jokic and Jamal just getting this extension, Aaron Gordon is getting this extension, and then Michael Porter Jr.
53:45
SPEAKER_03: being on the max as well.
53:47
SPEAKER_03: They don't have a ton of wiggle room.
53:48
SPEAKER_03: Oh, did I mention they have no tradable first-round picks as of today?
53:51
SPEAKER_03: So it's hard for them to make those big adjustments.
53:53
SPEAKER_03: But assuming, again, assuming an early playoff exit, they would have to do something because as long as you have the best player in the world, you're doing him a disservice, you're doing your city and your organization a disservice if you aren't putting the championship caliber team around him.
54:05
SPEAKER_03: So I would say them first.
54:06
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm sniggly feeling like the Grizzlies as well.
54:09
SPEAKER_03: Um, a lot of rumors coming out of Grizzly Land.
54:11
SPEAKER_03: That's all I'll say.
54:12
SPEAKER_03: A lot of rumors coming out of the Grizzlies.
54:14
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if they're in love with their big three, their top three guys.
54:16
SPEAKER_03: And I feel like if they have a first-round exit, one of those three guys could be gone.
54:20
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna speculate which one it might be.
54:22
SPEAKER_03: And that's probably the biggest ones.
54:24
SPEAKER_03: Um out east, I don't know, man.
54:26
SPEAKER_03: The Easter comms are so trash.
54:28
SPEAKER_03: It's hard.
54:28
SPEAKER_03: Everybody will probably be happy.
54:30
SPEAKER_03: I mean, maybe the Bucks.
54:32
SPEAKER_03: Maybe Giannis pushes his way out, but that's like the only thing I could potentially uh figure out.
54:36
SPEAKER_02: What's up, KB?
54:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm a huge fan of the show.
54:39
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but not just that, man.
54:40
SPEAKER_02: I'm just a huge fan of um your brand, enjoy basketball, um, and how y'all promote it and what y'all are all about.
54:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, I really appreciate the way that y'all are um striving to just bring more positivity to this um often far too negative sport.
54:53
SPEAKER_02: Um my question today does pertain to that um and your overall brand, and it is what in the basketball world is currently bringing you the most joy?
55:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, dude, appreciate you a lot.
55:04
SPEAKER_02: God bless you, wish you the best.
55:06
SPEAKER_03: Wow, what a great question.
55:08
SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for the kind words.
55:10
SPEAKER_03: Um What is bringing me the most joy in the basketball world right now?
55:16
SPEAKER_03: Um I think the thing that brings me the most joy is something that people look at or try to steer into a negative.
55:24
SPEAKER_03: There's so much versatility in basketball right now, where depending on the teams and the matchups, you're seeing a whole different ball game on every single game, man.
55:34
SPEAKER_03: And I cannot stress it enough how fun it is, even now with two games left of the regular season, to tune into a game and be like, damn, I haven't seen them do that this season.
55:45
SPEAKER_03: Or damn, they're so much better at doing that now than they were two months ago.
55:50
SPEAKER_03: Like just having those little moments is so fun to me, bro.
55:55
SPEAKER_03: It really, really is.
55:56
SPEAKER_03: When you look at a team and be like, oh, this is a team that is traditionally a drop coverage team, but today they got Steph Curry, so they can't run drop.
56:02
SPEAKER_03: Or maybe they will run drop coverage and just use a late help like the Clippers did against Shay.
56:07
SPEAKER_03: That's different, Shay and um and Steph Curry, but you kind of use the first couple months of the season, at least this is the way I do it.
56:14
SPEAKER_03: Use the first couple months of the season as a way to be like, this is the foundation of this team offensively and defensively, right?
56:20
SPEAKER_03: You kind of get that idea about all 30 teams or 26 of the 30 because four teams you don't give a damn about.
56:26
SPEAKER_03: And throughout the course of the year, you see maybe that foundation shift, or maybe it becomes just a one-night thing where it's like everybody in the league knows that we do this.
56:36
SPEAKER_03: We're a split action team.
56:38
SPEAKER_03: That team is prepping for us to be a split action team.
56:40
SPEAKER_03: And we're not gonna run it as much as we normally do.
56:42
SPEAKER_03: Now, obviously, that gets amplified in the postseason, right?
56:45
SPEAKER_03: Because you're playing chess in an 82-game season.
56:47
SPEAKER_03: If we have a back-to-back, we don't really have a lot of time to say that we're not doing this because this is what we do.
56:52
SPEAKER_03: But there, again, so much versatility, so much talent across the league, and anybody telling you otherwise is not really locking in.
56:59
SPEAKER_03: They're locking into the same three fucking teams every week when you really have 30 teams or 26 teams or 22 teams across the league that can give you a really fun game on a night-to-night basis.
57:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, that's what's bringing me the most joy.
57:14
SPEAKER_03: Also, I just got a good outlook for the NBA uh for the next couple seasons.
57:19
SPEAKER_03: That's all.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: Hypothetically, Devin Booker comes home to Michigan and joins up with Cade in Detroit.
57:27
SPEAKER_01: Where does the lineup of Cade Cunningham, Devin Booker, Asar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duran, plus their bench finish in the East?
57:35
SPEAKER_01: Is it top five, top three?
57:37
SPEAKER_01: And assuming Ron Holland, Jaden Ivy, plus picks and other money matching players are involved, where do you think that team falls in the East?
57:46
SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm happy that you mentioned what you traded away because I'm I'm listening to your lineup like, damn, y'all to give up a SAR, y'all to give up this, y'all to give up that.
57:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'm just gonna live it in your hypothetical, uh, because by all accounts by Matt Isbia, Devin Booker's not available.
58:00
SPEAKER_03: Um, that might be him just trying to play it the right way.
58:03
SPEAKER_03: Um and the way they run things, they're not looking for draft cavern.
58:07
SPEAKER_03: Either way, that team, I think that Devin Booker would be a perfect.
58:10
SPEAKER_03: I'm not even gonna call him a co-star, but it's just a fight, a secondary man, even though he's primary on that.
58:16
SPEAKER_03: I don't know how to.
58:17
SPEAKER_03: A great backup partner for Kay Cunningham, as somebody that do believe does believe that Kay Cunningham has become overtaxed as the guy offensively, primary ball handler thing.
58:27
SPEAKER_03: Devin Booker being this combo and being able to play point guard, play shooting guard, and and run units by himself is almost ideal.
58:33
SPEAKER_03: I would say it is ideal for what the Pistons could be looking for in the future.
58:37
SPEAKER_03: You're asking where they would sit in the Eastern Conference, given that hypothetical lineup.
58:42
SPEAKER_03: Right now, y'all are already six with the current thing.
58:44
SPEAKER_03: So you asked if top five, top five in my mind is not even it's definitely the least.
58:50
SPEAKER_03: What am I trying to say?
58:51
SPEAKER_03: This is definitely like the smallest jump imaginable.
58:54
SPEAKER_03: You're you're acting like these two games between you and the Bucs, Devin Booker equates to way more than two.
58:59
SPEAKER_03: So, like top five is definitely, definitely the floor with the opportunity being I could I could see top three with that.
59:07
SPEAKER_03: And that also goes back to the conversation we just had with Greg about this youthful teams.
59:10
SPEAKER_03: I think that the lineup that you just mentioned, they're so youthful and they would have this culture and this backbone that I could see them jumping up into top three in the Eastern Conference, while some of the other teams, like the Bucs, who we who we mentioned a little bit earlier, are an older team, or you know, some of these other teams could drop.
59:27
SPEAKER_03: So top three, it's playable.
59:32
SPEAKER_03: Run it in 2K, see what happens.
59:39
SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, that was another great addition of small ball for you at home.
59:42
SPEAKER_03: If you enjoyed it, be sure to leave it a like, subscribe to the channel, go over to the audio platforms, go five stars.
59:48
SPEAKER_03: I guess you can write comments on Spotify.
59:50
SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that was a thing until recently.
59:51
SPEAKER_03: So maybe drop a comment on Spotify.
59:53
SPEAKER_03: Let me know what you agree or disagree with.
59:55
SPEAKER_03: At the end of the day, we are talking basketball, and it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
59:59
SPEAKER_03: I would love one day to have an official vote.
1:00:02
SPEAKER_03: I gotta get my stripes up though.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_03: I gotta I gotta I gotta build this brand a little bit, a little bit uh bigger, a little bit higher on the pillar of of sports media for me to get a vote.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_03: So uh I appreciate y'all being patient with me over the last week of missing an episode.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_03: Excited to cover the playoffs with y'all, and I'll see y'all soon.
1:00:19
SPEAKER_03: Peace.